The Wednesday Word ~ 31 December, 2025 A.D.
Call His Name Jesus
“---thou shalt call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins." - Matthew 1:21 [KJV]
This remarkable verse is both a promise and a prophesy. It is a prophesy because it was inseparably linked with Christ´s future work of saving His people. It was and is a promise for all of us who are so ruined that we know we cannot save ourselves.
Listen again as the angel says, “He shall save.” What a thrilling promise! He’s not going to try to save or to do His best to save … No! He shall save.
Think about it, since He saves, it makes abundant sense to abandon all our silly efforts to save ourselves!
Also, in this verse we see some excellent instruction on Christ’s deity. Notice how His parents were to “call His name Jesus.” This name is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua which means “Yahweh, our Saviour.” Of course, the name Jesus was a common one in those days. Clearly, people who bore that name were not the LORD incarnate. Obviously, for example, General Joshua of Old Testament fame was not God manifest in the flesh. But when we read of the naming of Jesus, we are confronted immediately by the truth that Jesus is Yahweh. So, what’s the difference? Why is Jesus God but Joshua only a mere man?
Good question!
To answer it, let’s look at the text and ask why it is that Jesus is Yahweh the Saviour. The reason is simple, “He shall save His people from their sins!”
Remember this, salvation is the work of Yahweh alone (see Isaiah 45:22). And, since Jesus accomplished salvation, we must conclude that by doing so He declared His identity and demonstrated that He is Yahweh the Saviour!
Let’s put it this way. It is the unique function of Yahweh to save His people, and since the Lord Jesus has this same characteristic function, we must conclude that Christ and Yahweh are one and the same! Jesus is God! If, however, Jesus does not save His people, He is not Yahweh.
So, what about those other children who were called Jesus or Joshua in those days? Were they also Jehovah in human flesh? No! They were called ‘Jesus’ by their parents. The difference between them and the Master was that Jesus was named by the Father. It was by God’s direct instructions that Christ was to be named Jesus. Often in Scripture, when God names someone He identifies them as who they really are. Consider this, God has called (named) all believers sons of God (I John 3:1). The reason we are so-called is that we are actually God´s children.
Again, we see that God changed the name of Jacob, whose name meant ‘supplanter’, to Israel, which means ‘one who rules with God’. This is who Jacob had become, and God, therefore, called him accordingly. When God named a person, His naming of them decreed what they were and what they would do. Thus, the Master was named Jesus. In effect, the angel said, “Call Him Yahweh Saves, for He is the one who shall save His people from their sins.”
In conclusion, this child would not be merely “Yahweh a Saviour” for He is much more; He is “Yahweh our Saviour”, the one through whom our sins and iniquities have been taken away. So, remember, every time we call on this wonderful name of Jesus, we are affirming our belief that He is the mighty God! If we don’t believe that He is God, we should not call Him Jesus.
And that’s the Gospel Truth!
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