Worship Helps for The Name of Jesus
Artwork: Presentation of Christ at
the Temple
Artist: Hans Holbein the
Elder
Worship Theme: On our calendars,
today is listed as January 1, or, New Year’s Day. On the church calendar it is
listed as “The Name of Jesus.” This is the eighth day after Jesus’ birth, the
day on which Jewish boys were circumcised and given their legal name.
Circumcision was the Old Testament sacrament whereby God brought a newborn into
his family of faith and included him in his covenant (promise) to send a
Savior. (You can see similarities to baptism, the New Testament sacrament of
initiation.) Circumcision was normally performed in the home by a visiting
rabbi. Jesus’ circumcision is another indication that he was indeed the
promised Savior who came to shed his blood for us. When the angel Gabriel
announced his birth to Joseph, the angel explained, “You are to give him the
name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Mt 1:21) Jesus
is the Greek form of Joshua, which means, “the Lord saves.” As we bask in the
continuing joy of Christmas, this morning we remember that this special child
in Bethlehem was born to be our Savior, a wonderful comfort as we head into the
new year of 2017.
Old Testament: Numbers 6:22–27
22The Lord told Moses 23to speak to
Aaron and to his sons and to tell them to bless the Israelites with these
words:
24The Lord bless you and keep you.
25The Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you.
26The Lord look on you with favor
and give you peace.
27In this way they will put
my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.
1. How do the words
“The Lord bless you and keep you”
(verse 24) reflect the Father’s work?
2. How do the words “The Lord make his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you” (verse 25) bring to mind the work of the Son?
3. How do the words
“The Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace” (verse 26) reveal the work of the Holy Spirit?
Epistle: Philippians
2:9–13
9Therefore God also highly
exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10so
that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under
the earth, 11and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12So then, my dear friends,
as you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you, but also now much more
in my absence, continue to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13In fact, it is God who is working in you, both to will and to
work, for the sake of his good pleasure.
4. What does it mean that “God
exalted Christ”?
5. Why does Paul tell
the Philippians to work out their salvation with fear and trembling?
Gospel: Luke
2:21
21After eight days passed,
when the child was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb.
6. Why is it so important that Jesus
was circumcised?
Answers:
1. Physically
and spiritually we are the recipients of the Father’s creating and preserving
power and grace.
2. The Second Article of the Apostles’ Creed proclaims the
wonders of God’s saving grace in Jesus Christ our Savior. Luther, in his
explanation to the Apostle’s Creed, speaks this way about Christ: “He has
redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins,
from death, and from the power of the devil.”
3. God has not turned his back on us or ignored us. Rather,
he continually turns his face toward us, that is, he gives us his undivided
attention and love as the Holy Spirit brings us the peace of sins forgiven
through faith in Christ Jesus the Savior.
4. In his exalted state (beginning with his resurrection and
continuing for all eternity), God exalted his Son so that Jesus now completely
employs the fullness of his deity at all times.
5. People often take this
to imply work-righteousness. Yet Paul teaches no such thing. His point hinges
on what comes in verse 13. We should work out our salvation with fear and
trembling because everything we do is done only by God’s grace. We were running
away from the Lord, but he came to us, led us to faith, and now enables us to
serve him as branches in Jesus, the vine. If we revert to our natural way of
thinking and acting, we will certainly cut ourselves off from the lifeline of
God’s grace. We are in a constant struggle against the devil. We need to be
alert, avoid spiritual apathy, and instead set our minds on spiritual matters.
6. For background see Genesis 17 and Leviticus 12. Jesus
obeyed his Father’s law. He is shedding his divine blood as part of his
obedience to his Father’s will and for mankind’s salvation. This is Jesus’ first
recorded act of obedience as our substitute.
Putting your faith into action
It’s
common for us to place our names on items we value. It’s a good way of marking
them as belonging to us. At our baptisms, our God placed his name on us—Child
of God. He did that to bless and save us, to grant us eternal life with him,
and to fill us with eternal hope and joy. He also made us his own to glorify
him with all that we are and have. May everything we say and do reflect the
truth that we are his!
Now, if you are asked,
“What do you believe in the Second Article about Jesus Christ?” answer briefly,
“I believe that Jesus Christ, God’s true Son, has become my Lord.”
“But what does it mean to
become Lord?”
“It is this. He has
redeemed me from sin, from the devil, from death, and from all evil. For before I did not have a Lord or King, but
was captive under the devil’s power, condemned to death, stuck in sin and
blindness.”
When we had been created by
God the Father and had received from Him all kinds of good, the devil came and
led us into disobedience, sin, death, and all evil. So we fell under God’s wrath and were doomed
to eternal damnation, just as we had deserved.
There was no help, or comfort until this eternal Son of God—in His
immeasurable goodness—had compassion upon our misery and wretchedness. He came from heaven to help us. So those
tyrants are all expelled now. In their
place has come Jesus Christ, Lord of life, righteousness, every blessing, and
salvation. He has delivered us poor,
lost people from hell’s jaws, has won us, made us free, and brought us again
into the Father’s favor and grace. He
has taken us as His own property under His shelter so that He may govern us by
His righteousness, wisdom, power, and blessedness. – Large Catechism, Part 2,
The Apostles’ Creed, Article II (paragraphs 27-30)
Hymns: 340; 76; 39
1 Jesus! Name of
wondrous love,
Name all other names above,
Unto which must ev’ry knee
Bow in deep humility.
2 Jesus! Name decreed
of old,
To the maiden mother told—
Kneeling in her lowly cell—
By the angel Gabriel.
3 Jesus! Name of
priceless worth
To the fallen here on earth
For the promise that it gave,
“Jesus shall his people save.”
4 Jesus! Only name
that’s giv’n
Under all the mighty heav’n
Whereby all, to sin enslaved,
Burst their fetters and are saved.
5 Jesus! Name of
wondrous love,
Human name of God above;
Pleading only this, we, too,
Flee, O God, in faith to you.
Text: William W. How, 1823–97, abr., alt.
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