He Shall Save His People Matt 1:21 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Matt 1:21 says, “… thou shall call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.”  Today we are going to preach on the doctrine and the implications of this verse of scripture.  It is important to notice the phrase he shall save ‘his people’ from their sins.  His people are Jews.  That’s why, when Jesus came the first time he only came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel [Matt 15:24].  So, let’s look carefully at what is promised here.

God made a covenant with Israel in Jer 31:31-34.  This covenant deals with the national salvation of Israel, in which God forgives their iniquity and remembers their sin no more.  It is a covenant that has not been broken and will never be broken according to Jer 31:35-37.  However, it is also a covenant that has not yet been fulfilled.

Connected with Israel’s salvation is their health [Jer 17:14; Jer 30:7, 17].  In other words, when the Lord gets the sin out he heals them, as well.  It is for this reason that when Jesus came, he healed people and forgave their sins [Lk 5:18-26, for example].  The healing ministry of Jesus is connected with the saving ministry of Jesus as it concerns Israel [that’s why he hesitated to heal the Gentile’s daughter in Matt 15:21-28].

The fact that he healed so many Jews was a sign to the unbelieving Jews that Jesus was their Messiah [the Jews require a sign, 1 Cor 1:22; they were to be looking for the Prophet like Moses, Deut 18:15-18; and Moses healed as a sign to unbelieving Jews that God had sent him, Ex 4:6-8].  Jesus was the obvious Messiah to anyone who would believe [Jn 4:25-26; 9:35-38].

In order to save his people from their sins, Jesus had to die and pay for those sins as a perfect sacrifice to God [Heb 10:1-18].  When he did that he accomplished the key element of the new covenant by taking away the remembrance of sins [Heb 10:3] and by taking away the “first” that he might establish the “second” covenant [Heb 10:9].  Everything was set for Israel to receive their Messiah, but they rejected him, instead, even after the preaching of Stephen [Acts 7:51-60].  And when they did, they were “cast off” temporarily and the gospel was opened to us Gentiles [Rom 11:13-15].

So today, any person who puts his faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary [Rom 11:20] is saved and he becomes a child of God [Jn 1:12-13] – hence he becomes one of “his people.”  We are saved because we get in on the provisions of the new covenant!!

But what about Israel?  Well, at the rapture, when the Gentile bride is taken up to heaven [typified by the putting away of Vashti in the book of Esther], God begins dealing with Israel again during the time of Jacob’s trouble [typified by Esther].  When Jesus returns as Israel’s Deliverer, he fulfills his new covenant with the remnant of Israel that remains at the end of the Tribulation – it is here that all Israel is saved [Rom 11:25-27].  It is here that Jesus saves his people from their sins.  It is also here that he heals them [Jer 30:15-17].

Praise God that we get in on this promise to Israel.  Praise God that when Jesus died, he died for the sins of the whole world [1 Jn 2:2]. Thank the Lord in his foreknowledge that he made provision for everybody [1 Tim 2:3-6] because he knew ahead of time that Israel would reject him.  Whatever you do, do not reject him like Israel did because of your unbelief.  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.  This is an opportunity too good to pass up.