{Prayer}
Some people choose to find out if they are having a boy or a girl before he or she is born while others choose not to. Gender reveal parties are now a pretty common thing and there are so many different ways in which people do them. You can spend hours watching these creative gender reveals. As creative and fun as these can be, as exciting it can be to find out if you’re having a boy or a girl, I often joke with people that the gender of my unborn baby is about the only thing Alexa and Google can’t answer for me.
For Jessica and I, we had decided not to find out if we were going to have a boy or girl until they made their grand entrance into the world. We had talked about it and we understood why some people decide to find out what they are going to have. It allows them to plan the theme of the baby’s room better, it allows them to get only the things they need in terms of clothes and toys, and it also eliminates half the names up front. If you know you’re having a girl, then you don’t need to worry about boy’s names.
But whether you find out what gender your baby is going to be or not, you still have to come up with a name for that child. The hospital staff won’t let you take them home if they don’t have a name. And whether you eliminate half of the possibilities or not, choosing the correct name comes with its own fair share of difficulties. Sometimes parents come up with two or three names but don’t choose one until they meet their child. Honestly, I don’t know what the deciding factor is for these people. Most babies look like babies. Sure, they’re precious, cute, and unique, but they are also wrinkly, loud, and messy.
For other families, there is a strong tradition of passing along the family name. Others choose a name before the birth but opt not to share it with others. It’s probably because people tend to be a bit blunt with their opinion about your choice of name before the baby is born versus after he or she is born. Still others freely share the name and if they know what they are having, they will refer to him or her by that name.
Mary and Joseph had it easy. They didn’t have to come up with a name but rather were told that they were going to have a boy and that they were to name him Jesus. Jesus is given His name before He was even conceived. Reminiscent of Jeremiah 1:5, Jesus was known to God even before He was formed in His mother’s womb. And just like Jeremiah, Jesus was set apart and appointed for this birth before the foundations of the world. This promised child, He has many different names. Isaiah 9, a common passage to hear during the Advent and Christmas season lists off those names. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His should, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (9:6). Matthew in his gospel helps us remember the name given in Isaiah 7, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call him his name Immanuel (which means God with us)” (Matthew 1:23). Matthew is also the one who tells us what the name “Jesus” means, “He will save His people from their sins” (1:21).
It’s in the Gospel of Luke where we hear about the angel Gabriel gifting Mary with the name for the child, even before the conception (Luke 1:31). Luke then goes on saying that Jesus will also “be called the Son of the Most High” and that he will “be called holy – the Son of God” (Luke 1:32, 35). The angel tells the shepherds in the field nearby that the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths is “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (2:11). Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, Luke repeatedly calls Jesus “the Lord”. Each name I’ve mentioned is fitting and they tell us something about the person of Jesus and the work He will do.
Our Gospel reading this morning is direct and to the point. “On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived” (Luke 2:21). Direct and to the point and yet it is full of good news. Jesus is given His name so that you would know what it is and so that you could call on it anytime, anywhere. He is called Jesus, so you can call on Jesus and be saved. You can call on Him to be who He is and to do what He does. His name is Jesus because He saves His people from their sins.
The name and identity were given to Jesus before His conception, just as God graciously chose you before the foundation of the world. His promises were revealed at just the right time, even as His promises are revealed and given to each of us today. Paul in 2 Corinthians 6 says that “now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (6:2). Which means that today is the day Jesus saves.
Before Jesus actively did anything to earn our salvation, Jesus received His circumcision. This circumcision made Him a member of God’s chosen people. Actually, Jesus is God’s chosen people all reduced down to one person for it is in Him and in Him alone which the righteous, the holy life is lived. Through Jesus and through Jesus alone, the righteous, forgiven and renewed life is given to us as a gift.
Paul connects the dots for us in Colossians 2:9:15 when he says, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Circumcision is connected to Baptism. In Christ’s circumcision, He began to fulfill the Law on our behalf. In our Baptism, in the Baptism we did this morning with Gabriel, Levi, and Lucas, we receive the fullness of Christ’s being perfect. We are baptized into the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins because that is who Jesus is and what Jesus does! The power of the same Holy Spirit which brought about Jesus’ conception is the very same Holy Spirit who brings about our new birth into God’s family.
As we heard earlier, the name of Jesus, it is the one name given under heaven by which we must be saved, the one name that is above every name, the one name at which every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. This holy, life-giving, and saving name is the name which is placed upon you, which was placed upon the boys we baptized this morning. As Jesus was marked in His flesh as the One who would fulfill all of righteousness, so you too were marked with the sign of God’s instrument to accomplish that work … you were marked with the cross upon your forehead and your heart to show you are redeemed by Christ.
Above the actual cross which Jesus hung from, there was a sign which proclaimed His name and one of His many titles. Posted as an insult or a warning, the sign proclaims the fulfillment of all of God’s promises by point us to the name: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”.
Chosen by your parents, you were given a special name. Chosen by God, you are given a special name … His name. As Jesus Himself received the name from above as God’s only begotten child, so all of God’s adopted children, you receive the same saving name as a gracious gift from God. You are God’s child, gladly proclaim it! Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.
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