The Holy Name of Jesus, and Thoughts for the New Year
by David Sellnow
“What’s in a name?” That was a question Shakespeare famously asked. It’s a question I’d like us to consider today.
I remember a particular name from years ago, when I was a ministry intern at a large city church. A young mother asked us for baptism for her baby. I can’t recall her last name anymore, but I’ll always remember her son’s first name and middle names. The boy was to be called
Derambo Jabarray Earl. I asked her about the name, and she showed me a sheet of paper on which she’d written multiple variations stemming from the name Rambo—which came from a Sylvester Stallone movie they liked. They’d settled on Derambo, liking how that sounded. Jabarray was chosen as a middle name, because it sounded good with Derambo. And they added the father’s name, Earl, to make the child’s name complete. Derambo Jabarray Earl. I quite like that name!
In our culture, often we choose names we like the sound of or names that have some sentimental or family attachment for us. In biblical times, names were given with a meaning, sometimes reflecting circumstances about their birth. When Rebekah had twin sons, the first to come out was ruddy and had lots of hair, so she named him “hairy” (Esau, in their Semitic language). The second boy came out holding onto the firstborn’s heel, so she named him Jacob (meaning heel-grabber). Later in life, he was given a new name, Israel, which means “wrestles with God.” After insisting God give him a blessing, Jacob was told, “Your name shall be Israel, for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”
Sometimes names expressed hopes or aspirations for the child. Jacob’s grandfather had been named Abram when he was born—an Akkadian-Babylonian name (from the region where the family was living), meaning “beloved father.” Maybe Abram was called “father” from birth because he was the oldest child, with the hope that he would carry on the family line. That name later seemed a cruel joke when Abram and his wife Sarai remained childless into their old age. But the LORD made a promise that came with a new name, telling Abram he would be a father. Indeed, “I will make you the father of a multitude of nations,” God said. He would be Abraham—”exalted father,” the patriarch of Jewish and Arab peoples and father in faith to all who trust in the Messiah descended from Abraham.*
When that Messiah—the promised one—came, what would his name be? Isaiah had prophesied a child to come who would be “Immanuel”—God with us. Jeremiah had prophesied he would be called “The LORD our righteousness.”. When Mary was found miraculously to be with child, an angel told her betrothed, Joseph, what the child’s personal name should be. And so, eight days after the child was born and it was time for his naming ceremony, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel. In English we say Jesus, from the Greek and Latin forms of the name. In Aramaic (the language spoken by the Jews in Jesus’ time), they would have said “Yeshúa”—a shortening of the Hebrew name Yehoshúa (or “Joshua,” as we would say it.) It means, “The LORD saves”—exactly what God was doing for us through the incarnation of Christ in our world.
We’ve come to know Jesus by many names that describe who he is and what he has done for us. The title “Christ” or “Messiah” designates him as the Anointed One—set apart to be our priest, our prophet, our king. He is also called “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” He is the Light of the World; following him we do not walk in darkness. He is the Bread of Life; whoever comes to him will never be hungry.
Do you notice something in Jesus’ name and the descriptions that are spoken of him? We are included in the meaning of his names. Jesus means “the Lord saves”—he saves us. Immanuel—God is with us. He is the Bread of Life for us, to feed our spirits; the Light of the World for us, to light our way. The name of Jesus—the identity of our God—is placed upon us and identifies who we are. Think of what we do each time we gather, sending you out into the world with the blessing of God’s name placed upon you. Just as God told his people long ago, he enfolds you in his name, saying:
The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
That is how God puts his name on us as his people and promises he will bless us.
In Jesus’ time and Jewish culture, it was customary to give a baby boy his name on the day of his circumcision, which was a religious rite with sacramental significance. In Christian history, baptism has that same kind of sacramental meaning. In early eras of the church, when adult converts came to believe in Jesus, often they were given a new name, their baptismal name, at that time. And children, given their names at the time of their birth, have their names sanctified and included in God’s family in their baptism. Scripture promises us that God sent his Son, Jesus, in order to redeem us and make us his own. We are adopted as God’s children. As his children, we also are his heirs. Through Christ, we have all spiritual blessings and an eternal inheritance.
Whether our names are Jim or Judy or Casey or Quinn, every child of God from the creation of the world to the very last day has their names written in the Book of Life belonging to Jesus Christ. We are new people with Jesus’ name attached to our names, new creations in Christ.
Your name is part of your identity, who you are. Your personality, your thoughts, your passions, the things that are important to you—those are all part of your identity too. Your faith shapes your identity in significant ways. You are a person of God in Christ. Your plans, your priorities, your purpose will move in directions that God’s Spirit moves you. We may not always know where exactly life is taking us, but we have God’s words directing our way, asking us to acknowledge him in what we do. God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, and he helps us in our weaknesses. We may not even know how to pray as we ought, but Christ’s Spirit intercedes and helps us in ways words cannot express.
The beginning of a new year often is a time we think of reasserting our identities, establishing new goals and purposes for ourselves. We make New Year’s resolutions to make new persons of ourselves—to quit a bad habit or start a good habit, to eat healthier, to be more physically active, to manage our time better or manage our finances better, etc. Of course, quite often we fail. Recent research has shown that just 9% of Americans actually keep their resolutions throughout the year.
Probably we miss living up to our resolutions because we try to make the changes on our own, by ourselves, of our own willpower. And we’re not very forgiving with ourselves. If we resolve to cut down on sweets, and by January 18th we just can’t resist that Sunday morning donut, then we say, “Forget it!” and stop working at the resolution anymore. We give up on ourselves.
What if we saw any good, new intentions we set for ourselves not so much as New Year’s resolutions but as spiritual goals? What if we saw them as prayers, as hopes connected to our identity in Christ? We may not be very forgiving or patient with ourselves, but our gracious God is endlessly forgiving and patient with us. Long ago, when the LORD was giving his law—his word and commandments—to the people of Israel, in doing so he proclaimed his name to Moses. He declared himself as “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” That is the name, the identity, the truth of the Lord God whom we know and trust. As people claimed by him and baptized into his name, we also can be full of patience and generosity to ourselves and to others. Our lives are enriched with all sorts of meaning and value as lives of faith in Jesus’ name.
We don’t have to wonder about our worth or question our lives’ purpose. Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing, whoever we’re with, we are God’s children. We bear his name and carry his name with us in our world. New Year’s resolutions often are like trying to assert a new name, a new you, a new way of being. If we stop and think, though, we already have that newness as persons, because we have been baptized into the name of Jesus, our Savior. We are his. We are loved. We can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us. So, in the new year, in Jesus’ name, let us resolve as Scripture urges us—that whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, excellent and worthy of praise, we think about those things and rejoice in the Lord always. And each day, each week, each month, if we have times when we slip up and fail or make mistakes, we know that we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, who is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and for the sins of the whole world.
Blessings to you in Jesus’ name, as people wrapped up in all the strength and hopes that his name brings. We all share a family name together as Christians, so we will encourage one another and build each other up as God’s people, considering how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. May your new year be filled with grace and goodness, knowing that Christ’s Spirit goes with you each step of your way. The LORD will put his name on you, and he will bless you.
Main scriptures for the Feast of the Name of Jesus: Numbers 6: 22-27, Galatians 4: 4-7, Luke 2:15-21
Additional Bible verses mentioned in this devotion (in order as the references occur):
Genesis 32:8, Genesis 17:5, Isaiah 7:14, Jeremiah 23:6, John 1:2, John 8:12, John 6:35, Ephesians 1:3-6, Revelation 12:8, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Isaiah 30:21, Proverbs 3:6, Romans 8:26, Exodus 34:6, Philippians 4:1,8,13, 1 John 2:1,2, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Hebrews 10:24
*For research on Abraham’s name, see this article: What Does the Name ‘Abraham’ Really Mean? | ArmstrongInstitute.org
What is God’s purpose for us in this life? What did he say? Jesus said, “Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). It is not about “
In my years in ministry, I came to serve a church that was badly in debt. (Something I found out after I got there.) They were perpetually behind on payments on their church building. They had not been paying anything on the principal of the loan, and many months weren’t even paying the full interest amount owed. The loan was from the national church body, not a bank, or they’d have been foreclosed on. We decided it was time we talked about faith and finances (including our obligations to Christian brothers and sisters from whom funds were borrowed). We started with a Sunday workshop. We followed with cottage meetings organized in member homes. As we were in the midst of our stewardship efforts, one of our members, a man named Richard, called to tell me he just won a sizable prize on a state lottery ticket. That wasn’t the miracle. Lotteries are the luck of the draw. Richard’s attitude and response was the miracle. He wanted to discuss how he could use the funds he was receiving for various charitable causes. He intended to use some in regard to our congregation’s debt, but didn’t want to become the “sugar daddy” of the congregation. We were making good progress in faith building with the membership as a whole, and Richard did not want to impede those overall efforts. He wanted recommendations of other places of need, beyond our own congregation, where he could send support. In a world where money drives the mindset of so many people, this gentleman was focused not simply on himself or ourselves, but on how he could benefit many others. That was a miracle of faith. Faith is always the most powerful miracle, wherever God is turning hearts to his way, his truth, his life.
Jesus commissioned us: “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). Did he mean that to apply in the bleachers at hometown sports events, in the aisles at the grocery store, on the assembly line in the factory? Respectfully, we don’t force faith conversations in public places. At the same time, we don’t want our faith to be hidden from view in our day-to-day lives. People don’t “light a lamp and put it under a basket.” Jesus said, “Let your light shine” (Matthew 5:15,16). Often we think of evangelism and outreach as activities of the church, done with planned and programmed methods. But God urges us to see gospel-proclaiming as an everyday believer’s way of life. 