And He Shall Be Named Jesus — Small Stories of a Big God

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12 ESV

Read the story here: Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-20

Two of our gospel writers tell of the birth of Jesus. Matthew, our tax collector, tells the story from Joseph’s point of view in a “just the facts, ma'am" style that answers the Jewish concerns. Right up front, he must address this whole problem of Mary turning up pregnant before her wedding day. Apparently, it was starting to become public knowledge. Not a good thing. And Joseph has no doubt that the child is certainly not his.

Joseph is faithful to the Law of Moses, which gives him the right to have Mary stoned to death for her immorality and her betrayal. A woman – a young girl – ‘pledged to be married’ wasn’t what we modern folk think of as ‘engaged’. In ancient Israel in the eyes of the law and the community, she was for all intents and purposes already ‘married’ to Joseph. So this whole problem of Mary being pregnant was something he couldn’t ignore.

The decision that needed to be made was not Mary’s problem. It was not her daddy’s problem. It was Joseph’s problem. But Joseph was also a kind man who did not want to disgrace Mary further, so he had decided to ‘divorce her quietly’. She had brought shame on herself, on her family, and on him.

God’s angel shows up again; this time in a dream. And the message is consistent with what the angel told Mary earlier. The child she carries in her womb is not from man, but from the Holy Spirit of God. She will give birth to a son. He is to be named Jesus (Joshua) which means ‘The Lord Saves’. He will save his people from their sins. Joseph is to take Mary into his home as his wife. He will be her husband, her protector.

And Joseph agrees to all of this.

This was a powerful dream with a powerful message. When Joseph accepted Mary into his home as his wife, he accepted her assumed guilt by the neighbors. He sacrificed his reputation to protect hers. This was no small thing. And the whole story of the virgin girl becoming pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit – it is still something hard to accept and believe, isn’t it?

God is always doing this; throwing the laws of nature aside and asking us to believe something outrageous. Making the impossible possible lines up perfectly with God’s character and His history with humanity, so I guess we better believe this one. Joseph certainly seemed to believe Him.

And since Matthew is writing this all down for his Jewish listeners, he pulls out some Hebrew scriptures to back it all up. He quotes from the prophet Isaiah 7:14. “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”, which means “God with us”. You will discover Matthew does this a lot; he points to Jesus fulfilling Hebrew scripture. I like it. It places this unbelievable story on a foundation of fulfilled prophecy.

Matthew, our man of neat columns and hard numbers, adds the little intimate detail that Joseph did not consummate his marriage to Mary until after this son was born. Joseph was a patient man.

Quite honestly, we all like the story Luke tells a little better, with all its little details we illustrate in our Christmas pageantry. There is the census. And in case you want to look it up in your history book, he connects it to a specific decree under a specific Caesar. Joseph with Mary, who is ‘pledged to be married to him’ travel to register in the town of David since he is a descendant of David. This little town of Bethlehem is swollen with crowds beyond its capacity because of the required registry.

There is no mention of being turned away from an inn or a compassionate innkeeper. There is the vague explanation that Mary wrapped her firstborn son in cloths and placed him in a manger – because there was no guest room available for them. Now, don't you think God knew Mary was getting ready to give birth? Why wouldn't He have provided a better way, a better place for his own son to come into the world?

I know nothing about sheep and shepherds, but God really likes using that analogy to describe his relationship with his people. Through Moses, God taught His people that a blood sacrifice was required to remove the barrier between God and man. The sacrifice was a perfect lamb, without flaw.

This is an incredible detail that we non-shepherds don’t know; The shepherds who watched over the flocks destined for sacrifice would carefully wrap newborn lambs in swaddling cloths to protect them from any harm and lay them in a manger lined with soft hay. When they were calm and had recovered from the trauma of birth, they would be unwrapped and returned to their mother. These holy lambs would be sacrificed twice a day four miles down the road at the Temple in Jerusalem for the sins of the people.

This son of God, born outside, near the fields of the sacrificial lambs, wrapped in cloths and placed in a manger, was born at exactly the right time, in exactly the right place. And the ones who heard the good news of the birth of a Savior? The shepherds who faithfully kept watch over their sheep. The shepherds who were responsible for caring for the sacrificial lambs.

An angel of the Lord appeared to them with good news of great joy that would be for all the people. Can you imagine the light that blinded the dark starlit skies? Can you imagine the sound of angel wings and heavenly song?

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Song filled the air praising God and His glory, bringing peace to those He favored.

The shepherds left their flocks of sheep to find the One. He was not hard to find, for they knew exactly what they were looking for.

Mary must have been the one to tell Luke this story – because we know the little detail that she pondered all of this – and treasured it in her heart.

The shepherds would not return quietly to the rolling hills. They spread the word, glorifying and praising God. They told their amazing story of angel song and a baby wrapped as a sacrificial lamb, lying in a manger.

He has come. He shall be called Immanuel. God with us. He will be named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Jesus, sacrificial lamb; God’s salvation has arrived.

Chris Tomlin - Noel (Live) ft. Lauren Daigle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vwu-t7QRaE&list=RD5Vwu-t7QRaE&start_radio=1&t=0

Love incarnate, love divine

Star and angels gave the sign

Bow to babe on bended knee

The Savior of humanity

Unto us a Child is born

He shall reign forevermore

Noel, Noel

Come and see what God has done

Noel, Noel

The story of amazing love!

The light of the world, given for us

Noel

Son of God and Son of man

There before the world began

Born to suffer, born to save

Born to raise us from the grave

Christ the everlasting Lord

He shall reign forevermore

Noel, Noel

Come and see what God has done

Noel, Noel

The story of amazing love!

The light of the world, given for us

Noel

Songwriters: Chris Tomlin / Ed Cash / Matt Redman

Noel lyrics © Worshiptogether.com Songs, Sixsteps Music, Said And Done Music, Worship Together Music, Thank You Music Ltd., S.d.g. Publishing, Sixsteps Songs

Reference Notes: https://lanierchristianchurch.com/blog/the-powerful-meaning-of-swaddling-clothes/ Accessed 04/15/2020

Photo by Trinity Kubassek from Pexels