Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all gather together as one people in continuing to celebrate this ever joyful season and time of Christmas, we are all reminded of the true reason of our joy and celebration today as we rejoice in honouring the Most Holy Name of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the One through Whom God has brought His salvation into the whole world. To Him has been given the Name which is above every other names, in Heaven, on and under the earth, in all the whole Universe and Creation. And it is in His Name and His coming into this world that all of us have rejoiced so greatly during this time of Christmas, celebrating the revelation and coming of the salvation of God, manifested in the flesh.

And that was what St. Paul the Apostle had written about in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Philippi in what is today Greece. He spoke of the salvation that has come into this world through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who has become incarnate in the flesh, becoming for us the manifestation of God’s love made real, tangible and approachable to us. And not only that, but by the coming of God through His Son in the flesh, in Him becoming the Son of Man and embracing our humanity, human nature and existence, He has become the New Adam, the New Man, Whose perfect obedience to the will of His heavenly Father has countered the disobedience of the first and original Adam which had led us all to sin.

The other reading from the Epistle of St. John also spoke of the same action from God Who has given us all His Son, as a sign and perfect proof of His ever enduring love and faithfulness to the Covenant and to all the promises which He had made with us and our ancestors. And He did all this by willingly embracing our humanity, emptying Himself of all glory and honour, power and majesty, which we saw in how He came into this world, not in a grand and majestic palace, but in a stable not even fit for the dwelling of men like us, and even more so especially at the moment when He embraced His Cross, and choosing willingly to suffer and die for our sake when He was without any blame, to be punished and scourged, condemned for our faults and mistakes.

And it is by this perfect obedience that the Holy Name of Jesus is truly the Name that is above all other names, above all powers and sovereignties, as the Name of the perfect Man, the One Who saved us all by His suffering, His wounds and His death on the Cross, He Who has conquered and destroyed death itself, overcoming the power and dominion of sin and evil by His perfect love and selflessness which has undone the hold of the original sin over all of us, caused by our disobedience, pride and greed. Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ in His perfect humility and obedience, and in His great and enduring love for each one of us, has shown us all the perfect manifestation of God’s ever wonderful, generous and magnificent love and grace for each one of us.

In the past, the Name of the Lord was so holy that no one could utter it on the pain of death and condemnation, because of the great sins that we have committed against God. Only the High Priest was allowed to utter the Holy Name of God at the Holy of Holies of the Temple of God and even then it was only allowed at one particular occasion in the whole entire year. Otherwise, the Name of God is something that is utterly taboo for the people to mention at all, and they cannot utter it no matter what, and usually the term Adonai or ‘Lord’ is used instead. The Name of God is difficult to utter and is usually represented by what is known as the Tetragrammaton, or the Four Sacred Letters written as YHVH or transliterated as ‘Yahweh’.

Now, by assuming the identity and nature of our humanity, becoming the Son of Man, God Himself assume a Name just as we all have been given and assigned a name, and through this act of Incarnation, not only that what was once invisible and vastly unapproachable to us has become tangible and real, in the love that God has manifested to us in Christ, His Son, but He has given us all a Name by which we can say and utter, the Name of God which has power and dominion over all things, the Name feared by Satan and all the forces of evil, from which they shall all flee from, and which we can all depend on, trusting always in His love and providence, in all that He has shown us in loving us and caring for our needs, in His ever patient love and generosity.

However, we must also realise that we should not use the Lord’s Holy Name in vain, as quite a few among us and in quite a few occasions the Name of the Lord had been used inappropriately and without reverence. While the Lord has made His Holy Name available and approachable to us, but it still remains the Holy Name of God, the Lord and Master of all, the King of Kings and our Almighty God and Father, which we should treat with utmost respect and deference, and not to use it for cursing others or in other situations when we make light of His Name, or worse still to make fun of it. Let us always remember that through this Name alone we have been saved, and we have received the assurance of eternal life and redemption.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence continue to keep our focus firmly in Christ our Lord, and put our trust in the Holy Name of Our Lord, Jesus, the Saviour of all, through Whom we shall be strengthened and healed from all of our predicaments. May the Lord continue to bless us all and strengthen us through the many challenges and trials that we may encounter in our lives, now and always. Amen.