The Name of Jesus

Recently a worship tune has become a staple in most churches and is played periodically on the radio. The song is called "Break Every Chain (Power in Name of Jesus)" by Tasha Cobbs (2013). The idea behind the song comes from Scripture which states, "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those 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), and "That he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church," (Ephesians 1:20-22). The importance of Christ's name cannot be understated, for here the Apostle Paul tells us it is "the Name above all names, and at the Name of Jesus all beings in every sphere of existence must bow." This has profound spiritual warfare consequences, but beyond that we discover that the name of Jesus is also essential to salvation, "It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:10, 12). Christ's name has major importance, for we discover that Jesus' name did not come from out of nowhere, but it was given to Mary and Joseph from the Father through a messenger angel, "In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings,favored woman! The Lord is with you. Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High (Son of God). The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end. Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin, The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month  For the word of God will never fail," (Luke 1:26-37), and "As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said "do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:20-21), and "I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.While I was with them, I protected them and guarded them by Your name, the name You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled," (John 17:11-12) this then means the Father named His Son, and this name is both the Father and Son's Name (because they are One see John 10:30, John 14:9-11 and John 17:20-23), for Jesus means "The Lord Saves", and Lord is One (Mark 12:29) and in this very chapter (John 17:11-23) Jesus is saying just as We (Elohim, plural until it was changed by Jewish Zealots 70 A.D. and Medieval Jews in 700 A.D.) are One. So this then alludes to "In Jesus (Him) is fullness of Godhead in bodily form," (Colossians 2:9) which leads us to understand that we can perfectly embrace the Trinity despite not fully understanding or fathoming the Trinity by calling on Name of Jesus and by following Him we see the Father, feel Holy Spirit, and get to know the whole Trinity through Jesus (John 14:6, Jesus is only way to Father) and also get to know the Father and Holy Spirit individually but they also lead and glorify Jesus because they are Three but One God, so they always draw attention to each other see John 14:26, and Hebrews 1 and 2. It is important that Jesus literally means, "The LORD saves," which brings extra importance to why the Apostle Paul says salvation is achieved in this way, "If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved." (Romans 10:9-10). There is a major compilation of meaning here, firstly Paul is asking a new believer to confess, state with words that Jesus is Lord, which is what Jesus means, "The Lord Saves" but it also has meaning to Jews, for LORD means Jehovah, which is God of Israel and so then the name Jesus would read in Hebrew and Aramaic Jehovah Saves. The other importance here about Name of Jesus is that He is the Word of God (John 1:1-15, Revelation 19:23) and we read that at name of Jesus, pronouncing His name as word all things bow, and so the signifgence of Christ's name takes on multiple tiers of importance, we must believe Jesus is God (Jehovah), we confess His name with words, and at Jesus name people are healed, salvation is received through confessing and believing, and the name of Jesus has power over all creation.

Jesus' name is important not because He was only a prophet, but because He is God (Colossians 2:9, John 17:20-23) and so to say His name means to invoke the Divine Trinity because they are One. It then naturally becomes a concern to believers to know Jesus' Name. Has it always been Jesus? The answer is yes, but in many languages. Jesus' name has passed into many languages, but it really came from a progression of translation. Jesus' Name in Aramaic, the language of Jews in 6-90 A.D., was Yeshua or YIW'. From Yeshua came the Greek word Iesous, which undoubtly was used by the Apostles since the entire New Testament was written in Koine Greek, and even Old Testament that was being quoted by Jesus and His Disciples was the Greek Septuagint compiled in 60 B.C. by 70 Jewish scholars. From Iesous came the Latin translation Iesus or Iesu thanks to St. Jerome who learning the Hebrew and Greek wrote the Latin translation of the Bible called the Latin Vulgate. From the Latin translation of Iesus came the jargon of the English which replaced I with J, thus giving us Jesus. When we compare all the translation we see a commonality: Yeshua (es), Iesous (es), Iesus (es), and Jesus (es). There is a strong movement in Messianic Christianity to return to Aramaic and Hebrew Yeshua, and fanatics in a cult and sect of Messianic Judaism has endeavored to discredit the name Jesus claiming it comes from Zeus, and the proper name being Yeshua. The truth however as I have already shown, is Jesus came from Iesus, Iesus came from Iesous, and Iesous came from Yeshua. But what about it? Should we return to Aramaic and call Jesus by his Semitic name? The answer is no. Most of the known world knows who you mean when you say Jesus Christ, the name itself immediately invokes the images of Christ and the cross, His ministry and life, and His Church. Jesus is the Anglo-Latin translation, but when people call upon it they feel His presence, are saved, and He speaks to them. The truth is that God honors whatever translation of His name you speak. It is like how someone with name Elizabeth can have variations: Elizabeth, Eliza, Elisa, Lisa, Beth, Lizzy, Bess, Eli, and Lili Beth; all are ligiament names, and even a person whose name is Elizabeth will respond to their nickname Beth or Lizzy, just as Jesus will respond if you call Him Iesus, Iesous, or even Yeshua. It should be mentioned that Jesus' other name is Immanuel or Emmanuel, "All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son,and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us." (Matthew 1:22-23). As aforementioned, Jesus means "The Lord Saves" and Immanuel means "God with us or among us." Thus Christ's full name is Jesus Immanuel "The Lord Saves God With Us," these two names affirm to Jesus is the Savior and God!, "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13). [Further proof Jesus is Savior and God, Isaiah 53, Colossians 2:9, Luke 2;11, Acts 13:23, John 17:20-23, John 10:30.]
There is great power in the name of Jesus. We are told by the Apostles that the Name of Jesus saves and has wonder working power, "that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved, For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on Him, For "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." (Romans 10:9-13), "Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God," (1 Corinthians 6:11), "To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours," (1 Corinthians 1:2), "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life," (1 John 5:13, cross ref John 3:16), "But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women," (Acts 8:12), "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost," (Acts 2:38), " By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus," (Acts 4:30), "And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name," (Acts 22:16), "And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name," (Luke 10:17), "She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved."She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her," (Acts 16:17-18), "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues," (Mark 16:17), "By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see," (Acts 3:16), "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord," (James 5:14), and "But Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk," (Acts 3:6). It is clear that at Name of Jesus people are cured of diseases, demons are caste out, and salvation is given to all who call on His name and believe in Him! We see the power is at work in Christ's name, which is not surprising because Jesus is God (Colossians 2:9, John 10:30, John 17:20-23, Revelation 1:20-23) and Holy Spirit, known as Advocate comes in His name, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." (John 14;6). The Author of Hebrews admonishes us to honor His name, "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." (Hebrews 13:15). Jesus who is one with Father (John 10:30) also states He comes in His Father's Name, "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him." (John 5:43). Jesus tells us to baptize in the Name of the Trinity, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19). We are Told whne Jesus Returns He will have written on Himself the name, "On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords [in Jesus' Day this would read "Messiah of messiahs, and God of gods, for LORD means God of Israel]." (Revelation 19:16). Jesus Christ told us that at His name, we may ask for anything, "You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!," (John 14:13-14), and "In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." (John 16:23).

The Apostles preached in name of the Lord Jesus, "Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and described how Saul had seen the Lord, who spoke to him on the road to Damascus, and how Saul had spoken boldly in that city in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. " (Acts 9:27-28). And yet the first thing the devil tries to do is stop anyone who would preach in Jesus' Name, why? Because as I have laid out, there is power for salvation, healing, and more in Jesus' Name! The devil used the Pharisees to try and stop the preaching in Christ's name, "What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it. But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God. For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard. So the Council members threatened them further and let them go. They could not find a way to punish them, because all the people were glorifying God for what had happened." (Acts 4:17-21). However, the Pharsiees and religious law makers did not stop then, they rounded up the Apostles and had another council, "The captain went with his Temple guards and arrested the apostles, but without violence, for they were afraid the people would stone them. Then they brought the apostles before the high council, where the high priest confronted them. “We gave you strict orders never again to teach in this man’s name!” he said. “Instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death! But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a cross.Then God put him in the place of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior. He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven. We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him." (Acts 5:26-32). Finally, it is Gamaliel, a senior on Sanhedrin Council who presaudes the Pharisees to let them go [this Gamaliel is same one who taught the Apostle Paul see Acts 22:3, and who had an audience with Jesus during His Trial see Archko Volume]  "When they heard this, the high council was furious and decided to kill them. But one member, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, who was an expert in religious law and respected by all the people, stood up and ordered that the men be sent outside the council chamber for a while. Then he said to his colleagues, “Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do to these men! Some time ago there was that fellow Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About 400 others joined him, but he was killed, and all his followers went their various ways. The whole movement came to nothing. After him, at the time of the census, there was Judas of Galilee. He got people to follow him, but he was killed, too, and all his followers were scatter. So my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!”His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus," (Acts 5:33-41). It is clear that opposition will always rise whenever anyone preaches in name of Jesus, and shares the Gospel. It is almost a certainty, for the evil one does not want people to be saved and so bitterly resists anyone who preaches in the only name that can save, Jesus Christ the Lord. (Acts 4:11, 12).

The case has been made. The Name of Jesus is highly important. It is important because a name is attached to the person, to talk to someone you need to know their name and it draws their attention when you call them by name. It is same with God, when we call upon Jesus the God Man who are communicating with the Divine and asking Him to heal, help us preach, and save souls. For it is Christ's desire to do all of these things and more, for He desires all people to come to salvation and call upon His name! The Name of Jesus may be the Anglo-Latin, but He responds to it and it has become His universal name in the world. You may call Him Yeshua if you want, but Jesus is simply Latin translation of the Greek and the Greek from the Aramaic and Hebrew. You are saying His name either way, just as in Africa they say Yesu or Yesus, the point is you are calling on His Name!