In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel appears to an unsuspecting, poor girl in an apathetic city and gives her the news that she will bear the Messiah. Luke 1:31 says,
"You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name Jesus."
This verse has been my "stop and consider" verse all day and there is quite a bit to think about! First of all, the name Jesus was a common name, showing that He came to save common people... it comes from the Hebrew Yeshu'a, which means "the Lord saves" or "Savior". Now you KNOW names were chosen because of their specific meanings... and He wasn't called "God is good", "strong one", or anything else. He was called "Savior"--right from the outset His destiny was set. Plus, and I wish I could say this next thought was original but I got it from my Beth Moore Bible study, do you realize that this was the very first proclamation of our Savior's personal name since time began?! Whoa! What a momentous occasion!
So, what does it mean to *you* when you hear that name? What does the name Jesus tell you?
You know, until recently this would have been a pretty tough question for me to answer. It's strange to think how much I've grown on that front. Thanks for sharing this - definitely worth pondering.
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