Christmas 2019 22. What does the name Jesus mean?

Christmas 2019 22. What’s In A Name?

I wonder what your name means. Parents often name their children after the hopes and aspirations they have for that child. For example, I know somebody called Grace, and her nature is full of grace.

My name, David, means “beloved”. When my parents named me, it was meant to symbolize the love they had for me. Although when I put the cricket ball through the kitchen window or the time I crushed the vegetable patch whilst running after a football, I did not feel very beloved afterwards!

When Jesus was born, his name expressed the very reason he was born. His conception and birth were extraordinary at every level. Do you think that his parents ever gazed upon him and thought “How misnamed he is”! They did not, because they knew the very purpose for which he was born. Did Jesus ever think of how misnamed he was? Certainly not! For Jesus’ name means ‘the one who saves’ or ‘a rescuer’.
In light of this, Jesus knew his purpose and his mission (Luke 4:42-44). Jesus Christ’ whole birth, life and death were centered on saving all those who would follow him. He is the most talked about person in history. Almost everyone has an opinion about him. Jesus Christ was born to fulfill the promises God had made over many years. You can read them for yourself in the part of the Bible we call the Old Testament.

Jesus Christ came to reveal God as a Father, to die instead of us for the punishment we deserve, in order that he may stand before God on our behalf and also to show us what it means to live a holy and perfect life here on earth. The life of Jesus Christ was a life totally dedicated to obediently following God and revealing God to the world. Such was the impact of the person Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was not merely a man who received some special power. Jesus Christ was not some strange creation that was half man and half God, with his human nature somehow absorbed into the divine. Jesus Christ was much more than these suggestions! Let us go on to discover together much more about this most amazing of men!

That is all for today! Come back tomorrow to see more in our Christmas series 2019, looking at Jesus Christ, the promised one of God.

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