'J' is for JESUS

The name Jesus was the personal name given to our Lord and Christ.  When the angel told Joseph it was OK to take Mary to be his wife because the babe she carried was a miracle of God and from the Holy Spirit, he was told to call the baby ‘Jesus’, because He would save His people from their sins.

Back in Jesus day, “Jesus” was a common name.  To distinguish our Lord from others of that name, He was referred to as Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus son of Joseph, Jesus the Nazarene.  And later on in Scripture He was referred to as “Jesus Christ” as though Christ were the surname.

In the Greek, the word is “Iesous” (yay-sous) equivalent of the Hebrew “Yeshua”, translated to Joshua in English.  The name Joshua is the oldest name containing Yahweh, a name for God so sacred it was considered too holy to pronounce.  Both the name of “Jesus” and “Joshua” mean “Yahweh is help” or “Yahweh is salvation”.

Yahweh is God’s personal name in the Old Testament, and Jesus is the personal name of our Redeemer, Christ, in the New Testament.  With “Yahweh is salvation”, we have Jesus as Yahweh come to earth.  Jesus Himself said that if you have seen Him, you have seen the Father (John 14:9).  So no longer is God a distant God, but through Jesus He is God becoming one of us, God reaching out in mercy, God nailed to the Cross, and God rising from the grave to show us the way of life.  Jesus, is the name above all names, glorious Savior, blessed Redeemer.

Therefore also God highly exalted Him,

And bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,

That at the name of Jesus Every knee shall bow,

of those who are in heaven, and on earth and under the earth,

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

(Philippians 2:9-11)

In closing, from a poem written by my mother, called “A Name”:

“When my heart feels empty and longing

And there’s a void that will not be filled,

And there’s an ache that is truly suffering

And a pain that cannot be stilled,

There’s a Name that I love to whisper

For that Name brings contentment and peace.

The name is the name of my Jesus

Whose love for me never can cease.”

                                       --Marjorie S.Paton

Yes, there is something about that Name—Jesus.