Saviour of the World

‘Jesus’ means ‘Yahweh saves,’ and in him, the salvation promised by the God of Israel for all men and every nation has arrived. The child carried by Mary was “begotten of the Holy Spirit,” according to the Gospel of Matthew, and the angel told Joseph to name the child ‘Jesus’: “Call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Christ's name pointed to the saving act of God that was about to unfold. Men and women would behold the long-promised Salvation of Yahweh in Jesus of Nazareth. He is the Saviour of the World, and there is no other!

[World in Hand - Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash]

Naming him ‘Jesus’ or “Salvation of Yahweh” means that the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” has acted decisively in His Son to bring salvation to Humanity, especially through his Death and Resurrection. According to the Apostle Paul, this is the foundation of the Apostolic Tradition:

• “For I delivered to you first of all that which also I received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried; and that he has been raised on the third day” – (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

• “And in no other is there salvation, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men by which we must be saved”– (Acts 4:12).

The first verse of Matthew identifies the child as the “Son of Abraham.” This is more than another name on a genealogical list. Not only is Jesus the biological descendant of Abraham, but he also came to actualize the promises that God covenanted with the Patriarch - (Matthew 1:1).

Jesus is the “Seed of Abraham” in whom all the Nations of the Earth are blessed as God promised to the Patriarch. It is no coincidence that the Son of God began proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom in Galilee rather than Jerusalem - (Genesis 12:3, 22:18, Galatians 3:16-29):

• “Galilee of the Nations <…> The people that sat in darkness saw a great light and to those who sat in the region and Shadow of Death. From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent! For the Kingdom of the Heavens is at hand” - (Matthew 4:16).

• “There will be no gloom to her that was in anguish. In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter time, he has made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwelt in the land of the Shadow of Death, upon them has the light shined” - (Isaiah 9:1-3).

• “For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel” – (Luke 2:30-32).

The salvation promised by God in past ages is offered in the present for all men and women through God’s Son, and this salvation envisaged the inclusion of the Gentiles from the beginning along with the Nation of Israel:

• “In blessing, I will bless you, and in multiplying, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and your seed will possess the gate of his enemies;  and in your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you have obeyed my voice” – (Genesis 22:17-18).

• “For I say that Christ has been made a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, Therefore, I will give praise unto you among the Gentiles and sing unto your name. And again, he says, Rejoice, you Gentiles with his people. And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; and let all the peoples praise him. And again, Isaiah says, There will be the Root of Jesse, and he that arises to rule over the Gentiles. On him will the Gentiles hope” – (Romans 15:8-12, 16:25).

• “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you will all the nations be blessed. So then they that are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham <…> He says not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to your seed, which is Christ” – (Galatians 3:8-9, 3:16).

The Covenant was never exclusive to the Nation of Israel, nor did it foresee two distinct peoples, nations, kingdoms, or ways of salvation. The promises were always for the benefit of all men.

HIS NAME

The angel’s announcement to Joseph parallels the prediction made to Abraham about his firstborn son, which occurred when Sarah was ninety years old and beyond childbearing age, making her pregnancy miraculous. Abraham also received his son’s name through Divine Appointment, for God commanded Abraham to name his son ‘Isaac’ - (Genesis 17:19).

The name ‘Jesus’ or ‘Joshua’ first appears in the Book of Exodus. Joshua’s original name was ‘Hoshea’, the Son of Nun. Moses changed it from ‘Hoshea’ to ‘Joshua’, or more literally, ‘Ye-hoshua’ - (Numbers 13:1-8, Exodus 17:9).

‘Hoshea’ means “salvation, deliverance, help.” It is from the Hebrew verb for “save, help, deliver,” and that verb is ‘yasha’. For example, “Yahweh saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians” - (Exodus 14:30. Compare Deuteronomy 20:4).

By prefixing the first syllable of the Hebrew name ‘Yahweh’ to ‘Hoshea’ (YHWH {יהוה}), his name became ‘Ye-hoshua’. In several of the later books of the Hebrew Bible, the second syllable is eliminated, and the name is shortened to ‘Yeshua’. The name ‘Yahweh’ signifies the “Becoming One,” the One Who Is whatsoever He pleases to be - (Nehemiah 8:17, Ezra 2:2).

• “And God said to Moses, I Am Who I Am, and He said, Thus you will say to the sons of Israel, I Am Who I Am sent me to you” - (Exodus 3:14).

• “Grace to you, and peace, from Him who Is, and who Was, and who is Coming, the Almighty” - (Revelation 1:4, 1:8, 4:8).

The form ‘Jesus’ is the anglicized spelling of ‘Yeshua.’ It means more than “saviour.” It combines the name of God or ‘Yahweh’ with the Hebrew verb for “save,” and so, ‘Jesus’ means “Yahweh saves” or “Salvation of Yahweh.” The promised salvation of the God of Abraham for all nations has arrived in the man from the insignificant village of Nazareth, Jesus, the son of Joseph.

The angel’s announcement also echoed key themes from the ‘Servant’s Song’ of the Book of Isaiah. Jesus is the ‘Servant of Yahweh’ who came to “bear the sins of many.” For example:

• (Isaiah 53:10-11) – “Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him; he has put him to grief, making his soul an offering for sin. He will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and the pleasure of Yahweh will prosper in his hand. He will see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. By the knowledge of himself will my Righteous Servant justify many, and he will carry their sins.”

The genealogy of Jesus recorded in Matthew begins with Abraham, the Great Patriarch and Progenitor of Israel. Jesus is the “Son of Abraham,” the promised “Seed” who actualizes the Covenant promises.

• “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” – (Matthew 1:1).

Christ is also the “Son of David,” the Messiah and King who reigns from David’s Throne over the Kingdom of God. The glorious reign of the God of Israel began with the Death and Resurrection of the Nazarene - (“Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance!” - Psalm 2:6-9).

Like Joshua, Jesus is the Ruler of God’s people who delivers them from bondage to Satan and shepherds them to the Promised Land, namely, the Kingdom of God. He is also the Saviour of the world, of Humanity.

• “For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him” – (John 3:17).

• “And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” – (1 John 4:14).

In the truest sense, then, Jesus the Nazarene is the one who “saves his people from their sins” and brings light and salvation to the Nations of the Earth. There is no other Messiah or Saviour, period.

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SEE ALSO:

• His New Message - (Jesus summoned his disciples to proclaim the Good News of his Kingdom to every inhabited corner of the Earth)

• The Royal Servant - (Following his baptism in the Jordan, the voice from heaven identified Jesus as the Son of God and the Servant of the LORD)

• The Exceptional King - (Unrecognized as the Savior of the World and the Messiah of Israel, Jesus was rejected by all but the unlikeliest of men)

• True Power - (The power of God is revealed in the proclamation of a Messiah who was crucified by the world on Calvary)