Tuesday 18^th December

Matthew 1:18-21

Often it confused me when we sang ‘Your Name be lifted up’ or ‘I will bless Your Name’ during songs. See when we address the Queen of England we address her as ‘your majesty’. Or when she gets announced in public appearances, she always has ‘Queen’ Elizabeth before her actually name. If people where to just address her as Liz or Elizabeth her role as ‘Queen’ would automatically be less authoritative. In the same way we respect senior members of staff with titles of authority to mark their leadership and authority over us. Earthly titles or marks of leadership are either earned or passed down through hereditary lineage. Yet as grand as a title or name they may have, does their name possess the power to save and change lives?

The answer is an emphatic no. Yet we give such honour (and rightly so as the Bible commands us to respect those in authority) to their names when in actual fact their authority is only limited to that of a worldly power. There is only one Name that has the ultimate power and authority and that is of the Name given to a small baby boy born to the Virgin Mary.

We read of this story in Matthew 1:18-21. Mary a Godly young lady was the chosen vessel to bear God incarnate. She was to be married to a young man called Joseph. Although they were not married and had not ‘known’ each other, Mary fell pregnant. Joseph had every right to embarrass and scorn his fiancée, as he knew that the child Mary was carrying was not his. Yet being a just and noble man he decided to divorce her quietly. But during that night an angel appeared to him in a dream that changed the world as we know it. He informed Joseph that the child Mary was carrying was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was to be the Saviour of the world. He told Joseph that the Name that he should give to the child was Jesus (Salvation/Saviour). He obeyed and the Saviour of the world was born.

So why do we praise His Name? Well the simple answer is that firstly there is power in the Name of Jesus. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:9-11 that because of Jesus’ obedience to the Father in living a humble, sinless and sacrificial life to take our sins, the Father bestowed on Him “the Name that is above every name, so that at the Name of Jesus every should bow.”

Secondly, because there is power and authority in the Person of Jesus, as He was both fully man and fully God. Even when Jesus was alive on the earth there were numerous occasions, that when people saw who He was, they humbled themselves and submitted to His authority. For example the demon possessed man legion, that lived in the caves in Gerasenes (Mark 5:1-20), knew straight away the authority that Jesus had. Or how about the Centurion in Matthew 8:5-13, who also knew of Jesus’ authority and miracle working power, claimed that he “was not worthy to have Jesus come under his roof.”

We too must recognise the power and Authority of both the Person and Name of Jesus Christ. Jesus was born as a humble baby boy yet given all of Heaven’s authority to reign on Earth, whose sole purpose was to save us from our sins on that blessed day at Calvary. Remember that, when people use Jesus’ Name in vain or do not treat it with the respect that it deserves; For His Name “is the only Name under Heaven or Earth by which men can be saved” (Acts 4:12). We bear His Name as Christians, let us be good stewards of it.