Why the Name Jesus?

1. 0:00Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 11 Why is the Son of God called Jesus, meaning Savior?
2. 0:16Because He saves us from our sins, and because salvation is not to be sought or found in anyone else.
3. 0:24Do those who look for their salvation and security in saints, in themselves, or elsewhere, really believe in the only Savior, Jesus?
4. 0:33No.
5. 0:34Although they boast of being His, by their actions they deny the only Savior, Jesus.
6. 0:40Either Jesus is not a perfect Savior, or those who in true faith accept the Savior have in him all they need for their salvation. In Bible times the name a
7. 0:52child was given was often significant. I suppose it's that way as well now.
8. 0:57Sometimes parents call their children names because they like the sound of it, like the euphonious Penelope or the robust John.
9. 1:07Before Jesus was born, Joseph was told in a dream what he was to call the child. He was to call his name Jesus. Jesus is the Greek equivalent for the Old Testament Joshua.
10. 1:20which means the Lord saves or the Lord is salvation.
11. 1:24And so Jesus was called Jesus for a very specific reason.
12. 1:28Joseph was actually told why.
13. 1:31It was because he was to save his people from their sins.
14. 1:36So in the case of Jesus, his name was also his mission.
15. 1:39That's what he came to do.
16. 1:41He came to be the savior.
17. 1:43Our sins in Adam and our actual sins enslaved us.
18. 1:47Jesus has come to deliver us from that slavery.
19. 1:50And the way that he does that is by taking upon himself our sins, bearing the responsibility for them, taking the punishment that those sins deserve in order
20. 1:59that we might be free from the condemnation of God's judgment against us. That's why he's called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. And he is the only savior of sinners.
21. 2:14This is what the apostle Peter told the Sanhedrin as it's recorded for us in Acts 4:1.
22. 2:19verse 12, "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." And because Jesus is the only Savior, the
23. 2:30next question highlights that salvation is not to be found in anyone else.
24. 2:35It states there that some people look for their salvation and security in saints.
25. 2:39in themselves or elsewhere. Now I think I've never come across anyone who looked for their security or salvation in saints. That was probably a problem that
26. 2:50was more common in the era when the Heidelberg Catechism was written. But it is true that people do seek security and salvation in themselves.
27. 2:59themselves or elsewhere.
28. 3:02They might think, for instance, that they're not all that bad or they're better than other people are, or perhaps they're even better than they used to be.
29. 3:11And so that gives them some sort of credit with God.
30. 3:14They might have confidence that they're okay with God because they've been baptized.
31. 3:19or because their name is on the membership roll of the church, or even that they attend church. It's easy to have confidence in someone or something other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
32. 3:31That is our native temptation. And we ought not to do so. We ought to place our whole confidence. We ought to seek for our salvation only in the Lord Jesus Christ because he is the only Savior. And if we in
33. 3:46any way supplement the Lord Jesus or believe in someone instead of the Lord Jesus, we deprive ourselves of the grace that could be ours. Perhaps I could give an
34. 3:59illustration to help us understand this. Imagine that you invited me to your house and I come into the door. You say, welcome here, have a seat. And you offer me the best chair. If I were to say to
35. 4:11you, no, thanks. I'm not interested. I'm sure that you would be quite offended. Or imagine if I did say, well, that's, that's great. Thank you.
36. 4:19I will actually sit there. But before I sit there, I go to Home Depot, I purchase some lumber, some threaded rods, some brackets, and I fix the chair.
37. 4:30I kind of supplement it, strengthen it, because I'm not exactly confident that the chair that you offered me will actually actually suit me. Now that's similar to the gospel offer in our Lord Jesus Christ. The
38. 4:47Father offers us the Lord Jesus to be our only Savior and for us to reject Him is to offend God Himself. And the Lord Jesus offers Himself as the complete and perfect Savior,
39. 4:59who doesn't need to be supplemented, one who needs to be trusted in solely. And to refuse to do that, to either believe in someone or something other than the Lord
40. 5:09Jesus, or to believe in a supplemented Jesus, is actually to confess that he's an imperfect Savior. And also it means that we have ruled ourselves out of his salvation and his saving and redeeming work. But if you know
41. 5:26the Lord Jesus, who he is, what he has come to do, his mission to save his people from their sins, and his method by giving himself as the sacrifice in the place of sinners, then you will
42. 5:39cheerfully trust in him alone and enjoy his eternal salvation because of who he is and because of what he has done.
43. 5:59Thank you.

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