When my wife and I found out we were having a boy, we had a difficult time finding just the right name for him. Some names were completely off the table because we didn’t want to associate him with certain memories. Other names were up for consideration, but they quickly fell out of favor because we didn’t have a personal connection to them. Eventually, we found a name that not only meant a great deal to us but that would also remind our son of God’s unrelenting love for him. We spent a great deal of time researching a good name for our son because names are powerful. They carry with them rich histories and ages of cultural significance. They take the hopes, joys, and dreams of parents and conceal them within their children. They even spark reactions that unveil the inner workings of our own hearts.

God utilizes the power that names have when interacting with his creation. We see throughout Scripture that God gave names to select believers when he introduced a major turning point in the salvation story. For instance, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham because he would become the “father of many nations.” Abraham’s son was named Isaac because Abraham “laughed” at the news that he would have a son in his old age. After Jacob wrestled with God, his name was changed to Israel because he had “struggled with God” and had overcome.

So why did God command Mary and Joseph to name their son Jesus rather than Elijah (“Yahweh is my God”), Samuel (“God has heard”), or Daniel (“God is my judge”)? The name Jesus (Ἰησοῦς) is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Yeshua (יְהוֹשׁוּעַ), or Joshua, which means “God delivers.” “[Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). God’s use of the name Jesus here tells us that this child was the culmination of the rich history of our Lord’s dedicated, unrelenting passion for us sinners.

The Hebrew name Yeshua is the product of two Hebrew words: 1) Yah, which is the shortened form of Yahweh (יהוה), is the personal name of God that emphasizes his relationship with his people and 2) Shava (שׁוע), which means “to cry out” or “to call for help.” When combined, Yeshua expresses the idea of humanity calling out to the God of grace and mercy for help. This name perfectly summarizes our sin-filled status before God and how he loved us enough to change it. Since the fall into sin, all of creation has been groaning and aching, waiting to be released from the bondage of sin and death (Romans 8:18-22). As the cries of creation went up before God, he did not sit back and do nothing but acted to position every event in human history so he could bring us salvation (Romans 8:28). And when the time had finally come, God sent his Son to redeem us from the curse of sin and adopt us into his family (Galatians 4:4,5).

But God’s relentless love didn’t stop there. He gave us another name for our Savior, one proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah hundreds of years before. This Jesus is not just God. This Jesus is Immanuel (עִמָּ֥נוּ אֵֽל). He is “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). The Lord himself came to us in the flesh to walk with our feet, to speak with our lips, to see with our eyes, to touch with our hands. God took on humanity so he could be with us on earth. Jesus means salvation is a real person. Jesus means the Almighty God came to us in perfect flesh to free us from our sinful flesh. This is the God who does more than hear his people’s cries for help—he gets his hands dirty and acts!

Instead of falling to our knees in utter terror before the holy God, we get to see Yahweh face-to-face as he lifts us to our feet and blesses us with peace. He rose from his heavenly throne to lay upon a bed of hay. The Creator who governs the universe was himself grasped within Mary’s arms. The Lord of eternity made himself finite, submitting himself even to death so we could have everlasting life. The God of history is present and will continue to be so forever. Praise the Lord for the name of Jesus, for he is Immanuel—he is “God with us!”