1 Jesus Is The Sweetest Name Matthew 1:21 20141207FBCAM Levi Durfey - http://montanapastor.wordpress.com INTRODUCTION This Christmas season we will focus in on Matthew s account of the Christmas story. Where Luke writes about what happened to Mary, Matthew gives us what happened to Joseph. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS. (Matthew 1:18 25)
2 Last time we looked at the complicated choices that Joseph and Mary were faced with, all because God chose Mary to be the bearer of his Son, Jesus Christ. Now we will zero in on verse 21, where the angel tells Joseph what to name the baby. I. JESUS IS THE SWEETEST NAME A. NAMES ARE IMPORTANT People have sometimes wondered how Tami and I came up with the names for our children: Noah, Noël, Nobl, Nodi, Nory, and Noln. They all start with No, they all have four letters and two syllables (because our names, Tami and Levi, have four letters and two syllables). Noah was named after the Noah in the Bible and Noël after the wife of a pastor in Minnesota. Nobl (spelled without the final e ) was, as my mother put it, a good strong name. Nodi was named after a friend in Minnesota. At some point I printed a computer generated list of all the possible combinations of four letters that begin with No (there are 676 combinations). We found Nory on that list. Tami is 100% Norwegian, so the name Nory is a nod to Norway. Noln was another name off from that list his middle name is Hogan, which is my mother s maiden name. Parents can give a lot of thought to their children s name. It becomes a part of their personality and identity. Have you ever met someone and after learning their name (e.g., Fred), you think, They look like a Fred!?
3 Our names are important to us, and in the Bible, names take on even more significance. Many Bible characters have names that tell us something about them. B. NAMES CAN HAVE SPECIAL MEANING Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, means, father of a great multitude. David, known for his great intimacy with God, means, Beloved. Moses means saved from the water, a reference to how he was found by the Pharaoh s daughter. Jesus name also has special meaning Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. τέξεται δὲ υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν. This is God s Son, not Joseph s, who will be born of Mary. God doesn t leave anything to chance he picks the name and thou shalt call his name JESUS: Both Mary (in Luke 1:31) and Joseph are told what to name the baby. Now, if God has chosen this name, it can t but be the most perfect name for Jesus. C. JOSHUA WAS LIKE JESUS Jesus is the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament name, Joshua. Both names mean Jehovah saves. Joshua (who was so name by Moses in Numbers 13:16) and Jesus have more in common than just their names; David Jeremiah points out that
4 There are many Bible scholars who believe Joshua is an Old Testament picture of Jesus. And there are some wonderful points of resemblance in this way. Joshua led the Israelites out of the wilderness into the Promised Land. Jesus, as our Savior, brings us out of the wilderness of sin into the spiritual Promised Land. Joshua led his people to conquest over their enemies and their walled cities and their tall giants. Jesus leads us to conquest over the enemies of our soul, and helps us to fight against life s difficult giants of temptation and trial and testing. As our Joshua, Jesus leads us to the inheritance that God has promised us. 1 Joshua was a kind of savior for the Israelites, but Jesus is a Savior for all people. Joshua got the Israelites into the Promised Land, but he could not ultimately do what Jesus could do in saving us (Hebrews 4:8). D. JESUS IS THE SWEETEST NAME Jesus, in the words of J.C. Ryle, is a very encouraging name to heavy-laden sinners. He who is King of kings and Lord of lords might lawfully have taken some more high-sounding title. But he did not do so. The rulers of this world have often called themselves Great, Conqueror, Bold, Magnificent, and the like. The Son of God was content to call himself Saviour. 2 1 David Jeremiah, Celebrate His Love: Study Guide, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), 80. 2 J. C. Ryle, Matthew, Crossway Classic Commentaries, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1993), 4 5.
5 For believers, Jesus is the sweetest name that we can know. The hymn by Lela Long begins There have been names that I have loved to hear, But never has there been a name so dear To this heart of mine, as the name divine, The precious, precious name of Jesus, Jesus is the sweetest name I know, And He's just the same as His lovely name, And that's the reason why I love Him so; Oh, Jesus is the sweetest name I know. Is Jesus name sweet to you because you know and believe in II. THE SWEET NAME THAT SAVES US FROM OUR SINS Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. τέξεται δὲ υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν. A. JESUS CARES ABOUT SAVING YOU FROM SIN Why were Mary and Joseph supposed to name the baby Jesus? Because his name means Jehovah saves and Jesus would save his people from their sins. First, let me explain that phrase, his people. That is first going to refer to the Jewish people, right? But the Jewish people, as a nation, rejected Jesus. John tells us that He came unto his own, and his own received him not (John 1:11).
6 But now, the good news of Jesus goes to everyone Jew and non-jew. The Bible says: 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16) Jesus goal is to save (σώσει, Fut. Act. from σῴζω, rescue, deliver from death) us from our sins. Matthew presents Jesus as a healer and a miracle worker, but not just for the sake of working miracles. Jesus ultimate and real interest is to save people from sins. 2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee [think what the paralyzed man might have thought]. 3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. (Matthew 9:2 6) Now Jesus cares about your physical ailments he indeed does. But he cares more about your sins. He wants to cure you from your sins! B. SINS REQUIRE AN INFINITE PENALTY What are sins (ἁμαρτιῶν, Gen. Pl. Fem, from ἁμαρτία)? Sins are departures from God s standards (BDAG). Isaiah defines sin All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way (Isaiah 53:6a).
7 Why do we sin? Without question the root of the reason that we sin is because we don t believe we don t trust that God knows what is best for us. We get angry with our spouse or boss because we don t believe that God is right about loving our enemy we may know that s what he says, but deep down, we don t believe it. That s what the serpent convinced Eve of 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:4 5) So sin is an affront to God because it is a disbelief in him. In a way (careful), every time you sin, you are saying, God, you donʼt know what is best for me; God, you are holding back on me. Many people don t view their activities as sins only merely differences of opinion with God. But all sins are serious to God. In God s eyes, the greatness of the sin is determined by the greatness of the one we sin against. We see this principle when we think about what would happen in you threatened your neighbor versus what would happen if you threatened the President or a Senator. How great is God? He is infinitely great. Therefore, an infinite penalty must be extracted to pay for a personal affront against an infinite God. But God is a great God. He is an infinite God. So, in his infinite mercy, he sent his Son Jesus to come and die for our sins and pay that infinite penalty.
8 Now, how could this person Jesus pay the infinite penalty of the sins of so many people? Because he, being God born as a man, was himself infinitely righteous. 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23) III. IS JESUS NAME SWEET TO YOU? Many of us have observed the children at church as they go from one grandma to another collecting Smarties. The other day I thought about how quickly they have become attached to sweets. Why is candy sweet to children (and to us)? I am sure there s an explanation that involves the way sugar tickles our brain cells, but I think most kids would say that candy is sweet to us because just because. Why is Jesus name so sweet to believers? There s something to ponder this Christmas season why is Jesus name sweet to you? The first answer (and there are others that you can meditate on), is the salvation we can have in Jesus name. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) Salvation in the truest sense is when a person comes to recognize that they are a sinner and that Jesus, and only Jesus, has paid for their sin. All they need to do to be saved is to place their trust in the name of Jesus. But this salvation is not just from the penalty of sin, but also the progressive cleansing of sinful behavior in our lives:
9 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9 11) Those three words emphasize salvation and change in a person s life. When we are saved, we are justified made right with God. We are sanctified, set apart from sin and set apart to God. We are washed made clean before God. This works itself out in our lives: The thief stops stealing. The drunkard stops drinking. The fornicator stops their sexual activities outside of marriage. After listing all these sins, Paul says and such were some of you. There s a break with our old lives. And why? How? Because we are are washed sanctified justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. Is his name sweet to you? Do you trust the name of Jesus?