
How felicitous it is that the secular holiday New Yearโs Day is also the day of the church year dedicated to the Name of Jesus!ย Beginning the year in the name of Jesus is quite appropriate.
On the seventh day after His birth (hence, seven days after Christmas), the baby Jesus was circumcisedโentering into the covenant of Godโs people, an action parallel in the church to infant baptismโwhereupon He was officially given His name.
The angel was very specific when he told Mary what that name must be (Luke 1:31), and he told Joseph why:ย โYou shall call his name Jesus,ย for he will save his people from their sinsโ (Matthew 1:21).
The name โJesusโ means โGod saves.โย His very name is a confession of His deity and what He has accomplished for us.
This was pointed out to me by Rev. Dr. Lucas V. Woodford, now district President of the Minnesota South district, who was an associate pastor at First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, when we were members there.ย He preached about the Name of Jesus in a New Yearโs service that I have always remembered.
He then went through the different references in the church and in the Scriptures to the things that we are to do โin Jesusโs name,โ giving the translation โGod saves.โ
We pray in Jesusโs name.ย That is, we pray in the name โGod saves.โย That God has saved us through Jesus affects how we can approach God in prayer.
We are absolved of our sins โin Jesusโ name.โย That is, we are forgiven because โGod saves.โ
โFor where two or three are gathered inย myย name [God saves], there am I among themโ (Matthew 18:20).ย That โGod savesโ means that He is present with us.
โAt theย nameย ofย Jesusย [God saves] every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earthโ (Philippians 2:10).ย That โGod savesโ means that everyone should honor Him!ย (What a mystery that so many people hate the God who wants to save them!)
โWhatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in theย name ofย the Lordย Jesus [God saves], giving thanks to God the Father through himโ (Colossians 3:17).ย We can do everything in light of โGod saves,โ and that โGod savesโ can fill us with gratitude.
There is a New Yearโs resolution for you!ย ย Not a burdensome law that you can never fulfill, but a reflection of the Gospel promise that you can bring to mind all through the year when you need it:ย โDo everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.โย That is, do everything in the conviction that God has saved you!
Illustration:ย The IHS monogram [The Greek letters for โJESusโ] by AnonMoos (changes by Rabanus Flavus โ File:JHS-IHS-Monogram-Name-Jesus.svg, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69649452