Luke 2:15-21 - The Holy Name of Our Lord

The Setting:

Eight days after the birth, Jesus is circumcised. It’s the ultimate sign that Jesus is a human being, part of a specific culture, a specific lineage, and a specific struggle. He’s become part of our shared human experience.

He is given the name Jesus (Yeshua). It means "The Lord Saves." In a world dominated by Empire, whose leaders were called "Lord" and "Savior," this name is a radical, subversive act.

It claims that true salvation doesn’t come from the top-down violence of Empire, but from the bottom-up love of God.

The Takeaways:

The Back-of-House Gospel.

God shows up in the stables and the streets.

Ponder the Chaos.

Like Mary, we need to treasure the "messy" moments and process them internally before we try to explain them away.

The Flesh Matters.

Circumcision is a reminder that Jesus had a body, felt pain, and was rooted in a real, historical community.

Names are Power.

Naming him "Jesus" was specially anti Caesar. It declared that the "Savior" is the kid in the manger.

The Purpose is Salvation.

The Holy Name is a mission statement; a commitment to the work of liberation.

The Good News:

God didn't want to be abstract; God wanted a name, to be someone you could talk to, someone who shared your DNA, someone who knew the sting of the world.

Because Jesus was named, you are seen. You are a person of dignity, rooted in a story of salvation that is bigger than any empire. The Holy Name is the promise that the work of saving and healing is already underway, right here, with and to every one of us.

(Image: Soichi Watanabe (Japanese, 1949–), You Shall Laugh, 2011. Oil on canvas, 16 × 12 in. (41 × 31 cm). Kwansei Gakuin University Chapel, Kobe, Japan.)