Today the Church remembers when the angel Gabriel visited Mary to tell her about Christ’s incarnation. Our devotion focuses on the Gospel of the day and comes from What Child Is This?: Daily Devotions.
Isaiah 7:10–14
Psalm 45:7–17
Hebrews 10:4–10
Luke 1:26–38
When the angel of the Lord revealed God’s name to Moses, there was quite a mysterious scene. The angel appeared to Moses in a burning bush, yet the bush was not consumed. The voice of the angel drove Moses back, causing him to hide his face. But perhaps the most mysterious part was the name of God that the angel revealed: “I AM.” It is a name that sounds incomplete, as though it needs to be finished by another description.
In Luke 1, an angel appears to Mary, but the scene is quite different. The angel greets her in a friendly way, and she is not driven back. In fact, the word of the angel comes so near it goes into Mary’s ear and causes the Son of God Himself to be conceived in her womb. His name, which the angel reveals, is not mysterious at all. He will be named Jesus, which means “I AM is salvation.” You might say God’s name is now complete with the naming of Jesus because, in Jesus, God’s work of salvation will be complete. Jesus’ name is good news because our sins are numerous and their burden is great. This child will show His greatness by accomplishing our salvation in His birth, death, and resurrection.
Devotion is from What Child Is This?: Daily Devotions, p. 11 © 2018 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Jesus! Name of wondrous love,
Name all other names above,
Unto which must ev’ry knee
Bow in deep humility.
Jesus! Name decreed of old,
To the maiden mother told,
Kneeling in her lowly cell,
By the angel Gabriel.
Jesus! Name of priceless worth
To the fallen of the earth
For the promise that it gave,
“Jesus shall His people save.”
Hymn text is from “Jesus! Name of Wondrous Love.” Published in 2016 by Concordia Publishing House.