Warren W. Wiersbe - New Testament Words for Today

And [Joseph] did not know [Mary] till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus .

MATTHEW 1:25

T he Lord is not in a hurry. For centuries, God had led different people in different places to do different things to prepare the way for the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, and now he had come. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son (Gal. 4:4). In Malachi 1:11, God had promised that his name would be great among the nations, and now the one had arrived who would fulfill that promise (John 17:4). His is the first name and the last name in the New Testament (Matt. 1:1; Rev. 22:21); and between those verses, the name of Jesus is mentioned over nine hundred times. In the first chapter of Matthew, the name Jesus is linked with two other names: Christ and Immanuel . His official name is Christ , which means anointed and reminds us that Jesus is prophet, priest, and king. In the Hebrew nation, the men in these offices were always anointed with special oil. Immanuel means God with us, reminding us that Jesus is God and is always present with his people. Jesus is his personal name, and it means Savior. Lets think about that name.

Jesus is a divinely appointed name . The angel who visited Mary told her to call her son Jesus (Luke 1:31); and in his dream Joseph saw an angel who gave him the same command (Matt. 1:21), which he obeyed (v. 25). When the baby was circumcised, Jesus was the name given to him (Luke 2:21). The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew Yehoshua (Joshua), which means the Lord saves. The phrase He will save His people in Matthew 1:21 does not refer only to the salvation of Jewish people but to that of all those who put their trust in Jesus.

Jesus is an honorable name . It belonged to Hoshea, one of the twelve spies, but Moses changed it to Joshua (Num. 13:8, 16). During the wilderness march, Joshua had been Mosess special assistant and the general of the army, but God made him Mosess successor and he led the nation into the Promised Land. But the name Joshua also belonged to the high priest who served the Jewish remnant that went to the Holy Land after the exile in Babylon (Hag. 1:1). Because of the prominence of these two men, a general and a high priest, many Jewish boys were named Joshua, which in the Greek language is Jesus .

Jesus is an effective name . What good news that Jesus is the Savior of lost sinners! Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). But there is more. He is the master and friend of saved sinners! His people have the privilege of prayer because of the authority of his name. And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:1314). In his name we have the authority to proclaim the gospel (Luke 24:47), the opportunity to assemble with other believers and worship (Matt. 18:20), and the privilege to suffer for his names sake (Acts 5:41; 1 Pet. 4:14).

Jesus is an abused name . People use his name as a swear word or else they use a minced oath, such as gee or jeeze. (Other minced oaths are golly and gosh and jiminy crickets.) But its up to us as Gods children to magnify the name of Jesus by our good works, our godly walk, and our gracious speech.

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth.

Philippians 2:910