“What’s In A Name?” Part 2: Missing The Name
Last month we entered the Advent season with part one of “What’s in a Name?” We dove into the names of the Messiah in the beautiful prophecy of Isaiah Chapter 9:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end… Isaiah 9:6-7
We learned that names in the Bible are deeply meaningful - they reveal the true essence of a person. God gives names, changes names, and he himself has names!
Yeshua: The Name of Jesus
The Messiah also has a name. We who know him know his name well: Jesus. And what a wonderful name it is! But… “Jesus” is English. Our Messiah’s true given name in Hebrew is Yeshua. Yeshua means “salvation.” It comes from the Hebrew root yasha: “to save, help, rescue, liberate.”
When the angel Gabriel spoke to Mary and announced the birth of the Messiah, he said, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Yeshua” (Luke 1:31). Jesus’ given name brings clarity to the angel’s confirmation to Joseph: “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Yeshua, [WHY?] for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
In the same way that “Yesu” is a Chinese translation and “Jesús” is a Spanish translation, “Jesus” is an English translation. These are not even translations of the original Hebrew. They are translations of a translation! Our modern word “Jesus” comes from the Greek version of his name, Iesous. Greek was the international language of the first century, and through it the gospel was carried to the four corners of the known world.
I firmly believe that there is no less power in calling on the name of “Jesus” or “Yesu” or “Jesús” than on the name of “Yeshua.” He is who he is in any language. Praise the Lord!! However, I do believe that his given name is meaningful for us. Why?
Firstly, as followers of Jesus, we want to know him more deeply as we grow in discipleship to him. I want to know the name his closest friends called him! Secondly, as all biblical names do, this name contains deep significance - the true essence of his nature. Finally, Yeshua’s Hebrew name can be a bridge of connection for Jewish people who do not yet know him.
The Name As A Bridge
“Jesus” sounds foreign to many Jewish and Israeli ears. “Yeshua” places Jesus back in his Jewish context. Our heart is to build bridges of understanding between disconnected worlds. Explaining his Hebrew name extends an invitation to discuss his Jewishness.
If you were to mention the name of “Yeshua” today in Israel, you would most likely be met with a confused expression. “Yeshua? Ohhh you mean Joshua from the story of Jericho?” No, not quite. Both Yeshua and Joshua (Yehoshua) do come from the root yasha. However, Yehoshua means “God saves,” while Yeshua means “salvation” itself. He himself is our salvation. Our righteousness. Our peace.
The name “Yeshua” is not well known or given to children in Israel today. Israelis know Jesus by another name: “Yeshu.” This shortened form of his true name has been popularized by the rabbis to take on a very different meaning. “Yeshu” is a curse. It is an acronym formed from the Hebrew words yimach shmo v’zichro (“may his name and memory be obliterated”). Most Israelis have no clue that “Yeshu” is offensive. They simply think it is his name.
When I lived in Israel, I had this conversation countless times. Once I had the opportunity to share about Yeshua with my entire Hebrew class - about 15 religious Jewish women. While lecturing, my teacher kept referring to Jesus as “Yeshu.” I politely explained the meaning of the negative nickname and that his true name means “salvation.” She was fascinated, and asked me to share with the whole group!
Missing The Name
Many Christians read messianic prophecies like Isaiah 9, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Micah 5:2 (the list goes on), and they wonder... How in the world do Jewish people not see Jesus? It seems so clear. How can they not ‘get it’?
When I first began to catch God’s heart for Israel and the Jewish people, this question plagued me. I just didn’t understand. “How can it be that Jesus was Jewish, all of his first followers were Jewish, he came to the Jewish people and lived his whole life in Israel….and yet today Jewish people are 97% unreached with his message?”
There are several answers to this question.
A Spiritual Answer
“Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” Romans 11:25.
A partial “hardening,” a blindness, has come on the Jewish people in regards to the gospel. We do not understand all that this may entail, but we do know that there is a spiritual element contributing to the Jewish people’s national rejection of Jesus.
In John chapter 12 we read about the spiritual reasons for Israel’s national rejection of Jesus. Even after Jesus did all of his miraculous deeds in their sight “they” (meaning the nation of Israel, not every individual Jewish person) still would not believe in him. This was in fulfillment of prophecy (Isaiah 53, Isaiah 6), and because of fear of being put out of the synagogue. God knew the nation of Israel would reject Jesus. And the gospel was then extended to all nations. (Romans 11:12).
Though one day Israel’s eyes will be opened, spiritual blindness still exists.
A Historical Answer
There is a long and tragic history between the “church” and the Jewish people. Over the centuries, the “church” has been one of the worst persecutors of Jews. Crusades. Inquisitions. Expulsions. Forced conversions. Executions. I say “church” in quotation marks because many of these offenders were merely representing Christian institutions and did not truly know Jesus. But some did.
Martin Luther is a prominent example: the father of the Protestant reformation who did so much to benefit the church. He penned the famous words Sola Fide: the truth that our justification is by “faith alone”....But he also wrote “On the Jews and Their Lies:” a diatribe against the Jews so hateful that it was later recycled by Hitler and the Nazi regime.
Antisemitism, defined as “hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group,” is ugly. Antisemitism in the church - among those who should be the strongest advocates for the Jewish people - is hideous. To learn more about this topic, we highly recommend the book Our Hands are Stained with Blood by Dr. Michael Brown, which can be purchased on our website.
Non-Jewish people should be sensitive when when talking to their Jewish friends about Jesus. His name could have a different connotation to them than it does to others. So much pain has been inflicted on the Jewish people in his name, that the word “Jesus” or “Christ” itself has become a stumbling block. It is a very real historic barrier to faith.
A Cultural Answer
Over the centuries, rabbis have changed their interpretations of many messianic prophecies (that seem so “obvious”) to no longer being about the Messiah at all. Many times this was in response to Christian claims. Consequently, religious Jewish people today would say that the “child born to us” in Isaiah 9 was King Hezekiah and has nothing to do with a Messiah. That the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 is the nation of Israel, not the Messiah. They do not see Jesus in these prophecies because, in their minds, he is simply not an option.
However, there is an even more significant cultural factor than shifting interpretations of prophecy. Most Jewish people have not read these prophecies. Or any messianic prophecy. Many haven’t even read the Bible! 80% of Jewish people around the world are secular, agnostic and humanistic in their worldview. You likely know more about the Bible than your secular Jewish friends. Don’t be intimidated to bring up spiritual topics with them!
The fact that we (as gentiles) love the Jewish Bible and oftentimes know more about it than they do can “provoke them to jealousy” (Romans 11:11). 90% of Jewish people who come to the Lord come through their gentile Christian friends. Be encouraged. Pray for the Jewish people and ‘provoke’ your Jewish friends during this season!!