Matthew 1:21

“And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS, for it is he who will save his people from their sins.”

Mary is to bear a son and His name is to be called Ye-sus, ‘YHWH is salvation', for he will save His people from their sins. We can compare here Psalms 130:8, where it is said, ‘and He (YHWH) shall redeem Israel from all her iniquities'. So Jesus is to act on behalf of YHWH as a Saviour. As in Luke the emphasis is on a Saviour acting on behalf of God the Saviour (compare Luke 1:47; Luke 2:11). Here at the very commencement of the Gospel then we have the declared purpose of His coming. It is for the salvation of people from their sins (from their comings short, their missing the mark), and from the consequences of their sins. Its deliberate connection with His name means that the idea is thus to be seen as emphasised throughout the whole Gospel wherever the name of Jesus is mentioned. We can always therefore replace the name ‘Jesus' with ‘God the Saviour' (see especially Matthew 20:28. Also Matthew 10:22; Matthew 18:11; Matthew 24:13; Matthew 24:22).

While saving from sin was undoubtedly a trait of the ‘popular Messiah', it was not a prominent one, certainly not as prominent as it is made to be here where it is pre-eminent. It was certainly a part of the future hope in general (Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 44:22), but not as a major aspect of Messiah's work, for Messiah was seen as coming to establish justice and to judge (Isaiah 11:1; Psalm of Solomon 17:28-29, 41), although that would necessarily involve a measure of forgiveness. But the thought of forgiveness was not prominent, and that is why Jesus had to emphasise that as the Son of Man He had the right on earth to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6). Thus it is made clear that this was to be a different form of Messiah from the One Who was usually expected, One Who would equate with the Servant, Who would suffer on behalf of His own. Compare Matthew 9:2; Matthew 9:5; Matthew 26:28; and see Isaiah 53; Jeremiah 31:31; Ezekiel 36:24. We note from the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:12; Matthew 6:14; see also Matthew 18:21) how central forgiveness was to the ministry of Jesus. Forgiving and being forgiven were both essential aspects of the Kingly Rule of Heaven.