❖ Video
❖ Audio (Message)
Immanuel (God with us)
The Third Advent (Matthew 1:18-25)
Andy Nagahara
The third week of Advent begins today. This year, Christmas is next Monday, so this is essentially the last week of waiting for Christmas. Although the end of the year is approaching and the atmosphere is hectic, today I would like to introduce a text that will help you spend this week thinking deeply about the meaning of Christmas.
That is Matthew 1:18-25. At first, let’s read up to verse 21.
A. How was the infant named Jesus? (18-21)
18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21 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.”
What I would like to note here is that the angel commanded Joseph to name the unborn child Jesus.
Now , who gave you your names? And, have you ever asked why the name was chosen? In Japan, each kanji character has a meaning, so parents choose names that reflect their wishes.
In countries with a large number of Christians, many people are named after people from the Bible, but this trend has been waning in recent years, and it seems to be well represented in the situation of the younger generation’s disengagement from the church.
If you’re interested, visit the Social Security Administration’s (SSA.gov) website to see the top 5 most popular names in the U.S. each year through 2022, the 100 most popular names over the past 100 years, and even the most popular names by state.
This chart shows the top 20 for 100 years. Can you spot the people who appear in the Bible? All marked characters are from the Bible.
Many of the names of people in the Bible have religious meanings. For example, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist in the Nativity story in Luke’s Gospel, is Greek, but the original word is Elišévaʿ in Hebrew. Eli in Elisheva means “my God,” and sheba means “oath” or “support,” so Elisheva means something like “my God is my support.” It is easy to imagine that this is now the English word Elizabeth. Similarly, Elijah is Eli + Yahweh, and Yahweh means my God. The original Hebrew pronunciation of David’s son Solomon is Sholomo, which means full of peace.
Now, I would like to get into the main topic of how Jesus got his name, but for Joseph and Mary, it was a very scandalous situation, as we just read, and it was not a fun time for a couple to come up with a name for the baby. Joseph was considering breaking off the engagement due to his fiancée’s mysterious pregnancy. Then an angel appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in Mary is by the work of the Holy Spirit. Mary will give birth to a son, and you shall name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
“Jesus” is the modern spelling of the Greek word “yesus” (᾿Ιησοῦς (Iêsoũs)). “Yesus” is the Greek pronunciation of the Hebrew word “Yeshua”. “Yeshua” is a shortened form of “Yehoshua” יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshua), which means “Yahweh (God) is salvation.” In the Japanese Bible, it is Joshua. In other words, he has the same name as Joshua from the book of Joshua. It was a very common name among Jews at the time.
Of course, the name of Jesus only appears in the New Testament, which begins with his birth into the world. Although the New Testament was written in Greek, the dominant language of the time, Jesus spoke daily in Aramaic, the language of the people of Galilee, and when teaching and arguing in other regions, he spoke in Hebrew. That is why Jesus was called “Yeshua” by the people around him.
The reason God came to this world as Jesus was to teach people about true “salvation” and help them obtain it. The name of Jesus, “Yahweh (God) is salvation,” is a word of invitation to those who knew this name but had separated from God. People were waiting for a savior, the Messiah, in difficult circumstances. However, in reality, it was not that the Savior was absent, but that they had simply turned their backs on the God who saves the world.
The angel who spoke to Joseph explained the reason for telling him to name him Jesus: “Because the child will save his people from their sins.” Sin, which the Bible teaches is the state of mind of those who turn their backs on God. The Bible teaches that this is the root of all problems. In order to announce to the world the appearance of Joshua Jesus, which represents the meaning of the name “Joshua,” which had become commonplace in Jesus’ time, God instructed Joseph through an angel to name it.
This situation has not changed much even after 2000 years. Even today, many people know the name of “Jesus” and celebrate Christmas joyfully, but not many people think about their own “salvation from sin.” Jesus wasn’t just someone who helped people with good teachings in the past. He is the one who now saves you from sin. But how can the Israeli who lived 2,000 years ago “save” us who are alive today? That will be revealed in the second half. Now let’s read the second half, verses 22-25.
B. Salvation is to escape the dominion of sin and to live with the Lord Jesus (22-25)
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” –which means, “God with us.”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
The prophet Matthew is describing here is Isaiah. By the way, speaking of Isaiah’s name, Yah means Yahweh, meaning “Yahweh’s salvation.”
In verse 23, Matthew quotes Isaiah’s prophecy from 800 years before Jesus was born into the world. The original prophecy is found in Isaiah 7:14. Matthew sees the birth of Jesus as the fulfillment of this prophecy made 800 years earlier. It also describes the meaning of the word “Immanuel.” “This means ‘God is with us.’”
In the first part, we read that the purpose of Jesus coming into the world was to save us from our sins. The second half says that the birth of Jesus fulfills Immanuel (God being with us). If we consider this together, Jesus not only existed as a person at one time in history, but He is still with us today in the form of the Holy Spirit. And walking this life with Jesus is the only way for us to be freed from the domination of sin.
Yourchurch, as well as all Christian churches, exist to convey this message, but it is one of the functions of the church, and to express the mission of the church more broadly, it is to exist as the body of Jesus. A church is not a building or a program such as worship service. In other words, we are a community where each person is connected, like a big family. Although Jesus himself cannot be seen or heard, he is with us in this community. In other words, it is easy to name a building or organization a church, but if Immanuel is not a reality there, then it cannot be called a true church.
As we look forward to this Christmas, let’s spend this week praying for a state in which Immanuel is clearly manifested within us, in the Body of Christ, Yourchurch, of which we are a part.
(Prayer) God, thank you for coming into this world as a person, Jesus, on Christmas Day 2000 years ago to save us from our sins.
Thank you for making your body, the church, exist in this world, and for 2000 years you have not given up on those who have placed their hope in you, protecting and guiding them until now.
Thank you for coming to us here in a special way and being with us forever by the presence of that body and its spread throughout the world.
Please guide us so that we may continue to walk joyfully, remembering Your Immanuel.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
Summary
The name contains the wishes of the person giving the name. God told Joseph through an angel to give him the name Jesus when he was born into the world as a human being. The name of Jesus is the only name that gives hope to those seeking salvation. Salvation from sin means that God himself approaches us and is with us. All we can do to receive that grace is to have the will to live with Jesus, not in exchange for training, labor, or donations.
For Discussion
- Why did the angel tell Joseph to name his unborn child Jesus?
- Why do you think Joseph changed his mind after deciding to break off the engagement?