NAMING THE KING

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Luke 2:21

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

There was a time when a pregnant woman didn’t know whether their child would be born a boy or girl.

I know, it’s hard to believe these days, right?

Back in the day, the moment of truth would come at delivery and as the child emerged, the doctor or nurse would make the statement, “It’s a (insert the gender). Typically, the parents had already selected two names, one for a boy and one for a girl, and would select the appropriate one depending on the gender of their newborn baby.

Nowadays, technological advances have allowed ultrasound scans to be performed, scans that are able to show the gender of the child developing in the womb. These scans also allow pictures to be taken which are usually posted on social media with a publicized gender reveal which usually is accompanied by the name the baby will be given at birth. Everyone knows whether the baby is a boy or girl and his or her name before the child is ever born.

Going back to biblical times, we find that things were even more different then. Pregnant Jewish women wouldn’t know the sex of their child until it was born but if the baby was a boy, the naming wouldn’t happen until eight days after birth when all newborn boys were to be circumcised in accordance with the Jewish law, honoring the covenant God had made with Abraham (Genesis 17:12).  

Typically, there wasn’t much drama regarding this naming. The boy would be expected to be named after his father but as we saw earlier in the case of Zechariah and Elizabeth, their son was named John, the name God had commanded them to use through the angel Gabriel. In their case, the couple knew the baby would be a boy before he was born.

Similarly, we know that Joseph and Mary both knew that she would give birth to a boy, a Son who the angel Gabriel stated was the long awaited Messiah and Lord of all lords, the very Son of God, the King they were to name Jesus.

And so it was on the eighth day after Mary gave birth to her Son. The scriptures tell us that they took their baby to be circumcised and it was then that they named Him Jesus, “the name the angel had given Him before he was conceived”.

Since then, Christians have worshiped and adored the One who was born to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21), the man given the name that is over every other name, the man named Jesus. As we enter into a new year, let us life up His name to everyone with the hope they might find their salvation through Him, the only One who can bring a person to God the Father (John 14:6).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.