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Are you ready for Christmas? During the season of Advent – which annually begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and leads up to December 25 – followers of Jesus traditionally look for ways to prepare themselves for the coming of God’s own Son into the world. Throughout December we’ll ponder ways that we can ready ourselves to receive Jesus, once again, into our own hearts.
A half dozen years ago, we had to put down one of our pets, a particularly affectionate kitty named Peaches.
We chose to have Peaches cremated. The vet clinic called a few days later and told me I could pick up her cremains at any time.
I felt sadness as I entered the clinic. The vet tech was deeply sympathetic. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I know how hard it is to let go of a pet who has become a special part of the family.” Then she asked, gently, “And the name, please?”
“Glenn McDonald,” I said.
“I’ll be right back,” she replied, and disappeared into a back room.
She was gone a long time. Another customer came in and joined me at the counter. We both began to wonder how many pet cremains could possibly be on site.
The tech returned empty-handed, with a worried look on her face. “I feel so bad. I can’t find her. I’ve looked through all the containers several times. Are you sure it was this clinic that called you?” When I said yes, she asked, “Is there a possibility your cat went by another name?”
“I doubt that very much,” I said. “We always just called her Peaches.”
“Peaches?” said the tech. “Oh, yes, Peaches is back there. I was looking for a bag of cremains for Glenn McDonald.”
I must admit it felt good to laugh. I also wondered if this is how things will play out years from now when members of my family have to pick me up at the mortuary.
It also seemed odd that anyone might actually believe someone had named their cat Glenn McDonald.
Christmas is our annual reminder that the Child who arrived at Bethlehem went by more than one name. An angelic messenger told Joseph that he was to name his son Jesus, “because he will save his people from their sins.”
Jesus (Yeshua) was a common name in first century Israel. It meant “The Lord will save,” and is the equivalent of our modern name “Joshua.”
Jesus would ultimately be identified by a second name, Christ, which was really a title. It came from the Greek word Christos, which meant “anointed one” – the equivalent of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” Whenever a Jewish king was crowned, pure olive oil would be poured onto his head. Thus the name “Jesus Christ” was a way of declaring, “The king of God’s own choice, the Messiah, will become the rescuer of God’s own people.”
Joseph’s son had a lot to live up to.
These days you can find websites that claim the Bible assigns Jesus more than 100 names. In truth, most of those citations are more accurately considered titles or symbolic descriptions. Jesus is the Bread of Life, True Vine, Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, and simply I Am.
John the Baptist, in John 1:29, calls Jesus “the Lamb of God.” Revelation 5:5 declares him to be “the Lion of Judah.” Jesus is thus both the Lion and the Lamb.
Three times in Revelation he is identified as the Alpha and Omega – the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. This would be equivalent to our calling Jesus the A and the Z – the beginning and the end, including everything in between.
The word “Lord” is used more than 700 times in the New Testament, almost always for Jesus.
This is highly significant, since “Lord” is used in the Old Testament exclusively for Yahweh, the one true God. To say “Jesus is Lord” in the first century meant that even the earliest Christians – centuries before church councils began to hammer out the doctrinal details of the Trinity – were convinced that Jesus was far more than just a Galilean peasant.
Then there’s the name that Jesus gives himself – 81 times in all – on the pages of the four Gospels.
He is the Son of Man. No one else ever calls him that in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It seems to be an expression of humanity, humility, and even divinity – since “Son of Man” is the name given to the supernatural character who will rescue Israel at some point in the prophetic future, according to Daniel 7:13-14.
But the name that gets special attention this time of year is found in Matthew 1:23, where the angel declares that Jesus will be known as Immanuel, a Hebrew word that means “God is With Us.”
“I shall be with you” is the most frequent promise in the Bible. God’s ultimate way of keeping that promise was to send his Son.
Jesus is with us.
He is with us when we feel too exhausted to take another step. He is with us when we can’t possibly forgive ourselves – not this time. He is with us when it dawns on us how deeply we’ve been betrayed. He is with us going into chemo. He is with us when the Final Notice comes in the mail.
He is with us standing beside a cemetery headstone bearing the name of someone we loved with all our heart. He is with us when the kids don’t call or text. He is with us when doing the right thing may end up costing a friendship. He is with us when the manager says, “So sorry, we need to go a different way; we’re letting you go.” He is with us when it seems ridiculous to keep on hoping.
Of all the names and identities that God could have given to the Messiah, it’s hard to imagine anything more powerful than Immanuel.
What’s in a name?
This Christmas, no matter what you are facing, the name of God’s Son just might mean everything.