When Mary first held that beautiful infant, she did not have to wrestle with what He would be called. His Father (not His stepfather) had decided to call Him, “Jesus.” He sent a messenger to the perplexed Joseph with these words, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Mt. 1:21).
Jesus… what a name! It is now the world’s most recognizable appellation, but at that time was just a common Jewish word for “savior.” It is the New Testament form of the Old Testament name “Joshua.” Joshua saved God’s people by bringing them into Canaan; Jesus saved God’s people by opening heaven. The New Testament uses the word “Jesus” nine hundred eighty-three times. You don’t have to know Hebrew or Greek to see that He is the principal character of the world’s best-selling Book.
Why was Jesus so fitted to be our Savior? Why is He the only one who has ever been qualified to save the world? Because He was the only one who could pay the price for our sin. Paul wrote, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7). His blood was the only substance that could ever “redeem” (“buy back”). A story out of American history illustrates this point: One day, Abraham Lincoln went down to the slave block and saw a girl being sold. He took money out of his pocket and bought her.
Then he said to her, “Young lady, you are free.” She said, “Please, sir, what does that mean?” Lincoln said, “It means you are free.” She asked, “Does that mean that I can say whatever I want to say?” He answered, “Yes. You can say whatever you want to say.” She asked, “Does that mean I can be whatever I want to be?” He replied, “Yes, it means you can be whatever you want to be.” She asked, “Does that mean I can go wherever I want to go?” He said, “Yes, you can go wherever you want to go.” And the girl with tears streaming down her face said, “Then I will go with you.”
When sin put us on Satan’s auction block, Jesus bought us back with His own blood. Paul wrote, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rm. 5:8). While we were still sinners…we will never fully understand that kind of love. Walk through the Gospel Accounts once again and see God’s amazing grace as Jesus deals with people like us who are imperfect, flawed, and frail:
- Zacchaeus the tax collector (Lk. 19).
- The woman caught in adultery (Jn. 8).
- The Samaritan woman at the well (Jn. 4).
- The thief crucified next to Him (Lk. 23).
When we comprehend the riches of His grace extended to us, we, too, say, “Then I will go with you.” How can we not follow a Savior like that?
