“Dear Santa, I need a new skateboard for Christmas. The one I got now crashes too much. Band-Aids would be OK, too. David”
“Dear Santa, would you rather I leave you cookies and milk, or pizza? Dad says you’d probably like pizza. Write back right away to let me know. Love, Lisa”
“Dear Santa, please give me a tank, a jet fighter, 20 green soldiers, and a bazooka gun. I’m planning a surprise attack on my brother. So, don’t tell anyone. Thanks, Danny”
“Dear Santa, Mommy says that you only bring presents for the good little boys. That isn’t fair. Brian.”
Christmas is about Santa Claus, the expectations of children, decorations, and giving and receiving gifts. More than anything else, however, it is about celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Matthew 1:21 says, “She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
What is in a name? Do you remember the 1999 classic movie, “The Matrix?” The hero was named Mr. Anderson. “Anderson” literally means, “Son of Man.” He was also called Neo which means “new.” Thus, Neo was the “new Son of Man.” In the movie, he was the messiah who saved the human race from their enslavement to computers and machines.
Before the real Messiah was born, Joseph was instructed to name Him “Jesus.” The name means “God saves.” The Hebrew form of the name Jesus is “Yeshua,” which is translated into English as “Joshua.” Thus, the child of the Virgin Mary was predicted by the angel to be the new Joshua who would lead His people into the new promised land, just as Joshua led the Israelites into the land promised to Abraham for his descendants.
Joshua conquered the enemies living in Cannaan who did not want the Israelites to enter the promised land, and Jesus conquered the enemies of humanity that we call sin, death, and the devil, so we might enter the promised land of the Kingdom of God.
The angel told Joseph to name the baby “Jesus” or “God saves,” “because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Some children in a province of the Netherlands happened upon an unexploded World War II artillery shell and they began to play with it. Months later, when someone noticed what the children were up to, authorities went in and safely detonated the bomb.
Can you imagine the danger those children were in as they tossed around live ammunition? All of us play with sin, but sin sickens our souls and keeps us apart from God and living in harmony with him. If there is no intervention, it will eventually destroy us. God has intervened and sent His only Son to save us from our sin.
In Matthew’s nativity story he quotes Isaiah 7:14, which says, “Look. A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will call him, Emmanuel” (as quoted in Mattew 1:23). Jesus’ symbolic name, “Emmanuel,” means “God is with us.”
A young wife and mother, overwhelmed by her responsibilities, walked out on her family one day. She just laid down her apron and left. When she called that night, her frantic husband demanded an explanation. But she just hung up. She called every week to check on the children, but she refused to let him know where she was. The husband pleaded with her to return, but she wouldn’t listen.
Finally, he tracked her down to a dumpy hotel on the other side of the state. When she answered the door, he poured out his love for her and begged her to come home. She fell into his arms and cried for forgiveness. Later, when they were a little more secure in their relationship, her husband asked why she hadn’t returned when he had begged her to return over the phone. She replied, “All those claims of love — they were just words before. But then you came.”
We were far from God, lost and alone, but God came to us because of His great love for us. God is with us. He is with us to save us from our sin. He came as a little child into our filth that we might eternally experience the love of God for us and be changed.
Jesus, our Immanuel, is our Savior.
Dr. Dan Darby is a retired United Methodist pastor.
