The child’s name is Jesus & Immanuel.

Sermon Transcript

When was the last time you were really in a bind? When was the last time you felt really stuck on a project or with an issue at work and it consumed your thoughts because you didn’t know what to do or see any good options. You were afraid because you were in a real bind. Or when was the last time you sinned and you knew that going to God and the person that you sinned against in repentance was going to be really costly and your stomach was in knots as you considered the cost of discipleship. You were in a real bind. Or when was the last time you were really afraid because your future in general or in a specific situation seemed bleak or hopeless? Or when was a time when obeying God required a cost that it terrified you to pay? If you can remember one of those heart pounding, mind racing, stomach in knots situations – maybe you’re in one right now – then you know a little bit about what Joseph, the main human character in our passage this morning was experiencing.

When Jesus’ mother, Mary, was legally engaged to be married to Joseph, Mary turned up pregnant with Jesus from the Holy Spirit. Of course, Joseph had no idea that Jesus’ conception was by the Holy Spirit and had never heard of such an idea. Joseph also knew that he had never come together as a husband and wife do on their wedding night. So, Joseph drew that natural conclusion that any man would; Mary cheated on him and was unfaithful to her betrothal in a way tantamount to adultery. Joseph knew that to maintain his moral integrity and be faithful to the Lord, he had to divorce Mary. However, rather than put Mary to open shame before the entire community, in an act of mercy, he resolved to divorce Mary quietly and try to move on with his life. Of course, if you were here last week, then you know that would have been a disaster. Last week we learned that Jesus is the Christ, the offspring of Abraham and the eternal King from David’s line and Jesus’ link to the family line of David runs through Joseph, not Mary. For Jesus to be who he claimed to be, the son of David, he had to be the legal, adopted son of Joseph. We’ve hit a real tension point.

Now, before Joseph carried out his resolution to divorce Mary quietly, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. I want you to notice the very first thing that the angel said to Joseph. Matthew 1:20 – But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Why did the angel of the Lord encourage Joseph to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife? Because taking Mary as his wife put Joseph in a real, permanent bind, and God knew that Joseph would be afraid. Joseph was in a real bind. If Joseph obeyed God’s word, his life would never be the same. Mary and Joseph lived in a tight knit Jewish community in a small town. Everyone would have known that the baby was conceived long before Mary and Joseph were married. If Joseph took Mary as his wife, for the rest of his life everyone he knew and loved would think of him either as a sexually immoral man and completely dishonest man who made up the story of the baby’s conception by the Holy Spirit as a tall tale to cover up his sin or everyone he knew and loved would think of him as stupid and pathetic enough to think that his pregnant fiance really was still a virgin. Imagine you were faced with a situation in which obeying God meant that for the rest of your life you’d either be branded as sexually immoral and lacking basic integrity or pathetically gullible. You can imagine how Joseph’s stomach must have been churning, his palms sweating, and his mind racing when he woke up from the dream and realized just how high the cost of discipleship to Jesus was. He was in a real bind.

The Bible says that you and I, to greater or lesser degree, face the same bind that Joseph faced everyday as disciples of Jesus. Later in Matthew 16:24 told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Following Jesus involves a daily dying to self for the greater joy of living by his grace and for his glory. Like with Joseph, there is a high cost to following Jesus in this world. There is a high cost, a death to self when we choose to forebear with a difficult brother or sister in Christ. There is a high cost to forgiving one another for the way we wrong each other. There is a high cost to putting the interest of your spouse above your own. There is a high cost to submitting our money, our sexuality, and our worldview to the lordship of Jesus. There is a high cost to living faithfully and openly as a disciple of Jesus in very secular work places. Discipleship to Jesus will, like it did for Joseph, put us in a bind. Jesus once said in John 15:19 that, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” Citylight Church – we face the same bind as Joseph did. Though the details are different we all face the bind of the cost of discipleship to Jesus. Did you notice how Joseph responded to the life-long bind that he’d be in if he obeyed God’s word? Matthew 1:24 – When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife… Joseph paid the high cost of discipleship and the world would never be the same.

So, what got Joseph there? What is strong, joyful, hopeful, eternal enough to capture our hearts and motivate our lives toward costly, significant discipleship to the Lord Jesus Christ? It’s all in the names. The child receives two names in our passage. One from the angel and another from the Scriptures. After telling Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, the angel said, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” [22] All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
[23] “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).

There is a lot to a child’s name. We named our daughter Sage because we pray that she will be a woman of profound wisdom, like an old sage. Jesus’ names are what motivate us toward costly discipleship to him. His names are Jesus and Immanuel. A name says a lot and the child has two names: Jesus & Immanuel. That brings us to the big idea of our passage this morning: The child’s name is Jesus & Immanuel. Since it’s his name that motivates us to walk the costly path of discipleship that Joseph walked, we are going to take an in-depth look at both names this morning and connect the dots from the child’s names to facing the cost of discipleship with joy and courage: 1. Jesus: He will save us from your sins (vv. 18-21) 2. Immanuel – He is God with us (vv. 22-25).

JESUS: HE WILL SAVE US FROM OUR SINS

The first name that the child is given describes what he came to do. The second name describes who he is, but the first name describes what he came to do: save us from our sins.

If I were to ask you right now, “what is your biggest problem?”, what would you say? Perhaps you’d say something to do with your physical and mental health or something to do with your job or career or something to do with your children or your marriage or something to do with a way that someone who should love you has hurt you deeply. Those are real problems. I’m experiencing some of them myself and I know their pain. But they are not our greatest problem. They are downstream from and the direct or indirect result of our greatest problem. Our greatest problem is what the Bible calls “sin.” And yet, the name “Jesus” means that the child has come to save us from something even worse than a bad career, a broken marriage, poor health, rebelling kids, and disappointing relationships. The name “Jesus” means that the child came to save you from your sins.

The word “sin” is a little like the word “love”; it’s so familiar that we aren’t actually sure what the word really means. The New City Catechism says that “Sin is rejecting or ignoring God in the world he created, rebelling against him by living without reference to him, not being or doing what he requires in his law.” Sin is any lack of conformity to God’s law or failure to live for God’s glory. It’s something every one of us has in common. But to see that sin is really our biggest problem, we need to consider what God says are the consequences of sin. Sin has consequences both in this life and in eternity. Romans 3:23 says that the wages of sin is death. Without Christ we are right now dead in our sins, meaning that in this world, sin makes us blind to God’s glory, causes us to have hard thoughts about God, makes us love unlovely things, leaves us with a guilty conscience, and places us under God’s curse. Even more terrifying, the Westminster Larger Catechism says that sin leads to, “everlasting separation from the comfortable presence of God, and most grievous torments in soul and body, without intermission, in hell-fire forever.” Our sin really is our greatest problem now and forever. But the child’s name means that he was born to save us from our sins. Matthew 1:21 – She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” The name “Jesus” or “Yeshua” or “Joshua” means “The Lord is salvation” or “Yahweh saves.” God the Father sent His Son to save us from our greatest, most persistent, and permanent problem. He was sent to save us from our sins. That’s why his name is “Jesus.” It means “the Lord is salvation,” and the child is the Lord come to save us from our sins – our biggest and eternal problem. And in these verses we even learn how Jesus will save his people from their sins: He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The reason why Matthew emphasizes that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin – and the reason why it’s emphasized in nearly all of the Christian creeds and catechisms throughout the centuries – is because the Holy Spirit conception of Christ secures his identity as truly human and also truly God, innocent from sin from birth so that he can save us from our sins through his death. There is a lot in that beautiful name “Jesus”; he came to save us from our sins and their eternal consequence.

I wonder if you’re beginning to see why the name “Jesus” is powerful and beautiful enough to motivate costly discipleship to Jesus. I want to say something to those of you who aren’t yet disciples of Jesus; you haven’t yet trusted in Him to save you from your sins. We are so honored that you’re here. The angel said to Joseph, “don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” I want to say to you, “don’t be afraid to take Jesus as your Savior.” Yes, it may cost you respect, love, reputation, and even livelihood, all the things that Joseph risked. But there is no cost too high because Jesus saves you from your sins – now and forever. Don’t be afraid to take Jesus as your King and Savior. Citylight Church – I wonder if you’re beginning to see why the name of Jesus is powerful enough to motivate costly discipleship. On Monday night the elders/pastors of Citylight Church were over at my house for our monthly elder meeting. We meet every Wednesday morning for prayer and once a month for our shepherding meeting. And in the meeting I sinned against the other pastors. Two of the other pastors wisely and gently corrected a bad idea I had, and I responded with immediate anger, defensiveness, and even a quasi-curse word. My pride was hurt and I sinned. Then the next morning I read our passage in my devotions. I saw again the wonderful news that Jesus saved me from the sin I committed the night before and the grace of Jesus’ forgiveness gave me the motivation and strength I needed to pay the cost of discipleship and apologize to the rest of the pastors for my sin. Since Jesus saves us from the eternal penalty of our sins, we can pay the high cost of repenting of our sins. His first name is Jesus. He saves us from our sins so that we can endure any cost to repent and turn from them. You can take your next step into costly repentance of sin because Jesus came to save you from your sinsBut there is more to his name. His second name is…

IMMANUEL: HE IS GOD WITH US

Fear is one of the most powerful emotions that we humans can experience. Fear can be a helpful part of life. Last summer when Andrea and I hiked in the backcountry in Wyoming, it was fear that motivated me to carry bear spray. So, fear can be helpful. On the other hand, being controlled by fear has terrible consequences. Being controlled by fear of the high cost of discipleship to Jesus can keep you from the thrill of obedience. Fear that God is holding out on you can keep you from the thrill of sexual holiness. Fear of failure can keep you working when you know that it’s time to put it away and invest your life in your family and church community. Fear of losing what you want can keep you from the thrill of laying up treasures in heaven by giving your money to advance God’s kingdom. Fear of discomfort can keep you from the thrill of self-control. Fear of being hurt can keep you from the thrill of forgiveness. Fear is powerful and if it controls you, then you’ll miss out on the thrillingly high cost of discipleship that we see in Joseph. That’s why one of the most common commands that God gives to his people in the Bible is “do not be afraid.” Hundreds of times the Lord tells his people to not be afraid. However, the Lord almost never leaves it at “don’t be afraid.” No, when the Lord commands his people to not be afraid, he almost always adds something to the effect of “because I will be with you.” The only antidote strong enough to cure us from being controlled by fear is God’s presence with us. The name of the child born in the manger was Immanuel because he is God with us!

Matthew 1:22-23 – All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

[23] “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us).

Just as the prophet Isaiah promised 700 years before Christ was born, the child – conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin – was God with us to save us from our sins by dying in our place and rising to give us eternal life. And Jesus is God with you now. After ascending into Heaven, God the Father and God the Son sent God the Holy Spirit to indwell every disciple of Jesus. Jesus is God with you and in you by the Holy Spirit. You’re never alone and you don’t have to be controlled by fear. You can walk in the thrill of costly obedience because Jesus’ name declares who He is: God with you always by the Holy Spirit living in you. You’re not alone. Don’t be afraid. He is with you. My wife and I love to walk on the Cynwyd Trail that connects Manayunk to Bala Cynwyd, but recently a woman was attacked in an unmentionably horrific crime there. After the attack, my wife was understandably afraid to walk alone on the trail with the kids and I advised her not to. But it’s amazing what happens to her fear when I am with her. And you get it, I mean look at all five feet, five inches of me! But really, just the presence of little old me is enough to chase Andrea’s fears away. Citylight Church – the one who fashioned me in my mother’s womb is with you. You don’t have to be controlled by fear of the high cost of discipleship. His name is Immanuel – God with us.

Perhaps one of the most frightening aspects of following Jesus is telling others the good news that he died for sins and persuading them to believe. Usually we’re not afraid to tell people good news, but when it comes to telling others the good news about Jesus with the aim to persuade them to believe, we have all sorts of fears. Now, I want to show you something that I don’t think I ever noticed before I began that has to do with this fear. The concept of Jesus as God with us to chase away our fears is both how the Gospel of Matthew begins and ends! Matthew 28:16-20 – Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. [17] And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. [18] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

If Jesus has saved you, then he sends you to speak the good news to others. And that frightens us. But the God who was with Joseph to calm his fears is the same God who is with us as we carry his gospel to our friends, co-workers, family, and to the ends of the earth. The first and last word is Immanuel: God with us! His name means that he is God with you to save you from your sins and be with you as you spread his message to the very ends of the earth and the end of your life. Trust him. Love him. Rest in his forgiveness and be sent with his message. His name is Jesus and Immanuel.