I have to confess to having a similar problem with the name “Jesus.” But I fear that my problem is more mental than spiritual. I think that many people 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. Since some are so presumptuous with the name of “Jesus,” I instinctively shy away from it. 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 Bible. The Name “Jesus” is found nearly a thousand times 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.” So I certainly cannot rebuke anyone for calling his Saviour by the name of “Jesus.” But personally, I’d prefer to elevate him with names and titles carrying just a bit more respect.
I say all that to tell you that I’m pushing my own envelope this morning – in fact all day. I’m stepping beyond my personal comfort level. I’m trying to rise above myself in adopting language which first flowed from the lips of an angel of God.
“Jesus” is 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 an eternal decree made about the purpose for His incarnation. (“Incarnation” of course refers to His becoming incarnate – taking up a body – a human body.) Since infinite wisdom has determined this name, we can be sure that is an excellent, if not 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 record that we have here. And He tells us “for he shall save his people from their sins.” “Savior” is the meaning of the name 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” – not according to any temporary and common salvation – from enemies and troubles, but He saves from spiritual enemies, and especially from sin. Joshua of was a saviour of sorts, as was Gideon, and David was a saviour. But the title 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.”
The word “save” is so rich and full that it’s hard to express in simple English words. Jesus is salvation in the sense of deliverance and also in of preservation. The original word means to preserve, 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 theology which teaches that man is his own saviour. Jesus provides a great salvation, or as Paul puts is “so great salvation,” as if he felt that he could never express its greatness. Paul then quotes Isaiah and calls it “eternal salvation.” Glorious beyond description is the name “Jesus,” because by that very name the eternal God guarantees the success of the Savior. He declares that He shall save his people, and save His people He must.
Later this same “Jesus” is described as the bearer of the sinner’s sin. He is the fulfilment of the scape goat – upon whom the High Priest placed the sins of Israel every year. And off that goat went into the wilderness, carrying those sins upon his head. And 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?”
Here is the point – God may have ordained that Jesus is the Saviour. And God may have determined the name “Jesus.” The Lord may 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. 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 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 reverently – the Spirit cannot reveal Christ to any man if that man is ignorant of His saving power. He who doesn’t know Him as “Jesus – the Saviour” – doesn’t know him at all. All the studies, seminars and books purportedly examining Jesus “the man,” are a waste until those experts are willing to say with Mary and Joseph, this is “Jesus – the Saviour.”
The infinite and eternal son of God, created the world, and still upholds it by the word of His power. I can’t speak with authority about how this was done during the first three 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 God, as a baby and infant. You could say that it was their job to protect 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. And 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? Recently I talked about my own name – “Kenneth David Oldfield.” There are times and places when I have to use my first name – people insist. 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 family name is “Oldfield,” but my home name is “David.”
“Jesus” is the home name of our Saviour. It is the name that his Father gave to him. It was the name that his mother and step-father used to call him. That was the name that his brothers and sisters used when speaking of him. It was the name which was used by those who loved him most.
How shall we address the Saviour throughout eternity? I’m not smart enough to know the answer. He deserves the title “Lord” and several others. But will “Lord” or something equally formal, be the terms which we will use to address our Saviour? I can’t answer that question.
I wish that I had time to fully explain what Paul was discussing there in Hebrews. Let’s 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 a salvation from their sins. He could not and did not give them eternal peace – a heavenly rest – a “sabbatismos.” He 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 break problem in our car, keeping us from a terrible accident. Another person gives us some money and gets us out of a tight jam. Perhaps some of them 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.
Other saviours only mock the hopes of the sinner. Some fool says, “I am my own saviour.” Ha! Another says that his baptism 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, shall save his people. 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 called “Jesus,” because he shall completely and 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 who know nothing about His main business and object? 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 but that was not the biggest thing in his life. “Jesus” is not Christ’s name because He led a sinless and perfect life, although He did. “Christ” means “anointed one,” and while that is true, if that was all that He had, then we are in trouble. It doesn’t mean enough. And 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. “Jesus” came into this world with this purpose – to save people from their sins.
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’s 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 that 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?” He shall save his people from their sins, and many people want to know if they are in that number. Let me ask you – has the Holy Spirit taught you that YOU need to be saved from your sin? Have you learned and understood that there is a lake of eternal fire reserved for sinners like us? Do you want to be saved from it? Has the Holy Spirit made you humble enough to admit that you are completely unworthy of salvation? 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. But if there is any sin for which you have no shame, and you are unwilling to give it up. If there is anyone or anything that you’d like to add to the sacrifice of Christ for your redemption, then you are an alien to God and not one of Jesus’ people.
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.”