What does someone’s name mean to you? I suppose it depends on who the name belongs to and your relationship with them. If it is someone you don’t know well it will be just a label, an identifier of a person. But if it is somebody well known to you that is a different matter. If it is of somebody near and dear, saying that name will conjure up good memories and things about them you value. Conversely, if the name is of somebody who you’ve crossed swords with, it may produce anger, frustration and even anxiety.

Some names belong to people we know about. The name Harry, for instance, has been in the news quite a lot this week. Most of us don’t actually know him, but we certainly know about him. I guess that as you read that name it will conjure up certain feelings, either positive and pro, or negative and against.

Some names immediately bring to mind the beliefs and ideals the person represents. For instance, the names Putin and Zelensky, take our thoughts to Ukraine and the two sides in that terrible conflict. Nearer to home, such names as Sunak, Starmer and Davey, draw us immediately into the domestic politics of the day.

I have been thinking about names since Christmas. Before Jesus was born, according to the gospel writer Luke, his mother Mary was told by an angel that she should give him that name because he would save people from their sins - the word Jesus means God saves - and Luke rounds off the Christmas narrative with Mary and Joseph giving him that name at his circumcision. But who was Jesus to them, I wondered? Did they think of him as the potential saviour or simply their beloved child, “our Jesus”? And how did that change over time as he grew into the person we read about?

As I thought about that, it made we wonder what the name of Jesus means to me, and what difference knowing the grown up person behind the name makes. I was reminded of a nickname Jesus has, one that was talked of in a prophecy hundreds of years before his birth. That name is Immanuel which means God is with us. As I have got to know the person behind the name Jesus, I see God’s promise to be with us made real.

I wonder then, what does the name Jesus bring to your mind? Perhaps the wise words he said, words of love and acceptance, words of challenge and change. Perhaps the stories of healing and comfort, of miracle and wonder, that we learned of as children. Perhaps the name Jesus means nothing to you, or alternatively perhaps it is the most precious name of all.

Whatever your answer is to that, as I think about those other names and others in the press at the moment, I pause and name Jesus. As I do, I remember all the good things he did and said that show us God’s presence and love, and a better way to live. I wonder if you agree that we could all do with that?