Title: Jesus; the blessed name of our blessed Lord!
Text: Luke 2:21Facebook live: No live service
21And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
The naming of a child is an important time and wonderful joy in the life of a family. The name can have a great significance and family heritage. It can be connected to the past and to the future, as with those names that have a Jr. or III (the third) connected to them.
My youngest brother Tom when he was very little asked my mom, “Why didn’t you name me after Grandpa?” My mom said, “Oh, did you want to be called Stephen?” “No,” he said, “I wanted to be called Grandpa.”
The naming of a child carries with it much significance.
My grandson is named Jackson Albert Tkac.
Jackson is a surname-turned-baby name. It literally means “son of John” (since Jack is a variation of John)—and since John means “God has been gracious,” it shares that meaning as well.
Albert was my dad’s name and Jackson is named after my son’s grandfather.
All of this has some significance and is special to the naming of a child.
After the birth of John the Baptist in the previous chapter in the Gospel of Luke we read:
Luke 1:59-66 (ESV)
59And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60but his mother answered, "No; he shall be called John." 61And they said to her, "None of your relatives is called by this name." 62And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. 63And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And they all wondered. 64 And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, 66 and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.
The naming of the child had then, as it does in many cases now, a connection to family. John was not a name that had significance in the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth until the visit of the angel Gabriel. Mary too was also given the name of Jesus by divine intervention.
This name which means the Lord who saves is in fact His mission. He who was “in the beginning with God” is now and for all time God with us.
From our Christmas Eve reading:
20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
The given name of Jesus the promise of God with us – Immanuel or as Isaiah proclaimed the many names and titles of the God / man to come in the person and work of Jesus:
And, as Isaiah has proclaimed the name of God’s savior:
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
[A sampling of names and titles]
1. Savior
2. Redeemer
3. Bread of Life / Bread from Heaven
4. Lord
5. Creator
6. Son of the Living God
7. Only Begotten Son
8. Beloved Son
9. Holy One of Israel
10–14. Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace
15. King of Kings
16. Head of the Church
17. The Almighty
18. Alpha and Omega
19. Master
20. King of the Jews
21. High Priest
22. Prophet
23. Teacher
24. Immanuel
25. Advocate
26. Mediator
27. Judge
28. Chief Cornerstone
29. Author and Finisher of Our Faith
30. Lamb of God
31. Good Shepherd
32. The Shepherd and Bishop of Souls
33. The Word
34. Fountain of Living Waters
35. Rock
36. Messiah
37. True Vine
38. Branch
39. Bridegroom
40. Dayspring
41. Shiloh
42. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah
43. The Bright and Morning Star
44. The Image of the Invisible God
45. I Am
46. Son of Man
47. Carpenter
48. The Way, the Truth and the Life
49. King of Israel
50. Christ
The children of Israel in the time of the Exodus had God and the promise of freedom from the slavery in Egypt. But still they grumbled.
In the book of Numbers we read:
4Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 5And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink." Num. 20:4-5
11And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.
They drank from the Rock in the desert.
St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians:
1For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 1 Cor.1:1-4
5Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
We too fail to see the blessing in the name of God. You and I misuse the name of the Lord so how are we better than those who doubted God’s word through Moses? We aren’t.
God, whose love for you is so profound that He would join Himself to human flesh is in today’s Gospel receiving the mark of circumcision, the mark of the covenant between God and man; the mark placed upon the very God/man Jesus Christ who is also receiving His name today.
Every moment after the incarnation, Jesus draws one step closer to completing our redemption.
Every act, in the life of Jesus, is God’s action in the fulfillment of His promise for you. His circumcision and naming today are the beginning of the end for the power of sin, the corruption of the flesh and the tempting of the Devil.
Jesus, by His perfect obedience to the Law will by this obedience complete the requirements of the Law for you. By the name of Jesus, He will save His people from their sin.
God has a name and that name is Jesus!
God too, by the power of His spirit, gives you faith to believe this blessed good news.
The Epistle lesson today is worth repeating:
23Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.29And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
As Luther once said:
“All we who believe on Christ are kings and priests in Christ.”
― Martin Luther, Concerning Christian Liberty - Martin Luther
Today, as you look forward to all that is new, as we begin another New Year, remember that Jesus came to earth for you.
Jesus became man for you.
Jesus was marked at his circumcision for you.
Jesus fulfilled the Law for you and has suffered and died on the cross for you and was raised for your justification so that you will rise too … and He lives to intercede by the power of the Holy Spirit for you.
Jesus; the blessed name of our blessed Lord - for you!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
21And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
The naming of a child is an important time and wonderful joy in the life of a family. The name can have a great significance and family heritage. It can be connected to the past and to the future, as with those names that have a Jr. or III (the third) connected to them.
My youngest brother Tom when he was very little asked my mom, “Why didn’t you name me after Grandpa?” My mom said, “Oh, did you want to be called Stephen?” “No,” he said, “I wanted to be called Grandpa.”
The naming of a child carries with it much significance.
My grandson is named Jackson Albert Tkac.
Jackson is a surname-turned-baby name. It literally means “son of John” (since Jack is a variation of John)—and since John means “God has been gracious,” it shares that meaning as well.
Albert was my dad’s name and Jackson is named after my son’s grandfather.
All of this has some significance and is special to the naming of a child.
After the birth of John the Baptist in the previous chapter in the Gospel of Luke we read:
Luke 1:59-66 (ESV)
59And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60but his mother answered, "No; he shall be called John." 61And they said to her, "None of your relatives is called by this name." 62And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. 63And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And they all wondered. 64 And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, 66 and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.
The naming of the child had then, as it does in many cases now, a connection to family. John was not a name that had significance in the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth until the visit of the angel Gabriel. Mary too was also given the name of Jesus by divine intervention.
This name which means the Lord who saves is in fact His mission. He who was “in the beginning with God” is now and for all time God with us.
From our Christmas Eve reading:
20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
The given name of Jesus the promise of God with us – Immanuel or as Isaiah proclaimed the many names and titles of the God / man to come in the person and work of Jesus:
And, as Isaiah has proclaimed the name of God’s savior:
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
[A sampling of names and titles]
1. Savior
2. Redeemer
3. Bread of Life / Bread from Heaven
4. Lord
5. Creator
6. Son of the Living God
7. Only Begotten Son
8. Beloved Son
9. Holy One of Israel
10–14. Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace
15. King of Kings
16. Head of the Church
17. The Almighty
18. Alpha and Omega
19. Master
20. King of the Jews
21. High Priest
22. Prophet
23. Teacher
24. Immanuel
25. Advocate
26. Mediator
27. Judge
28. Chief Cornerstone
29. Author and Finisher of Our Faith
30. Lamb of God
31. Good Shepherd
32. The Shepherd and Bishop of Souls
33. The Word
34. Fountain of Living Waters
35. Rock
36. Messiah
37. True Vine
38. Branch
39. Bridegroom
40. Dayspring
41. Shiloh
42. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah
43. The Bright and Morning Star
44. The Image of the Invisible God
45. I Am
46. Son of Man
47. Carpenter
48. The Way, the Truth and the Life
49. King of Israel
50. Christ
The children of Israel in the time of the Exodus had God and the promise of freedom from the slavery in Egypt. But still they grumbled.
In the book of Numbers we read:
4Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 5And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink." Num. 20:4-5
11And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.
They drank from the Rock in the desert.
St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians:
1For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 1 Cor.1:1-4
5Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
We too fail to see the blessing in the name of God. You and I misuse the name of the Lord so how are we better than those who doubted God’s word through Moses? We aren’t.
God, whose love for you is so profound that He would join Himself to human flesh is in today’s Gospel receiving the mark of circumcision, the mark of the covenant between God and man; the mark placed upon the very God/man Jesus Christ who is also receiving His name today.
Every moment after the incarnation, Jesus draws one step closer to completing our redemption.
Every act, in the life of Jesus, is God’s action in the fulfillment of His promise for you. His circumcision and naming today are the beginning of the end for the power of sin, the corruption of the flesh and the tempting of the Devil.
Jesus, by His perfect obedience to the Law will by this obedience complete the requirements of the Law for you. By the name of Jesus, He will save His people from their sin.
God has a name and that name is Jesus!
God too, by the power of His spirit, gives you faith to believe this blessed good news.
The Epistle lesson today is worth repeating:
23Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.29And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
As Luther once said:
“All we who believe on Christ are kings and priests in Christ.”
― Martin Luther, Concerning Christian Liberty - Martin Luther
Today, as you look forward to all that is new, as we begin another New Year, remember that Jesus came to earth for you.
Jesus became man for you.
Jesus was marked at his circumcision for you.
Jesus fulfilled the Law for you and has suffered and died on the cross for you and was raised for your justification so that you will rise too … and He lives to intercede by the power of the Holy Spirit for you.
Jesus; the blessed name of our blessed Lord - for you!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
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