Jesus
November 29, 2009
We’ve all survived another Thanksgiving – the over-eating, the driving to be with family and friends, the Black Friday sales, the eating some more, putting up your Advent and Christmas decorations, like we have here at Grace, eating some more. And now here we are at the beginning of a new church year, which always begins with the four Sundays before Christmas, a time of preparation. The world around us has been telling us Christmas was here for over a month now. The holiday season now seems to begin with Halloween.
But in the Church Year, we stubbornly hold on to this time we call Advent. That is because there really is some value to this season. Advent is supposed to help us put on the brakes just a little bit. We need to remind ourselves to get ready for the celebration that is yet to come. Not the family get-togethers and parties and gift exchanges, which all have their place. Advent tells us “He is coming. Get ready.” And who is the “He”? Well. That’s what we want to talk about.
Look at all the decorations. They tell us something is different. Lot’s of imagery and sensory overload. The tree, all the greenery and candles, ADVENT WREATH. We light a candle each of the four Sundays prior to Christmas, a countdown as it were, to tell us it is getting closer. There have been a lot of different explanations as to the symbolism of the candles over the years. One question that always comes up is why is there a pink candle and when do you light it – I’ll answer that in a minute.
There are different traditions about the Naming of candles on the wreath. One that has become very popular is this one: the Prophecy Candle, the Bethlehem Candle, the Shepherds Candle and the Angels Candle.
But another one that has gained popularity in recent years calls them Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. These names are sometimes switched around a bit, but the third Sunday’s candle is always called the Joy Candle. This goes back to the pre-reformation Latin name for this third Sunday of Advent: Gaudete, which means Joy. A “Rose” or pink Colored candle was lit on this Sunday.
This year in our Sunday Advent services we will be looking at different names and titles of the “One who is coming.” I’m not trying to rename the candles or start a new and competing tradition, but this year we are going to use the Four Sundays in Advent to look the names of the one that God sent to save the world from sin and death. And there are so many of them.
Unto us a child is born! Unto us a Son is given! And the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Son of David, Son of God, prophet, priest, and king; root of Jesse, key of dAvid, rock of ages, cornerstone, dayspring dawning from on high, light of the world, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, bread of life, the world’s Redeemer, Emmanuel, God with us, a Savior which is Christ the Lord.
All of those names are descriptive and revealing. Yet as lengthy a list as that may be, that is not all of the names given our Lord in the Scriptures. The most obvious omission from that list is the name we will consider today: Yeshua Ben Yosef. In Greek it would be “Yesus uios Yoseph.” In English, that becomes “Jesus, son of Joseph.”
Researching the way this name came to us, I came across a website that said, “His Name is NOT Jesus.” It talks about how the name was corrupted as it was transliterated from Hebrew to Greek to Latin and eventually to English. But it really doesn’t matter how His name in rendered in different languages. We’re talking about the same one. The name most familiar to us, that name that sounds so sweet in a believer’s ear: JESUS. That is the name that is the most revealing and the most descriptive, for it tells us exactly who He is. The angel, in telling Joseph how to name Him this, put it this way: you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). The name Jesus, or YESHUA in Hebrew, literally means “Savior, the one who saves.” His name tells us exactly who He is.
In the New Testament, God further reveals Himself to mankind by becoming one of us. And He further places His name upon us, even among us, in Jesus, YESHUA, “Savior.” Another rendering of that name in Hebrew was Joshua. You might remember that the Old Testament namesake of Jesus was the one who led the children of Israel into the Promised Land. Sure, Moses led them in the wilderness for forty years, but it was Joshua who actually led the people across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. In doing so, he was giving us a picture of how the true “Savior” would lead all men who believe in Him into the eternal Promised Land of heaven.
One of the symbols that is on our tree and elsewhere is IHS. Actually, this is not I-H-S at all. It is iota – eta – sigma. And that is not the name of a fraternity. Those are the first three letters of the name “Jesus” in Greek, ihsu~ all capitalized.
The reason we gather together is because we know Jesus and what He has done for us. We join together to celebrate His birth because He is God Himself who came into this world, took on flesh, was born among us to live among us and live for us. And even more than that, we know that Jesus, YESHUA, Savior, would be the one to die for us, to pay for our sins and the sins of all people, so that everyone who puts their trust in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Philippians 2:9-11 9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
As we begin to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate His birth again this year, remember and reflect on that name above all names, the one you believe in, the one you know as your Savior, Jesus.
