Why Do We Call The Saviour by the Name Jesus?
How many of us have sung, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there's just something about that name..." Perhaps we've made a remark like, "Sweet Jesus."
Christians for centuries have called upon the name of Jesus and have come to love that name. And why not? It's the name of our precious Saviour, is it not?
Well, that is the subject of our teaching today and it has me disturbed. I can not hide from you the fact that I am pulled at from two sides whether I should even bring this subject to the light.
On the one hand, I don't want to do anything to discourage the relationship you have with the Saviour. But, on the other hand, I am compelled to believe that the Truth will set you free.
I also have a fear.
That fear is that you will shoot the messenger.
I remember a discussion I tried to have with a deacon of a large Southern Baptist church. He cut me off by saying he did not want to know more if it meant he was going to have to think.
Which is it for you?
Are you going to shoot the messenger? Would you prefer not to hear something that will make you think? Or, do you want the Truth?
If you want to hear the rest of the story, then continue reading.
Here it is point blank:
There is no letter "J" in the Hebrew alphabet. There isn't one now and there never has been.
In fact, the "J" didn't come into use until the late 16th and early 17th centuries in any language. That's a little late for it to have been included in the original Scriptures, don't you think?
So, His Name could not start with a "J."
Our precious Saviour never heard the name "Jesus" in His ears while He was on earth. His mother Miriam and His disciples never called Him by the name "Jesus."
Sometime, about 400 years ago, believers began to call the Saviour by the wrong name.
How did this happen?
The answer to that can be a little complicated when you discuss transliteration and transcription. Therefore, this explanation is simplified: Somewhere in the transliterations from Hebrew to Greek to Latin and then English things got pretty messed up.
I don't know which translation it first appeared in, but it could have been Tyndale's. Certainly by the time of the King James translation the name "Jesus" came into use - along with some other incorrect name substitutions such as "god" and "lord."
One thing you should note is that names can not be translated. That's right, contrary to what even I was taught as a child in public school, my name is still George no matter whether I am in Russia or China. I am aware you will find references that say things like "George" in English equals "Jorge" in Spanish. But, my name is not "Jorge." "Jorge" is pronounced as "Hore-Hay" in Spanish.
My mother did not name me "Hore-Hay" and never called me that.
When a name is transliterated/transcipted you will hear your name in your ear just as you always have regardless of which language is spoken. A foreigner will pronounce "Bill" as "Bill" and "Tom" as "Tom."
In any case, we find ourselves in the rather embarrassing position of calling the Saviour of the world by the wrong name. If your name is Jenny, its like having an acquaintance who always calls you Alice.
I can imagine that most of us have encountered someone who continued to call us by the wrong name. And when we do, it makes us feel a little awkward doesn't it? I know when it happened to me I felt irritated. I couldn't help but think this person didn't really know me or like me much since they didn't bother to get my name right.
Fortunately for us, the Saviour is gracious - much more than I am.
What do we do now that we know the truth? The same we do when we err in anything. We change our behavior, of course.
But you say you like the name of "Jesus." And you don't want to stop using it.
I understand. I felt the same way. It's hard to break old habits - even when we know they are incorrect. How many people still eat the wrong kinds of foods despite what the medical consequences are?
And I feel with you that you were saved under the name of Jesus and have grown to think of your Saviour fondly by that name.
When I was first convicted I should start using His correct name, I rebelled.
"His real name sounds fake," I would tell myself. "It doesn't really matter, He knows my heart."
Yes, He knows my heart - and yours - that it is rebellious and self willed.
When I finally came to that point of surrendering my will to His, I realized that His real name did matter. Otherwise, why did He put it in the original Scriptures (not man's recent translations) so many times?
Yahweh (G-d) has not given me the authority to change or disguise what the Scripture says. How about you?
After you read Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22:18,19 ask yourself if you are willing to take responsibility for changing or disguising (adding to or taking away from ) what the Scriptures really say?
Well, what about the name "Christ?"
Sorry, but that is not a name. It's a title which means "anointed."
Unfortunately, while it may sound glorifying to our Saviour, it's not really. You see, it's a Greek title, a title used to describe any and all of their many false gods.
OK, that leads to the obvious question, "What is His real Name?"
I thought you'd never ask.
We'll discuss that next time.
1 comment:
Well, being somewhat of a student of languages, I can see your concern. However, I think that the very reason most English speaking Christians say "Jesus" is precisely because of the transliteration of Yeshua into the GREEK, which also had no "J."
However, for some reason the Germanic languages, of which English is one, had trouble with the initial i and chose to pronounce it with a dental "j" which they put on paper as a "new" letter.
And thus, "Y" or "I" became "J." The name Iesous (the Greek transliteration of Yeshua with a Greek ending) became Jesous and finally "Jesus."
It is as close as the Germanic tongue could come, apparently. All other languages that I have seen, including Hamitic tongues of Africa, maintain the "Y" or "I" sound and thus the letter. Even the Romanic languages have a gutterql aspirate "H" sound. "Jesu" is pronounced "He-Soo."
Your name George is so foreign to the Hispanic ear that "Jorge" has to be used as a "translation" of the name. I am quite frustrated with MY first name, "James," which is a particularly botched transliteration of "Jacobus" which is the Hellenization of "Jacob" or more correctly "Yaqob." It appears that somewhere along the way a "variant" spelling of "Jacomus" became accepted and then shortened to "James." the sounds of "m" and "b" are both labial, the "b" being distinguished by a gutteral vibration.
The short version: "m" is a lazy "b" and the English prefer single syllable names. We would prefer fewer steps, fewer languages, in transferring information between cultures.
Take the name of the Creator, for instance. We know the letters YHWH, (or even EHOH!)But how were they pronounced? It was a form of the verb "to be," and most prefer "Yahweh" (the KJV even uses the shortened "YAH" in one place). But is that correct. It is our closest guess, for sure.
Our Saviour's name is transliterated in the Greek "Iesou" and said to mean "He saves," leading us to assume the shortened form "Yeshua." However, just as with Joshua, the form "Yehoshua" (YAH saves) is also a possiblity. We all seem to prefer shortened forms, though.
To be safe, we can TRANSLATE Yeshua's name and call him the SAVIOR.
As for "Christ," it is our shortened form of the Greek Christos. It is indeed a title, and means, as you said, "annointed." The Greek writers of the New Testament made it clear that the accepted term in the churches was the Greek translation as they certainly KNEW that "Messiah" was the original term. It is also true that "Messiah" was used by the Hebrews of other annointed ones besides the Promised One.
And by the way, I think that the bad "translation" of "Jehovah" is even worse than "Jesus" when it comes to names being "butchered" through tranliteration. However, if we pronounce it "Yehowah" I think we are actually saying HE IS (or some similar form). It seems that the "V" is ALSO a Germanic vocalization and "new" letter!
Of course, I am sure that you will soon be "revealing" your choice of pronuciations of the Savior's name and title soon (certainly before approving this post). That being the case, I bid you a good day.
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