Listen to sermon
Pastor Tom Johnson, January 1, 2017
Jesus. The Greek is Iesous which is a transliteration of the Aramaic Yeshua. The Aramaic Yeshua is a later form of the name Yehoshua or Joshua. We pronounce the first letter as a hard consonant “J” because of our Germanic roots. All this to say that Jesus is the same name as Joshua. And Joshua means “The Lord is salvation” Yehoshua or “Yahweh delivers.”
You will remember that Joshua is the one who delivers God’s people out of the wilderness into the Promised Land. Moses raises up Joshua because he was one of the spies that trusted God to bring them safely to their ancestral home. Joshua commanded with his heart, mind, and sword. He was the kind of general that led from the front lines and was the first to enter that battle.
If Joshua had a heavenly counterpart it would be the Archangel Michael. Joshua led God’s people through war with flesh and blood. Michael leads the heavenly host in the strength and power of the Blood of the Lamb. Maybe that’s why God chose the angels to share the message of the name Jesus. They already know what it is to battle is the strength of Yehoshua—the “Lord of Salvation”—“Yahweh who delivers.” Even before he was conceived—before he took on humanity in the womb of the Virgin Mary—he bore the name of the One who casts the Devil, the demons, and evil into the eternal lake of fire.
The angel told Joseph his father to name him Jesus. And so he does at the time when fathers would officially name their children—at circumcision. On the eighth day, all male Hebrew children would receive the mark of true children of God. The eternal Son of God clothed himself in humanity in the strong name of Jesus. And he spilled his first drop of blood at Circumcision in the mighty name of Jesus. He delivers us through his Body and Blood from the very beginning.
And so we are called to pray in the name of Jesus, to confront sin in the name of Jesus, to battle our demons in the name of Jesus, to greet one another in the name of Jesus, to serve—even a cold glass of water—in the name of Jesus. Scripture says, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” And “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). And again, “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Philippians 2:10).
We should pause and reflect when we hear the name Jesus. His name authenticates. His name empowers. His name delivers. His name transforms lives eternally. His name carries the full weight of the Kingdom over which he reigns. Just as the Word made Flesh receives the name Jesus at conception and circumcision, so we receive the family name at our new birth at Baptism. We are Christened and reborn royal daughters and sons. We are full and true citizens of the Kingdom of Yehoshua. Jesus is our King. He is our Brother. And we are co-heirs with him.
Jesus! Name of wondrous love,
Name all other names above,
Unto which must ev’ry knee
Bow in deep humility.
Jesus! Name of priceless worth
To the fallen of the earth
For the promise that it gave,
“Jesus shall His people save.”
Jesus! Name of wondrous love,
Name all other names above.
(William W. How, 1823 – 97)
No comments:
Post a Comment