DECEMBER 24-25
"She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."(Matt.1: 21)NRSV
It is not the type of conversation any lady would ever want to have with her fiancé. It is quite embarrassing to reveal, months before her wedding day that she is expecting a baby that does not belong to the man she is planning to marry. We can understand the awkward position Mary found herself in as she broke the news to Joseph. One can only try to imagine the feelings of hurt and betrayal that swept over Joseph as he attempts to process this shocking development.
Matthew tells us that Joseph, being a righteous man did not want to expose Mary to public disgrace so he decided to put her away privately (Matt. 1:19). However, this would not be the end of their relationship. We are told that an angel of the LORD met Joseph in a dream and told him, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She shall bear a son and you are to give him the name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins.
Joseph was told that the baby’s name would be called ‘Jesus’ - not John, or Fred or Frank or David but Jesus. We do not attach as much significance to names today as was the custom in biblical days. A name given in the Bible might represent a person’s purpose, character or significance. The name Jesus in the Greek language of the Bible equates to Yeshua in biblical Hebrew. Yeshua is a shortened name for Joshua and Joshua in the Hebrew means ‘God is salvation’. That’s why Jesus is the name the Gospels associate with salvation – he shall save his people from their sins.
Therefore, the season of Nativity or Christmas is really a celebration of the one whose name means salvation for the human race, hope for our messed up planet, forgiveness for mistakes and 
freedom from guilt. With Jesus there is always the opportunity of a new beginning no matter how regrettable our past has been. Matthew further adds that the coming of this baby is in direct fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy. He prophesied, ‘Look a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us’ (v.22). This baby therefore carries two names: Jesus and Emmanuel. Jesus tells us his purpose – he shall save his people from their sins and Emmanuel tells us his significance – God is with us. When both ideas are brought together Matthew is saying, ‘for the human race to obtain salvation God himself must be with us.’
So the season is not only about the excitement that comes from a baby born in a manger wrapped in swaddling bands. It is more about celebrating the fact that the God who made the world entered the world in person. The creator of the universe became a creature. It is being excited about God identifying with humanity in such an intimate way that he became one of us. He moved into our neighbourhoods and rubbed shoulders with us. Jesus walked our streets, ate our food, spoke our language and fully understands our pains and sorrows. That’s why Santa Clause, who is praised as the hero of the season, is a diversion from the true meaning of Christmas. Children are told to be good in order to receive presents from him. However, before we could be good and behave appropriately God gift wrapped himself as a baby and presented himself to us to liberate us from the curse of sin and the devil.
In this season of gift giving the greatest gift that we can give is our hearts and lives to the one who has given the greatest gift to us. This season is about allowing God’s gift in the form of Jesus to make the greatest impact in our lives so we too can touch others in the most meaningful way. God was generous with us that first season let us be generous with others this season.
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Housekeeping details for you
The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.
A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here
