For Sunday
The Holy Name
Collect
Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.
Amen.
Reading
From Luke 2:15-21
“…and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”
Reflection
This week we celebrate the official naming of Jesus, which happens at his circumcision.
Two weeks ago, we had Matthew’s gospel, with the angel coming to Joseph and telling him that Mary would bear a son, named Immanuel. Then he procedes to name him Jesus. Which is a bit confusing.
In the eye’s of Matthew, this isn’t a question of consistency so much as prophecy.
Matthew draws our attention to Isaiah, and a savior who would be called Immanuel, or God with us.
The name, Jesus, means God saves.
Matthew is showing us something with this linguistic twist. That this baby is part of God’s salvation. And that he would be known as God’s presence with us.
That said, we’re reading Luke this week. And Luke tells the story differently.
In chapter one, the angel appears to Mary and says to her “And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.” So there is no name confusion in Luke—the angel says to name him Jesus and that’s what they name him.
As much as modern readers might find this all confusing or a little problematic, it is clear that early Christians weren’t fixated on it. That this Hebrew baby was born and raised conventionally speaks volumes for how Jesus is Immanuel. And how we have come to see in Jesus the way God is with us.
And the way that we can come to see it working here and now.
When I lived in Lansing, Michigan, there was a homeless mission downtown. It had the now familiar neon sign in the shape of a cross that simply reads “Jesus saves”. I drove past it day after day without realizing it was a shelter. I was focused on this particular evangelistic form. This isn’t the most useful kind of familiarity.
And yet, I was thinking from the warmth of a car, driving to work, from the safety of a home. I didn’t have the eyes to see.
But for those that do, this name does mean saving.