But after he had considered this, 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. 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.’ 

MATTHEW 1:20-21

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This article continues a four-part series that goes along with our new Advent devotional journey, Down to Earth. The journey and accompanying Sunday videos and sermon plans will help you reflect on our ‘down to earth’ Saviour – the Jesus who stepped into the mess and detail of life on earth, and calls us to do the same.

The rescue mission of Jesus is hidden in plain sight. It’s there both obviously and subtly in his name.

Everyone around at the time knew Jesus’ name meant ‘God saves’ or ‘The Lord is salvation’. So, where’s the subtlety in something as unsubtle as calling the Saviour of the world ‘God saves’?

Among his contemporaries, the name Jesus was actually pretty common, much as it is in the Spanish-speaking world today. So, as well as a special name describing God’s rescue, ‘Jesus’ was, in fact, a very down-to-earth name. There are other Jesuses in the New Testament, including Jesus called Justus (Colossians 4:11) and Jesus Barabbas (Matthew 27:16). The name was so common that Jesus is often referred to as ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ to distinguish him from others.

We must ask, therefore – what did the name ‘Jesus’ mean for all the others who carried it?

The answer is surely that it described a general truth about God, rather than making a specific statement about the mission of the one given that name. Like the names ‘Grace’ and ‘Joy’ today: if you name a child Grace, you’re not stating that they’ll be the source of grace for everyone. You’re picking a beautiful name which happens to celebrate a truth about God.

Jesus of Nazareth is the only Jesus who’d truly live up to his name.

God’s people knew that a rescue was desperately needed, and they thought they knew what it should look like, including the military removal of Roman rule across their land. They weren’t expecting it to look like the down-to-earth birth of this Jesus to this young couple from Nazareth.

But the most expected answer is so often not the most needed answer.

This Advent, it is amazing to contemplate that God has totally fulfilled his rescue promises in Christ Jesus, and can still do so today in unexpected ways. This week’s Down to Earth video reflection has a story to illustrate this.

There’s a lesson for us here. Even when we call on God’s help, we can so easily write our own script as to how exactly God’s rescue should play out.

The unexpected rescue at Christmas reminds me to lay aside my preferences and timing. In my everyday situations, when concerns and challenges come up at work and on my frontline, I’m invited to seek and join in God’s rescue story – not write my own.

Ken Benjamin 
Director of Church Relationships, LICC

Ask God if there’s any specific situation where he’s inviting you to lay aside your preferred solution.