What’s in a Name? Jesus - A Sermon for Reign of Christ Sunday November 24 2024

This preaching series, “What’s in a Name?”

is wrapping up in a couple of weeks,

we are almost there.

We have been focusing on God’s work

in and through lesser-known biblical characters

but today we shift gears,

we focus on Jesus,

the main character.

We will talk about some of the names given to Jesus,

some of the titles,

and their significance.

But first, a little lesson in the power of a name.

When you know someone’s name,

you hold some power over them.

For example,

if I call out Karen or Tom

there are a few people in this room

who might perk up.

There’s a difference between

“can someone take out the garbage”

and

“Isabelle, take out the garbage.”

When you know someone’s name,

you can call on them.

That’s power.

God is intentional about naming from the beginning.

In the story of Adam and Eve

Adam gets to name the animals,

but he does not get to name Eve,

only God has that power.

Man does not have naming power over women,

and man, or better, humanity

does not have naming power over God.

We do not get to make God in our own image.

Remember Jacob, the one who wrestles with God.

Jacob refuses to let go until

God blesses him,

and tells him God’s name.

Jacob could not coerce God to reveal God’s name.

But God renamed Jacob to Israel.

Consider the exodus,

Moses at the burning bush,

Who shall I tell them sent me? Moses asks.

God responds “I AM”

It is a name, YHWH

and it is a theological statement.

I AM What I AM

or I will be what I will be

or I am present where I am present.

This is the power of God’s name:

God is present,

God exists,

God is.

And after the burning bush,

God’s people who had known their God

as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,

The people can now call on God by name,

YHWH. I AM.

Side note - God didn’t say to Moses

“I heard the people cry out to me.”

rather God said “I have heard their cry,

I know their sufferings.”

Trust and believe,

God knows,

even without being called upon by name.

God knows your heart,

God knows your cry

and your suffering.

This power is so strong,

some people of faith might not speak God’s name,

or when writing the word God,

they might put a dash in place of the “o”

Perhaps this is what lead to various names for God

in the Old Testament

like Adonai, El Shaddai, Elohim, Jehovah.

There is power in God’s name,

There is power in the name of Jesus,

for there is life,

there is salvation,

there is eternal presence

there is unconditional love

radical acceptance

reckless forgiveness

in the name of Jesus.

So we call on God’s name in trouble,

in prayer, in praise, in thanksgiving,

And we strive not to use the Lord’s name in vain,

but that is a sermon for another time.

Now to Jesus.

Jesus’ name has significance.

Jesus, in Hebrew is Joshua,

which means “God saves.”

A perfect name for our Saviour,

the God who saves.

When Jesus is named in Matthew’s Gospel,

The angelic messenger says

“You are to name him Jesus”

which is followed by

“All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken

by the Lord through the prophet:

  “Look, the young woman

shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means God is with us.

So which name is it? Jesus or Emmanuel?

The gospel writer, Matthew,

doesn't explain this any further.

For Matthew, the baby being named Jesus

seems synonymous with

the baby being named Emmanuel.

“God saves” is synonymous with “God is with us.”

It is a profound “read between the lines”

kind of statement:

It is by God’s presence that God saves.

This is what Christmas is all about.

This is what Advent is all about.

We long for Jesus, for Emmanuel:

God with us.

In Advent we sing our prayer:

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

Or put another way, we pray:

by your presence, save us, O God.

And God does.

By the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,

the Alpha and the Omega,

the one who was in the beginning,

the one who is Emmanuel:

God with us now,

and the one who is to come,

we are saved.

Note that we do not know Jesus’s name

like we know James and John, sons of Zebedee,

it is not Jesus Josephson,

or Jesus, son of Joseph.

It is Jesus of Nazareth.

This is where Jesus was raised,

it speaks to Jesus’ connection with the land,

with the people in there,

Jesus is a real person,

from a real place,

it was a backwoods kind of place,

I mean, what good can come out of Nazareth?

Jesus knew the realities and evils of the empire,

He spoke primarily Aramaic,

the local dialect.

It is not unlike myself,

I am not Aaron of Mohkintsis, Calgary,

but I also am,

Part of my identity is found in and with the land,

my home.

Perhaps you can relate. 

It is Jesus of Nazareth,

and it is Jesus the Christ.

We often omit the “the”

but the “the” matters.

Jesus’s last name isn’t Christ.

Jesus is the Christ,

the anointed one,

the Messiah.

These words bear the same essential meaning.

The Israelites had expected the King of the Hebrews

to follow in the line of King David,

deliver Israel from bondage

and restore the throne.

The Israelites expected a military, political leader.

We believe Jesus is Lord, Messiah, King,

But Jesus is not like an earthly king,

like he said,

“My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”

Jesus ushers in the kingdom of heaven,

the kingdom of God,

in our midst.

Peace with God is ours now,

resurrection and new life is ours now,

and we are called in baptism

to strive for the kingdom of God

and God’s righteousness.

The truth of the Kin-dom of Jesus

it that it is now and not yet.

We see glimpses of its completion,

at the Lord’s Table,

in the mutual consolation of the saints.

I find it helpful when imaging the kingdom of God

to take away the “g”

and call it the kin-dom of God.

for Jesus does not Lord over us as earthly rulers,

Jesus calls you brother, sister, sibling, friend,

Jesus calls God ABBA - Daddy, Mommy, Father.

In this non-violent reign of Love,

we are one family.

We also call Jesus Lord.

This is the proclamation of the church.

Jesus is Lord.

Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

This statement has lost some of its power over the centuries.

In the ancient Roman Empire,

Caesar was called son of god.

The Caesar would gather people in assemblies,

called ecclesias, or churches.

The Caesar would bring messages of good news,

gospel,

euangellion.

The Caesar uphold the Pax Romana,

a peace based on threat of violence.

The most sought after citizenship

was Roman citizenship.

Jesus of Nazareth, comes on the scene,

and the proclamation of the church is in direct opposition

to Caesar.

The Spirit gathers the assembly,

the church,

not to praise Caesar,

but to praise Christ.

Caesar isn’t son of god,

Jesus is Son of God.

Caesar isn’t King,

Jesus is King.

the Caesar doesn’t bring good news,

Jesus brings the gospel.

You are not citizens of the Empire,

you are citizens of heaven.

you are a child of God.

Jesus is ushering in the Kin-dom of God

in our very presence, even today.

What’s in a Name?

Jesus is the Lamb of God,

by whom death passes over us,

who bears my sin and yours

and the whole world’s.

Jesus is your Rabbi, your teacher,

the one whom we can follow from town to town,

and find ourselves covered in the dust

from the road and his sandals.

Jesus is your Way,

your Truth,

and your Life.

You know who Jesus is,

you know your King by name,

by many names and titles.

You belong to Jesus,

you belong to the Truth,

and those who know the Truth

listen to his voice.

May we who belong to the Truth

listen for Jesus’ voice.

May you know that when you call on God’s name,

and even when you don’t,

God hears your cry

and God is with you.

May you know Jesus the Christ and him crucified,

and in him find your Way,

your Truth,

and your Life.

Thanks be to God! Amen.