Names of Jesus

03/27 Names of Jesus; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20160327_names-of-jesus.mp3

This is Resurrection Sunday. It is a day to celebrate Jesus, the victory Jesus accomplished on the cross, the triumph of the empty tomb. As we have been studying who God is, and last week we looked at some of the names of God, I thought it would be fitting this week to look at some of the names of Jesus. Who is Jesus? This is such an important question. This is an eternity altering question. Who is Jesus? Paul warned in 2 Corinthians 11:4 of those who preach another Jesus, a different spirit, a different gospel. Jesus himself warned of false christs who would lead others astray (Mt.24:24; Mk.13:22). We want to know Jesus, Jesus as he really is, as he reveals himself to be. One way to learn about Jesus is to look at the names he is given. There are something like 200 names and titles given to Jesus in the Scriptures. We will only scratch the surface of who Jesus is today, but it is my prayer that by looking at Jesus, we will deepen in our affection and appreciation and worship of him.

The Word, The Only Son, Immanuel

At the beginning of John’s gospel, Jesus is introduced to us by a different name.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Jesus is the Word. The Word, The Logos, the Divine expression, divine reason. Before anything was made, Jesus the Word was in the beginning with God. He was distinct from God, in relationship with God the Father; ‘the Word was with God.’ And Jesus is of the same Divine nature as his Father; ‘the Word was God.’ Jesus, the Word, is the Creator of all that is. Jesus the Word has life in himself; he is the living one.

John continues in verse 14:

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. …18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Jesus the Word was not flesh. He was invisible Spirit from all eternity with his Father. He became flesh at a moment in history and dwelt among us. He became human. He is the only God who is at his Father’s side. He is the Word, the self-expression of God. Jesus is the one who makes God known.

The Only Son [μονογενής]

Jesus is the only Son from the Father. Jesus has an exclusive unique relationship with his Father. The word in John 1:14 and 18, and John 3:16 and 18, as well as 1 John 4:9 is μονογενής – the only Son, or only begotten, the one and only, the unique Son. John 3:16 says:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

1 John 4:9 says

1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

Jesus is the μονογενής, the one and only. He is the Son, in unique, eternal, and unparalleled relationship with his Father.

Immanuel – God With Us

In Matthew 1 we find another name, this one drawn from the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14

Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Jesus is the virgin born Son, and his name is Immanuel, God with us.

Alpha and Omega

In Revelation 22, when Jesus says he is coming soon, he claims:

Revelation 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, or the A to Z, in the words of Isaiah 43:10 “Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.” and 44:6 “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”

These names speak of who Jesus is, his nature, his essence. He is the Word who was with God and was God, the Creator, the Eternal One, the Alpha and Omega, the One and Only Unique Son of the Father, Immanuel, God with us.

Anointed, Messiah, Christ

Psalm 2 tells us of YHWH, the Lord, and his Anointed.

Psalm 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, … (cf. Acts 4:26)

In Acts 4 the disciples apply this title, the Anointed, to Jesus. In Hebrew this is Meshiak, or Messiah. In Isaiah 61, we see the verbal form of this word:

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; (cf. Luke 4:18)

Jesus applies this Scripture to himself in Luke 4. In John 1, when Andrew persuades his brother Simon to follow Jesus, he says “We have found the Messiah (which means Christ)” (Jn.1:41). When Jesus is speaking to the woman in Samaria,

John 4:25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

In Matthew 16, Peter responds to Jesus’ question ‘who do you say that I am?’ with the confession “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Mt.16:16). In Acts, the disciples ‘did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.’ (Acts 5:42). Jesus is God’s Anointed one, the Messiah in Hebrew, the Christ in Greek.

Son of David

God made a promise to David in 2 Samuel

2 Samuel 7:11 …the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

This sounds a lot like Solomon, David’s son, who built the temple in Jerusalem, but if you read this carefully, this is much bigger than Solomon. Solomon’s kingdom was not established forever. In fact, as a consequence of Solomon’s idolatry the kingdom was torn from him and divided under his son Rehoboam, (1Ki.11-12).

In Isaiah 9, we find the promise of a child to be born, a son to be given who will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. The government will be on his shoulder, and we are told:

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

And when the angel announced the birth of Jesus to Mary he used the language of this promise to point to Jesus.

Luke 1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

When the people saw the miraculous signs done by Jesus, they asked “Can this be the Son of David?” (Mt.12:23). When Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey, the crowds were shouting ““Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mt.21:9). Jesus affirmed their ascription of this title to himself, but it is worth noting that he pushed on their expectation and understanding of this title. In Matthew 22, Jesus challenged their thinking,

Matthew 22:42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, 44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? 45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” (cf. Psalm 110:1)

Jesus is not denying that the Christ is the physical descendant of David. But he is challenging their thinking that the Christ is merely another human king in the lineage of David. If this were the case, why would David refer to him in Psalm 110 as ‘my Lord’? It would be awkward for David to refer to Solomon or Rehoboam as ‘my Lord’. Jesus is physically descended from the blood line of David, but the Scriptures indicate that he is greater than David; he is David’s Lord.

The Lord

Mark begins his gospel introducing

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” (cf. Isaiah 40:3)

John is the fulfillment of Isaiah 40, preparing the way of the Lord. What is interesting about this name “Lord” is that when we look back at Isaiah, we read “prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Is.40:3). Prepare the way of YHWH; make straight a highway for our Elohim. This title ‘Lord’ is connecting the Old Testament terms YHWH and Elohim to Jesus.

When Saul is blinded and knocked down and hears a voice from heaven, he said:

Acts 26:15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

The Lord from heaven is Jesus. In Acts 2, Peter declares:

Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ …36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Peter is quoting Joel 2:32, ‘everyone who calls on the name of YHWH’. This is the basis for Paul’s statement in Romans 10

Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. …13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Jesus is YHWH, the Lord, the Son of David, the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One. He is the prophet who is to come, who will speak the words of the Lord (Acts 3:22-23; Deut 18:15-19; Jn.6:14; 7:40). He is our Great High Priest, our one Mediator between God and man (Heb.4:14; 1Tim.2:5). He is our King, the King of kings and Lord of lords (1Tim.6:15; Rev.19:11-16).

Son of Man

Out of all the names of Jesus, the way Jesus most often referred to himself is ‘the Son of Man’. This title is found 81 times in the gospels, always on the lips of Jesus. In comparison, the title ‘Son of God’ is used 26 times, and all but 4 of those are someone else referring to Jesus; Satan, demons, the Pharisees, the centurion, an angel, or his disciples.

In response to the interrogation of the high priest asking if he was the Christ, the Son of the Blessed, the Son of God, Jesus responded:

Matthew 26:64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

This name is taken from Daniel’s vision of the Ancient of Days seated on his throne of judgment at the end of time in Daniel 7

Daniel 7:9 “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. 10 ​A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

Then in verse 13,

Daniel 7:13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 ​And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

This one like the Son of Man was given everlasting dominion by the Ancient of Days to rule over all the peoples of the earth. He came with the clouds of heaven. This is how Jesus describes himself under oath to the high priest; “the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” This one like a Son of Man speaks of his kingdom authority seated at the right hand of his Father on high, ruling all the kingdoms of the earth, but it also speaks of his humanity, his humility, his identity with mankind. Jesus is God from all eternity, but he became a man. He became one of us. He stooped down to identify with us. Remaining what he was, he became what he was not; being very God, he took on flesh and became a man.

Jesus of Nazareth; Nazarene

In Matthew 2, we are told:

Matthew 2:23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

In the ancient world, people were often distinguished from other people of the same name by their hometown. Although born in Bethlehem, Jesus grew up in the town of Nazareth in Galilee.

John 1:45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Nazareth apparently had a reputation. Nothing good comes out of Nazareth. No prophet arises from Galilee (Jn.7:41, 52). Jesus was despised and rejected. Jesus came to the outcasts. Jesus identified with the nobodies.

Cornerstone, Stone of Stumbling, Rock of Offense

Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22 to the chief priests and Pharisees.

Luke 20:17 But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Jesus is the cornerstone, but he is also a rejected stone. Peter connects this imagery with Isaiah 8 and 28.

1 Peter 2:6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” (cf. Is.28:16) 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” (cf. Is.8:14)…

Paul writes to the Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,

Peter declares before the Jewish leaders:

Acts 4:10 …by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—… 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

There is no other name but the name of Jesus by which we must be saved.

Savior / Jesus

The angel announced to the outcast shepherds in the hills outside of Bethlehem:

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Jesus is a savior to outcasts. In Matthew 1, the angel connects this role with his name Jesus.

Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Jesus means YHWH Saves. He came to rescue sinners. Broken. Needy. To those who think they are fine on their own, they find him to be a Stone of Stumbling, a Rock of Offense, nothing good, despised and rejected. But to those who know they need him he is a Rock, a Sure Foundation, the Cornerstone, Salvation.

The Resurrection / Firstborn from the Dead

Jesus tells a dear friend grieving the loss of her brother:

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Jesus claims to be the resurrection. He told his disciples on multiple occasions that he would be betrayed, suffer, be crucified, and that he would rise again. Colossians 1 and Revelation 1 calls Jesus the Firstborn from the Dead. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul ties the resurrection of Christ the Firstfruits to our hope of resurrection

The Name Above All Names

Jesus humbled himself even to the humiliation of death on a cross.

Philippians 2:9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is the name above every name. Every knee will bow one day to Jesus.

Do You Know Him?

I want to close today with a story from the book of Acts. In Acts 19, extraordinary things were being done in the name of Jesus.

Acts 19:13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”

We have looked at a few of the many names of Jesus today. We have seen something of who he is. But it is very dangerous to know something about Jesus, and not know Jesus. These Jewish exorcists knew of Jesus, and attempted to use his name. But they didn’t know Jesus, and it didn’t end well for them. There is power in the name of Jesus, but you must know Jesus, you must be known by him, you must be in relationship with him. Do you know him? You must know him as Lord and God, as the Only Son of the Father, as King of kings, as your Anointed Prophet, Priest and King. You must experience him as Rock and Redeemer, as your Savior, as your Resurrection and your Life. To know of Jesus and not to know him is probably the most tragic place to be. I pray that none of us will ever hear those terrible words from the mouth of our Lord: ‘I never knew you’.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org