On June 21, 2006, my son, Elijah Kayden Smith, was born. We had decided on his name long before that day came. I chose Elijah because that was the name of one of my favorite Bible characters, and my wife chose Kayden because she liked the way it sounded. It would seem this is how most people pick the names of their children today. Children are usually named after someone else like a family member or celebrity, or they are given a name that simply sounds good.

The people we read about in the Bible, on the other hand, went about naming their children very differently. The name Moses means “drawn out”, a reference to him being found floating in the river by Pharoah’s daughter. One child was named Ichabod, which means “no glory” because his mother went into labor when she received news that the ark of the covenant had been taken by the Philistines and that her husband and father-in-law were dead. There are even instances of God changing people’s names, usually to reflect blessings or promises bestowed upon them.

So it makes perfect sense then when we read that an angel appeared to a young lady named Mary and told her what to name her baby. Why would God care about names, about what we call each other? Perhaps because God understood the culture of His people, and He wanted to communicate a message through this name, JESUS.

This wasn’t the first Hebrew child with this name. There were others, how many I’m not sure, but one that stands out in particular. Remember the man that succeeded Moses, the one that finally led the people into the land of Canaan? Yeah, him. 

But wait a minute, his name wasn’t Jesus, it was Joshua. The explanation for this lies in the details of translating the name directly from Hebrew to English (as in the Old Testament) as opposed to translating it from Hebrew to Greek to English (as in the New Testament). There are even two instances in the New Testament where the name Jesus is used to refer to Joshua (Acts 7:45, Heb. 4:8). ( Fun fact: there is no “J” sound in Hebrew or Greek, the name was actually Yeshua.)

So why that name? Why Jesus, or Joshua, or Yeshua? Remember, this was a people who were very studied in their history and traditions, and this name would no doubt bring to mind the Yeshua of old and how God used him to finally set His people free. But that’s not all of course, because Hebrew names have meaning, right? So what does this name mean?

You will find slightly different answers depending on the source you use, but they all agree that this name means something like “Yahweh (God) saves”, “Yahweh is salvation” or “Yahweh delivers”. This makes perfect sense, seeing as God did save Israel “through” Joshua. Pay close attention, the name Joshua doesn’t mean that Joshua saves, it means God saves.

Now let’s look at the message that Joseph received from the angel concerning the birth of Jesus:

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. “ (Matthew 1:21)

Notice anything? “HE shall save his people from their sins.” So the name means that God saves, yet the angel said that “he” (here referring to the babe that was to be born) will save. So what gives? Is God going to save or is “he” going to save? Or both? Maybe God and “he” are the same person.

This gives new meaning to the lyric “What a lovely name the name of JESUS..” doesn’t it.

Tune in next time for Who is Jesus part 3: Emmanuel.

God bless!