An Angel Speaks to Joseph
We’ve just released another three books in the series, bringing it to twelve books–one for each month of the year. The reading below is from Book 10: Apples of Gold in Silver Settings. You can buy the book on Amazon (see the link at the end of this reading)
From God’s Word, the Bible…
But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him 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
Mary was pregnant, and her fiancé Joseph was perplexed. The child wasn’t his. Assuming Mary had been unfaithful to him, he was inclined to break their engagement quietly, that is, without subjecting Mary to the legal procedures of that time.
Then everything changed for Joseph in an instant. An angel suddenly appeared to him in a dream to offer an explanation and to give an instruction.
The explanation had to do with Mary’s pregnancy. It was unique. There had not been one like this before. The angel said: “. . . that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (v. 20).
The instruction had to do with the naming of the One who was to be born. The angel said to Joseph: “. . . you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (v. 21).
I love the name “Jesus” because it means “salvation,” and this I know about myself: I need salvation. What is it that I need to be saved from? The angel made it clear. I need to be saved from my sins. And what I have said about myself is true of everyone. We are all sinners (Rom. 3:23), and we all need to be saved from our sins.
Jesus came to this earth for the express purpose of providing salvation for sinners, and there would be no such salvation had He not come.
Yes, Jesus provides an example for us on the matter of how we should live, but that wasn’t the primary reason that He came. Jesus was certainly a marvelous teacher, but He didn’t come to only be a teacher. Jesus came to be the Savior. Any explanation for Him other than that comes woefully short of the truth about the Lord Jesus.
To say that Jesus came to this earth to save sinners is to say that He came to pay the penalty that those sinners deserve. God’s holy character precludes Him from forgiving sinners without that penalty being paid. God would sin against Himself if He were to ignore the penalty that He Himself had pronounced on sin. So the huge question was this: how could God at one and the same time carry out the penalty that He had pronounced on sinners and let those very same sinners go free? To put it another way, how could God both punish and not punish sinners? Or, to put it yet another way, how could God simultaneously satisfy His justice that demanded payment for sin and His grace that demanded release for sinners? Enormous dilemma!
Now you know why I love the name “Jesus.” He is the answer to God’s dilemma. On the cross, He received the penalty that God’s justice required. What a penalty it was! It was the penalty of eternal separation from God, and Jesus experienced that on the cross. That’s why He cried: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46).
Because He was God, an infinite person, He could receive an eternity’s worth of wrath in a finite measure of time. Amazing!
Justice looked on the cross of Jesus and clapped its hands in approval because the demand that it made against sinners was fully carried out. But grace looked on that same cross and clapped its hands as well for this reason: because Jesus had paid the penalty, there was no penalty left for those sinners who trust in Him. Justice and grace met in Jesus.
Now you see the reason I love the name “Jesus.” But I have to say there’s another word that I love in the angel’s announcement. It is the word “will.” That’s a definite word. It doesn’t allow for uncertainty. Jesus was coming to this earth to provide salvation for sinners, and He would succeed in that work. Nothing would stop Him.
I would have enjoyed hearing the angel speak his words of explanation and instruction to Joseph because those words pertain to something that pertains to me—salvation from my sins. There is nothing greater to be found, and it’s all found in Jesus.
We have heard the joyful sound:
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Spread the tidings all around:
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
