Jesus gets a name

On the eighth day of his life, Jesus was formally given his name. Everyone present was told at the ceremony that this baby was to be called 'God saves!' At the same gathering he was circumcised (Luke's Gospel chapter 2, verse 21), which was compulsory for all Jewish baby boys; fortunately, this second part is not necessary for Christian babies. Having a name, though, is very important. Parents think, talk, read and pray for hours or even months about the right name for their child. Names have meanings and we want to make sure that what is symbolized by what our children are called is appropriate. In this country, some names are actually English, but many are from Greek, Hebrew, Latin, French, Germanic, Celtic etc origin and the meanings can be obscure until one looks into them.

The name of the son of Mary, and adopted son of her husband Joseph, was actually probably pronounced 'Yeshua', a form of the longer Hebrew 'Yehoshua' (Joshua in English). Although this was in common use in 1st century Israel, he may also have been referred to by the longer version as well. The English 'Jesus' comes from Latin via the Greek form of the name. If you listen to Messianic Jews (Jewish followers of Jesus) talking about him today, they still unmistakably call him Yeshua.

However we pronounce it, though, Jesus' name was not at all obscure. Joshua son of Nun had been the great leader who had taken the Israelites across the Jordan and on to military victory in the promised land of Canaan. Many centuries later, Jeshua (also called Joshua) son of Jozadak was the first high priest to hold office at the newly constructed Temple in Jerusalem after the Jews returned home from exile in Babylonia. Both were specifically appointed by God for their tasks (Deuteronomy chapter 31, verse 23; Zechariah chapter 3, verses 1 - 7) . Their name was significant: in both situations, God was being seen to be the means of giving his people a new home and the Joshuas were the religious front men involved in bringing that about in practice.

Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. He had been prophesied by many Old Testament writers and they had called him all sorts of meaningful things; for example, Isaiah used the terms 'wonderful counsellor', 'mighty God', 'everlasting father', 'prince of peace', and 'Immanuel' (meaning God with us). When Joseph found out that his fiancée, Mary, was pregnant but not by him, an angel reassured him in a dream that it was OK because the baby's father was God. The angel told Joseph that the boy would be called Yeshua, because he would save his people from their sins. This was not to be a salvation in terms of owning their own land, but freedom from themselves - and from Hell. Jesus was all of the things that the Old Testament prophets had foretold, but his central purpose for leaving Heaven and coming to Earth as a human was to make a way for us back to God and to give us a home in Heaven, through his own death and resurrection. Jesus grew up bearing the name that would symbolize his life's mission - your freedom from your sins and my freedom from mine, if we are willing to accept his gift of eternal life.

On the feast of Stephen

Wenceslas, Duke of Bohemia in the early 10th century, according to the well-known carol looked out across the snowy landscape on the feast of Stephen. So why do we sing a song about the feast of Stephen at Christmas, a festival about the birth of Jesus? Well, by 26th December we have moved on from concentrating solely on Christmas Day (although there are still ten days left to enjoy!) and Boxing Day is when we remember Stephen the deacon and martyr.

As the early Church started to grow, they needed some seriously reliable and faithful people to get on top of the logistics, particularly with regard to the fair distribution of food. Jesus' 12 core apostles couldn't take the time from their other duties, especially prayer and preaching, to sort this out. Therefore, they chose seven men, who became known as deacons. The person specification accompanying the job advert was perhaps a bit different from what you might expect of a catering manager position: a good reputation, wise and full of the Holy Spirit. There was nothing about a Level 2 hygiene certificate or a managerial qualification.

One of those chosen to be the first deacons in the Church at Jerusalem was a man named Stephen. He was in post for maybe not much more than a year, perhaps a a little longer. During this time he also performed many miracles and was able to argue well about Jesus. In fact, he was so good at this that the Jews from one of the synagogues singled him out and accused him of blasphemy to put a stop to his work. They took him to court and there they claimed that he had spoken against the Temple and the Law, and had said that Jesus intended to change the customs of Moses. When the judges looked at him, though, all that they could see was that his face was like that of an angel.

The trial, though, went badly for Stephen and those in attendance seem to have become so irate with him that they didn't bother to wait for him to be formally condemned, but took him outside and stoned him to death. This was the start of a persecution of the Church in Jerusalem and most of the Christians fled to the surrounding areas of Judea and further north into Samaria. Stephen was clearly a devout man of God, filled with the Holy Spirit. His official role in the church was a practical one, but that didn't stop him from also preaching and performing signs and wonders, so well in fact that his opponents felt the need to kill him. Yet God allowed his martyrdom to cause the Church to spread. Stephen was used by God both in life and in death.

The gospel cannot be equated purely with social action. The central message of the Good News of Jesus Christ is that he came to seek and save the lost. Along the way he did everything he could make sure that Heaven will be as full as possible and Hell as empty as people will allow. That was the purpose of his death and resurrection. However, he also preached about the Kingdom of God on Earth, which included looking after the poor, widows and orphans, healing the sick and setting prisoners free. Stephen was a prime example of an individual in which these two aspects of Jesus' commission for the Church met and functioned side by side. Nine hundred years later, Duke Wenceslas, by all accounts, continued this tradition, including being martyred - he was held in such high regard that Otto I, the Holy Roman Emperor, posthumously appointed him King of Bohemia.

God with us - or just a baby?

It's Christmas Day at last! Hurray! Hallelujah! Not like we've ever experienced before and probably most of us aren't able to have a gathering of wider family, but it is Christmas Day and we can celebrate the birth of Jesus, which is what it's all about after all. Jesus was born over 2000 years ago and still most of the world are celebrating his birthday. So he must be pretty special. But who Jesus is can all be a bit confusing. Isn't this all just about the birthday of a famous baby?

Well, to start with, there was a big build up. As we have seen in previous weeks, there were many prophecies about where the Messiah would be born, how that would happen, what he would do, what he would be like, how he would behave, how he would die, that he would rise from the dead, be a saviour for mankind, and be the undisputed ruler of the world when he returns at the end of the time. When he was born, there was a lot of spiritual activity, with angels announcing his birth, people being sent from foreign countries to visit him, prophets declaring who he was and what he would do. Then of course, there was the attempt on his life by King Herod, to stop his mission from be accomplished at all. Finally, John the Baptist ushered in Jesus as this Messiah who would fulfil the prophecies.

Jesus lived an amazing supernatural life as an inspired teacher, anointed prophet, powerful miracle worker and compassionate pastor. He surpassed what anyone else has ever done or been, because he was not just a man but also God, although he was completely a man; he was also completely God, who is pure spirit, while still being fully human with a physical body. And He died and rose again from the dead, so that we can all be forgiven everything that we have ever done wrong - and then live with him in Heaven for ever, if we are willing to believe in him as the Son of God and commit our lives to him. The world has been turned upside down by his message of love and grace, and billions of lives have been transformed from living their own way to becoming children of God with all the freedom that comes with that. So Jesus' birth is definitely worth making a fuss about.

If you haven't yet experienced the overwhelming love and forgiveness of God, and the release and power of living with his Holy Spirit, then you could let Jesus give you the best Christmas present ever by surrendering your life to him today. If you want to know how to do that, then visit our page on knowing God.

This year's full Advent Adventure can be found here. And remember, to be notified of new posts throughout the rest of the year, rather than waiting for next Advent, you can click on the free 'subscribe' button at the top of our Home page. Have a great Christmas!