“Behold, an angel of the LORD appeared to [Joseph] in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’” (Matthew 1:20-21 NKJV)
Jesus’ name comes from the word Joshua -- “He shall save”-- a common name in those days. Its very ordinariness, not unlike “Bob” or “Joe” today, must have grated on Jewish ears in the first century as they listened to Jesus’ words. Jews did not pronounce the Honorable Name of GOD, save for the high priest one day a year, and even today Orthodox Jews carefully spell out G_D. For people raised in such a tradition, the idea that an ordinary person with a name like Jesus could be the Son of God and Savior of the world seemed utterly scandalous. Jesus was a man, for goodness’ sake, Mary’s boy.
-- Phillip Yancey in “The Jesus I Never Knew”
#4993
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