…you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.
— Luke 1:31

The Jewish feast of Hanukkah, or the Feast of Dedication, is interesting in that it was at this feast that our Lord Jesus Christ was conceived (He was born at the Feast of Tabernacles). Paul wrote that all the feasts “are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” [Col.2:17] It was at this feast that the angel Gabriel came to Mary and said: “shall call His name JESUS.” In Hebrew, Jesus is Yeshua, which means “the Lord is our salvation”.

Very often we understand salvation as the Lord saving us from the torments of hell, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. Interestingly, the Greek word for “salvation” is sōtēria, which means not only salvation but also healing, deliverance, preservation and protection. For example, when the woman with the flow of blood touched Jesus’ garments and was healed, the Lord said to her: “your faith has made you well” [literally, “has saved you”]. Saved from what? From the illness she had suffered from for 12 years. So whatever area of our lives we need salvation in — health, finances, family problems and so on — Jesus is our Salvation!