Many us have titles before and/or after our names: Mr. or Ms. or Mrs.; Jr. or Sr.; maybe Capt., Lt., or Sgt.; maybe even Your Honor or Dr. A title always tells us something about the person holding the title: if you’re a Mrs., you’re either currently married or widowed. If a Jr., you’ve been named after your dad. If you’re a Capt., you’re either a member of the military or a police officer. If you have Dr. preceding your name, you’re either in the medical field or you’ve earned this level of academia.
Now it’s important to note regarding titles, that though it signals a person’s present status or past achievement, it doesn’t necessarily indicate a person’s current capabilities or accomplishments. Somebody may have been elected as a state representative a decade ago, but he/she is totally out of politics today. Somebody else could’ve risen to the rank of Lt. Col. in the military, but got dishonorably discharged.
A title tells us something about a person, but it may not be related to either performance, or more importantly, to character.
At Christmastime, Jesus is (or should be) the central character of the celebration. He arrived in Bethlehem, bearing a slew of titles: Son of God, Son of David, Lamb of God, Lion of Judah, the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star, the Great High Priest, the Good Shepherd, the Chief Cornerstone, Messiah, etc., etc. And at this season of the year, we are reminded of His Incarnational titles: Immanuel, Prince of Peace, Savior.
Why not come out this Sunday to hear more about one of His more enigmatic Christmas titles, the Word?