Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Yesterday was Christmas Day but already, if you are like most people, you are rushing forward toward the next big event, New Years Eve! Amazing, isn’t it, how fast we leave behind something we’ve been looking forward to for so long! Let’s not do that. What does the Bible tell us happened during the few days immediately after that Christmas birth that we celebrate each year?
Actually, the Bible is silent about those days, it tells us nothing about what happened after the shepherds left the stable, until one week later, and then we have only one short statement: “On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise Him, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He had been conceived.” (Luke 2:21)
Only a few words, but a very, very significant event for Joseph and Mary and every Jewish family! Other than Joseph and Mary, we have no record of anyone else who was present to witness this momentous event. They were still in overcrowded Bethlehem, but Joseph and Mary had no family or friends there, as far as we know. They may have sought the help of a priest or Rabbi but that is not mentioned. It really isn’t important. What is VERY important is what took place in this little but very significant and cherished ceremony, 8 days after Jesus was born.
The circumcision of this little boy was a powerful statement to God and to the world, for by this act Joseph and Mary declared God had entrusted this baby boy to them, and they vowed to raise this boy in the Covenant relationship God had declared to Abraham 2000 years before. They were being obedient to God’s instructions to Abraham as recorded in Genesis 17. God had said: “You must keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. Every male among you shall be circumcised…and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised...” (Gen. 17:9-12)
My friends, you may recall the disciple Matthew begins his Gospel account of Jesus Christ by listing the genealogy of Jesus. It begins with these words: “A record of the geneology of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham…” (Matt. 1:1) And from that statement there follows a long list of names that perhaps you’ve never even looked at, but that list was extremely important to Joseph, Mary and all Jews, for it declared the heritage, the royal line, into which Jesus was born.
The second major event in this special ceremony was giving this 8-day old baby boy His name. Names for the Jewish people were always very important, especially the names of sons. Parents selected names as expressions of hope for their future. They often named their sons after other famous Hebrew heroes of the past. Parents sometimes named their sons in expectation of the role their sons would have in the community or even in their extended family.
Israelite history had many times when God sent angels to the pregnant woman and her husband telling them what name God wanted the child to have, even before the birth of their son. Do you remember a few of these?
* Gen. 16:11 tells of Sarah’s Egyptian maidservant Hagar being visited by an angel who gave her the name for the son she would bear to Abram…. Ishmael
* Gen. 17:19 tells of God’s meeting with Abraham after declaring His Covenant of Land and People with Abraham.: “Then God said, ‘your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will call him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.”
* 2 Samuel 12:25 tells us God selected the name for David’s second son with Bathsheba, even though the baby had already been named, did you know that? “David comforted his wife Bathsheba and he lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him; and God sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.” What’s interesting to me is that we know this very famous, wise and wealthy King as Solomon, not Jedidiah! For some reason the Biblical record always refers to this man as Solomon.
* Luke 1 of course gives us two great stories of the angel Gabriel coming from God’s presence in heaven to Israel to announce miraculous pregnancies. First, Gabriel came to Jerusalem, to the Temple, to meet with the old priest Zechariah with the news that his childless wife Elizabeth would bear them a miraculous son in their old age. Gabriel was very specific: “You are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the LORD…” (Luke 1:11-17) This boy would be John the Baptist, the man who prepared the way for and introduced Jesus to the Jewish world. (Luke 3)
* The other great story of God naming a baby boy before His birth, is the second visit of Gabriel to Israel, six months after visiting the Jerusalem Temple. This time, as you know, it was Nazareth and a young virgin woman named Mary who was engaged to be married to Joseph. Gabriel told Mary, “You have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High…” (Luke 2:30-32) Those words were important. Unlike any other child named by God before their birth, in the case of Mary’s baby, while His name was to be Jesus, He would have other names or titles which made clear that He was God’s Son.
* Did you know Joseph also received an angelic visit instructing Joseph both to take pregnant Mary as his wife and to give her baby the name Jesus? God wanted to be sure there was no confusion or conflict between Joseph and Mary regarding the naming of this baby boy: “…an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and said, ‘Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:20,21)
I wonder if you remember it was about 50 years after His (Jesus) birth that the apostle Paul explained WHY this name Jesus is so important for this baby? In his letter to the Philippian Christians Paul wrote: “God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11)
So, while Joseph and Mary may have been strangers in Bethlehem, with only a very few, unnamed people witnessing this special event, this precious, miraculous baby boy was declared a son of God’s Covenant with Abraham by His circumcision and given the name the angels had said was God’s chosen name for this baby boy, for His name would declare His mission here on earth. And that’s why the angel had announced to the shepherds, 8 days before: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, He is Messiah, Christ the Lord…” (Luke 2:11)
I thank God for the obedience of Joseph and Mary making sure this little baby began His earthly journey with a day that would, for the rest of His life and all of eternity, mark Him as a God Covenant baby and declare His life purpose every time someone spoke His name, JESUS!
Are you and I living these days after Christmas with such God honoring purpose? Is the name and the person Jesus very significant to you? Here’s a worship song to help us consider all this, my friends…
Today’s Scripture is Luke 2:21.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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