Luke 1:26-33 (Wycliffe Bible) “But in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, whose name was Nazareth [to which the name Nazareth], to a maiden [to a virgin], wedded to a man, whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the maiden was Mary. And the angel entered to her, and said, Hail, full of grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed be thou among women. And when she had heard, she was troubled in his word, and thought what manner salutation this was. And the angel said to her, Dread thou not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Lo! thou shalt conceive in [the] womb, and shalt bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. This shall be great [He shall be great], and he shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give to him the seat of David, his father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob without end [and he shall reign in the house of Jacob into without end], and of his realm shall be no end.”
Jesus—the name has come to us from across the centuries, and with it, a lot of baggage. Going back to its origin, the name meant “YAHWEH is salvation.” Today, it is often used to express surprise or even dismay. I would offer on this Christmas Day that the salvation offered to us through Jesus is indeed a surprise. I would also suggest that to the dismay of some, that we can no longer live as though God does not care about us. Jesus is proof positive that love came down at Christmas.
— Pastor Charles
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