Joseph and The Naming of Jesus

December 20, 1998

Matthew 1:18-25

Two thoughts come to me this year from this familiar narrative on the birth of our Savior. One thought is about

THE KEY ROLE OF JOSEPH IN THIS WONDERFUL STORY

Joseph is the silent figure in the Manger Scene. Dressed in drab brown he looks down into the manger. We don't look twice at him. Mary gets a blue robe and a white shawl. Mary sings a Magnificent song that needs to be heard over and over again. Joseph just stands there.

There isn't a lot written about Joseph in the Bible. Much of what is preached about him is pure speculation. What the Bible does say, however, is pretty deep stuff.

The first word, aside from his engagement to Mary, is that Joseph was a just man. Just, as in righteous. Joseph loved God's holy law. He ordered his life by the Schema and the Ten Commandments. When Joseph's world began to crash in around his ears, and the woman he had counted on spending his life with seemed to have betrayed him (we know she hadn't but at the time Joseph believed she had) Joseph knew the law and intended to abide by it.

Which brings us to our second word on Joseph. Joseph was a considerate man. He was kind. Even though he was just he was not legalistic. The letter of the law said "put her away" or maybe even "put her to death." But Joseph was willing to forget his own pain and try to ease someone else's shame. He planned to put Mary away quietly, discretely, even while his own heart must have been very heavy.

But God had not forgotten Joseph (and he hasn't forgotten you, either!)

Finally, Joseph was a teachable and obedient man of faith. When God spoke to Joseph through his angel Joseph listened. He did as he was told. There was a wedding. Joseph took Mary into his home. And when the time came, after the long journey to Bethlehem, and after the shepherds had come and gone, Joseph called a rabbi, and the Baby was circumcised, and Joseph had the privilege of giving the Messiah a name. When the time came Joseph declared: "His name is Jesus!"

Just and kind. Loving and obedient. Not a bad profile for the man who had the privilege of naming our Lord.

Which brings me to the other thought in this Gospel lesson. It has to do with the significance of the name of Jesus, or actually the TWO names in the passage.

THERE ARE TWO NAMES IN THIS PASSAGE

Matthew says this birth was to fulfill the centuries-old prophecy of Isaiah 7: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel" (v 23) But then it says Joseph was told to name the Baby "Jesus." Emmanuel and Jesus: those two names mean everything to us.

IN THE BIBLE NAMES ARE OFTEN VERY SIGNIFICANT:

[The way we name our children usually is not significant or truly meaningful; my name, Russell, means "red headed." But sometimes we give names to people; names of honor or fun or behind their backs names of mocking.

[In Africa it used to be at least that missionaries got names from their African co-workers that were more true than was sometimes comfortable: have it on first-hand sources that Elmer Smelzenbach's African name was Isisu Siyaduma, which being interpreted means "The Stomach that Thunders". Another missionary, Mary Cooper's African name was Mihlotini, or "In the Tears," because she often cried when she spoke. Oscar Stockwell's African name was Ntsua. Or "Mountain." Not because Oscar was a big man, but he had a big spirit and talked about Caleb in the Bible who said, "Give me this mountain." And that made Margery Stockwell (here with us this morning) Mamana Ntsua, or "Mother Mountain." Not a bad name at all!

We can actually learn how God relates to us from the names we see in the Bible. Some Old Testament names are: El Shaddai (nourisher) Elohim (power) Jehovah-jirah (God will provide) Jehovah-nissi (God my banner) Jehova-shalom (God our peace) Jehovah-shammah (God is there) Jehovah-tsidkenu (God our righteousnes) The names of God are one way we come to know God, or at least he God would reveal Himself to us.

{It may be the "in thing" for scholars to emphasize just how little we dare say about God– how little we understand the eternal and infinite Other (and there certainly is virtue in humility before that great Mystery.) At the same time Advent and Christmas fairly shout out scriptural truth that ought to fill us Christians with great JOY! James Wall (in the latest Christian Century) talks about "the extravagant language of affirmation" in regards to the Incarnation. Christmas in NOT the time to hang your head, spiritually. The message is "Behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people." And the reason is that our God is Emmanuel, the God who is WITH us!

WHAT IS THIS NAME, EMMANUEL?

Isaiah was speaking to a particular time and a particular person, King Ahaz, when he predicted the birth of a baby to be symbolically named Emmanuel. But at the same time he was speaking far more truth that he himself could understand. The birth of a baby would be a sign to Ahaz that God was with him whether he wanted Him to be or not; that God could and would work out His divine will.

Ahaz wasn't very strong in his faith; he failed the faith-test. The baby called Emmanuel was Hezekiah, who was king after his father Ahaz died, and before he was weaned the enemies Ahaz had dreaded had been removed through no wisdom or skill of Ahaz.

But the prophecy was bigger than the occasion. One was to be born with the name Emmanuel who would not be symbolically named. Seven centuries later Joseph passed his faith-test. A baby was born that fulfilled all the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. This literally was EMMANUEL.

THE NAME EMMANUEL STANDS AT THE HEART OF OUR FAITH

All the other miracles of the Bible pale in comparison to the miracle of the Incarnation. God has come to dwell with us in the Person of Jesus the Babe of Bethlehem. God has come to share our human condition so that we might be able to share His divine light and life.

Whether we have faith to believe, like Joseph, and are willing to listen and obey; or whether we don't have faith, like Ahaz, and receive his blessings without acknowledging Him, it does not change the fact that God has come to this Earth to give us the Good News of his Love.

If we receive Him with faith and obedience he is with us to comfort and understand and help us and save us. If we reject Him and go our own way, we have to do so over the kind of love that gave God's only begotten Son to die for us. Forever God is involved with humankind. Our eternal happiness or eternal separation from God is wrapped up in our relationship with EMMANUEL.

THE OTHER NAME in this passage is the one we use the most when we think of Messiah. The angel told Joseph to name the baby "JESUS." This name means JEHOVAH OUR SALVATION. It is Joshua in the Old testament, like the Joshua who led the people "IN." When we put the two names together, GOD WITH US, and JEHOVAH OUR SALVATION we are coming to understand the heart of the meaning of Advent and Christmas.

The Gift of Faith is a wonderful thing indeed. If you believe that God has come near in His Son Jesus, then THE NAME EMMANUEL HAS ALREADY COME ALIVE FOR YOU.

Jesus died on the Cross for your sins, and He rose again from the Dead so that you never need to suffer eternal death. Your heart already knows this– and if you believe this it is the gift of Faith.

But your passive, gift faith must be coupled with a responsive faith. God does not force His way into hearts unless they ask Him in. (Revelation 3:21) And that is where the name of Jesus has great power. If you are willing to say, from the faith in your heart that Jesus is Christ, and God has raised Him from the dead,— if you are willing to say, 'JESUS IS LORD! JESUS IS MY LORD!" You will begin to understand the mighty power in Jesus' name!

[[Over a century ago, a clergyman named Phillips Brooks spent a Christmas in Jerusalem and went to an impressive worship service that lasted several hours. Later, as he was winding down, he spent part of the evening on the hillside outside of Jerusalem and he looked out at the small town of Bethlehem. And he realized that Christ is there too. He captured that insight in a song he wrote, "O Little Town of Bethlehem," with the words "but in the dark streets shineth the everlasting light." (Frm Bass Mitchell)

Our 'streets' are dark these days, with missiles falling in Bagdad while a president is being impeached, but whether or not we will receive Him, Emmanuel is here now.]]

Prayer: Breathe on our hearts, O Breath of God, that EMMANUEL who has come already might be known to us; Give us the living faith to say from our hearts, JESUS IS LORD!, to the glory of God the Father. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

# 169 Hymn O Little Town of Bethlehem