A Savior Is Born
by Scott Willet
by Charles Hodge
Son of God, Son of Mary
by Peter J. Wallace
"He Was Called Jesus"
by Nelson D. Kloosterman
In God's good providence, I was present for the birth of my daughter. I was there for the whole process. I witnessed her first breath. It was incredible! And yet, from another perspective, it wasn't really that momentous. Sure, it was important to me and my wife. But to put it into perspective, women have been having babies for a long time. Day after day, month after month, year after year, century after century, women give birth to babies. There is nothing unusual about it.
But there was something extremely unusual about the birth of Jesus, something utterly unique. He was, after all, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. He was the second person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God, who was with God in the beginning, and through whom all things were made. Read more
The names of persons in ancient times, and especially among the people of God, were significant. When given by the parents, they were expressive of what they, the parents, designed either to symbolize or to commemorate. When given by God, they were a mode of revelation. God's giving to the Son of the virgin the name Immanuel was a revelation of the fact that God was to be with us. In what sense is God said to be with his people, or with man?
Nearness
Children, who is the Redeemer of God's elect? Jesus. If you know that much, you're on the right track! Our Shorter Catechism gives a little more detail:
Q. 21. Who is the Redeemer of God's elect?
A. The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever.
"And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb." Luke 2:21
We tend to view the events of our Lord's life through the lens of our own experience. Children singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus are learning to project their experiences upon his. In ways like this, we encrust singular events of God's saving work with emotional and intellectual speculations that allow us to sympathize with him. Read more