Who Is Jesus and why did he come?

In Matthew 1:20-21 the angel said to Joseph, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child Who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

These verses answer two very important questions about Jesus. First, who is Jesus? The angel clearly told Joseph, “Call His name Jesus.” Earlier the angel Gabriel told Mary to call His name Jesus (Luke 1:31).

Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Joshua. Yeshua means “Yahweh Saves” or “Yahweh Is Salvation.” Yahweh is God’s personal name. It is found over 6,000 times in the Old Testament! In Exodus 3:14 God told Moses, “I Am.”

When we say God’s name we say, “He Is.” When God says His name, He says, “I Am.” Yahweh (YHWH) teaches us important truths about God. God is self existent. He depends on nothing and no one. We are dependent on God to create us and to sustain us. We need food, shelter, clothing and oxygen. God needs nothing and no one. He is simply, “I Am.”

God is also eternal. He has no beginning and no ending. He is immutable. He never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

In John 8 the enemies of Jesus asked Him a question. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I Am” (John 8:58). Who is Jesus? Jesus is God!

The second question is, “Why did Jesus come?” Matthew 1:21 says, “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Jesus came to save His people from their sins.

In Matthew 1 we are introduced to some of Jesus’ people. In verse 3 is Tamar. Tamar was guilty of prostitution and incest. In verse 5 is Rahab. Rahab was a Gentile who operated a brothel. In verse 5 is Ruth. Ruth was a Moabite. The Moabites practiced child sacrifice. In verse 6 is Bathsheba. Bathsheba was guilty of adultery. Jesus came to save sinners!

Jesus came “..to save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). God takes sin very seriously. God is holy and absolutely perfect. Every sin you and I have ever committed is enough to separate us from God for all eternity.

To understand the seriousness of sin, think about the sin of Adam. Adam’s sin plunged the world into catastrophe. What was Adam’s sin? He ate one piece of fruit from one tree forbidden by God.

The Jewish people missed their Messiah. They wanted deliverance not from sin but from Rome. They expected the Messiah to suffer but also to free them from Rome. Jesus came to bring eternal life- not temporal rescue.

Many people today miss the reason Jesus came. The five largest churches in America today are health and wealth, prosperity gospel churches. They promise that Jesus will give His people a better marriage, health, wealth and prosperity. It is your best life now. The Lord Jesus may give those things but His primary purpose was to deliver from sin.

In Luke 19:10 Jesus told Zaccheus, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” In Matthew 20:28 Jesus said, “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom (in the place of) many.” ,

Jesus became like you and me- except for sin. He died on the cross to pay for our sins. He is God. He came to save from sin. Let’s worship Him today!

Ethan Hansen is a pastor at Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake.