Do the Honorable Thing
Call him Jesus. Joseph was in a tight place; his future wife was pregnant. He was going to do the honorable thing and divorce her quietly, but God spoke to him in a dream. This child wasn’t an illegitimate baby; it was from God. Mary was chosen by God to carry the Messiah, who is going to save people from their sins. He was to call him Jesus.
Matthew 1:18-25
“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
The Savior is Coming
The Father had the responsibility to name the child, especially a firstborn son. Usually, the son took the name of his father or a close male relative. That’s why naming John the Baptist was so controversial; there was no other relative with that name. God told Joseph in a dream to call his soon to be born son, Jesus. While Jesus was a common name at that time, it had special meaning; savior.
Saved From Our Sins
The Messiah Israel was waiting for was about to arrive, and he would save his people from their sins. All of us need to be rescued from our sins, all of us need a savior. There is nothing we can do in our power that can remove one sin from our lives. It takes a sinless person to take the place of a sinner. Jesus came to do that. We celebrate this Christmas because we have been saved from our sins.