Matthew 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

The Name

Every so often we see these lists come out revealing the top names for boys and girls during the year. Some of the names we have heard in the past that were given to our grandparents and great-grandparents have gone into decline.

Ethel was once a name that listed number six as a popular name in 1896. For a while, it was doing well on the top 1000 names for girls, but in 1975 it dropped out of the top 1000, and in 2017 only 28 girls born that year were named Ethel. Bertha, Diane, Gertrude, and Ida have gone into decline as well.

For boys, the same is true. Not many boys are given the name Gary, Keith, Cody, Andrew, or Christopher.

Even the name Joshua is off the list. Between 1860 and 2016, there were 1,198,955 babies named Joshua. Not many are being given that name nowadays. However, once it was a very popular name, including during the Second Temple era in Israel. During the time of Jesus, it was a very common name. And the name is found many times throughout the Bible in various forms.

Yeshua. Yehoshua. Hoshea. There are times when a different spelling refers to the same person. There are also differences in pronunciation for these names based on regional dialect. What you might have heard pronounced in Jerusalem might be different from the pronunciation used in Galilee or Samaria. And it must also be remembered that in Israel during this time we have the Greek and Latin languages being spoken and written, and that, too, would affect pronunciation. Foreigners did the best they could depending on their language skills. But Greek was the international language of that time, and much of the New Testament was written in Koine Greek. Politically the area was administered by the Romans, but culturally it was Hellenistic Greek going back to the conquest of the area by Alexander the Great. So now we have the Greek language added to the mix and with it is the Greek equivalent to Yeshua. That name is Iesous.

We know the song, Yesu Joy of Man's Desiring. Yesu is from the Syriac language, with a different spelling, Isho. The spelling for this name applies for both Hebrew and Greek names, Yeshua and Iesous.

During the Italian Renaissance a poet named Gian Giorgio Trissino made his contribution to language: the letter "jay". Though the character of the letter was used in Latin numbers, Trissino was the first to distinguish the difference between the sounds of the /I/ and the /J/. This happened in the early 16th century. And it changed pronunciation forever and had a major impact on the translation of the Bible into English in 1611. Yeshua became Joshua. Iesous became Jesus. The name Iesous was found throughout the Koine Greek writings in the New Testament, and Jesus is the name we use when addressing our Lord and Savior.

What is the meaning of the Name?

Biblical names have meanings or definitions assigned to them. When Sarai was given the news that she was going to have a son in her advanced age, she laughed. Her son, Isaac, was given the name "Laughter". The name James means "Truthful". The name Yeshua and its variations mean "he saves" or "he rescues".

Joseph was told by the angel to name his son Yeshua i.e. Iesous i.e. Jesus, which means "He Saves". Salvation. There is no other name under heaven by which you can be saved (Acts 4:12), because His name is Salvation.

There are Christians who have a problem with how water baptism is to be conducted. One group follows Matt. 28:19, baptizing in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Another group baptizes in the name of the Son only based on Act 2:38. Then come the arguments over the Trinity.

Look at the Trinity, the Godhead. In essence, we are looking at Salvation as a whole. The God who Saves. We have the Father of Salvation. We have the Son who is Salvation, who died on our behalf, making it possible for us to be rescued from sin. We have the Holy Spirit who testifies of what the Son who is Salvation has done and who leads us to our rescue, our salvation. Without the Holy Spirit there would be no one to convict us of our sin or to lead us to repentence and the saving faith in the One who made salvation possible.

The Reputation of the Name

The definitions given by a name are the qualities that parents hope a child will grow into during as it matures. Not every James grows up to be truthful, however. Not every Angela is an angel. You get the picture. But those who do live up to their name earn a reputation. When the Father told Joseph what the Child's name was to be, the Father was putting His reputation on the line. Can He really save us? Does He want to save us?

Those who have tasted and seen that the Father is worthy will say that YES, the Father can save us. Yes, He does want to save us. He has given us his WORD, and the WORD became flesh. Salvation is freely offered to all. No one is to be denied. God has staked His reputation on this.

There is that wonderful image of Jesus in Revelation. He's standing at the door, knocking, wondering if anyone will invite Him in. Looking through His eyes, we see the ghetto in which we live. The trash. Pollution. Rubbish. Everything on the verge of falling apart and falling down. A place in need of urban renewal. And He is knocking on the door with only one thing on His mind. He's got the speech memorized. "Hi. I'm Jesus, the Son who is Salvation. I'm here to help you. I am here to rescue you. I am here to save you. May I come in?"

Sin has damaged everything good that God has given us. We have damaged the environment that supports life on this planet. We have damaged the relationships we are to share with each other. We have damaged the relationship with God who has done all that He can to repair it. And Jesus is knocking on the door of our hearts hoping that we will open it so that He can come in. It is His desire to help us prepare the way of the Lord. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.