We mark the giving of the name that is now the single most recognized name the world over and throughout time. But as we walk, in patient waiting, these three-plus weeks of Advent, and speak of this Jesus as the reason for the season and tell our children we celebrate the birth of Jesus, what is the meaning of this name Jesus?
What if the weight fell to you to name the Christ child at his birth? Not only would the boy’s name precede him, and stay with him, wherever he went in life, and follow him all his days, and long after, but this child, of all children, as the angel said to Mary, would be the “Anointed One” — the Messiah in Hebrew, Christ in Greek.
For centuries, the nation had awaited his advent, and for thousands of years to come, millions upon millions would not only speak but sing of this “name as above all names” and “the sweetest name I know.” This one name would come to surpass, throughout the world and throughout history, even the covenantal name of God revealed to Moses at the bush (Philippians 2:9–11; Hebrews 1:4).
How could any man, much less a craftsman from rural Galilee, stand beneath the weight of giving a name to this singular son?
Name Above All Names
Of course, God spared Joseph this burden. In both the announcement to Mary and in Joseph’s own dream, the angelic instructions were clear: name him Jesus.
So here during the first week of Advent, which began this past weekend, on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, we mark the giving of the name that is now the single most recognized name the world over and throughout time. But as we walk, in patient waiting, these three-plus weeks of Advent, and speak of this Jesus as the reason for the season and tell our children we celebrate the birth of Jesus, what is the meaning of this name Jesus?
God has not left that to our speculation. For starters, three clear truths ring out on the surface of the angelic announcements in Luke and Matthew. And Advent is perhaps the most wonderful time of the year to slow down and hear what God is saying to us in this one spectacular name Jesus we’re so prone to treat as common and take for granted.
1. Promise of Transcendent Greatness
The English Joshua and Jesus come from one Hebrew name: Yeshua. So Joshua is the name Mary would have heard when the angel first spoke it. “You shall call his name Yeshua” (Luke 1:31) — one of the great names in the history of God’s people.
The great Moses handed the reins to Joshua, of all men, and he led the people as they marched across the Jordan and around Jericho and throughout the land of milk and honey, claiming what God had promised. Joshua was uncontrovertibly great, one of the nation’s greatest figures alongside Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and David.
That we are to hear greatness, in some form, in the name Jesus is confirmed immediately by the angel’s next words: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32). Looking back now, we see a fullness of meaning in “Son of the Most High” that Mary would not yet have seen. Yes, this child would come to show himself to be not only fully human but also fully God, not just a human “son” or a royal human son — like the nation’s great kings who ruled over God’s covenant people — but the divine Son. But that fuller meaning would become clearer over time.
So, in the name Yeshua we hear majestic significance — and not everyday greatness, but transcendent greatness. This child will not only ascend to the ranks of the esteemed in Israel, but he will rise to be “Son of the Most High” in a sense that few in the nation’s history could claim. He will indeed be great, surpassingly great.
