Paul Thigpen - The Biblical Names of Jesus: Beautiful, Powerful Portraits of Christ

Whats in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

This famous question comes from Shakespeares celebrated play Romeo and Juliet. We might be tempted to affirm the romantic sentiment that follows it, spoken by a love-struck Juliet. Her new sweethearts family name posed an obstacle for their relationship, because his family and hers were enemies. So he could simply change his name, she suggested. A name doesnt really matter so much.

But the people who lived in biblical times would have firmly disagreed.

For many ancient peoples, including the Jews, the name of a person was much more than just a convenient label. A name, properly given and correctly understood, was seen to reflect something important about the persons identity, such as his origins, status, character, deeds, or destiny. It could even in some sense embody the persons essence.

To know someones name, then, was to know something of that persons identity. In addition, to know a persons name could give a certain access to the person. Then as now, if you knew someones name, you could address him personally, and using that name affirmed his identity. It gave the two of you a personal connection.

The importance of biblical names is nowhere more certain than when were speaking of Jesus Christ. He is the great, towering figure of the Bible, whose light shines through all its books, those in both the Old Testament and the New. He is the One who stands at the heart of the Scriptures, beckoning us to know him; and knowing him, to love him; and loving him, to follow himto allow him to make his life our own.

If you search the Scriptures carefully, youll find more than a hundred names and titles for Jesus. Some were given to him by his family and followers. Some, he claimed for himself. Still others were declared by prophets and psalmists who lived centuries before he was born. Some were even given by angels!

One marvelous way, then, to know, love, and follow him more fully, more truly, is to study his names and titles in Scripture. Each one of them reveals to us some essential aspect of his identity. Taken together, they provide us with a rich, detailed portrait of Jesus Christ: his origins, his status, his character, his deeds, his mission, his destiny.

Each of the eighteen chapters of this book will focus on one of those names or titles, along with others that are closely related. In each chapter, well ask: Where is this designation found in Scripture? What does it mean? Most importantly, what does it mean for us?

Through these names and titlesif we are willing to reflect deeply upon themour Lord reveals himself in myriad ways, calling us to know him and love him more deeply.

How was Jesuss identity revealed by God to his people? How did they learn about his mission? Long before Jesus was born into our world, God gave them glimpses through prophecies and foreshadowings, received across many generations. But even after Jesus arrived, his contemporaries discovered who he truly was only slowly and gradually.

In the first section of this book, Portraits of Jesus: His Life on Earth, we will follow their path to discovery. We begin with the names and titles of Christ whose meaning is revealed through the events and circumstances of his earthly life: his conception, birth, and public ministry; his passion and death; his resurrection and his ascension into heaven.

After Jesus returned from earth to heaven, a more complete picture of his identity and mission was gradually revealed by God. Through the words of our Lord, the preaching of the Apostles, and the teaching of their successorsthe bishopsthe Church broadened and deepened her understanding of Christ.

In the second section of this book, Portraits of Jesus: His Life in Heaven, we examine how the Scriptures lay a foundation for this richer acquaintance with Jesus. They offer names for him that point to an identity and activity far beyond the few years of his earthly life. Reflecting prayerfully on these names, the early generations of Christians delved deeply into the mystery of Christs life in heaven with God the Father before all ages, his heavenly reign now, and his return from heaven to earth again one day in glory.

Jesuss mission did not end with his ascension into heaven. Through the Church he established, his mission continues on earth, and his identity is yet more fully revealed.

In the third section of this book, Portraits of Jesus: His Life in the Church, we consider names and titles of Jesus that point to his saving mission through the Church, his foundational place in the Church, his essential union with the Church, his care and guidance of the Church, and the incomparable Gift of himself to the Church in the Eucharist.

Finally, Jesus came to call each soul into an intimate, personal, eternal relationship with himself. Such a relationship requires a costly commitment from each of his followers, but its rich and everlasting rewards more than compensate for the cost.

In the last section of this book, Portraits of Jesus: His Life in Us, we reflect on names and titles of Jesus that reveal indispensable aspects of his relationship with each one who answers his call. He shows himself to be our faithful guardian; our source of divine grace; our healing and guiding light; our model and strength; our beginning and our end.