Originally scheduled for December 4

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save the people for their sins. Matthew 1:21

Jesus Christ. His name is Jesus. The Greek form of Y’shua or Yeshua, which would translate to us as Joshua, meaning ‘God saves’ or ‘God is my salvation’. Christ is not a last name, it is a title. From the Greek ‘christos’ which was used to translate from Hebrew, ‘masiah’ or ‘messiah’, meaning ‘anointed one’. Jesus Christ. The anointed one. The Messiah. He has many titles: King, Lord, Master, the Word, Son of God, Wonderful Councilor, Prince of Peace. All a heavy burden for a baby born in such lowly surrounding. But to Mary and Joseph, He was Jesus. Their baby. The angel Gabriel had told both who this baby was, so they knew. But now that the babe had been born could they really comprehend? They had been waiting all their lives for the ‘Messiah’ to come and rescue them from the Romans. And now, here in a little package from God was the King they had thought they waited for. Here lay the Christ. The anointed one who they now knew was not sent to save them from the Romans, but to save them-all of them, the whole world-from their sins. Did they see all of this in the manger; the anointed King, the ruler of all creation, the Son of God who was, and is, and is to come? Did they contemplate his name-‘God is my salvation’? Or did they just see a small, helpless baby? As this Advent season moves on and we look forward to the celebration of the coming Christ, what do we see? Do we look back and see the baby of the first Advent or do we look towards the second Advent and the coming of the King?

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all heaven and earth proclaim,

Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s something about that name.

-There’s Something About That Name, written by Bill and Gloria Gaither