Today is the day we celebrate the Feast of the Holy
Name. in Judaism at that time the child
was circumcised (if male) and named on the eighth day after birth. Mary and Joseph would have followed this
practice so today we celebrate that the name Jesus, the Lord saves, was given
this child who was indeed fulfillment of His Name. In Isaiah we see that His Name means
something not just for Him but for His people as well. Isaiah says that in the day of redemption the
Land gets a new name as well. In the
ninth chapter of Isaiah we see an exposition of His Name in the same way we do
in Exodus 34 but here we see that the nation becomes no longer widowed but
married. She is His bride just as the church
is considered His bride. It is in Him,
the proclamation of His Name, that we find our true identity.
When Joseph heard the angel say, "She will bear a son,
and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their
sins", he never would have imagined two things, how this little child
would save people and what was meant by "his people." Whatever Joseph may have imagined it would
not have included either the cross or the magnitude of the salvation. His people would certainly have been limited
in his mind to the Jews. That two thousand
years later people would be calling upon the name of Jesus all over the planet,
singing the praises of this boy, calling upon His Name, and finding salvation
in Him in places Joseph never knew existed would have completely been outside
the scope of his thoughts. That this
child would save His people not by becoming their earthly king but save them
through a perfect life culminated by death on a cross would have been
unthinkable. Whatever his hopes and
dreams may have been they didn't match reality.
Now that He has ascended to the right hand of God the Father
Jesus has a new name. As He prepares to
ride forth in judgment on the earth He is mighty not to save but to judge and rule. John tells us several different names, just
as Isaiah had done. He is Faithful and
True, the Word of God, and the King of kings and Lord of lords, as well as a
name only He knows. He is capable of
sustaining and fulfilling all these in the same way we can have multiple roles
in our own lives. He is, however, worthy
of all praise and glory and honor. None of
His titles are honorific, He has earned them all. Let us never cease to praise His mighty
Name. As Peter said, no other name has
been given under heaven by which a man might be saved.
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