Hennie Symington

Today in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you: he is the Messiah, the Lord.  Luke 2:11

Who is this man going by the name of Jesus, an ordinary, everyday Jewish name, similar to the name Joshua? Yet this is the name that has changed history. Taking it one step further, this name at its root means “liberator” or “bringer of salvation”. A common name, but no common man! Yet he was like one of us. No wonder it was so hard for some to accept him as more than just a man. “Is he not the son of the carpenter?” we read in Scripture. How can it be? How can that which is so ordinary be the mystery of God’s love made visible? That is precisely the heart of the gospel. When we acknowledge him as the only Son of God, we realise that He is not the Father nor the Holy Spirit. The three Persons in the Trinity are separate and not interchangeable. Yet the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God.

What about the name Christ?

This name is the Greek version of the Hebrew word for messiah, which means the anointed. Like many before Christ, prophets, priests and kings were officially anointed. For Israel it was a reminder of the anointed one yet to come. However, Christ, as the Messiah, is anointed with the Holy Spirit: "For the one whom God has sent, speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit." (John 3:34).

Prayer: Jesus Christ, more than all else, we can be one with you because you are like one of us. You wept, you bled, you died. Yet you overcame death so that we could live. Amen