Digging Deeper - What's in a Name?
“As we were going to a place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination… She followed Paul and us, crying out, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.’ Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit in her, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!’ And it came out.” Acts 16:16-18
Today we sometimes give our children names based on trivial connections. A name from a favorite song, or a celebrities name we like, etc. There are times when the source has deep meaning; like naming a child after a greatly admired grandparent or meaningful historical figure. But it is hard to overstate how important names were in biblical times. In the ancient middle east, a person’s name was linked to their identity or reputation. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham (father of multitudes), and he changed Jacob’s name to Israel (struggles with God). You may remember that when Naomi in the Ruth story lost her husband and sons, she wanted to rename herself Mara (Naomi meant “pleasant” and Mara meant “bitter”).
We might be confused by the words of Jesus when he sent out his apostles, “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.” (Matt. 10:41) What is Jesus saying here? As a Jewish rabbi, he is depending on his audience (the apostles) to know their Bible. The widow of Zarephath was the one who “received a prophet in the name of a prophet” when she shared her meager supplies with Elijah during the famine (I Kings 17). As a result, God gave her a prophet’s reward, sustaining her just as he did Elijah. Rahab the prostitute in Jericho, was the one who “received a righteous man in the name of a righteous man” as she sheltered the spies Joshua had sent, because she believed in Israel’s God (Joshua 2). Because she recognized their cause as righteous, Rahab was declared righteous and received the same reward, being allowed to live in the land with the Israelites. Jesus is saying, just as I took care of them, I will take care of you as I send you out.
The third of the ten commandments says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). We tend to interpret this as a prohibition from swearing, using the name of God as we curse. Interestingly, this is the only commandment that God promises to punish if we don’t keep it. Why is that? Because in the Hebrew culture, taking the Lord’s name in vain is more than cursing. In Hebrew the command literally says, “You shall not lift up the name of the Lord for an empty thing.” It was about reputation. If we follow the Lord, we are using his name (Christian), and we should not do anything that sullies his reputation. This command is more about how we live than it is about cursing.
In what we call the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus starts out, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matt. 6:9). In Hebrew, “kiddush hashem” means hallow the name. How do we hallow the name of our Lord? To hallow means to sanctify, to make it holy, to honor. We do that through loving deeds done in Jesus’ name, through developing the character traits of our Lord, through studying and obeying his commands, and we do it as we share the gospel (good news) with others. When Jesus sent out his disciples, he didn’t just send them out to do good deeds, nor did he just send them out to preach the gospel, he sent them to do both (Matt. 10:7-8). We err when we only do one of these to the neglect of the other, it takes both. How we live and how we speak.
Names are important to God. They communicate. When Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, an angel appeared to Joseph to give him insight into what was happening. “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:20, 21). A name that means salvation. That is a name to hold onto! Hallowed be his name. Hallow his name now, don’t wait until judgment day, when….
Cross Point: “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth!” (Phil. 2:10). All will one day bow before him, some as they prepare for judgment, others of faith to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Today we sometimes give our children names based on trivial connections. A name from a favorite song, or a celebrities name we like, etc. There are times when the source has deep meaning; like naming a child after a greatly admired grandparent or meaningful historical figure. But it is hard to overstate how important names were in biblical times. In the ancient middle east, a person’s name was linked to their identity or reputation. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham (father of multitudes), and he changed Jacob’s name to Israel (struggles with God). You may remember that when Naomi in the Ruth story lost her husband and sons, she wanted to rename herself Mara (Naomi meant “pleasant” and Mara meant “bitter”).
We might be confused by the words of Jesus when he sent out his apostles, “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.” (Matt. 10:41) What is Jesus saying here? As a Jewish rabbi, he is depending on his audience (the apostles) to know their Bible. The widow of Zarephath was the one who “received a prophet in the name of a prophet” when she shared her meager supplies with Elijah during the famine (I Kings 17). As a result, God gave her a prophet’s reward, sustaining her just as he did Elijah. Rahab the prostitute in Jericho, was the one who “received a righteous man in the name of a righteous man” as she sheltered the spies Joshua had sent, because she believed in Israel’s God (Joshua 2). Because she recognized their cause as righteous, Rahab was declared righteous and received the same reward, being allowed to live in the land with the Israelites. Jesus is saying, just as I took care of them, I will take care of you as I send you out.
The third of the ten commandments says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). We tend to interpret this as a prohibition from swearing, using the name of God as we curse. Interestingly, this is the only commandment that God promises to punish if we don’t keep it. Why is that? Because in the Hebrew culture, taking the Lord’s name in vain is more than cursing. In Hebrew the command literally says, “You shall not lift up the name of the Lord for an empty thing.” It was about reputation. If we follow the Lord, we are using his name (Christian), and we should not do anything that sullies his reputation. This command is more about how we live than it is about cursing.
In what we call the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus starts out, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matt. 6:9). In Hebrew, “kiddush hashem” means hallow the name. How do we hallow the name of our Lord? To hallow means to sanctify, to make it holy, to honor. We do that through loving deeds done in Jesus’ name, through developing the character traits of our Lord, through studying and obeying his commands, and we do it as we share the gospel (good news) with others. When Jesus sent out his disciples, he didn’t just send them out to do good deeds, nor did he just send them out to preach the gospel, he sent them to do both (Matt. 10:7-8). We err when we only do one of these to the neglect of the other, it takes both. How we live and how we speak.
Names are important to God. They communicate. When Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, an angel appeared to Joseph to give him insight into what was happening. “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:20, 21). A name that means salvation. That is a name to hold onto! Hallowed be his name. Hallow his name now, don’t wait until judgment day, when….
Cross Point: “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth!” (Phil. 2:10). All will one day bow before him, some as they prepare for judgment, others of faith to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Posted in Cross Points