In Matthew's Steps: In the Name

Welcome to a new series! For the next 28 weeks, we'll be watching Jesus through the eyes of Matthew. Each week we'll take one chapter of Matthew and explore one element of it. We won't cover it all, but we will get a glimpse of Jesus through this apostle's eyes. So... without further ado...

On Matthew’s Path: In the Name...

Preparing to Walk: Read: Matthew 1

Focus verse: “...and you will give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

The Meditation
How do you choose a name? How do you find a name that is right for your children? Or even for your dog? How do you know what to call something when it's up to you to figure it out?

Choosing names for our children was an adventure. For the most part, their names are family names. Our oldest boy, William, is named after his two grandfathers. William being my father and Douglas being my wife’s father. Lynne, my daughter and the youngest of the family, found her name in much the same way. Lynne is my wife’s middle name. Estelle, hyphenated into her first name, is her mother’s middle name and Shirley, her middle name, is my wife’s mother’s first name.

Only our middle son, Matthew, found a name that was outside of our family. Matthew’s name just came to us. While his middle name, Albert, was my grandfather’s name, Matthew really doesn’t appear anywhere in our family line. We had chosen a few names to consider, Matthew being one of them, but when my wife saw our son lying in her arms, she knew he was a Matthew. Somehow it all just made sense.

I wonder if Joseph had the same experience when he went to name Jesus. For starters, he didn’t really want Jesus to begin with. He was a righteous man, though, and “...did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”(vs. 19) In those times, names were given by the fathers and they meant something. To name a child was to claim it as your own. And the names themselves were important too. They weren’t just words or sounds by which you were known, they spoke of your character. They were often derived from family names, much like how we named our children, but often not. In every case, the name actually meant something. It defined who you are and who you would become. Or it spoke of the circumstances of your birth.

Thus the name, Jacob, for example, given to the original patriarch means “one who grasps the heel” or “deceiver.” Jacob is the man who deceives his father and steals his brother’s birth right. “Issac”, his father, means literally “I laughed” and harkens back to the time when Sarah, his mother, laughed when she was told she would give birth at her old age. Judah was named “Thank God” because, as it says in Genesis 29:35, his mother said: “This time I will praise the Lord.” Each name meant something. Each name was unique.

So what does “Jesus” mean and why is it so significant? Jesus is the greek form of the name “Joshua” which literally means “The Lord saves.” Joshua calls us back to stories in the Old Testament, where by the Lord’s help, a young man by the same name tore down the walls of Jericho and led the people of Israel in countless victories against their oppressors. “The Lord Saves” reshaped the Holy Land and helped establish Israel there after the Exodus from Egypt.

Calling this little baby “The Lord Saves” or Jesus in greek, brands him for great things. For victories against God’s oppressors. For salvation for God’s chosen people, Israel. For a life lived in safety, where “swords will be ground into plowshares.” For a time when the Messiah will reign!

Only...that’s not what God has in mind. Not at all. This baby wasn’t destined to rule the earth. The baby was destined to die...and rise again! I wonder sometimes how closely Joseph listened to the angel’s message. The angel says: “[Mary] will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” It’s this last part that I wonder if he got...if any of them got!

Jesus wasn’t going to be just another king in the long line of kings before him. He wasn’t going to be like David and clear out Jerusalem of their enemies. He wasn’t going to be like Solomon and establish relations with other countries and providences. He wasn’t going to follow in Hezekiah or Ahaz’s footprints. He wasn’t even going to do what Josiah did and re-establish the law. All of these were forefathers of Jesus, but Jesus was going to do something completely different! Instead, Jesus was born to defeat the trues enemies of God’s people: sin and death! He’ll put an end to sin by his death and an end to death by his resurrection. He will be “The Lord Saves” as the Lord truly means it. He will not be taken by the world’s power. He won’t just be another failed king. Instead, he give them what they truly need. Freedom from sin, death, and the devil, and a whole new life. That’s what they need. And that’s what they’ll get!

I wonder if Joseph ever realized this. I wonder if after his conversation with the angel he went back to Mary, put his hand on her stomach, and realized the baby growing within her. What that baby would do. Who that baby would be. Legend tells us Joseph never lived to see that baby grow up to be the man named Jesus. But I know that, while they were alive together, Joseph molded and shaped his son, helping him see what his name truly meant, and helping prepare Jesus for the life he would lead to save us all. For Joseph’s naming Jesus is just one step in the long journey God took to bring salvation to us all. Amen.

Questions to Ponder...
1) Jesus has a long line of questionable characters in his past.
Judah... (Genesis 29:31-35)
Tamar... Genesis 38
Rahab... (Joshua 5:13-6:27)
Ruth... (Book of Ruth)
Bathsheba... (2 Samuel 11)
Who are the questionable characters in your own past? How have their lives influenced yours?

2) What does your name mean? Why is the meaning of your name significant? Is it?

3) What other ways could “The Lord Saves” have been interpreted? Is the way Jesus lives out his identity strange? Or not?

A Prayer to Pray...
Lord Jesus, you lived out your name in everything you did. The Lord Saves acted out salvation for us all. Help us live out our vocations, our callings, in the same way that we might be the people you have made us, living for your sake. Amen.