The Names Of Jesus - “Jesus” Part 4
Secondly, the fact of the matter is that the Holy Spirit handed down the entire New Testament to us in Greek. That was done on purpose. God chose to do that.
The Names Of Jesus - “Jesus” Part 4
Acts 4:10
“Let it be known to all of you … that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.”
Is it proper to call our Lord, Jesus? Let’s be careful about how we answer that question. When we call on Him, we want to get it right, don’t we?
Let’s look at a couple of facts. First of all, the entire New Testament was written in Greek. It’s possible that a couple of the books were written in Aramaic and then translated into Greek, but that’s speculation. There is no direct evidence for that.
Secondly, the fact of the matter is that the Holy Spirit handed down the entire New Testament to us in Greek. That was done on purpose. God chose to do that.
Thirdly, the New Testament records the name of our Lord and Savior as “Jesus” 989 times. In fact, when Luke wrote the book of Acts and penned the following words, he had just written the name Jesus in Greek:
Acts 4:12
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
Luke was a Greek, writing in Greek to a Greek audience. So, what am I saying?
It’s like this: if we place our faith in some special arrangement of a few letters in a particular language, that’s not biblical theology. That’s believing in magic words. That’s not what “in the name of Jesus” means.
The power of the name of Jesus originates in the person of Jesus. When we believe in His name, we are believing in HIM. When we call upon His name, we are calling out to HIM. When we trust in His name, pray in His name or put our hope in His name, we are trusting, praying and hoping in the person of Jesus, His authority and power and His finished work on the cross.
The name “Jesus” is not wrong nor is it a mistake. It is the name God chose to reveal Himself by to the Gentiles. That’s you and me. Call Him Yeshua, Yehoshua, Lord, Savior, Redeemer, Messiah, Christ or any of about a hundred other names in the Bible. The important thing is to know Him as a person. He will know you when you call to Him.
