Yesterday afternoon, I received a text message from my colleague, Gary, who warned me that if his voice didn't improve, I would be preaching this morning. So I went to work crafting what I could of a sermon for the Feast of the Name of Jesus. It didn't get finished and I didn't have to preach it.
Still, I leave it to you, with an opportunity to create your own ending, according to what the Holy Spirit would have you to hear and respond to. I welcome your comments :)
Note: If you haven't read my sermons before, I write them like I talk...just like I do in my blog...so keep that in mind, I'm not out for good grammar
January 1, 2012
Luke 2:21
The Name of Jesus
What’s in a Name?
When a child is born, it seems that the first question that is asked, besides is the baby healthy? is “what is the baby’s name?” In most cases, this also takes care of the question about gender, unless the child has a gender neutral name. Sometimes parents wait until the meet their child and spend some time with him or her before assigning a name. Others have names picked before the birth and go with their gut feeling. And the name itself is important. There is a weight that is carried with a name…one that the child will carry that name their entire life, whether they like it, or not…that is, unless they decide to run down to the social security office and change it. In many cultures the choosing and bestowing of a name is a very important task. In many European cultures, the custom used to be that a child was named on the day of their baptism and was given either the name of their godparent or of the saint on whose day the child was born, Martin Luther was born on the Saint. Day of Martin of Tours. In China, a child isn’t named until a month after its birth, and receives his or her name at a party in which eggs which have been dyed red are served. In the native Hawaiian tradition, a person’s name is considered their most prized possession, revealed to the family by an ancestral god through various signs that appear before the birth of the child.
In the Jewish tradition, a male child receives his Hebrew name on the 8th day after birth. This took place at the same time as the circumcision, where the child becomes a part of the covenant with Abraham. The female child would receive her name at the synagogue, a parent is called to the Torah and a blessing is spoken for the mother and child…it is during that time that the child receives her Hebrew name. In the Hebrew tradition, a name carries a lot of weight and really described who a person was. Jacob received his name because he was born grasping onto the heel of his twin brother, Esau…Jacob literally meaning “he who grasps the heel.” Their father Isaac received his name because Sarah laughed when she overheard the news given to Abraham by the angels that they would have a child in their advanced age…Isaac meaning “he who laughs.” Many people in scripture had different names depending on who they were with. Solomon is the name by which we best know the son of King David, who built the first temple in Jerusalem. But to his family, he was known as Jedidiah. Moses’ father in law, Jethro was also known as Reuel.
But what about Jesus? Today we celebrate the day of his naming…the 8th day of his life. But there was no pacing back and forth for Mary and Joseph…no compilation of lists of names…no “if it’s a girl, we name her after my third cousin once removed…if it’s a boy, we name him after you” There was none of that. Gabriel made it clear to Mary that on the 8th day, when asked the name of the child, the response they were supposed to give was Jesus. Yeshua in Aramaic, the language that Mary and Joseph spoke…“God-saves.” Perhaps they had heard about the fiasco that took place around the naming of Elizabeth and Zechariah’s son John, but all we know is that when asked the name of the child, “Yeshua” was their response. It wasn’t a very unique name…in fact, it was a very popular name at the time of Jesus. Wouldn’t you think that the son of God would have this totally cool, unique name…Bar YHWH? No, that wouldn’t have worked…devout Jesus never uttered the name of God. Bar Elohim? Bar El? Bar Adonai? Ehh…they don’t really roll off the tongue, do they…and they kind of give things away, when you think about it. And it would probably seem pretty arrogant if Mary and Joseph walked into the temple and said “hey, this is our son, the Son of God…you probably don’t know this, but he’s going to be a pretty big deal.” They probably would have gotten kicked out of there pretty quick, if not stoned for heresy.
No, if the son of God was truly going to become human, and live among humans God was going to make sure the whole thing was done well. The son of God was going to be a typical boy, with typical parents, growing up in a typical town, with a typical name, would make typical friends and lead a typical life for a male child living in Palestine under the puppet rule of Rome. Except, he wasn’t a typical male child living in Palestine. He was also the son of God incarnate…a man who, Paul wrote, was given a name above all other names. A name that would heal the sick, give sight to the blind, make the lame able to walk again, give hope to the hopeless, bringing light into the darkness and putting an end to death itself.
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