A Son

²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  ²³"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" which means, "God with us."  24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. 

Matthew 1:21-25

The virgin Mary gave birth to a Son.  He looked like any other baby because He was completely human, but at the same time He was completely God.   He was named by Joseph who had been told by the angel Gabriel to name Him Jesus.  Jesus was a family name.  The name Jesus came straight from His Father, YAHWEH, which means "I AM with you."  

The name Jesus is a transliteration of the Hebrew "Joshua" (which is why you find Him occasionally referred to as Yeshua by people of Jewish background who have become Christians). The Hebrew word Joshua means 'YAHWEH is salvation', hence the meaning of Jesus name savior.

Jesus was a helpless newborn like all of the rest of us have been.  He supped at Mary's breast, pooped and peed in His swaddling clothes, burped, spit up and cried.  The mystery of it is that while He was and did all of this, He was also the one and only perfect true God, all knowing, all powerful, all present.  He was a baby born a Prophet, Priest, King, God Himself, and Savior of the world.  He came to live a perfect life full of good works for sinners of every tribe, race, and time, and His greatest work was dyeing on the cross for every human who ever has and ever will walk the earth.  It is no wonder kings and shepherds and even we have bowed before Him. 

How does Jesus save us and how can we know this man was born for us, lived for us, died for us and claimed us so that we can be with Him forever?  The answer is Jesus has given us His Church, His Word, His baptism, His body and blood in the Lord's Supper, and faithful Lutheran pastors to serve these gifts, absolve our sins and preach and teach God's words to our souls along the way.