Matthew 1:21 (Jesus is Savior)

Matthew 1:21

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.

Have you noticed how many Christmas stories involve "saving"? When it comes to Christmas, someone or something is nearly always in crisis. People are in peril and need to be rescued by a brave superhero or a wild cop just before December 25th. There's also stories where the holiday itself is in danger, until some elf, toy, girl, or boy steps in and saves Christmas. Most of these stories even have the words "save Christmas" in their name (even I wrote such a story). There's something about "saving" and Christmas that go hand-in-hand. In fact this is the case with the first Christmas story ever told.

Long ago in the town of Bethlehem there lived a carpenter named Joseph. He was betrothed to a young woman named Mary, and their pledge to each other was so strong it was as if they were already married. Before they could wed, Mary was discovered to be pregnant. She told Joseph that another man was not the cause for this, but it was by the power of the Holy Spirit that she conceived a child. Joseph was in a tight position. Because he understood the letter of God's law, he was concerned what might happen to his wife, if his neighbors thought Mary was unfaithful. Joseph was also faithful to the spirit of God's law and did not want to disgrace Mary in her hometown. So, Joseph decided it would be best for him to divorce his wife, but keep the matter private. After he considered this, an angel appeared to him. The angel said, "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,” (Matthew 1:20-21). Moved by the angel's words, Joseph took Mary to be his wife. The two of them were formally married after Mary's child was born, and Joseph named the child Jesus.

And as he held the Savior in his arms

He must have thought

Why me, I'm just a simple man of trade

Why Him with all the rulers in the world

Why here inside this stable filled with hay

Why her, she's just an ordinary girl

Now I'm not one to second guess

What angels have to say

But this is such a strange way 

to save the world

- 4Him

This is the story of Jesus Christ's birth, according to the Gospel of Matthew. It's only seven verses long, which is a lot shorter than its counterpart in the Gospel of Luke. Just because it's short, though, does not mean it holds any less value. After all, this little part of the Bible holds a big piece of knowledge that can shape our understanding of the rest of the Gospel. In this text we learn the origins of Jesus' name.

The name "Jesus" in Greek is Ἰησοῦς (Iésous). According to the footnotes for Matthew 1:21, "Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the Lord saves." The name "Joshua" is Hebrew and it is יְהוֹשׁ֫וּעַ (Yehoshua). In the Old Testament there is a man named Joshua who became the leader of God's people (Joshua 1:1-2). He followed God's commands and saved God's people from their enemies time and time again (Joshua 6:2, 8:1, 10:8, 11:12). Joshua lived up to his name proving that the Lord saves. Jesus, too, would do the same. He would be the savior of the world given at Christmas.

Here they are, the world's own self-made saviors of Christmas,
and each one of them is an imperfect weak imitation
of the one whose name is "Savior."

Jesus was born on Christmas; not to save the holiday but to make the holiday. The reason He came was to save His people, by giving His life for them, for He came "to give His life as a ransom for many,” (Mark 10:45). When Jesus was an adult, He took the wrongdoings of the world, and paid the price for them, as if He had been the one to commit them (1 John 2:2). He never sinned once in His life, but He bore God's anger against the earth's sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), an anger so strong that it crushed Jesus (Isaiah 53:10). This way in which Jesus saved the world was foretold in the Old Testament, long before He was born. One of Jesus' loyal followers named Peter related Jesus' saving work back to several Old Testament texts. He wrote this about his friend Jesus in the book of 1 Peter in chapter 2 from verses 24 to 25:

“He himself bore our sins” in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by His wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

When Jesus was born, He was wrapped in cloth, (Luke 2:7), but
after He saved the world from the power of sin, He took off His
cloth wrappings and laid them aside (John 20:6-7), for
He had done what He was born to do (Matthew 18:11).

Because Jesus was born of the virgin Mary and raised by a father named Joseph, He was able to grow up and save God's chosen people from their sin. Like a shepherd gathers a scattered crowd of sheep or a parent puts their kid's toys back in the box, Jesus found those who were lost from God and brought them back to Him. He still does this today, for just as Peter said, "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved," (Acts 2:21). The only one who can truly save people is Jesus. He is the reason why Christmas will always be about saving.

Don't You know that you are the reason

That He came, oh, He came to save us

When He gave His life for us, He suffered and died

To a world that was lost He gave

Everything that He had, He gave

To show us the reason to live

- Avalon

Sources

• The Bible (New International Version)
• 4Him: Strange Way to Save the World
• Bible Hub: Strong's Greek Jesus
• Bible Hub: Strong's Hebrew Joshua
• Avalon: We are the Reason