You Shall Call His Name Jesus
Meditating on Salvation
Midweek Advent 2
9 December 2015 – Redeemer
You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Matt 1:18
I don’t think anyone in the world doubts their need to be saved. If I conducted a survey, every one of you could list at least one dungeon from which you want to be set free. I need to be saved from – fill in the blank. The evil in the world, the fear of Islam or mass shootings, an unhappy marriage, an unfulfilling job, my cancer, my daughter’s cancer, alcoholism, poverty, depression, my husband’s dementia, the death of my child, let me count the chains and evil masters from which I need to be saved.
But when your salvation begins with you, your Savior is a designer Savior, designed to meet whatever salvation you need. Your Savior would make you happy. Your Savior would fix all those people causing you worry and fear and sadness. A designer Jesus would cure alcoholism, cancer, and make all work enjoyable. He would keep our children from dying or getting sick and would give them perfect marriages that would result in perfect grandchildren.
But such a Savior would not save us, not in the end. A Savior of your own design is really a savior of the Devil’s design for it is a savior designed apart from God’s Word. Your Savior would take care of all the problems out there because that’s where you think all the problems are – out there. God’s Savior is sent to fix the real problem. Jesus isn’t sent to save you from what is out there – He is sent to save you from yourself. You will call His name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
The name Jesus means “The Lord saves.” That means the Lord is doing the work and since He is the Lord of heaven and earth He knows exactly what work needs to be done. The angel of the Lord told Joseph exactly what the Lord’s Savior would do – He will save His people from their sins.
Repent. Your trouble isn’t out there. It is in here. When you see violence in the world repent of your own anger and hatred. When you see a couple getting divorced repent of your own unfaithfulness and wandering heart. When your body ages and breaks and wears out, repent of the sin you were born with.
Repent, but do no lose heart. For that would be as bad as designing your own Savior. The good news of Advent is that God has sent the exact and only Savior you need. You were created by God in His image and when your sin ruined that image, God Himself alone restore that image. He knows exactly what to do and in mercy He does it for you.
God the Father sends His only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. Already in the womb He was given a name – a name from heaven. Jesus – the Lord saves. If you read only parts of the story of Jesus you might get the impression He could be a designer Savior. After all He did save people from every trouble under the sun. He saved Peter and the disciples from drowning in a storm. He saved lepers from their leprosy and blind people from their blindness. He saved dead people from death. He restored broken families. And not only did he do “big salvation” events – like raising the dead. He also did little saving events – He saved a wedding that had run out of wine and He saved a couple of crowds from growing hungry.
All of those acts of salvation, great or small, find their source and fulfillment in the act of salvation. Jesus made it clear – I must go to Jerusalem. I will be betrayed into the hands of sinful men. He will be crucified and three days later I rise from the dead. Three times in Matthew’s Gospel He tells His disciples that is what is going to happen. His betrayal, suffering, and death, are recorded in great detail in all four Gospel records.
This is your salvation – Christ Jesus died for sinners. He died for you. The debt of sin is death and God died in your place. The debt of sin is suffering God’s wrath in hell and Jesus suffers that on the cross. The debt of sin is being cut off from God’s presence and Jesus is forsaken by His Father for you. The Lord saved you. God took your place in the flesh and your punishment at the cross and you are forgiven. His name is Jesus and He has saved you from your sins.
When Jesus walked the earth not every leper was cleansed, not every child was raised from the dead, not every blind person was given sight, not every hungry person was fed, but when He hung on the cross every sin was taken away. The death He died He died once for all – once for all sin, once for all sinners, once for you. The life He lives He lives to God. (Romans 6:10)
Jesus lives and that is the guarantee that you are saved – if sin had not been taken away Christ Jesus would not have been raised. The resurrection is the Father’s amen and exclamation point on your salvation, to your forgiveness, eternal life and resurrection. This big salvation, this salvation of forgiveness, means all those little salvations are coming your way. In the resurrection of those who believe Jesus saved them, all lepers will be cleansed, all children will be raised, the blind will be made to see, the lame will throw away their walkers and leave their wheel chairs behind, the downcast will be joyful, the heavenly wedding banquet will never run short of the wine of gladness, and you will never hunger any more.
That is your salvation. It is entirely the work of Jesus, given that name from heaven, because He would and He save His people from their sins. You are saved from your sins in the name of Jesus. Amen.