You shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

You shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

Thank you for joining today as we seek God’s wisdom together. Let us begin with prayer.

“Lord Jesus, I ask that you search our hearts and see if there be anything wicked in them. We ask that your Holy Spirit show us what you are saying to us today. I ask that the words on this page would jump out to us as you speak to our hearts and minds truth and life. In Jesus name, Amen.”

Matthew 1: 18-21

“Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. 22Now all this took place so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: 23“ BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN WILL CONCEIVE AND GIVE BIRTH TO A SON, AND THEY SHALL NAME HIM IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.” 24And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he named Him Jesus.”

What the Word is Saying

The first thing one should take away from this portion of scripture is that God is in control. His plan will come to pass. He is aware of what will happen before it happens, and He will use what is necessary to make his will come to pass. Here a young woman of Jewish decent is found to be with child. We are not told how we know that. It likely she has begun to have morning sickness, or she may have begun to show. Regardless, it is plain for Joseph to see that his fiancé Mary is pregnant. This is problematic for Joseph who is a righteous man and as such cannot marry her and does not want to shame her by publicly divorcing her.

It is in this framework in which the angel of the lord appears to him and tells him that Mary is pregnant by the Holy Spirit so to speak. There are several amazing things that occur here. First of all is the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. The miraculous event occurred without intercourse and done supernaturally. Next is the fact that an angel appears to Joseph at precisely the time when an intervention needs to occur to prevent the thwarting of God’s Plan. Lastly, is Joseph’s response. We are not told of a struggle or questioning the legitimacy of God’s plan Joseph simply obeys.

We are told that Joseph is informed by the angel that the child shall be named Jesus because He will save the people from their sins. It is unclear if Joseph would have made the connection to Isaiah 7:4 where it is said the virgin will give birth. If he did, he would recognize the Messianic connection to it. However, instead of naming the Child Immanuel as Isaiah tells us Joseph is told to name the boy Jesus. Immanuel of course means God with us. For the Jewish people in the first century this would incite the hope for a conquering King to rid the Land of the Roman oppressors. But Jesus saving them from their sins is not anything like that. I am amazed that he would so quickly submit to the will of God in this situation. Because for tense and purposes what he is being told goes against what he has been taught from his youth about the anointed one.

Nevertheless, Joseph does marry Mary and does not have sexual relations with her until after the child is born to keep her virtue clean until then. Just as importantly on the eighth day Joseph takes Jesus down to be circumcised and names him Jesus. Thereby establishing the Davidic Line and making Jesus the heir to the Kingdom. I guess it shows us how God works in our world. It is often not what we have grown to expect. However, the perceived change that occurs can be revealed to us if we are open to His spirits revelation of the truth. Prior to the death of Jesus God’s messengers were the angels. However, after Jesus paid the propitiation for our sins and allowed the presence of God to dwell within us, we can hear directly from God by His Holy Spirit. We just have to be humble like Joseph was and submit to the Lordship and sovereignty of our God.

It is possible that you have never had a relationship with Jesus. Be assured that you can never fulfill the requirements of God’s Holy Law. It is impossible that is why Jesus had to come. All He asks for is for you to accept the free gift He gave you. Therefore, humble yourself and acknowledge that Jesus is Lord of all. He alone is all powerful and you submit to His authority. Next you must believe He did what He did. That is; die on a cross and rise again from the dead. These are both actions of faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for with evidence not seen. Meaning you believe even though you don’t have physical evidence to prove it. I know you made it to this page for a reason and the Holy Spirit is working on your heart. The Father has drawn you and He alone can reveal to you the truth of what I am saying. I know that He is now, and you need to take a step of faith and pray these words with me.

Right where you are; say these words out loud: “Jesus I confess that you are Lord of all, I yield my will to your will for you are greater than me. I believe you came to this world and lived a sinless life; I believe you suffered and died on cross for my sins, I believe they put your lifeless body in a tomb, and three days later you rose from the dead. I confess to you that I am a sinner and ask you to forgive me. I also ask that you send me your Holy Spirit to give me power to live a sanctified life and to lead me into all truth. In Jesus name, Amen.”

If you prayed that prayer, I urge you to contact us here so that we might come beside you and hold you up in prayer as you begin your journey with Jesus. I assure you that we have all been where you are. We may have committed different sins, but we are just as guilty, nonetheless. We all needed forgiveness and someone else supported us as we began our Journey with Him.

Thank you for joining me today as we searched the scriptures for What the Word is Saying. I pray that God will send His Holy Spirit into our lives anew and fill us again with His love and His purpose for us. So that we can fulfill the mission He left us in bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world.

“Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” lockman.org.