Jesus

April 4

Jesus
Iesous

There have been innumerable attacks through the ages on the person of Jesus. His deity and humanity have always been battlegrounds. Countless cults and heretics by the hundreds have denied the “historical Jesus,” and they’re still doing so today.

The NT, however, mentions the name Jesus by itself some 612 times (AV) and many more times in conjunction with other names (e.g., “Jesus Christ”). Why? Because Jesus is the name of salvation. Jesus (Iesous, G2424) is the human name of our Lord and means Savior (see April 6), that is, “he shall save his people from their sins” (Mat_1:21).

It’s significant that instead of choosing a name for their baby, as parents normally do, it was the angel of God who instructed Joseph and Mary as to what the child’s name was to be (Mat_1:21; Luk_1:31). God wanted no ambiguity concerning who this child would be and what He would do.

What, then, is the significance of this word? Iesous (both Greek and Latin) corresponds to the Hebrew Jeshua (H3091), which is equivalent to “Joshua,” and means “the Lord is salvation.” That is why men must attack and try to destroy Jesus. With Him intact, they must deny themselves, deny their religion, deny their works, and trust Him only for salvation-and that they will not do.

What power there is in that name Jesus! It is a call to repentance (Act_2:38), it’s the name that heals the sick (Act_3:6), it’s the name by which demons are cast out (Act_16:18), and it’s the name that saves (1Co_1:2).

And while men tried to destroy Him in His day, and while men deny Him in our day, there will come the day, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth” (Php_2:10).
Lela B. Long, nineteenth-century hymn writer, invites us to meditate on that singular name Jesus with these words:

Jesus is the sweetest name I know,
And He’s just the same as His lovely name.
why I love Him sAnd that’s the reason o;
Jesus is the sweetest name I know.

Scriptures for Study: The gospel of John uniquely presents Jesus in His deity. This name appears there 256 times, the most times in chapter 11; read that chapter and note how many. Also, what wonderful incident is recounted there?

 
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