Advent day 8: Name above every name

²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Joseph awoke from his dream, maybe considering just for a moment if it was real. But really, no doubt remained. He went right then to get Mary and take her home. I can imagine them walking through the marketplace, hand in hand, and Joseph telling her of the angel. Mary must have had a look of relief and a smile knowing her husband now fully believed her.

Twice in Joseph's dream is he told what to name his Son. He's told Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means 'the Lord saves'. He's then told that they will call Him Immanuel, "God with us." Again, we see the idea that God Himself will walk among us.

Jesus was fully human and fully God, having been of a virgin birth given by the Holy Spirit. Over the years many have argued against the virgin birth. The Bible stresses at the end of this passage that Joseph had no union with Mary until after Jesus' birth. This is important because it's the only way Jesus would be fully God and fully human and able to take away the sins of the world.

The word used for virgin here is the translation of the Greek word parthenos. It's used in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament). The word is never used in the Old Testament in any other meaning except literal virginity. So Isaiah, who prophesied it in the Old Testament and Matthew and Luke who told of it in the New Testament all attest to the virginity of Mary until after Jesus was born. Again, it's important to stress the importance of that. Sin had created a gap between us and God, and only God Himself could bridge that. The only way for that to happen was for God to come through a virgin and be conceived by the Holy Spirit. This way, He had birthrights to Earth and to Heaven. Fully God, fully human.

Which brings us back to His name. Jesus, Immanuel. The Lord saves, God with us. Before Jesus would ever speak a word, His name would speak for him. He would save the people from their sins, not only by dying on a cross (as if that's an "only" thing to do) but also by showing us how to live. He called us to live as He did, because He is always with us and will always show us how.

Hey God,

I pray today that You, only You, show me how to live. I'm so thankful You're leading my life even in the hard hours. I pray that I learn what it means to truly know that You are God, and You have saved me from my sin. You paid the ultimate price for those sins so that I only have to live with the Earthly consequences. Thank You for that, Immanuel.

Amen.