And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
Luke 1:31

Prior to this moment in time, there was nothing spectacular about the name “Jesus.” A common name used throughout the Old Testament and throughout the first century AD, “Jesus” was most often interpreted “Joshua” (pronounced Yeshua).* Meaning “saves,” the people of Israel were quite familiar with the saving exploits of Joshua in the history of their people (see the book of Joshua in the Bible).* Despite the rich history and strong meaning of the name Joshua, the life of Jesus Christ would completely redefine it. The life of Jesus Christ would take the name “Jesus” and make it anything but common.

Interestingly, when Mary received the name of Jesus from the angel, the Jewish people were not expecting a “divine” Messiah.* In fact, some of Mary’s later reactions to Jesus show that despite the miraculous conception and the subsequent promises about Jesus in Luke 2:32-33, Mary, like all of humanity, was on a journey of discovering His divine nature (see e.g., Luke 2:41–52 and Mark 3:31–33).*

In our world today, as we look for “saving,” are we expecting the divine? Often we expect the Divine One to address our worldly issues. We want saving from all sorts of things in this life that are hard or painful. God cares about the issues of this life, and His heart for us includes a saving from earthly difficulty (the future Paradise we are promised is testament to that - Revelation 21:4). There is something, however, that God wants to do to redefine our understanding of “saving” that makes our understanding more eternal. There is something that He wants to do in your life that will echo in eternity.

Are we willing to open our hearts to it? Are we willing to open our hearts to Him? Where are you in the journey of discovering His divinity?

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to allow Him to redefine “saving” for you. Perhaps today God wants to birth something miraculous in your life. Maybe today God wants to take something common in your life and make it very uncommon. Perhaps today God wants to start you on a journey of seeing just how divine Jesus is.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

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*Bock, D. L. (1994). Luke (Lk 1:29–38). InterVarsity Press.
Garland, D. E. (2012). Luke (pp. 79–80). Zondervan.
Edwards, J. R. (2015). The Gospel according to Luke (D. A. Carson, Ed.; pp. 46–47). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Liefeld, W. L., & Pao, D. W. (2007). Luke. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition) (Vol. 10, p. 60). Zondervan.
Bock, D. L. (1996). Luke (pp. 57–58). Zondervan Publishing House.
Bock, D. L. (1994). Luke: 1:1–9:50 (Vol. 1, pp. 111–112). Baker Academic.
Nolland, J. (1989). Luke 1:1–9:20 (Vol. 35A, p. 51). Word, Incorporated.