THE name Jesus was not at all uncommon among the Jews. Josephus mentions no less than twelve persons who bore that name. Salvation of a certain kind was so longed for by the Jews that their eagerness was seen even in the choice they made of their children’s names. Their little ones were, because of their hopes concerning them, called saviors, yet they were not really saviors.
How common are nominal saviors! “Lo, here,” say some, “is a savior!” “ Lo, there,” cry others, “is another savior!” All these have the name, but not the power; and now, our Lord Jesus Christ has claimed the title exclusively for Himself. His Name shall be called Jesus, for He alone is a Prince and a Savior, and He only saves His people from their sins.
Other so called saviors do but mock the hopes of mankind; they promise fairly, but they utterly deceive all who rely upon them. But this Holy Child, this blessed, glorious “God with us,” has truly brought us salvation, and He saith, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” This Jesus of Nazareth, the King of kings, and Lord of Lords, is the one and only Savior. He, and none but He, shall save His people. He, and not another, shall save them by His own act and deed. Singly and unaided, He shall save His people. Personally, and not by another, in His own Name, and on His own behalf, He shall, by Himself, purge away His people’s sins.
He shall do all the work, and leave none of it undone; He shall begin it, carry it on, and complete it; and therefore is His Name called Jesus, because He shall fully, entirely, and perfectly, save His people from their sins. The name Jesus has been, in a minor sense, applied to others aforetime; but now, henceforth, no one else may wear it, since there is no other Savior but Christ the Lord; “neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
