<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus [Yeshua \u2014 YHWH saves], because he will\u00a0save\u00a0<\/em>his people from their sins\u201d (Matthew 1:21). Christmas is about salvation and God saves at Advent. Here is a word that has fallen out of favor with many today since it connotes fundamentalism for many. So, let\u2019s take a look at it again.<\/p>\n To be saved means to be rescued from something, some condition, or someone. Jesus \u201csaves\u201d humans\/his people from the condition of their sins.<\/p>\n What surprises many who look at the word \u201csave\u201d in the Gospels is that it so connected to healing \u2014 God\u2019s saving work is holistic. For instance, when the disciples\u2019 boat was about to capsize, they wanted \u201csalvation\u201d (8:25). When Jesus was on the cross he was taunted about saving himself (27:40).<\/p>\n At the heart of the word \u201csave\u201d in the Gospels, however, is this sense of personal salvation. Here\u2019s a good text: \u201cFor whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it\u201d (16:25).<\/p>\n And Matthew sums up what Advent is by saying Jesus, God Saves, is the name given to the Child because he will \u201csave\u201d his people \u201cfrom their sins.\u201d Notice there, though, that this transcends the simply personal to be \u201chis people.\u201d Jesus\u2019 salvation is the consummation of God\u2019s plan for Israel, the people of God. Israel\u2019s sins includes, but cannot be limited to this, their \u201cexile\u201d \u2014 so that when Zechariah sings about salvation in the Benedictus he means deliverance from the enemies. Surely this social aspect is involved in Matthew 1:21 as well.<\/p>\n There is no idea for the reader to know how Jesus will be this Savior for his people, but one can rest on this: the Story about to unfold in Matthew 1 through 28 is the story of God\u2019s Saving work through Jesus, the one named \u201cGod Saves.\u201d The major moments are his life \u2014 his baptism, his temptation, his entire ministry \u2014 his death and his resurrection.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cShe will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus [Yeshua \u2014 YHWH saves], because he will\u00a0save\u00a0his people from their sins\u201d (Matthew 1:21). Christmas is about salvation and God saves at Advent. Here is a word that has fallen out of favor with many today since it connotes fundamentalism […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1749],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advent"],"yoast_head":"\n