December 18, 2025 // Thursday of the Third Week of Advent
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25 to
Reflect on the Word //
It was getting down to the wire and the nurse needed us to turn in the birth certificate form for our newborn daughter. Our list of baby girl names was lengthy and the stipulations we had for that name were even trickier. We needed a five letter name and a middle initial that matched the letter of our other two children. As I studied our daughter’s face none of the names on the list seemed to suit her. Even my husband agreed that the well-researched names we had in mind were no match for the new life in front of us.
In today's Gospel we read that the angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream saying, “She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Perhaps Joseph didn’t understand the magnitude behind the meaning of that name in that moment, but time would unfold its significance.
Unlike my daughter's name, the name of Jesus has an effect on the course of history: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us’” (Matthew 1:23). God is here in the midst of our fragmented society. Here He comes as a baby to heal, save, and anoint us.
When the profound evil that has gripped our world this year has plunged me into depths of despair, repeating Jesus’ name has been the only way I can implore the Light to break through. Jesus’ name echoes into eternity.
When we say Jesus’ name we can be confident that He is still moving, changing, filling, lifting, strengthening, and healing just as He did two thousand years ago when He came to us as a baby and walked this earth. As we draw nearer to His Nativity, we can remember that He came to be with us and is still present in the world.
Relate to the Lord // Accept this invitation to pray with the name of Jesus (God saves) and Emmanuel (God is with us). How does the effect of His name move you?
