Reflection - The Name

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010719.cfm
1 John 3:22-4:6
Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25

Our youngest grandson is currently too young to safely play alone outside; but, a few years from now, when he does, I find it difficult to imagine that either his mother or grandmother will go to the front door and call: “Hey you! It’s time to come in now.” Knowing exactly who is being addressed is important. We don’t usually think of the fact that knowing the name by which someone or something is identified gives us power. But it does. Currently, like other parents and grandparents we’re casually busy teaching our grandson the names of body parts, colors, animals and the like.

There are linguists who claim that we can’t know something unless we have words for it. Moreover, the first thing we usually do when encountering something new is to give it a name, even if it’s a provisional one. The example of Eskimos and snow may be the best known of these situations. Supposedly Eskimos identify multiple types of snow whereas those who live in regions where lives are less impacted by snow have only a few. So it was with Adam in the garden. God gave man dominion over all his previous creation, so He had the various animals of his new creation parade before Adam so that Adam could give them names. In Biblical times names were closely identified with the character of the person. So Adam was “Adam” because the word means “of the earth”; and Adam was “of the earth.” Eve was called “Eve” because the word means “mother of all the living; and Eve was “mother of all the living.” Assigning a name was more than just a symbol. It was understood to be a statement of reality.

Jesus (Yeshua) was named “Jesus” because the word means “to rescue” or “to deliver” and in his very person Jesus would do just that — he would rescue, he would deliver all of mankind. Based on that identification, and the facts of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, Paul would declare that he is “above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” (Ephesians 1:21) and that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” (Philippian’s 2:10) 

Peter too understood what had been achieved by Jesus and that that accomplishment was expressed and contained in his name/person. That is why Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk." (Acts 3:6) Contained in the name of Jesus was the essence of the person.

John tells us that “we should believe in the name of his (God’s) Son, Jesus Christ.” From Paul we learn “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.” (Philippians 2:9) “and every tongue [should therefore] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:11)

In John’s letter this morning he reminds his readers of the essential elements of their new faith. 

“His [the Father’s] commandment is this:
we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another just as he commanded us.”

Believing in the name encompasses far more than acquiescence to a religious teaching. The name identifies the essence of the person. In this case that essence is “the rescuer” or “the deliverer.” But it is also the essence of the one who “.. .is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.” (Colossians 1:15) It is the essence of the one who is “the first-born from the dead that in everything he might be pre-eminent.” (Colossians 1:18) But in him, too, resides that which are hearts long for; for he is also Emmanuel, God with us.

The enormity of what God has done easily overwhelms us when we meditate upon the matter. It is, consequently, predictable that we might shove his gift to the back of our minds, occasionally retrieving it for a modest glimpse. That may well be one of the many reasons why the “Word” became Incarnate, why he became flesh and dwelt among us. 

I can get a handle on the person Jesus, if only just barely. And I like to think of myself as his friend. But it is also important that I remember, at least occasionally, that his is the name above every other name, that he is pre-eminent in all creation, that he is the image of the invisible God. In him and in his name I believe.