Luke’s Gospel tells us that the infant Christ was given the name “Jesus” at the time of his circumcision, a name communicated by the angel Gabriel, who appeared to his mother Mary (Luke 1:31; 2:21).
“Jesus” was a common name in first-century Palestine, and it has been found on various grave markers and tombs in and around Jerusalem. The full name of Barabbas, the insurrectionist Pilate released instead of Jesus, was probably Jesus Barabbas. To distinguish him from others of the same name, Jesus is sometimes referred to in the Gospels as Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the son of Joseph, or Jesus the Nazarene. Later on, particularly in Acts and the New Testament letters, he is referred to as “Jesus Christ,” almost as though Christ is his surname. By the second century the name “Jesus” had become so closely associated with Jesus of Nazareth that it nearly disappeared as a name given to either Christians or Jews.
The name “Jesus” (in English ) or “Iesous” (in Greek) is the equivalent of the Hebrew “Yeshua,” itself a contraction of the Hebrew name “Yehoshua,” translated “Joshua” in English Bibles. The name Joshua is the oldest name containing Yahweh, the covenant name of God, a name so sacred it was considered too holy to pronounce. Both “Jesus” and “Joshua” mean “Yahweh Is Help” or “Yahweh Is Salvation.” Indeed, Jesus is Yahweh come to earth.
Through the centuries, the church has affirmed the belief of the earliest followers of Jesus that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Praying to Yeshua
The man fidgeted in his seat at the synagogue in Capernaum, his eyes darting about. The words of the young rabbi pierced him: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” He covered his ears and hunched his back, as though bracing against an assault.
He could feel the rage rising. Without knowing what he was doing, without caring what anyone thought, he stood up and shouted: What do you want with us Yeshua from Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!
Instead of recoiling from the man’s attack, the rabbi held his ground. “Keep quiet,” he commanded. “Come out of him!”
Suddenly, the man felt as though a hundred people were yanking on him at once, tearing him apart. His body went into convulsions. There was a loud shriek and then silence. The demon had fled.
That evening, freed of his demon, the man joined the crowd thronging the house where Yeshua was staying. He watched as the rabbi laid his hands on men, women, and children, curing them of all kinds of diseases and driving out many demons.
Thinking back on the events of the day, his joy felt boundless. Held captive by an oppressor who was too strong for him, he knew that Yeshua had set him free.
No one really knows what happened to the man after Yeshua drove out the evil spirit. The point is that Christ came to earth for one thing—to save men and women from the power of sin and Satan so that we might be free to live for God. Of course, we know this. But have we become numb to the reality of what Yeshua has accomplished? Do we begin to realize the kind of darkness that would inevitably have gripped us had there been no Savior, no one to deliver us from evil? Sooner or later, in this life or the next, we would have devolved into the kind of creature who sat at that synagogue in Capernaum, possessed by an evil spirit from which he could not save himself.
Fortunately for us, our Savior has come. Yeshua is God, the all-powerful, the Lord who bends toward us, dying and then rising and reaching out to save us.
Jesus, name above all names, beautiful Savior, glorious Lord!
