You Shall Call His Name Jesus
A study of the names, titles, and designations of the King of Heaven and Earth has an overwhelming element to it. The subject is overwhelming. It is a subject that is full of wonder. Eight centuries before He was born of the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18-2:1) and cradled in Bethlehem’s manger (Luke 2:1-7), it was prophesied that His name would be “WONDERFUL” (Isaiah 9:6, emp. added). Alexander Campbell once wrote:
The Savior’s inspired names have all a meaning. Each one of them designates some peculiar characteristic or office, or work of the Messiah. Since this is the case, we may expect that some great truth underlies the names, which the evangelical prophet gives to the Redeemer.
“His name shall be called Wonderful.” There are many obvious reasons for this name. Passing by all others, there is one which seems to have especial weight. Jesus is called Wonderful, on account of the strange contrasts and wide extremes seen in him and in his history—contrasts and extremes which appear to be direct contradictions.
There are extremes in the Savior’s names. On one page of inspiration he is called the “man Christ Jesus;” on the next he is called “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” At one time he calls himself “the Son of Man;” at another time, “the Son of God.” We are told he is “the child born, the son given;” and yet with the same breath we are told that he is “the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” He is Jehovah, God over all, and blessed forever, and yet he is a servant of servants. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, the ever living and ever unchanging one, and yet he is the crucified and buried Redeemer. If Jesus is appropriately called by all these diverse names, he must be Wonderful. (25)
The scope of a study of the names and titles of the King is also overwhelming. Such manifests the inexhaustibility of the Sacred Scriptures and the deity of Jesus Christ. In his classic volume, The Lord of Glory: A Study of the Designations of Our Lord in the New Testament with Especial Reference to His Deity, Benjamin B. Warfield published an index of 168 biblical designations in reference to Jesus (307-11). Hurlburt and Horton in the book, The Wonderful Names of Our Wonderful Lord, briefly discussed 365 such names and titles. In the work titled The Names of Jesus, Towns lists 675 names and titles of Jesus Christ with the accompanying Scripture reference for each (146-67). What the Bible Teaches About the Promised Messiah is an in-depth study of 73 key Old Testament Messianic prophecies. It contains an Appendix of no less than 100 Old Testament names, titles, and epithets for the Messiah and the corresponding Old Testament Scripture citation that documents each designation (Smith 479-80).
In this particular study, we are concerned with only one of the sixty-six books in the Sacred Scriptures (i.e. Matthew). Although limited to only one book of the Bible, the magnitude of such a study is seen in the fact that one source lists 41 names and titles of our Lord in Matthew (Derk 137-38). However, some of these are so closely related that they could be considered the same name or title (i.e. Jesus Christ and Jesus the Christ). Some are used by Matthew as adjectives (i.e. firstborn, Matthew 1:25), and thus are not really names or titles in the context of their usage. Others seem to be used more as descriptions of Jesus’ character rather than a name or title (i.e. just person: Matthew 27:24). With these qualifications in mind, I have composed a list of the names and titles of the Messiah in Matthew to include 35 designations with corresponding chapter and verse location. Note: The chapter and verse I have given provide the first instance of usage by Matthew. In some cases, the designation occurs often throughout Matthew. However, others appear only once. The names, titles, and designations and their first occurrence in Matthew are as follows:
Jesus Christ (1:1).
Son of David (1:1).
Son of Abraham (1:1).
Christ (1:16).
Son (1:21).
Jesus (1:21).
Immanuel (1:23).
King of the Jews (2:2).
Ruler (2:6).
Child (2:8).
Nazarene (2:23).
Lord (3:3).
My Beloved Son (3:17).
Son of God (4:6).
Light (4:16).
Teacher (8:19).
Son of Man (8:20).
Bridegroom (8:20).
House-master (10:25).
Coming One (11:3). “[H]e that should come” (KJV). “[H]e that cometh” (ASV).
Lord of the Sabbath (12:8).
Servant (12:18).
My Beloved (12:18).
The carpenter’s son (13:55).
King (21:5).
Prophet (21:11).
Jesus from Nazareth (21:11). Jesus of Nazareth (26:71).
Stone (21:42).
Chief cornerstone (21:42).
Lord of David (22:43, 45).
Guide/Leader (23:8, 10). Teacher (NKJ), Master (KJV; ASV).
Rabbi (26:25, 49).
Shepherd (26:31).
Jesus of Galilee (26:69).
King of Israel (27:42).
The method to be employed in this particular study will be to consider Matthew’s designations of the Messiah in view of five areas these designations relate. These areas are designations of (1) salvation. (2) deification. (3) coronation, (4) anticipation and (5) instruction. In one sense, every designation relates to all five of these areas. However, due to the basic meaning of each name/title/designation, there is another sense in which each can be classified as being connected more closely to one area above the others.
Designations of Salvation
The most repeated name of the Messiah in Matthew’s gospel record is Jesus. The name Jesus occurs 172 times in Matthew and is used by itself 162 times. On ten occasions, it is used in combination with additional designations: Jesus Christ (1:1, 18); Jesus the Christ (16:20): Jesus . . . called Christ (l:16; 27:17, 22); Jesus of Nazareth (26:71): Jesus of Galilee (26:69); Jesus the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee (21:11); and Jesus the King of the Jews (27:37). The Greek word from which the English word Jesus is derived is Iesous, and it is equivalent to the Hebrew Yesua, from which we get Joshua. Rogers states: “Jesus. the Greek form of ‘Joshua,’ meaning ‘Yahweh saves’” (2). The name Jesus was once a common and popular name among the Jews in the Greek world, but its usage became rare near the end of the first century (Stevenson 111-12). The name became unique to One Person (i.e. Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee).
Matthew reports that the name Jesus was pre-determined by Divine will to be the name of the Messiah King. An angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, and the angel commanded Joseph to give the baby the name Jesus. Matthew reported the angel’s words as follows: “. . . And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Mary gave birth to the Child, Joseph was obedient to the heavenly instruction and “. . . [H]e called His name JESUS” (Matthew 1:25).
The name Jesus wonderfully and powerfully evidences that He is savior. Brown has stated, “That the meaning of the name was thoroughly well known at this period is attested by Alexandrian Jewish exegete and philosopher of religion, Philo, when he interprets Joshua’s name as follows: Iesous soteria Kyrion, JESUS MEANS SALVATION THROUGH THE LORD” (2: 332, emp. added).
However, the name also implies the claim of Jesus and of historic Christianity that He is deity. Brown affirms that the words of Matthew 1:21 (i.e. “He will save His people from their sins”) “attribute to Jesus what was formerly reserved for God” (332). The very name Jesus is “itself a gift from heaven, designed to indicate that in this person” (Warfield 91) is forgiveness of, and salvation from, sin. When Jesus pronounced forgiveness of sins some of the scribes accused Him of blasphemy (Matthew 9:2-3). Only God can forgive and save one from his sins (cf. Mark 2:7). However, to prove His claim that is implied in His name, Jesus performed a confirmatory sign. He said, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. . . . Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house” (Matthew 9:6).
Jesus — Jesus — Jesus: Sweetest name I know! In the 1800’s, J. Randall, while nearly blind, wrote and published a book titled The Titles of Our Lord Adopted By Himself in the New Testament. In the chapter on the name Jesus, Randall, in part, concluded with the following:
The name of Jesus is full of consolation to the Christian, because it reminds him of the state of guilt and misery in which grace found him; of the amazing cost at which salvation was purchased. . . . The name of Jesus is sweet . . . [H]ow the name of Jesus has been an inexhaustible spring of peace and joy; how it has driven back many temptations, dried many tears, and healed many sorrows . . . In his house, and at his table, how sweet have we found his name! (59)
Designations of Deification
Jesus means Savior, and He is Savior because He is Deity. He is the DIVINE King. Among the names, titles, and designations of such a One are those designations that relate to His deification (i.e. His glorification as God). One of the first of these deification designations in Matthew is Immanuel (1:23). It is the first of three designations that Matthew finds in the prophets. The other two are Nazarene (2:23) and Lord (3:3). Concerning Immanuel, Matthew affirmed that the birth of Jesus was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah that said, “Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23). Immanuel is the term of incarnation. God came in the flesh to be with man (cf. John 1:14). The significance of the name Immanuel (as well as the name Jesus) was noted by Warfield when he stated the following: “[I]t . . . is thus freighted with an implication of the deity of its bearer: and this is only a symbol of the saturation of his (i.e. Matthew’s) Gospel with the sense of the supreme majesty of the great personality whose life-history as the promised Messiah he has undertaken to portray” (88).
Supreme among those designations that declare His deity is Son of God. This term is Messianic in nature (Stalker 93; cf. Psalms 2:1-12). Passages in Matthew in which Jesus is called the Son of God by others, and in which He sometimes adopts the name Himself, include the following: 2:15; 3:17; 4:3, 6; 8:29; 14:33; 16:16; 17:5; 21:37-38; 26:63-64; 27:40, 43, 54. Passages in which Jesus calls Himself The Son include: 11:27; 22:2; 27:43; 28:19. Matthew also contains the following passages in which Jesus calls God His Father: 7:21; 10:32-33; 11:25-27; 12:50; 15:13; 16:17, 27; 18:10, 19, 35; 20:23; 24:36; 25:34; 26:29, 39, 42, 53; 28:19.
In his discussion of the designation, Son of God, and its related titles (i.e. Son, My Beloved Son, Son of the living God), Warfield says that, in some respects, “the most remarkable” utterance “in the whole compass of the four Gospels” is Matthew 11:25-27 (82). Here Jesus says: “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. . . . All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matthew 11:25, 27).
The message of 11:27 is that Jesus affirms He has a relationship of “practical equality with the Father, here described in most elevated terms as the ‘Lord of heaven and earth’” (Warfield 82). Only the Father can know the Son. Only the Son can know the Father [Others may know the Father if the Son reveals Him to them]. Likewise, as Warfield explained:
The Son can be known only by the Father in all that He is, as if His being were infinite and as such inscrutable to the finite intelligence; and His knowledge alone—again as if He were infinite in His attributes—is competent to compass the depths of the Father’s infinite being. HE WHO HOLDS THIS RELATION TO THE FATHER CANNOT CONCEIVABLY BE A CREATURE. . . . (82-83, emp. added)
The Messiah King’s favorite self-designation is Son of Man. It appears in Matthew in the following passages: 8:20; 9:6; 10:23; 11:19; 12:8, 32, 40; 13:37, 41; 16:13, 27, 28; 17:9, 12, 22; 18:11; 19:28; 20:18, 28; 24:27, 30, 37, 39, 44; 25:13, 31; 26:2, 24, 45, 64. The Messianic character of this designation is indisputable in light of its interchange with other titles of the Messiah (cf. Matthew 16:13, 16, 20; 17:9-10; 24:27; 26:63-64) (Warfield 85).
Although the phrase “son of man” occurs frequently in the Old Testament (i.e. Psalms 8:4; 80:17; Ezekiel: 90 times), it is believed the primary source for the Messianic designation Son of Man, is the following passage from the prophet Daniel:
I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then 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 the one which shall not pass away. (Daniel 7:13-14)
In light of the contextual flow of New Testament Messianic teaching, it seems rather obvious that the above passage is a clear reference to the ascension, coronation, and exaltation of King Jesus. With the theme—The King and His Kingdom—Matthew contains information that is closely connected to the kingdom and rule of the Son of Man from the Daniel passage. The high priest, before Jesus appeared in trial and judgment, demanded, “I adjure You by the living God that you tell us if You are the Christ, the son of God” (Matthew 26:63). Jesus answered, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64). The Son of Man is the King on His throne who will apportion to men their eternal destinies (cf. Matthew 25:31-46).
Although both the deity and majesty of Matthew’s King are manifested in the designation Son of Man, there is also another important aspect to this favorite expression of Jesus. Stalker eloquently summarized it when he stated:
. . .[T]he figure in Daniel, being of heavenly origin and engaged in high and solemn fellowship with the Ancient of Days . . . would correspond with His consciousness of pre-existence . . . [T]he name [i.e. Son of Man] suited His purpose of concealing His messianic claims, while it expressed them to Himself and hinted them to His disciples, but, it seems to me, the deepest reason for His choice of this name must have been the admirable expression which it gives to His connexion with the human race. That the sense of His identity with all mankind was one of His master-sentiments requires no demonstration. With whatever is high and noble in man’s nature or destiny He was in intimate sympathy; and His compassion reached down to everything that is painful or pathetic in the human lot. HE IS THE BROTHER OF ALL, THE MAN OF MEN. This is ONE OF THE TWO POLES ON WHICH HIS MESSIAHSHIP RESTS. WITHOUT THIS CONNEXION WITH THE RACE AND THIS UNIVERSALITY OF SYMPATHY HE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN THE MESSIAH. (76, emp. added)
Another crucial deification title of the Messiah King is Lord. There is only one instance in Matthew of Jesus referring to Himself as the Lord (21:3). However, there are more than twenty passages in Matthew that record others addressing Jesus as Lord (7:21-22; 8:2, 6, 8, 21, 25; 9:28; 14:28, 30; 15:25, 27; 16:22; 17:4, 15; 18:21; 20:30, 33; 26:22; 25:37, 44).
The Greek word for lord is kurios. It was a word of respect (cf. Arndt and Gingrich 459-61) and manifested “a general recognition of authority” (Warfield 71). In Matthew it is used to refer to a master to whom service is due (Matthew 6:24); a title of respect for a father (Matthew 21:30); a master-owner (Matthew 13:27); and a civil governor or ruler (Matthew 27:63). However, in the context of messianic doctrine, kurios (lord) moves to a higher level than just a term for any master, ruler or owner. Arndt and Gingrich say, . . . [T]he use of the word kurios raises Jesus above the human level” (460). This is reflected in the following observations:
[I]ts tendency is distinctly upwards; and no reader can fail to catch a very high note in its repeated use, or can feel surprise when it is observed to be connected usually with at least Messianic implications (15:22; 20:30, 31; 7:21) and is found occasionally to be suggestive of something even higher (25:37, 44). . . . [I]n its highest connotation it appears characteristically upon the lips of our Lord Himself, who represents men as seeking to enter the Kingdom of Heaven by crying to Him “Lord, Lord” (7:21), and as addressing Him on the Day of Judgment as He sits King on the throne of His glory by the appropriate title of “Lord” (25:37, 44). In the latter case, of course, nothing is lacking of recognition of divine majesty itself: this “Lord” is not only “the Son of Man” come in His glory with all the angels with Him (verse 31), “the King” (verses 34, 40) seated on the throne of His majesty (verse 31), but “the Judge of all the earth,” distributing to each man his eternal destiny, according to the relation in which each stands to His own person. (71)
Designations of Coronation
Jesus is the God-Man, and thus He is qualified to be Savior. He is the Anointed One (King). The basic coronation title given to the Lord is Christ. Of this designation Stalker has written the following: “Of all the names of our Lord, with the exception of His birthname, ‘Jesus,’ the one which has stuck most firmly in the memory of the world is ‘Christ,’ which is the Greek equivalent for ‘Messiah,’ and in English is correctly rendered by the word ‘Anointed’” (127).
The Christ (ho Christos) means “the Messiah, the anointed one” (Rogers 37). Passages in Matthew in which Jesus refers to Himself as the Christ include: 16:20, 22, 42; 23:8, 10; 24:5, 23, 24; 26:64. Passages from Matthew in which others refer to Him as the Christ include: 1:1, 16, 17, 18; 2:4; 11:2-3; 16:16; 26:68; 27: 17, 22.
The King was called “the anointed” because at His coronation sacred oil was poured on His head and by this He was consecrated to His office (Stalker 129). The oil was a symbol of the Spirit of God from whom the anointed monarch received the necessary things to fulfill his duties (i.e. wisdom, dignity, etc., cf. Isa. 11:1-4; Luke 4:18). Rogers (37) affirms that, minus the article (the, ho), Christ has the sense of a personal name (Matthew 1:16) and, with the article, it is a title of the One promised in the Old Testament (Matthew 2:4). [NOTE: The most in-depth word study I have located on Christos and related words is in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. 9, 493-580].
Even as a proper name, Christ was “the name of dignity as distinguished from the simple name of designation, and preserved, even when employed as a proper name, its implications of Messiahship” (Warfield 63). Jesus accepted the designation Christ as belonging to Him (Matthew 16:16-17) and saw it as exclusively His (Matthew 24:5). When asked if He were the Christ, the Son of God, He accepted the title and gave it such a high connotation that the one who had asked Him charged Him with blasphemy (Matthew 26:63-65). So significant is this name/title of Jesus that His identity as the Christ is the foundation on which His church is built (Matthew 16:16-18).
An obvious coronation designation that is connected with Christ is King. He was called King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2) by His adversaries (Matthew 27:11, 29, 37). Concerning such, He answered, “It is as you say” (27:11b). He used the title King in reference to Himself in the great Judgment scene (Matthew 25:34, 40). As King, He was Son of David (1:1). The Messianic King was to be of David’s lineage (cf. Psalms 89:3-4; 2 Samuel 7:12-13). God’s Anointed was to occupy the Davidic throne. Passages in Matthew in which Jesus is called the Son of David include 1:1, 6, 17, 20; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9, 15; 22:42, 45. It is significant that in all the great variety of objections leveled against Jesus there is never any attempt to deny Jesus’ Davidic descent (Zahn 534).
And yet, the Christ was more than David’s Son. He was David’s Lord (Matthew 22:42-46)! David, himself, in the Spirit (i.e. writing by inspiration) called the Christ his Lord. He wrote, “The Lord said to my Lord. . .” (Psalms 110:1; Matthew 22:44). Thus, Jesus asked his opponents to answer the question: If the Christ is the Son of David, how could He also be David’s Lord? (22:41-42). This question has been called “one of the most significant indications ever thrown out by Him of His own consciousness of divine sonship in a unique sense” (Stalker 135).
Designations of Anticipation
The divine salvation delivered through the Messiah King was that for which there had been great anticipation and expectation. Such expectation was evidenced when John the Baptist, imprisoned in Herod’s dungeon at the end of a life of self-denial and suffering, and with his conscience alive to God, sent two of his disciples with the question: “Are You THE COMING ONE, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3; emp. added). In commenting on the Greek word erchomai (to come) as used in the preceding text, Thayer says, “[H]e that cometh (i.e. is about to come) acc[ording] to prophetic promise and universal expectation, the coming one” (251). In the superb work authored by Edersheim on The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah we find the following statement appropriate to this discussion:
The designation “The Coming One” (habba), though a most truthful expression of Jewish expectancy, was not one ordinarily used of the Messiah. But it was invariably used in reference to the Messianic age . . . or coming future (literally, the prepared for to come). . . . [I]t implied the setting right of all things by the Messiah, the assumption and vindication of His Power. In the mouth of John it might therefore mean chiefly this: Art Thou He that is to establish the Messianic Kingdom in its outward power, or have we to wait for another? (668)
This Coming One was to be the Son of Abraham (Matthew l:1). God had given to Abraham the promise that in his seed all the nations of the Earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). God would make Abraham a father of many nations (Genesis 17:5-6). In His true humanity, the Messiah King’s descent was traced not only from Adam but from the great progenitor of the nation of Israel—their father Abraham (cf. John 8:33, 56). Jesus Christ is the Son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1) or as Paul so wonderfully expounded (cf. Galatians 3:7-29), He is the long-awaited, expected, and anticipated Seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:16). It is significant that Matthew began his gospel record with four names and titles, and Son of Abraham (though only appearing once in Matthew) is one of these great titles.
Designations of Instruction
It was believed among the Jews that the Coming One would be a great Messianic Teacher. He would be the Teacher par excellence (Smith 222). The Messianic Teacher would provide expert guidance to His people (280). [NOTE: Smith discusses this designation of The Teacher in the context of two Old Testament Messianic prophecies: for Isaiah 30:19-26 and Joel 2:23. His comments that include a “Special Note” on “Jesus as Teacher” are highly recommended for serious students (220-29, 278-81).]
Matthew’s designations related to the teaching of the Messiah include the following: Teacher (Master, KJV, 8:19; 9:11; 10:24-25; 12:38; 17:24; 19:16; 22:16, 24, 36; 26:18); Rabbi (23:8; 26:25, 49); Leader (NASV) (23:8, 10). The designation rabbi “was in NT times a title of respect given by a student to his teacher” (Brown 3: 115). It was sometimes rendered Teacher (cf. John 1:38). In some contexts it was supplanted by Lord (kurios) and represented the Aramaic term mari (i.e. My Lord) (115).
The usual Greek word for Teacher (Master, KJV) is didaskolos and is used in the above mentioned passages. However, another word is used uniquely on one occasion in Matthew. Jesus said, “But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi;’ for One is your TEACHER, the Christ, and you are all brethren. . . . And do not be called TEACHERS; for One is Your TEACHER, the Christ” (Matthew 23:8, 10, emp. added.) The Greek word used in these verses is kathegetes. It seems to have been used in the Greek philosophical schools as a synonym of didaskolos and it has been suggested that it might have been a Messianic title (Hathab-the Guide) among the Samaritans (Rogers 51; Warfield 67). Could it be that the Samaritan woman had this in mind when she said, “I know that Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). When He comes he will tell us all things’” (John 4:25)? Jesus then said to her, “I who speak to you am He” (John 4:26). Truly, He is THE Teacher—THE Guide.
Conclusion
In this study of Matthew’s designations (names/titles) of the Messiah we have observed some things about His name and the salvation He procured: His name and the deification He possesses; His name and the coronation He was presented; His name and the anticipation He produced; and His name and the instruction He provides. In all of this we have only “scratched the surface.” As Paul, I feel that I am “less than the least” (Ephesians 3:8). Rogers says this means ‘“the smallester, leaster’. . . [U]sed to designate the deepest self-abasement. . . . PAUL MAY BE MAKING AN ALLUSION TO HIS OWN NAME” (439, emp. added).
But HIS name is “THE NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY NAME” and the one that, at its sound, “EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW . . . and EVERY TONGUE SHOULD CONFESS” that He is Lord (Philippians 2:9-10, emp. added)! His name is the One that is EXCELLENT in all the Earth (Psalms 8:9)! His name is the One that has “the joyful sound” (Psalms 89:15-16)! His name is the One that “is a strong tower” to which the righteous may run and are safe (Proverbs 18:10)! His name is the One that is “HOLY and AWESOME” (Psalms 111:9, emp. added)!
Randall wrote: “The names of the Lord Jesus are real things, not a mere pageant or an empty sound; but what Christ calls himself that he is. Among men, titles are frequently bestowed which are undeserved; Christ has a pre-eminent right to every title assigned to him in the Bible, but no title does justice to him. He is what it implies, but more; more than all combined, yea, combined in their best state; and infinitely more” (10).
An early twentieth century preacher, John L. Brandt, eloquently extolled the name Jesus in his sermon, “No Other Name.” Brandt said:
. . . [T]he name Jesus stands above every name. It towers above the names of men, spirits, and angels. No name on earth will lift and thrill, arouse dormant energies, agitate, comfort and bless like the name “Jesus.” It is the independently perfect name; no name like it in all the universe. It is the name that stands over every hierarchy in creation. . . . The name “Jesus,” stands transcendent [sic] in art, in literature, and in the governments of the world. . . . Mention the name of Jesus to the darkened soul and it will bring light. Mention that name to the mother weeping over her dying babe and she will find comfort. . . . Mention it to the sisters as they stand at the grave of their brother and they will be comforted. Mention it to the bereaved companion and his heart will be comforted in the hope of the resurrection. Mention it to the lonely one traveling down the vale of life, and it will open the very gates of heaven. . . . The world may offer its human sympathy, its money, its pleasures, and its honors, but the name, “Jesus,” brings comfort when all else has failed.
It is a conquering name. . . . The mightiest names of the earth have either perished or are perishing. Where is Phillip the Second, of Spain? Richard the Third, of England? Louis XIV, of France? Peter the Great, of Russia?—conquering names that made the world tremble? We speak of them as being dead with none to do them honor, but the name of Jesus Christ, the conqueror of Conquerors, still lives. It lives in our songs of salvation; it lives in our magnificent architecture; it lives in the histories of the world; it lives in the Church of Christ; it lives in the hearts of millions upon millions of his disciples; it lives as the mediator between God and man, as the hope of glory. . . .
Christian, tell me, have you not found in this name a hive full of honey, a garden full of flowers, a sun that always shines, a fountain that never ceases, a friend that never forsakes, and a Savior that is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. Then should you not rejoice in the name of this Jesus? Rejoice that you have believed in this name that you have confessed this name, that you have been baptized in this name, that you have put on this name, that you wear this name, that you have been justified by this name, that when you suffer, you suffer in this name, and whatsoever you do, whether in word or deed, you do all in the name of Christ. Rejoice that he has given you the privilege of praying in his name. . . . Rejoice, that you are permitted to work in the name of Christ for the salvation of souls. Well may that name be inscribed upon the tablets of your heart, imprinted upon the pages of your memory; sound it out often, sound it out well sound it out in the highways and byways, in the valleys and on the hilltops, till every flower shall bloom with it, every field shall be aglow with it, every river shall flow with it, home shall be gladdened with it, and every heart shall respond to its appeal of welcome. (62, 64-65, 72-73)
May God, if He so wills, use our feeble efforts to explore the treasures of the names, titles, and designations of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16) and promote the cause of His Son and the consolation of His saints in the proclamation of life’s greatest acclamation God.
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name!
Let Angels Prostrate Fall!
Bring Forth the Royal Diadem,
And Crown Him Lord of All!
-Edward Perronet, et al.
Charles C. Pugh III
Executive Director
Originally published in Life’s Greatest Acclamation - God available for purchase in our bookstore.
WORKS CITED:
Arndt, William F. and Wilbur F. Gingrich. A Greek-English Lexicon Of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 1957. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1973.
Brandt, John L. Soul saving Revival Sermons. 1907. Restoration Reprint Library ed. N. p.: College P, n.d.
Brown, Colin. ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. 3 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978.
Campbell, Alexander. The Millennial Harbinger. series 5, vol. 7. 1864 Bethany: A. Campbell, Reprint.
Derk, Francis H. A Pocket Guide to The Names of Christ. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1969.
Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. 8th ed. Vol. l . London: Longmans, 1894. 2 vols.
Hurlburt, Charles E. and T. C. Horton. The Wonderful Names of Our Wonderful Lord. 1925. Plainfield: Logos, n.d.
Randall, J. Montagu. The Titles of Our Lord Adopted By Himself in the New Testament. Philadephia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, n.d.
Rogers, Cleon L., Jr., and Cleon L. Rogers III. The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.
Smith, James E. What the Bible Teaches About the Promised Messiah. Nashville: Nelson, 1993.
Stalker, James. The Christology of Jesus. New York: Armstrong, 1899.
Stevenson, Herbert F. Titles of the Triune God. Westwood: Revell, 1956.
Thayer, Joseph Henry. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. 1962. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1973.
Towns, Elmer L. The Names of Jesus. Denver: Accent, 1987.
Warfield, Benjamin B. The Lord of Glory—A Study of the Designations of Our Lord in the New Testament With Especial Reference to His Deity. 1907. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976.
Zahn, Theodor. Introduction to the New Testament. Vol. 2. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1953. 3 vols.