Jesus? Or Yeshua? Beware the Name Game

What was the name of Christ? When people approached Him on the street, how did they address Him?

It is becoming more popular among fringe groups in the Christian movement to try to differentiate between the names “Jesus” and “Yeshua.” Such groups advocate using “Yeshua” over “Jesus” in a supposed effort to align more with the name His family and disciples used. However, their doctrine distracts from the Gospel and causes unnecessary division among Christians.

The thing to remember when it comes to this issue is that the culture in Israel during Jesus’ day was a multilingual culture. Aramaic was the language spoken by the Jews living in the Holy Land, while Latin was the primary language of most Romans occupying the area. However, the international language of the day was Greek, which was not only used by world travelers, but was often the language of the market place.

As is the case with multilingual societies, names are often spoken differently. Take the culture around the Texas border, for instance. A young man may be known by His Spanish-speaking neighbors as “Juan,” while being referred to as “John” by his English-speaking neighbors.

The name, “Jesus,” is the English pronunciation of the Greek name, “Iesus,” which is the Greek pronunciation of the Hebrew name, “Yeshua,” which, pronounced in English would be “Joshua.”

Similarly, “Jesus” in Spanish is pronounced, “Hey-SOOS.”

The pronunciation changes from language to language, but what remains the same is the Christ to Whom the name refers, and the meaning the name conveys.

In Matthew 1, Joseph was told to name Him “Jesus,” because “He shall save His people from their sins.” The name (in Greek, Hebrew, English and Spanish) means “The Lord is Salvation.” Salvation is the Lord’s mission, and it is the very essence of His character.

The Lord came to seek and save that which is lost. Furthermore, He came to redeem and restore us, preparing us to enter into His eternal Kingdom.

One of the great tragedies of the digital age is the temptation to take alternative viewpoints in an effort to differentiate ourselves from others. We all want to be the smartest person on the internet, and a thought leader in the faith.

To do this, we often feel that we have to find a deeper truth that no one else has noticed. Then, we must leverage that to build a following.

This is not only tragic, it is sinful. This is the same thought process employed by the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, as well as the same process employed by false teachers.

The tragedy of the whole thing is that the Gospel gets completely lost in the exchange. When we lose focus on the Gospel to leverage a lesser known (and often illegitimate) doctrinal stance, we deviate from the message Christ gave us. We miss opportunities to see souls saved, we miss the redemptive power of Christ. Worse, we fail to fulfill the mission of Christ.

Christians have referred to Christ as “Jesus” for hundreds of years. Had this been offensive to God, we would know by now.

So, don’t get caught up in the name game. Praise the Lord, and fully believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Embrace His redemption, and look forward to the day He returns and establishes His Kingdom on Earth. And help others to come to experience His salvation and redemption.

That the Works of God May Be Manifest…

In John 9, the Apostle John continues his mission to demonstrate to us Who Jesus really is by recording the miracle of the healing of the blind man. John opens by telling us that this man was born blind, that it was Jesus who saw him, and he recorded the conversations between the apostles and Jesus concerning the man’s condition.

There was a thought process in Israel during Jesus’ day that if good things happened to you, God was pleased with you. If bad things happened, God was angry with you.

In the case of the blind man, what happened? Was God upset with his parents? Or with a future sin this man would commit.

Jesus answered, “neither,” saying that the man was born blind so that the works of God would be manifest in him.

From this passage, we see that the Lord sees us. We then see how God works in our lives, and we see the timeframe by which God works. For more, check out Pastor Leland Acker’s message posted above.

Cards on the Table, This is Truth!

The conversation continues between Jesus and the Pharisees in the aftermath of His forgiving the woman who was taken in the act of adultery in John 8. The Pharisees are challenging Jesus’ authority and trying to discredit Him, while Jesus preaches the truth and calls them out on their Spiritual ignorance.

In this message, Pastor Leland Acker warns about the dangers of studying scripture without learning Who God is, and how many high-level Bible scholars spend lifetimes reading and studying scripture without knowing God. Such was the case for the Pharisees.

So, in this passage, Jesus reminded the Pharisees that, like all non-believers, they stand condemned before God. The only escape from this condemnation is through faith in Christ.

Jesus then confirmed His identity and promised blessings to the believers. Listen in as Pastor Leland Acker brings us an encouraging word from this powerful passage.

What is Truth?
Photo by Andres Ayrton on Pexels.com

Having pardoned the woman taken in adultery, confronting the Pharisees for their own sin and addressing their unbelief, Jesus then turned His attention to the people that believed on Him. In a word of encouragement, He said, “If ye continue in my word, then ye are my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”

How amazing it must be to know the truth and to be set free by it. It seems simple, yet liberating. Easy, yet hopeful.

Then, questions arise in our souls. Questions like the one that plagued Pilate, “What is truth (John 18:38)?” And, “From what are we being set free?”

To answer these questions, lets travel back in time to the days of Christ. Israel was under Roman occupation, and the people faced oppression, not only from the Roman government and military, but from many of their own people.

From the publicans who enriched themselves by extorting tax money from the people, to the religious leaders who enriched themselves by seizing power through the religious institutions. For the people who followed Jesus, there were few points of hope, save for one… that the Messiah would come and set everything straight.

As Jesus walked the earth, the people had become hopeful. The timing of the arrival of the Messiah was nearing as predicted by the Prophet Daniel. John the Baptist fulfilled scriptures in Isaiah concerning the forerunner to the Christ, and John himself pointed out Jesus as being that Christ.

As Jesus taught and ministered, many of the people came to believe that He was, in fact, the Christ that had been promised to deliver Israel. Those who followed found salvation, love, compassion and deliverance in His words.

The people who were constantly being called upon by their own religious leaders to sacrifice more, to suffer more, and to obey more, were being told by Jesus, “Come unto Me, and I shall give you rest.” And, for a time, they accepted that invitation.

Jesus knew that there would be those who would follow for a while, and leave. Indeed, it is a common thing when one is overcome with the struggles of life to cling to religion, or a religious leader, in order to find some sort of answer or resolution. Often, when that resolution is found, or when hope of a resolution is lost, the follower will fall back to their old ways.

It was that pattern that Jesus spoke to when He said, “If ye continue in my word, then ye are my disciples indeed.” The ones who are truly the followers of Christ are those who continue to follow and trust Him regardless of outcome, who continue with Him until the end.

That level of dedication leads one to know the truth.

What is truth?

Truth is objectively true, and which is true under any consideration. Truth is real regardless of how men may perceive it.

Regarding the Lord, truth is the reality of the Gospel, and the blessing of hope that comes through the Gospel.

Jesus told His followers that if they continued in His word, then they would truly be His disciples. They would know the truth of the Gospel, Who He is, and the truth of God’s grace, and thus they would be freed from the oppression of the religious leaders and the anxieties of living under Roman rule.

For us today, continuing in the word means continually learning the truth of the Gospel from the scriptures. The more we do that, the better we know and understand the Gospel, the more we know the truth, and the more we are set free by the truth.

Being set free by the truth means being freed from fear of God’s judgment, from the questions of whether we’re good enough to get into Heaven, and freed from the fears peddled to us by cable news. We have been set free, because we know the One who holds tomorrow, the One who holds us, and we know that our eternal life and deliverance is in His hand, not ours.

And that is liberating.

Jesus: Light of the World, Destroyer of Darkness

In chapter 8, the Apostle John records the account of the woman taken in adultery, in which Pharisees challenged Jesus by bringing a woman who was allegedly caught in the act of adultery, and demanding that Jesus tell them what her consequence should be.

In that famous passage of scripture, Jesus told the Pharisees that the one without sin could cast the first stone. After they all left, realizing both their own sin and their inability to win this particular debate with Jesus, the Lord asked the woman where her accusers were. When she said no one stood there to condemn her, Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.”

John 8 is a beautiful account of the sinless perfection of Christ, and His grace and mercy upon us as we struggle with sin.

After this incident, Jesus proclaimed, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Jesus being the Light of the world is a recurring theme in the book of John, beginning with John 1, in which states that “in Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”

With that, we are reminded that life with all of its meaning, fulfillment and blessings, comes from Christ. He is the source of life, intellect and creativity. This means that, ultimately, Christ is the source of all that is good in life.

Check out this message, as Pastor Leland Acker discusses how Christ being the Light of the world brings goodness to our lives and gives us deliverance from the darkness of this world.

And the Soul Felt its Worth

What is the value of a human soul? How much are you worth to God?

As Jesus concluded His teaching of the Kingdom Parables, He shared two parables that answer those questions. Two parables, one message, told in such a way to remove any doubt as to the preciousness of the human soul to God.

In the first of these two parables, Jesus told the story of a man who found a treasure in a field. This man found a treasure hidden that was so precious, he found it necessary to buy the entire field so that the treasure could be his. He went and sold everything that he had to raise the funds to purchase the field, so he could have the treasure.

While there may have been value to the field, the driving force behind the man’s purchase was the treasure. The result was the man bought an entire field, but his only interest was the treasure.

Employing the symbols and rules of interpreting the Kingdom Parables we’ve previously discussed, we find that the man represents the Son of Man, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The field represents the world. Thus, the man, Jesus Christ, purchased the entire world (the field), to obtain the treasure He truly wanted, which are those of us who believe.

This concept is proven in scripture. 1 John 2:2 says that Jesus is “the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.” In essence, 1 John 2:2 says that the Lord paid for everyone’s sins so that He could save those who repent and believe.

That concept offends some who hold to the doctrines of Calvinism, because they believe that it would paint the Lord as wasteful, having wasted a payment on the sins of those who would never come to salvation. However, not one of those Calvinists would feel that they wasted any money purchasing a barn that contained an all-original 1962 in showroom condition. Though the Calvinist had no use for the barn, in that transaction, he would receive what he was truly paying for, and that would be the Corvette.

The beauty of this concept is not only that we are so precious to the Lord that He paid for the sins of the world so that we can be saved, but also that, with all sins having been paid for, anyone can be saved. Anyone can be redeemed. Anyone can be transformed. As long as there is the breath of life in the individual, there is hope that he can be saved, no matter how far he has drifted.

As for the treasure, scripture clearly teaches that God’s love for us motivated the Gospel. Hebrews 12:2 states, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

It was for the joy set before Him that Christ endured the cross. That joy was not the glories of Heaven, nor the ownership of the universe. He already possessed those. The joy set before Christ was His people. To redeem His people, He went to the cross to pay for the sins of all people. With the sins of all people being paid for, there would be no limitations on the redemption of His people.

He truly purchased the entire field so that He could have the treasure.

In Matthew 13:45-46, Jesus followed that parable up with the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price.

In this parable, we find a merchant man seeking good pearls. He finds one, the greatest, most beautiful pearl he has ever seen. Needing to add this pearl to his portfolio, he goes and sells everything he has so that he may purchase the pearl.

Once again, employing our rules of decoding the Kingdom Parables, we find that the man represents Christ. However, what about the pearl?

If the treasure in the field represents all of the saved, then the pearl represents an individual who has been saved. Whereas the treasure in the field shows us the big picture, the pearl of great price shows us how precious each individual is to the Lord.

Notice how Jesus described the man. He is a merchant man looking for goodly pearls. Pearls are his business, and he depends on that business to thrive.

For the Lord, 1 Timothy 1:15 says that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” The Lord’s business was saving souls, individual souls. And in 1 Timothy 1:15, Paul said that out of all of those individual souls, he was the worst, and he was saved.

In Luke 19:10, Jesus Himself said, “The Son of Man is come to seek and save that which is lost.”

Jesus is in the business of saving souls, and each individual is precious to Him. The Lord did not merely go to the cross to save the mass of humanity, but He went to the cross to save you as an individual.

This idea is backed up by the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin.

So, what is the value of a human soul? How precious are you to God? So valuable and precious that the creator of the universe willingly and steadfastly laid down his life for you. And if you truly grasp that idea, then your soul has felt its worth.