Matthew 1:21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His
people from their sins.”
The second article of the Apostle’s Creed is part of a larger chunk of statements that focuses on Jesus
Christ. The reason being was that Christianity, back then, was still grappling with defining their beliefs
and combating various heresies that threated the integrity of the Christian faith. Therefore, every line
was carefully formulated to address these heretical views.
Who is Jesus anyway? Why is He so important that He had been the topic of controversies and theories
from then until now? Why would the early church call a council and formulate a statement to clarify
who Jesus is?
The simple answer: you get Jesus wrong, you get the whole Christian faith wrong.
Isn’t that a bit extreme? Well, Jesus Himself claimed that He is the way, the truth, and the life. If you
have a different Jesus or you are on a different path, then don’t expect to arrive at the right destination.
Jesus said, no one can come to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).
The name “Jesus” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name “Joshua,” which means “the Lord saves.”
True enough, the Lord used Joshua to deliver Israel to the promised land. However, Joshua could only
deliver temporarily–meaning only in this lifetime. Jesus, on the other, delivers eternally. And He does
not only deliver or save His people from daily wandering; He saves them from the very core of their
lostness–sin. Matthew 1:21 says this clearly that Jesus will save them from their SINS. Not from poverty,
not from their depression, not from any powerful country, but from sin! Of course, Christ can cover all
those problems, but if the heart is not changed, then any effort to deal with the problems of this world
will be futile. We need to be transformed to live in accordance to Jesus.
Jesus is the complete and only Savior. There is no one like Him. Salvation is from no one else but found
in Christ alone (Acts 4:12). What should be our response? Thankfulness! Why? Because we have a Savior
who’s truly able to address the main problem we are facing. He went straight and didn’t pretend to
solve our unfortunate situation by merely fixing temporal problems.
We should also respond by submitting to His Lordship. If He is God and has saved us, then we rely on
Him to direct our lives because He knows best and He is sovereign over all. Calling Jesus our Lord is
acknowledging His control over everything and that includes us. We believe in Him and we depend on
Him alone. Praise God for His goodness and mercy.
