The Name of Jesus

 Matthew 1:21"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

Jesus.  

Through an angel, God the father told Joseph, his earthly father what his name will be.

Jesus.  

In 1989, I was sitting in our kitchen when my mom told me she was pregnant!  As a six year old, I could not wait to be a big sister to a baby girl or maybe even a baby boy!  Of course I was already a big sister to Adi, but she was born when I was like two... so her birth was more like a shock than a joy.  This new baby was going to be my real life baby doll and my next pal in life.  I could feel it back then, I still remember that feeling now. I would fall asleep contemplating if the baby would be a boy or a girl.  As my mom's belly grew, we thought about all sorts of names together, but none of them ended up going on the birth certificate.  I was a little disappointed to hear a weird name like "Arlene", but of course that silly thought left the moment we met.  

I wonder what it was like for Joseph to hear the angel say the name of Jesus for the first time?  Was he completely in awe by the sheer miracle and fulfillment of prophecy, that the name Jesus sweetly sang from his lips?  Did he smile whenever he said the name Jesus to Mary.  Or was Joseph slow to warm up to the name because Jesus turned his life upside down in a beautiful but unplanned way?  

My guess is that he loved Jesus from the moment the angel appeared to him and so on.  After all, he stuck it out. Joseph protected his family in Bethlehem, in Egypt and taught Jesus his trade back in Nazareth.  Joseph did not plan for Jesus to come into his life, but he rose up to be the father of the Messiah with obedience and honor.  

I really admire Joseph because I am not so obedient and joyful when God changes my plans and I'm required to be flexible.   How different the Gospel would have been if Joseph loved his plans over God's?  How different my life could be if I stop loving my plans and fully submit to God's? 

Today let's pray for three things:

1.  That the name of Jesus sweetly rolls off our tongues just as it did the first day we met him.

2. That we submit to God's plans with obedience, joy, and flexibility.

3. That we complement and learn from those who do.

- Grace