The very name, JESUS, given to our Lord by the angel when intimating to the Virgin Mary the high honor God was putting upon her, in choosing her as the vessel of the Holy Spirit of God in bringing the Savior into the world, intimated His Godhead. The meaning of the name, JESUS, is Jehovah-Savior. JEHOVAH is one of the great names for God in the Old Testament, the One, who ever was, who ever is, who ever will be, the Eternal Present. Jehovah of the Old Testament is Jesus in the New Testament.
Prophecies in the Old Testament concerning our Lord are clear and definite. We read, " Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name IMMANUEL." (Isa. 7: 4).
Here was something that had never occurred in all the history of the world, that a virgin should bear a child. Immanuel signifies God with us. We read the answer to this in the New Testament:-
" Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with Child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." (Matt. 1:22, 2322Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (Matthew 1:22‑23)).
Still more fully does the prophet unfold his theme. We read, " Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. ' (Isa. 9:66For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)).
No man, uninspired of God, would have dreamed of penning such words. On the surface they appear to contain a contradiction. Who would have dared to prophesy that a Child of days should be at the same time " The everlasting Father "? Or that an Infant in the manger of Bethlehem should be at the same time " The mighty God "?
Yet how true is this prophecy, waiting until seven long centuries had passed before being fulfilled in the birth of our Lord.
One of the names given to this Child is "Wonderful" [Hebrew pele, meaning something not to be grasped or understood]. The same word is used when the Angel of Jehovah (in this case clearly the Lord Himself), appeared to Manoah and his wife, prophesying the birth of a son. When Manoah, wishing to show homage to the heavenly Visitor, asked Him His name, the reply was given,
We get the full answer to this in the New Testament, when our Lord said,
Here is plainly stated what was wrapped up in the words, " Wonderful " (Isa. 9: 6), and " Secret " (Judges 13: 18), viz., the inscrutability of the Person of our Lord, a mystery only knowable to the Father and the Son. No creature mind, however penetrating, can ever remotely understand this mystery of mysteries. It is the transgressing of Scripture that is responsible for all the heresies concerning the Person of our Lord, that have afflicted the church of God, occasioning such widespread havoc. It is sufficient for us to receive the testimony of Scripture that our Lord is very God, is very Man, united in One in Christ. Let us welcome every item of testimony to our Lord found in the Scriptures, but let us take care not to speculate, to add to Scripture, to take from Scripture, or try to explain to our hurt what neither angel nor saint can ever fathom.