The Naming of Jesus

Rev Indrea Alexander

Numbers 6:22-27, Philippians 2:5-13, Luke 2: 15-21

In accordance with time-honoured Jewish tradition, Jesus was named eight days after he was born.
 
Different cultures approach naming in different ways. Some babies are named at birth, some are named before birth. In some cultures the child isn’t named until they turn one. Parents commonly have responsibility for naming, but in some traditions the grandparents or clan name the baby. And a lot of care can go into it.
 
In some countries though naming children seems to have been very easy - they were simply named eldest son, second son, eldest daughter and so on. Their names were basically identifiers. But even these held meaning, related to status and opportunity and role. In some communities, children have been known by their parent’s name such as Ben, Jack’s son, or Jacob, Isaac’s son, and these descriptors have become ongoing surnames, Jackson and Isaacson. And since Americans seem quite keen on also keeping first names rolling over - you can end up with Ben Jackson the Third.
 
What would it be like if names were deemed completely unnecessary? Everyone could simply be known by a number, perhaps one that identified their country, district and birth details - a bit like a phone number - so I’d be 64 for NZ, 06 for New Plymouth where I was born, and then my year of birth, 1963, finally followed by what number baby I was born in New Plymouth that year, say the 95th. That would make me: 64 06 1963 95.  I know it’s a bit cumbersome, but I expect I’d be nicknamed 63 95.
 
A number could provide perfectly adequate identification, but a name does much more. Names can reflect culture and qualities (Aroha), faith (Muhammed, Christian), or children can be named after other members of the family, linking them into the family tree. And our names tend to become an important part of our identity.
 
My name is Indrea. My parents came across it while working as missionary teachers in Indonesia. My name connects me to a place I have never been, but which is an important part of my family’s story.
 
As a child I asked what my name meant. My parents said it meant beautiful. I don’t think they actually knew, but they were very positive people. As an adult, I was told by an Asian bishop that my name had associations with the quality integrity. I am glad not to have actually been named Integrity, but I am glad to carry an aspirational name. My name is a core part of my identity.
 
I have known people who have claimed power over their lives by renaming themselves. A young woman called Lily became Israel. An older woman called Meg became Megan. Pat became Trish. Paddy became Patrick. The renaming was an important statement about their life journey – about who they had become or intended to be. For some of them it was a reclaiming of their given name, which had become lost in a lifetime’s nicknaming by others. For some it was a shedding of their given name and a desire to shake off its unwelcome associations.
 
In the Bible people were meaningfully named and renamed. A name was understood to represent the person and may reflect the circumstances of their conception or birth, the parents’ feelings, hopes and prayers for the child, their dedication of the child to God. The name Isaac referred to the laughter of his mother at news she would have him, Esau was named “hairy”, John means gift of God.
 
Sometimes in the Bible a name was changed to mark a turning point in a person’s life. Abram was renamed Abraham in connection with this new calling to be “a father of many nations.” Naomi, whose name means pleasant or my joy, renamed herself after the death of her husband and sons, and told her community, “call me Marah” which means bitter.
 
In the New Testament, Jesus nicknamed Simon ‘Peter—the rock’. Saul was renamed after he became a follower of Jesus Christ. His Jewish name was replaced by the Greek name Paul as he began the transition from murderous anti-Christian zealot to missionary to the gentiles.
 
Names are important, and today as we celebrate the naming of Jesus we can reflect on the meaning and power of his name.
 
At the beginning of the gospel of Luke, the angel said to Mary, “you will ... bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
 
When she became pregnant, her fiancé Joseph considered quietly setting her aside, because he knew the child was not his. But again an angel appeared, and told Joseph, “She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins”.
 
So at his circumcision at eight days old, Mary and Joseph named their infant “Jesus,” which means the Lord is salvation. A big name for a baby. Scripture tells us a number of times that Mary “pondered things” in her heart. I’m sure she would have pondered what this little one’s life would hold.
 
Before his birth, Jesus was given a name which todays reading from Philippians says “is above every name”, a name at which every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
 
In the Old Testament we are shown that the name of the Lord was virtually synonymous with God’s presence -
“Your name is near. People tell of your wondrous deeds.” Ps 75:1
“Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name.” Ps 91:14.
 
We hold the name of Jesus with reverence, because the name represents for us the second person of the Trinity, God the Son. Jesus, the Christ, Emmanuel - God with us, the lamb of God, the bearer of sins, the crucified-died-and-risen one, our salvation. The name has grown to have the same essence as Jesus himself. And the name is powerful.
 
When Jesus sent out 70 of his followers in pairs to work ahead of him they returned in joyful wonderment declaring “Lord, in your name, even the demons submit to us!” Luke 10:17
 
In Acts 4:12 we are told “there is no other name under heaven...by which we must be saved”. We are redeemed by the name and the person of Jesus. Christians were described in 2 Tim 2:19 as those who “call on the name of the Lord”
 
What happens when you hear the name “Jesus”? Often when people first come to faith, their joy in hearing the name of Jesus is like the joy of someone newly in love hearing the name of their beloved. Many hymns and songs have been written rejoicing in the love, beauty, healing, wholeness and hope that is found in the name of Jesus.
 
At baptism we are welcomed into the family of Jesus Christ. We take on his name, we are Christ-ians. And since the name of Christ and the person of Christ are completely intertwined, we carry not only his name, but become Christ-bearers. That is our aspirational calling and responsibility - to live up to the name we carry, to come to others in the name of the Lord, and to introduce others to Jesus Christ as their salvation.
 
This year, may we carry the name of Jesus Christ, our infant saviour and life-changing, living Lord, with unparalleled focus, courage and joy.