What's In A Name?
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21 NIV)
What's in a name? Throughout scripture, the names of various people carry great meaning, and oft-times are perfect descriptions of the people who carry the names. When God made His covenant with Abram, He changed Abram's name ("Exalted Father") to Abraham ("Father of Many"). God changed Abram’s wife’s name, too. He changed Sarai's to Sarah. Although both names mean "princess", the changing of her name signified her new position under the covenant as the mother of kings. Abigail's first husband was named Nabal, which means "fool". And Nabal was definitely a fool! (See 1 Samuel 25 for the story.) It's only in recent times that we've gotten away from the meanings of names and begun to give our children names that just sound good, names that we like, and quite often, names with no meaning at all.
The name Jesus is the name above all names. Jesus means "The Lord saves". In that one name is the embodiment of the greatest and most wonderful thing that ever happened to mankind. In that one name is the sum total of our salvation.
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Jesus came to earth to die for you and me. He came to pay the entire price for all of our sins. Why? Because there is not one person, other than Jesus, who has ever been or who will ever be good enough to stand innocent before God. Not one person has ever been or will ever be without sin of any kind. Not one. No matter how good a person seems, no matter how much good that person does for those around him or her, no matter how sinless a person seems to you and me -- not one has ever been or will ever be perfect, without blemish, without flaw.
God cannot look on sin. It is so repugnant to Him that He cannot stand to have it in His presence. For this reason, Jesus was sacrificed for you and me. And the blood that He shed on the cross washed away the sins of every person in the world who has or will accept His free gift. Through His death on the cross, He made it possible for you and me to stand blameless before God. No matter what we've done. No matter how bad we've been. No matter what. You and I can praise the name of Jesus - The Lord Saves - for what He's done for you and me!
From Newsong Ministries
Used with permission.
