...an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us." Matthew1:19-23
Joseph's plans to divorce Mary were upended by the angel who brings him startling news.
There are some interesting facets to this passage:
1. The angel addresses Joseph as "son of David." This alerts us to the distinct possibility that whatever message Joseph was going to receive was going to have something to do with the Messiah who was expected to come from the line of King David.
2. The name Immanuel, which means "God with us", is also used in a prophecy in Isaiah which also relates to the hope of a coming Messiah. This is what Matthew is referring to in v.22-23
3. The name Jesus is derived from the Hebrew "Yehoshua" which means "God (Yahweh) saves."
The creed affirms that you and I "believe in Jesus Christ..."
The word "Christ" - means "Messiah" or "anointed One" and indicates the long awaited God-intervention into the human predicament. The name "Jesus" tells us that He is the Saviour. He's the long-expected Rescuer and Redeemer.
This expectation has been present in Old Testament thinking since God promised Eve that her offspring would crush the serpent's head. It is an expectation that became clearer and more ardent as it became evident that the Law could not save and that the human predicament could not be altered by human effort alone.
To believe in _Jesus_ _Christ_ is to affirm that we believe in One who saves and and we recognise that this was God's plan all along.
Not a spur-of-the-moment but a long-term plan.
Not a general intervention but a personal one.
Not a plan but a person.
Not a religion but a relationship.
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Theo Groeneveld theo @ emmanuel.org.za
