Salvation Has A Name
Holiday Hope To Holiday Reels • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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The fourth installment in our series Holiday Reels to Holiday Hope is Frosty the Snowman.
Frosty the Snowman aired on December 7, 1969 on CBS. It actually aired immediately after the fifth annual showing of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special which aired in 1964.
Do you remember the characters?
Professor HInkle who has embarrassed himself in front of the kids he’s teaching. The children who leave his classrom and build a snowman and name him Frosty. Hocus Pocus the rabbit who steals the hat and runs away. Karen who catches the hat and puts it on Frosty’s head which brings him to life.
And Frosty and Karen and Hocus Pocus the rabbit proceed to have a very adventurous afternoon together.
But the twist comes when the weather starts to warm, which of course means Frosty is melting. Not enough money to buy a ticket on a commercial train. So Frosty and Karen and Hocus Pocus the bunny hitch a ride on a refrigerated box car to the North Pole to save him.
It’s a sign of the times when Karen says: “I guess it’s ok, as long as I’m home for dinner.” Back in the 60s when y’all grew up and even in the 80s when I grew up, our parents would turn us loose and count on us to come home.
On the box car they go, chugging toward the North Pole. But the cold that is keeping Frosty alive becomes a threat to Karen and she gets sick and they have to find her some place warm to stay. Finding a green house, Frosty and Hocus Pocus the rabbit find warmth. But while the warmth helps Karen get better, Frosty’s life is poured out as he melts away.
The irony is that on the journey to save Frosty, Frosty ends up saving Karen, as his life is poured out in exchange for hers. Frosty stays with her in her trouble, at the risk of his own life, in order to preserve her life, and in the process almost dies in her place, as it were.
Now, of course he was just a snowman and it’s just a story. But it’s amazing how often you will see gospel themes in movies if you will look for them.
At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of our Savior who poured His life out for ours. He preserved our lives at the cost of His. He is our Immanuel — God With Us.
1. Joseph’s distressful discovery
1. Joseph’s distressful discovery
Two weeks ago we looked at the section immediately before this story of Joseph, which is Jesus’ genealogy. There we saw that Jesus has the legal right to sit on the throne of David because He is in the direct line of David through his father Joseph.
And the genealogy has a lot of begats. That was the pattern. Do you recall the pattern?
X begay Y who begat Z who begat A and so on and so on. But at the very end of that genealogy at verse 16, the pattern shifts. Do you remember the pattern shift?
Look there with me starting verse 16, with Bibles and Bible apps open. We read:
“...and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob” — and here’s where the pattern shifts, signaling that this case is different from the others: — “Jacob the father of Joseph” — and here the person who he husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”
And that’s Matthew’s way of showing us that there is something special about this king who has been born. And that uniquenss, that specialness, goes right back to the time of his birth. Jesus is in the family line of David, but He is not Joseph’s biological son.
How is that possible? Matt 1:18-25 explains how that is possible.
And in fact the unusualness of the king’s birth is seen in the details of Mary’s pregnancy.
Notice with me three things: the timing, the discovery, and the decision.
First, the timing.
Verse 18 if you’re looking there with me. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way”. Now notice the timing. “When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together” — which means just what you think it means — “she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (ESV). So prior to their wedding ceremony and their wedding night, Mary is pregnant.
That’s the timing. Notice with me the discovery.
You have to understand, that last little detail — “from the Holy Spirit” — that’s something Joseph doesn’t yet know, but we know. What Joseph knows is before that: “she was found to be with child”.
So, it looks like Mary has either been impregnated against her will, or she has been unfaithful. This is why I said this is Joseph’s distressful discovery. His wife — for all practical purposes, betrothed couples were legally married — has been with someone else.
That’s the discovery. I want you now to see the decision.
Now I want you to see what happens next, verse 19: “And her husband Joseph, being a just man” — your translation might say “good man” or “righteous man” -- and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly” (ESV).
Joseph has a problem.
Raise your hand if you’ve been through a breakup.
Keep your hands raised if at the time, that breakup was sort of earth-shattering.
He loves Mary. We can assume that Joseph is deeply in love with Mary. Joseph thought Mary felt the same about her. But now she is pregnant with someone else’s child. Joseph is often overlooked in this regard, but he must be completely heartbroken. Anyone whose been through a breakup or a divorce can understand this.
But Joseph though heartbroken is a righteous man, a just man, an upright. This means Joseph is a man who love the Lord and wants to obey His law.
The law says, if a betrothed woman commits adultery and is pregnant, both the woman and the man she was with are to be put to death.
Did they actually practice that in the first century? Probably not. But still, marriage is sacred and as far as Joseph is aware, the covenant has been broken. Divorce is the only answer.
But Joseph has two ways of going about that divorce. If Joseph wanted too, he could sue Mary, take her to court, shame her and her family. But instead he plans to take advantage of the bare minimum requirement was just to send her away with a certificate of divorcement.
This is Joseph’s thought process after his distressing discovery.
And that thought process is described in verse 19. Look there with me again: “After husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved” — settled, decided on a course of action which is to send her away privately.
And it is during this thought process, verse 20, “As he considered these things” — as he turned them over and over in his head, weighing the various options open to him and finally settling on a private divorce, an angel appears to him as he sleeps and here he makes a second discovery.
2. Joseph’s delightful discovery
2. Joseph’s delightful discovery
The first discovery was: Mary is pregnant, and not by him.
The second discovery is: Mary is indeed pregnant, but not by adultery. How then is she pregnant?
Verse 20” “But as he considered these things, behold” — which means at that very time, at the very moment when Joseph was considering putting his marriage plans on pause, at that very time the angel intervened and stopped Joseph and put his fears to rest. “Behold” is a word that draws our attention to the perfect timing of God.
“As he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife.”
My dad used to say, “The worst-case scenario almost never happens.” He told me that because I used to worry.
For Joseph, worst-case scenario is losing his precious Mary to another man. But the angel is saying: Do not fear, Joseph! Things are not as they seem, Joseph!
Not only are things not as bad as they seem. They are better than Joseph could have ever dreamed. He has been chosen to be the legal father of the Messiah. He will be entrusted with the task of raising and providing and teaching and protecting Him.
But that still leaves the matter of the birth. If there is no biological father, how’s this going to work? And who is this child?
Notice with me four things that will answer these questions. Notice with me the child’s source, His name, and His purpose.
A. His Source
A. His Source
First, His source. “For that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit”. Now Joseph is told what we were told from the beginning.
The Holy Spirit of God is His source.
Let me tell you something: Jesus did not begin to be God at His birth. What does the song say? “Jesus, Lord at thy”...what?” “Jesus, Lord at thy birth. Jesus has been God from before time, as far back as you can go. Remember last week? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God” (John 1:1).
Somehow, at the moment of conception, the Holy Spirit joined the eternal Son of God with a real human embryo within the womb of Mary.
And this is what Christians call the virgin birth.
The birth of Jesus Christ did not take place in the normal way. The Holy Spirit bypassed the normal union of a man and a woman in covenant marriage and instead overshadowed Mary in order to conceive within her Someone who would be fully God, and fully man.
Raise your hand if you have done something, said something, thought something, something in the last week.
How many of you want to know that you can be forgiven — that you have been forgiven.
Someone who by virtue of being both God and man would stand in our place before God as man, as our representative and die in our place on the cross as God and thus offer a perfect sacrifice that pays our debt and satisfies the wrath of God so that we can have a complete, once-for-all forgiveness.
Raise your hand if you are interested in that.
Born of a virgin. We stood together and cofessed together and united together with all other believers in every part of the world and in all times of church history and confessed “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary”.
Born of a virgin. In some way it was necessary for Christ to be born of a virgin in order that He might be both man and God. Only Jesus the God-Man can offer a sacrifice that simultaneously pardons us and satsfies the justice of God’s law.
Christmas, then, is all about salvation. It was the birth of our salvation.
So, that’s the child’s source — He is from the Holy Spirit.
I want you to see now His name. His name. Salvation has a name.
B. His Name
B. His Name
I want you to look with me at verse 21: “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.”
Before your child was born, how many of you took a really long time to land on a name for your child?
A month? Three months? Anybody wrestle with names for six months or longer?
Names are important. Do you know what your name means?
If you don’t know, you should look it up. Google what your name means.
Out of curiousity I googled mine last night. Some say Dustin means bold and brave. Some say Dustin means “a dust settlement”.
If you look at the history of my name, Wikipedia says Dustin comes from an old Viking name which is Tustin — Dustin with a T. Which in turn comes from the medieval Torsten which in turn goes back to the name medieval name Thor. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_(name), accessed December 21, 2024]
In ancient times, names meant more than they do today. It wasn’t just a matter of how the name sounded. It was more a matter of what the name meant. The name you gave your child embodied your hopes and dreams for who that child would be. To know a person’s name was to know that person — who they really are.
As the legal father it would have been Joseph’s sole right to name his son. But the Lord Himself had already chosen the name for Him. And this name communicated something important about who would be.
The name Jesus is essentially the OT name Joshua. What did Joshua do? Joshua took over for Moses and led Israel into the promised land. Joshua led them to defeat their enemies and conquer the land God promised them.
He was a spiritual leader. Josh 24:15
When the angel says His name will be Jesus, He’s tapping into that memory of Joshua as the strong and courageous Deliverer. But He’s saying Jesus will be better than Joshua, the greater Joshua.
Remember how Joshua stopped the sun? Well, he didn’t stop the sun; Joshua asked God to stop the sun in its orbit so the battle could continue. God stopped the sun.
But Jesus the better Joshua is the Creator of the sun.
Jesus the greater Joshua is the One who holds and guides the Son through its orbit.
Hebrews 1:3 says Christ holds all things together by His word. Such is the authority of our Savior that if He were to speak the word, all of this unravels and implodes on itself and we disappear into oblivion.
The only reason that does not happen, is that Jesus is holding the cosmos together by His word.
And get this — He didn’t stop doing this when He took on flesh. From His birth Jesus is doing this.
How is that possible? I don’t know. The Lord does not explain Himself and neither does He need to. My job is not to demand answers, but to believe Him. And to worship Him. If that doesn’t make you want to imitate the Magi and fall down on your knees in front of the infant Christ I don’t know.
Jesus the greater Joshua and better Joshua will deliver His people from something far worse than the Canaanite armies. As the greater and more powerful Joshua, He will deliver them from sin.
And that takes us from the child’s source to His name to, finally, the child’s purpose.
C. His purpose
C. His purpose
Now let me make this really relevant to you because this has been a lot of theology and I appreciate the fact that you’re still here with me.
Raise your hand if you have ever had the experience of singing along in church but not feeling what you’re singing?
Now, most of you probably think the reason is the music. Let me tell you something — it might not be the music. Worship is a matter of the heart. So, instead of saying “it’s the music”, pause a minute and go a little deeper.
Ask the question, What’s going on in my heart?
Often, we don’t worship because there is some very real heart issue going on, and when you can’t worship, that’s the Lord revealing that something is amiss.
Is it guilt? Is it disappointment? Is there a grievance with someone?
You will never be able to worship if you’re harboring a grudge. In fact, Jesus tells you not to try. Resolve it first, then worship, and see if that doesn’t free you up.
No matter what it is that’s blocking you from worship, Jesus was born to deliver you from that.
So look with me at verse 21: “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus” — which again means Joshua and sounds like the word for “salvation” — for he will save his people from their sins”.
Now notice with me the word “from”. What does it mean? It means “out of”. Jesus will save us out of our sins.
Jesus intends to save us from our sin in such a way that we are separated from them.
It doesn’t say “he will save his people in their sins”, as though in forgiving us He sweeps our sin under the rug and is content to let us stay in it? Jesus does not just want us to “have a good time.” He means business when He says He will save us from our sins.
This means when we come into church on Sunday morning, we can’t hang on to our sins. We need to confess them and receive God’s forgiveness and then let Him change our hearts.
For He has come to not to leave us in our sins but to save us from them, to save us out of them!
Worship is your time to release them. So as we worship here at the end, try something different. Focus on the lyrics. Focus on the One the lyrics speak of.
If you have negative feelings, don’t try to change them or suppress them. What you should do instead is acknowledge those feelings to God. Then ask him to help you worship and then choose to overlook those feelings and instead focus on God.
He is worthy of our worship, no matter what the music is or how you are feeling.
Call for response
Call for response
