Honey, Music, and a Shout of Joy

The eighth day of Christmas is the Feast of the Holy Name. As Bernard of Clairvaux said,

“Jesus is honey in the mouth, music in the ear, and a shout of joy in the heart.”

Here is what the Bible says about the name:

She [Mary] will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

(Matthew 1:21)

 

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

(Luke 2:21)

 

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

   who, though he was in the form of God,

   did not regard equality with God

   as something to be exploited,

   but emptied himself,

   taking the form of a slave,

   being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

   he humbled himself

   and became obedient to the point of death—

   even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him

   and gave him the name

   that is above every name,

   so that at the name of Jesus

   every knee should bend,

   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

   and every tongue should confess

   that Jesus Christ is Lord,

   to the glory of God the Father.

(Philippians 2:3-11)