Wednesday, March 12th

In the Bible the naming of a child was not like it is today, people today look for cool, trendy, distinct names that in some way would help their child stand out. In Biblical times the name given to a child was more like a label that both identified and defined the child. For example, the name Adam means earthling and it comes from the Hebrew word that means earth or ground. Adam’s name not only identified him, it also defined him. Again, names were not only given to identify a person they were also given to describe them.

If you’re a parent maybe you can remember how difficult it was for you to find the right name for your child. I can remember how difficult it was when my wife and I had to name our first male child. We not only wanted his name to identify him, we hoped that in some way the name we gave him would define him too. We went through a long list of names, some we liked others we hated. Among all of the names that we looked at we could not find a name that as we saw it would both identify and define him. So we chose to call him Robert. Why Robert? First, because that was my given name, but second and more importantly it was the name that defined me. You see I was named after my father the man who has most influenced and defined my life. So my first male child was named Robert Cruz III in the hope that his name would both identify and define him. A few years later my wife gave birth to our second male child. Now what do we do? After going through another long list of names we decided to call him, Giordan Robert Cruz. We liked the name Giordan but we hoped that Robert would be the name that defined who he was and who he would become.

Now imagine being the physical parents of the Son of God. Imagine the task of giving him a name that would both identify and define him. The good news for Joseph and Mary was that they did not have to take on that task; God himself decided to name his son with a name that would both identify and define him. God decided that he would be named Jesus, because he was coming as our savior. He would be called Immanuel as a constant reminder that we don’t need to fear anything or anyone because, “God is with us”.

Bible reading
Matthew 1: 20-23 NIV

“ Joseph son of David, 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.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”)

Heavenly Father it’s good to know that I have a Savior whose name reminds me that He is always with me, that He will never leave me nor forsake me. The name of your Son Jesus defines and identifies him as my Savior…inseparable, perfect and loving.