What Does The Name Jesus Mean?

Unless you live under a rock, you know it’s Christmas season. And unless you’re a full blown hum-buggin’ grinch, you know it’s an awesome time of the year! Universally, this time of year represents peace, joy, and love. It symbolizes a way of life we all, deep in our souls, long to live. Historically in much of the world, the reason to celebrate at Christmas was the birth of the one Son of God, who was destined to be our Christ (Messiah), Savior and King. However many people have determined they don’t need God or His Son to find and celebrate these timeless virtues. In fact, today many people and places are even removing the word Christmas, replacing it with the word Holiday (which literally has come to mean “to take a break or vacation”). But this removal of any signs of God or His Son from our lives isn’t anything new. Since the historical period known as the Enlightenment, the last 2 centuries have been a witness to many people and places to marginalize, if not all together expel, the inclusion of God and His Son. The prevailing thought from this movement, that continues by many today, is that we do not need God or His Son to achieve peace, joy and love. My question for each of us to answer is simple: “How have we done?”

We don’t need to take a long trip down memory lane to answer that question. In the last century the entire world witnessed 2 major wars that killed over 90 million people, as well as estimates that over 100 million others were murdered by genocide, war crimes and politicide. And today, in our own country alone, we daily observe the ugliness of unrest, violence and hatred, which is the total opposite of what Christmas represents. So to answer my earlier question, it seems like the answer is “We have failed.”

This morning at church we sang one of my favorite songs, “What a Beautiful Name” by Hillsong Worship. My favorite verse in the song is “You didn’t want Heaven without us, so Jesus you brought Heaven down.” The song made me think again about what Jesus’ name means. The Hebrew and Greek languages reveal the meaning to be “God Saves.” As history clearly shows, neither the upright religious person, nor the agnostic or atheist, could ever save themselves. Only God and His Son can save and rescue us. The continued unrest, violence and hatred of mankind only leads to death. But Jesus brought peace, joy and love, and ultimately real and eternal life. “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him“ (John 3:17). This is the real and only reason to celebrate Christmas: to honor what He alone has done for us, and to see the hope that we ultimately will live a life full of peace, joy and love. “What a Wonderful Name it is…What a Powerful Name it is…What a Beautiful Name it is, the name of Jesus!”

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God’” (Mark 10:27).