Names of God: Jesus

Introduction

It would be impossible to do a study on the names of God without studying Jesus, because He is God incarnate. The Lord Jesus has many names and titles ascribed to Him throughout Scripture. In addition the New Testament, we’ll also look back at the Old Testament and see how Jesus can be found throughout all of Scripture.

The Name Above All Names

Paul tells us in Philippians 2:9-11 “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

So what does ‘Jesus’ mean? It’s the Greek version of the Hebrew name ‘Joshua’ and it means ‘Salvation’. When the angel told Joseph that they would name the child Jesus, the angel explicitly says that this is because ‘he will save his people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21)

Matthew connects this naming with the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Matthew informs us that Immanuel means ‘God with us’ - indicating that Jesus can be called Immanuel.

Both names, Jesus and Immanuel, give us an indication of Christ’s deity - God is our Savior (1 Timothy 2:3 “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,” ).

John elaborates on this further by calling Jesus ‘the Word’, and the Word is God, and the Word took on flesh and dwelled among us - hence God with us.

‘The Word’ is yet another distinct title given to Jesus by John. This is the Greek word Logos, by ascribing this Name to Jesus, he wants us to know that Jesus is the pre-existent ‘Word of God’, through whom God created everything. (God ‘spoke’ everything into creation, Jesus as the Word, is therefore the Creator of All.)

Jesus is often called ‘the Lord’ throughout the New Testament. This can be both a connection to ‘the LORD’ in the Old Testament, and also a personal title signifying power and authority. As our Lord, Jesus is our Master (another name), and we must obey and worship Him.

1 Corinthians 11:23 “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,”

1 Corinthians 11:32 “But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.”

Romans 10:9-10 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

Jesus is also called ‘the Lamb of God’, or just ‘the Lamb’ especially by John. The name indicates that He himself is a sacrifice for us (I think this is connected to his name ‘Jesus’ that means ‘salvation’).

Christ, Messiah, Son of Man/God

Throughout the New Testament Jesus is often called ‘the Christ’ or ‘Jesus Christ’ or even ‘Christ Jesus’. Christ is the Greek word for ‘Messiah’ (which is Hebrew). So sometimes you’ll see some translations use the two words interchangeably.

Christ and Messiah both mean ‘Anointed One’. The idea behind this of a king being anointed by oil and therefore marked as chosen by God to lead and save His people. The theme of salvation as associated with Jesus should be very apparent. He is our Savior. He is our Messiah. He is our Christ.

Jesus is also called the Son of Man and Son of God. Both titles indicate his dual nature as both God and Man. The Son of God denotes his relation to the Father and also his deity.

When Jesus drew attention himself by claiming unity with the Father, the people attempted to stone Him for it. Jesus responded by using Scripture to show that their anger was unjustified in John 10:34-36 “Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?”

Son of Man is a particular name/title that Jesus took upon himself. Matthew especially draws attention this. So why did Jesus call himself the Son of Man?

By taking this title, He is claiming to be the Son of Man seen in Daniel 7:13-14 ““I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And 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 one that shall not be destroyed.”

Jesus alludes to this during his trial with the high priest in Matthew 26:64 “Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.””

This allusion was not missed by the high priest, who immediately declared what Jesus was saying as blasphemy. Everyone in the room knew who Jesus was claiming to be.

If Jesus is the Son of Man, as He claimed, then according to Daniel, He has been given dominion and glory and a kingdom that lasts forever, and all people, nations, and languages serve and worship Him - or atleast they should.

As confirmation of this, at his ascension Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Jesus in Revelation

In the Book of Revelation, John ascribes many names and titles to Jesus. Many of them denote his awesome power as God.

In Revelation 1, John call describes Jesus as ‘one like a son of man’ (see above). He gives an awesome description of Jesus, Revelation 1:13-14 “and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,”

Jesus then says, ‘I am the first and the last, and the living one.’

In this one sentence, Jesus claims to be the Great I AM. He is the first, and He is the last, showing His eternity. Later he will use a similar descriptor in Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.””

He is also the ‘living one’, showcasing his mastery over death (in the very next verse He even says that He is alive forevermore and therefore holds they keys of Death and Hades). This name shows that even the greatest enemy, death, has no power over Jesus Christ.

John describes Jesus as a Lamb in Revelation 5:6 “And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”

This is the most common description of Jesus throughout the Apocalypse.

Revelation 19:11-16 “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”

This is probably my favorite description of Jesus by John.

Jesus is called ‘Faithful and True’ - Jesus never lets His people down. He is completely trustworthy and always faithful to us.

‘He has a name written that no one knows but himself’ - As God, Jesus is so transcendent that He has a name that us unknowable to us.

‘The name by which is called is The Word of God’ - again, a favorite of John, telling us that Jesus is the God of creation, the one who speaks and everything obeys. He is the Word.

‘On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.’ - Jesus is the supreme ruler of all rulers. There is no king greater than Him. There is no lord greater than Him. Our modern understanding would describe Him as ‘President of presidents’ ‘Justice of justices’, ‘Prime Minister of prime ministers’, and so forth. All governments, and their leaders, submit to King Jesus.

The Power of the Name of Jesus

The Name of Jesus is linked with immense power on multiple levels according to Scripture.

There is nother Name by which we must be saved according to Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.””

Every knee will bow: Philippians 2:9-11 “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Sanctification & Justification: 1 Corinthians 6:11 “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Baptism: Acts 10:48 “And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.”

Believers who act in’his name’ participate in Christ’s authority:

Acts 3:6 “But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!””

1 Corinthians 5:4 “When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus,”

2 Thessalonians 3:6 “Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.”

James 5:14 “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”

3 John 1:7 “For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.”

By calling ourselves Christians, we bear The Name of Christ (Christian probably means ‘little Christ’). Acts 11:26 “And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.”

Calling ourselves Christians should be no small matter. We are taking Christ’s name upon ourselves. He has given us authority to do so, but we should be wary of misrepresenting His Name by our actions. This, to me, is ‘taking the Lord’s Name in vain.’

Imagine if the Secretary of State started doing thing he wasn’t suppose to, but said, ‘I’m doing these things under the command of the President.’ This lie would put him in a lot of trouble - not just because he was doing wrong, but because he claimed to be doing it under the authority of the President. How much worse for those of us who claim the authority of the King of kings?

A closing note is that the Name of Jesus can’t simply be invoked as some magic trick. Jesus is not a genie that we can command. The seven sons of Sceva found this out the hardway when they tried to simply invoke Jesus’ name to cast our a demon. It didn’t work so well.

Acts 19:13-16 “Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”

Jesus in the Bible

We’ve previously established that every name of God in the OT can rightly be applied to Jesus. Jesus himself claimed on multiple occasions to be the Great I AM. But since all of Scripture ultimatley points to Jesus, we are able to ‘see’ Jesus in every single book described in some way - and in multiple ways in many books. Below are common names/titles/descriptions from each book of the Bible that can be given to Jesus.

Genesis – Creator & promised Redeemer

Exodus – the Passover Lamb

Leviticus – High Priest

Numbers – water in the desert

Deuteronomy – He becomes the curse for us

Joshua – Commander of the army of the Lord

Judges – delivers us from injustice

Ruth – our Kinsman-Redeemer

1 Samuel – all in one, He is the Prophet/Priest/King

2 Samuel – King of grace & love

1 Kings – a Ruler greater than Solomon

2 Kings – the powerful prophet

1 Chronicles – Son of David that is coming to rule

2 Chronicles – the King who reigns eternally

Ezra – Priest proclaiming freedom

Nehemiah – the One who restores what is broken down

Esther – Protector of his people

Job – Mediator between God and man

Psalms – our song in the morning and in the night

Proverbs – our wisdom

Ecclesiastes – our meaning for life

Song of Solomon – Author of faithful love

Isaiah – Suffering Servant

Jeremiah – the weeping Messiah

Lamentations – He assumes God’s wrath for us

Ezekiel – Son of Man

Daniel – the stranger in the fire with us

Hosea – faithful husband even when we run away

Joel – He is sending His Spirit to His people

Amos – delivers justice to the oppressed

Obadiah – Judge of those who do evil

Jonah – the greatest missionary

Micah – He casts our sin into the sea of forgetfulness

Nahum – proclaims future world peace we cannot even imagine

Habakkuk – crushes injustice

Zephaniah – the Warrior who saves

Haggai – restores our worship

Zechariah – prophesies a Messiah pierced for us

Malachi – sun of righteousness who brings healing

New Testament

Matthew – the Messiah who is King

Mark – the Messiah who is a Servant

Luke – the Messiah who is a Deliverer

John – the Messiah who is a God in the flesh

Acts – the Spirit who dwells in His people

Romans – the righteousness of God

1 Corinthians – the power and love of God

2 Corinthians – He is the down payment of what’s to come

Galatians – He is our very life

Ephesians – the unity of our church

Philippians – the joy of our life

Colossians – holds the supreme position in all things

1 Thessalonians – our comfort in the last days

2 Thessalonians – our returning King

1 Timothy – Savior of the worst sinners

2 Timothy – leader of the leaders

Titus – foundation of truth

Philemon – our Mediator

Hebrews – our High Priest

James – He matures our faith

1 Peter – our hope in times of suffering

2 Peter – the One who guards us from false teaching

1 John – source of all fellowship

2 John – God in the flesh

3 John – source of all truth

Jude – protects us from stumbling

Revelation – King of Kings and Lord of Lords,

The Alpha and the Omega,

The Beginning and the End, and

He is coming again and the One who makes all things new.

Conclusion

What more can be said than that there is no more beautiful name than the name of Jesus. Every great and majestic title can be ascribed to Him. He is our Messiah, the Rock on which we stand. He is to be praised and worshipped forever. He is our salvation. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is Jesus. Amen!