I took the above photo from inside the Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth, where Gabriel is said to have spoken to Mary at her home (located in the cave).
“What’s in a name?” So asked Shakespeare’s character. Some parents select names because of their family connection. Others do so because the name means something special. I’ve heard some names, let me tell you. I once worked at a camp in Texas where there was a kid named “Power of God.” That was his first name. Actually. Some people use names simply because of the way they sound. Where I grew up, my dad knew of someone named “Placenta.” During delivery, placenta was mentioned and, in a moment of inspiration, or desperation, momma conceived of a great name for her daughter. I’m not sure how the story ended. Hopefully, it was inspiring like “A Boy Named ‘Sue.’”
More important for us than the general question of “What’s in a name” is the specific question, What’s in Jesus’ name? It wasn’t a family name. Everyone was miffed that Jesus’ cousin John wasn’t named after someone in the family (Luke 1:59–63; see verse 13). You can read the two genealogies of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. No one named Jesus is mentioned. Nobody griped about the name of this child born out of wedlock.
Jesus’ name wasn’t chosen for its sound by a long shot. His name wasn’t even unique. We Anglophone folk say “Jesus” like “Gee-whiz.” In the Greek text it’s more like Yaysus, which sounds much more like the Spanish Jesús. Go to Latin America and ask if they know Jesús. Sí. Mi hermano? will be the answer. But the Hebrew way of pronouncing Jesus’ name is Yehoshua—possibly the later, abbreviated form Yeshua—or as we say in English, Joshua. Have you ever been asked if you believe in Joshua? I haven’t. For us, Joshua and Jesus are two separate names. Not for the original hearers. Jesus certainly wasn’t the first person to be named Joshua.
The unique part about Jesus’ name is not the name, but the reason for the naming: “he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21, CSB) Jesus wasn’t the first saviour. The book of Judges records many saviours and they’re called just that: ‘saviours.’ Yet no human had ever saved others from their sins. Priests or mediators offered sacrifices on behalf of others, but it wouldn’t have been said that they saved others from their sins. That’d be outrageous. What a statement, then, that the name Jesus (or Joshua) means ‘Yahweh is salvation.’ The meaning of a name isn’t always the reason why someone chooses a name. Still, when we contrast the implicit meaning of the name (‘Yahweh is salvation’) with the explicit reason given for the name (“for he will save his people from their sins”), his name appears to have significance that would have been too much to utter then: Jesus is Yahweh. Why would this not be inferred, when God alone can save people from sin, and Jesus is said to do just that?
Why do we need saving from sins? The Bible pulls no punches: “all have sinned.” (Romans 3:23) “The LORD looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God. All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 14:2–3) “[T]he inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward.” (Genesis 8:21) These are the sorts of general descriptions the Bible gives of people, and the Bible is God’s written perspective on reality. However good a person you might think you are when you compare yourself with others (and so judge those around you), God’s judgement is that all are sinners and deserve his condemnation and wrath.
Now we can begin to appreciate the gift of this man named Jesus—who was more than a man and yet not less than a man. How does he save us from sins? In the Old Testament, the only way forgiveness of sins came was through sacrifices. The New Testament elsewhere describes Jesus as a priest, but we do not see him even once offering the common sacrifices: sheep, goats, cattle, birds, and more. Jesus pronounces forgiveness throughout his ministry; it would seem that he granted forgiveness simply by divine fiat. But he reveals the means of forgiveness on the night he went on to his death: “As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:26–28) The Gospels do not record Jesus offering common sacrifices in the temple made by human hands. It only records him pouring out his own blood of the covenant, offering himself as a sacrifice, laying down his own life on the altar of wood, the cross. He saves from sins by means of his own holy life. Only because he was sinless could he save us from our sins, in contrast with doctors before the nineteenth century who used to operate on patients without washing their hands. Apart from spreading their own filth, they gifted the gore of others, going on from one operation to the next contaminating their patients. Not so Jesus. He was without sin, unblemished, the perfect sacrifice. Being man, he is one of us, able to represent us and stand in our place. Being God, he was able to bear sins and yet overcome death (New City Catechism, question 23).
But who can be forgiven of their sins? How can you be saved from your sins? The answer rests in Jesus’ name itself: he saves his people from their sins. So who are his people? Jesus’ people are God’s people. Not simply the nation of Israel but all who by faith in Christ partake in the kingdom of heaven. They are the many whose sins are forgiven. This citizenship is a gift of God. Your sins can be forgiven only by believing in Jesus. Not by some abstract belief about salvation from sins but by believing in Jesus as your saviour, by repenting or turning from fraud claims to be lord of your own life, submitting your life and will to God and so becoming part of his people, his church. Only by this can you be saved. If you really do think you’re a Christian but you have no part with the church, at best you’re a lost sheep, stayed from the sheepfold. The Good Shepherd doesn’t leave his sheep out wandering. He brings them into the fold. And all his sheep will be found in the fold before Jesus comes back again. Thank God, Jesus’ ministry hasn’t ended today.
Jesus’ name is sound doctrine. Jesus’ name is an assessment of the human condition. It’s the only way of glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and goodwill towards men on whom God’s favour rests. Jesus’ name is an evaluation; a description; a conviction; a prediction; a warning; an invitation; a command. All this is in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The above has been slightly adapted from it’s original oral delivery at the Fairview Ministerial’s Festival of Joy on December 3, 2023, held at Northwestern Polytechnic (Fairview) theatre.
~ Carpe Deum! ‘Grasp God!’
Carpe Deum 
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