Names!

What child is this, who laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?

A man was invited over to a friend's house for dinner.

Every time that the host needed something, he preceded his request to his wife by calling her, "My Love", "Darling", and or "Sweetheart.” His friend looked at him and said, "That is really nice that after all of these years, you still call your wife by those little pet names."

The host replied, "Well, honestly, I have forgotten her real name."

Names are important! Names matter!

Even before His birth, Jesus was a child who had been given many names. The prophet Isaiah, writing 700 years before Jesus was born, prophesied this, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

When we think about advent, we think about a people who longed and hoped for a deliverer. In Jesus and His names, that is exactly what we received! What child was that, who laid to rest, on Mary’s lap was sleeping?