The Jews, both ancient and modern, have had a problem in saying or writing “Jehovah” – the name of God. Some called it “the ineffable Name” – the unutterable, inexpressible and unspeakable name of God. Instead of writing it out, they often abbreviate it into four letters, equivalent to “Y-H-W-H,” calling it the “tetragramaton.” Sometimes they say “LORD,” when God Himself said “Jehovah.” I hope that you know when you read the word “LORD” – in all capital letters – it refers to “Jehovah.” The Jews professed a reverence for the Lord which rendered them incapable of mentioning His Name. But, for most of them their silence was baloney – it was more of an excuse than a reason.
I have told you in the past that I have had just the opposite reaction to the name “Jesus.” My problem is more mental than spiritual, and you have probably noticed that I have been working on it. I think there are many people who are much too flippant in their use of the name “Jesus.” And that is long before we digress into the vernacular gutter of worldly profanity. Many people just don’t hold that name with the reverence it is due. So, since some are so presumptuous with the name of “Jesus,” for years I used it only reluctantly. 90% of the time when I say that name, I add some sort of adjective – “the Lord Jesus,” or “Christ Jesus.”
But this is my personal problem – because although it is related to theology, it is not Biblical. The name “Jesus” is found nearly a thousand times all in the New Testament. Of that thousand only a hundred say “the Lord Jesus.” And less that two hundred fifty say either “Christ Jesus” or “Jesus Christ.” Most of the time God’s Word simply says “Jesus” – nearly seven hundred fifty times. So I certainly cannot rebuke anyone for calling his Saviour by the name of “Jesus” if it is done with respect. I say all that to tell you that I am continuing to push my own personal envelope this morning.
In regard to the name of “JESUS,” I must remind myself that it first began in the heart of God.
We read a few minutes ago from Luke chapter 1 – a paragraph which my Bible calls “the annunciation.” We saw there that the name of “Jesus” was not Mary’s choice, and we know that it wasn’t Joseph’s either. The name “Jesus” came directly from the heart and will of Jehovah. Since Christ came down from heaven, we shouldn’t be surprised that His name did as well. And I guarantee that the Triune God would not give Him an unimportant, or merely sentimental, name. He wasn’t called “Jesus” because there was a cousin in the family with that name who had passed away. Furthermore, the name “Jesus” doesn’t carry even the slightest hit of dishonor or shame. That name is the highest, brightest, and most noble of all names.
“Jesus” is, perhaps, the most appropriate name that our Lord could have been given. Not only did the Father intimately know his Son – (Jesus said, “No man knoweth the Son but the Father.”) But in addition to this knowledge, there was the eternal decree about the purpose for His incarnation. (“Incarnation” of course refers to His becoming incarnate – taking up a human body and needing a name.) Since infinite wisdom determined this name, we can be sure that is an excellent, even a perfect, name.
Not only is “Jesus” the name given to Him by the Father, it is a name worthy of Holy Spirit explanation. This angel, probably the same Gabriel who is introduced to us in Luke – this angel isn’t the Holy Spirit, but it was the Holy Spirit who inspired the message of that angel. And he tells us “for he shall save his people from their sins.” “Saviour” is the meaning of “Jesus” here in Greek. But more precisely, the Hebrew equivalent, means “the salvation of the Lord” or “the Lord of salvation.” The angel interprets it, “HE shall save,” and the word for “he” is emphatic.
This name is given to our Lord because “he saves.” That is not a reference to any temporary or common salvation – salvation from enemies and troubles. Jesus saves from spiritual enemies, and especially from sin and the wrath of God for sin. Joshua of was a saviour of sorts, as was Gideon – David was a saviour from the Philistines. But this name is given to our Lord above all others, because He is a Savior in a sense in which no one else is or can be – He saves “his people from their sins.”
Of course, the word “save” is so rich and full that it is hard to express in one simple English word. Jesus is salvation in the sense of deliverance and also in of preservation. The original word means to keep, to protect from danger – to secure. Where do so many people get the idea that Jesus saves, but He can loose those He has saved? It doesn’t come out of the Bible. It comes out of the corrupt theology which teaches that the sinner must help Jesus to save him. Jesus provides a great salvation, or as Paul puts it in Hebrews – “SO great salvation,” as if the apostle felt that he could never fully express its greatness. Paul then quotes Isaiah, calling it “eternal salvation.” Glorious beyond description is the name “Jesus,” because by that very name the eternal God guarantees the success of the Saviour. Jehovah declares that He SHALL save his people, and save His people He must.
This “Jesus” is described as the bearer of the sinner’s sin. He is the fulfilment of the scape goat – upon whom the High Priest symbolically placed the sins of Israel every year. And off that goat went into the wilderness, carrying those sins upon his head. But in the mean time, the blood of the goat’s twin was being sprinkled on the highest of God’s altars. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Atonement sacrifices, and the Passover Lamb, and all the Sin offerings. In fact He is the fulfillment of every scripturally proscribed sacrifice in the Old Testament. “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Despite the divine origin of this name, it was APPLIED to him by his parents.
“(Mary) shall bring forth a son, and thou (Joseph) shalt CALL his name Jesus.” This may seem like a silly point, but hang in there for a few minutes. The God of heaven, through His angel, gave His son the name with which He was to be identified on earth. But the step-father who will raise Him must announce that name to the world.
Here is the point – God may have ordained that Jesus is the Saviour. And God may have determined the name “Jesus.” The Lord has have worked out all of the details of salvation through Christ. But it means nothing to the sinner, until, like Mary and Joseph, they are willing to admit it and embrace it.
Look at the crucifixion for example: How many people looked at what was going on at Golgotha, but missed its importance? How many people witnessed the parade of soldiers, the three prisoners, and the foreigner carrying the cross, but they had no idea what it all really meant? And how many people knew that this was Jesus of Nazareth, but still didn’t understand? It is not until they are brought by the Holy Spirit to see that this IS “Jesus” – “the one who saves his people from their sins” – that they can begin to hope for salvation. I say it reverently – the Spirit cannot reveal Christ to any man if that man is ignorant of Jesus’ saving power. He who knows the man “Jesus,” but who doesn’t know Him as “Jesus, Saviour” – doesn’t know Him at all. All his studies, all the sermons he has heard and all the books purportedly examining Jesus “the man,” are a waste until he is willing to join with Mary and Joseph, walking into God’s holy place and saying “this is Jesus, the Saviour – MY Saviour.”
This infinite and eternal son of God, created the world, and still upholds it by the word of His power. I can’t tell you how this was done during the first 3 years of Jesus’ life on earth, but it was done somehow. And during those three years and more, to Mary and Joseph was given the responsibility of nurturing and protecting the incarnate Son of God, as a baby and infant. You could say that it was their job to protect their sons, and even the name of “Jesus” from the attack of Satan and sinners. And thus we see such things and their flight into Egypt for a short stay.
Couldn’t it be said that, like His parents, we too have the responsibility to protect the name of “Jesus?” It is our job to spread that name. But it is our responsibility to preserve its proper meaning. We certainly must make it more prominent than our own. We preach “Jesus” the Saviour – “the author and finisher of our faith.” Not only is “Jesus” the name which God proscribed, it must be the name that we uplift. Will it also be the name that we uplift throughout eternity or will it be honorably set aside to be replaced entirely by a new name?
As most of you know my full name is “Kenneth David Oldfield.” There are times and places when I have to use my first name – some businesses and government departments demand it. But my parents only called me “Kenneth David” when I was in trouble. The rest of the time it was simply “David.” You could say that my legal name is “Kenneth Oldfield,” but my family name is “David.”
“Jesus” is the earthly – family name of our Saviour. It is the name that His Father gave to him. It was the name that His earthly mother and step-father called him. That was the name his brothers and sisters used when speaking of him. It was the name which was uttered by those who loved him most.
How shall we address the Saviour throughout eternity? The Bible doesn’t specifically tell us. He deserves the title “Lord” along with several other blessed titles. But will “Lord” or something equally formal, be the term which we will use to address our Saviour when we look into His face? I can’t answer that question.
This name has been worn by others, but I think it should now be His alone.
There was a Jesus before our Jesus. Stephen in Acts 7 when he was addressing his attackers said – “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. Which also our fathers that came after brought in with JESUS into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers…” Was Stephen confused or speaking allegorically when he said that “Jesus brought Israel into Canaan?” Paul referred to these same events in Hebrews 4, and then took it a step farther. “For if JESUS had given (Israel) rest (in the Promised Land) then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a (future) rest to the people of God.”
I wish that I had time to fully explain what Stephen said and what Paul was discussing there in Hebrews. I will just summarize – “Joshua,” the Hebrew equivalent of “Jesus,” brought Israel into the Promised Land. There is a sense in which he “saved them,” but it was not in a salvation from their sins. He COULD not and DID not give them eternal peace – a heavenly rest – a “sabbatismos.” Joshua was a saviour who could not really and permanently save.
The name of “Jesus” was not at all uncommon among the Jews. Josephus, the Jewish historian, mentions no less than twelve people with the name of “Jesus.” But only one of the dozen was the true “Jesus” with salvation in His wings.
And how common are saviors today? We have that physician who figures out how the Lord might heal our body, and we might call him our saviour. Some one diagnoses a brake problem in our car, keeping us from a terrible accident. Another person gives us some money and gets us out of a tight financial problem. Perhaps some of those people really are a kind of saviour, just as Joshua was. But oh, what a difference between Joshua and the Lord Jesus. These have the name but not the power, and now, Jesus Christ has been given the name, elevating it above every other name and every other name-bearer. For He alone is a Prince and a Savior, and truly saves his people from their sins. Mohammad is not the Saviour, or even a saviour, nor is the Dalai Lama, Joel Osteen, or any other man.
Other saviors only mock the hopes of the sinner. Some fool says, “I am my own saviour.” Another says that the baptism which some priest gave him saved him. Ridiculous. And how ludicrous it is that some should call Mary the “co-executer of salvation,” when she applied that name exclusively to her son. This Jesus of Nazareth, the King of kings, is the one and only Savior. He, and none but He, can save His people from their sins. And He shall accomplish that by His own act and sacrifice. He shall do all the work, and leave none undone: He shall begin it, carry it on, and complete it. Therefore is His name shall be called “Jesus,” because He shall completely/perfectly save His people from their sins. The name has been, in a minor sense, applied to others in history. But now none else should wear it, since there is no other Savior. “There is none other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved.”
And this name of “Jesus” refers to Christ’s primary purpose. Why do men write books about Christ when they nothing about His main business and object? For about twenty years there was a group of scholars calling themselves “The Jesus Seminar,” which purported to study the historicity of Jesus, getting a lot of press, but they denied His deity. How can some preach about Christ who do not know him as their Saviour? How often do you think of Franklin D. Roosevelt as a stamp collector? He was a prominent stamp collector, but that was not the biggest thing in his life. “Jesus” is not Christ’s name because He led a sinless and perfect life. “Christ” means “anointed one,” and while Jesus was God’s anointed, if that was all that He had, then we are in trouble. “Christ” doesn’t mean enough. David too was an “anointed one.” Christ taught us some things about the future – He was a prophet – but other prophets have taught us even more details about the future. “Jesus” came into this world with this primary purpose – “to save people from their sins.”
He shall save HIS people from their sins.
It isn’t to everyone that Jesus is the Saviour. He will never be the Saviour to the people He doesn’t save. To those in Hell Jesus is not the Saviour. Whom will He save? His people. Notice that this verse doesn’t say that he shall save God’s people. If that were the case, it could be interpreted that salvation would only be given to Israel. Or perhaps it might be argued that it refers to some especially good and holy people, who belonged to God.
The salvation of this Saviour will be given to those who are quite peculiar – particular people. And doesn’t this verse say that they already belong to Christ? That kind of statement rubs 99% of the people of the world in the wrong way, but it shouldn’t. Everyone knows that we shouldn’t rub a cat from tail to head, but rather from head to tail. It is even worse when we try to pet the porcupine that way. And people are just like that. If the words “his people” bothers you, it merely means you are headed in the wrong direction. Turn around.
Who are these people whom Jesus shall save? Other verses tell us that they are His “elect.” They are those whom the Father had given him before the world began. “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee… that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” He became incarnate in order to save HIS particular sheep – He called them “MY sheep.” “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep…” “Ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” The Lord knoweth them that are His, and He preserves them unto his eternal kingdom and glory. The name “Jesus” is an election name – it bears in itself a declaration of God’s choice to save his people.
That of course raises the question – who are “His people?“ How can someone know that he or she is one of Christ’s people? How can you know? Let me ask you – has the Holy Spirit taught you that YOU need to be saved from God’s wrath for your sin? Have you learned and understood that there is a lake of eternal fire reserved for sinners like us? Do you want – really and truly yearn – to be saved from that judgment? If that is truly your desire, it is a gift which God has given to you. And has the Holy Spirit made you humble enough to admit that you are unworthy of God’s forgiveness? Have you been given a change of heart about your sins? Do they make you want to wretch? Are you willing to bow before this “Jesus” – offering to Him your love and total allegiance for eternity? In other words, do you repent, and will you put your trust in Jesus alone to save you? If you bear these characteristics, then you might justly assume that you are one of Jesus’ people. However, if there is any sin for which you have no shame and which you are unwilling to give up, then you should assume that the Lord and Saviour is not working upon your heart, But if you will repent before God and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to save your unworthy soul, then you might assume that Jesus came into this world to “save YOU from your sins.”
I beg of you, before you are forced to stand before Christ the Judge of the living and the dead… Right there where you are, bow before Jesus, the Saviour. Give up your sins and put your faith in Him. Salvation doesn’t come as some sort of religious ceremony. It isn’t a part of some religious performance. Humbly, put your faith on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved from your sins.