What’s in a name? Everything, when we are talking about Jesus. First of all, Joseph is the one who is to give the child the name Jesus. Contrast this with Luke’s account in which Gabriel tells Mary to name the child (Luke 1:35). For Matthew, establishing Jesus as a descendant of David requires that he be the child of a man of the Davidic line –and that, in turn, requires that Joseph vouch for Jesus’ legitimacy by publicly giving him a name. And then there is the name itself: Jesus is the short form of the name Joshua, which literally means ‘Yahweh helps,’ (Yahweh is the personal name of God, as revealed in Exodus) but which over the centuries came to be understood as ‘God saves.’ And so, the name tells us not just who Jesus is, but from whom he comes (God) and what he is born to do (save). And then, just so there is no confusion, his secondary name is that of Emmanuel – a Hebrew name mentioned by Isaiah when he wrote of God promising King Ahaz that God will protect Judah from her enemies (Isaiah 7:14). The promise that “A young girl (almā) shall conceive and bear a son,” became in the Greek translation in use in Jesus’ time parthenos (virgin) “A virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” The name Emmanuel (God with us) and the virgin birth became the birth (genesis), the meaning, and the mission of Jesus.
Before we are lost in Greek and Hebrew scholarship, ponder for a moment, the love of Joseph. Engagement/betrothal was a legally binding civil contract, publicly entered into in the home and presence of the father of the bride. This was no casual proposal. A year (or several) could go by before the wedding ceremony – often while the final financial arrangements (bride price) were made and in place. According to the law (Deuteronomy 22:23-27) sexual unfaithfulness while betrothed was akin to adultery, and punishable by death. Joseph was, “a righteous (dikaios) man (in the sense of his being a just man, righteous to the Law), as we are told in Matthew 1:19. His justness ought to have required her death. Instead, he seeks to spare both her life and her shame, by quietly divorcing her – releasing her from her engagement. So, when we speak of Joseph’s righteousness, we overlook his love – for it must have run deep, it must have been profound, it must have been true, for him to act as he did, regardless of the angelic messenger.
In all of this search for meaning, and reflection upon the nature of love, we enter into the Christmas story – God is with us, and God will save us.
