What’s in a name?
Well, in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare thought that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” But in San Quentin Live, Johnny Cash sang a ballad that showed how one guy’s life was completely skewed because he was a “Boy Named Sue.”
Sometimes names really do matter. “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.” “Blessed be the Name of the Lord.”
In the Western Church we call this Sunday the “Second Sunday After Christmas.” The day after tomorrow, January 6, will be “Epiphany,” the official end of Christmas. Only a small percentage of Christians will take note, since they ceased being Christmassy the day after Christmas even though the church celebrates the twelve days of Christmas called “Christmastide.” But in the Eastern Orthodox tradition Epiphany IS Christmas. Epiphany is the day that the “wise men” arrived where Joseph and Mary were staying and worshiped the newborn baby Jesus.
In our “Cliff Notes” version of Jesus’ birth, we converge all the miracles of Emmanuel—God WITH us—into one magical, manger night. But the “wise men,” who were Persian astrologers, Gentile “wizards,” outside-the-box “scholars” of their day, were still following that strange star during this time. They were making their way to Bethlehem to find whatever awaited them at the end of their star quest, or to put it in terms Judy Garland made famous, at the end of their starbow.
They were not sure what they would find, but they followed the star well stocked. These astrologers went to a kind of theological “Cabela’s” to be prepared for all possibilities of what lay at the end of the star.
One brought a gift for a “king”—nothing less than pure gold. Gold is never a bad choice. Gold testified to the true royalty of this sign-rich king. But how was this newborn child, not born in a beautifully carved crib but in a stable and laid in a manger, in any way a king? To leave a gift of gold for such a hapless child was a true testimony of faith.
The second “wise man” or “scientist” brought frankincense—a gift appropriate for a priest, for one who would serve God’s mission in this world. The gift of frankincense would provide the scent of an offering to an attentive God, and provide a sense of peace to those who made their sacrifice of the fragrant gift. Did the baby Jesus look like a potentially powerful priest? Probably not. Leaving an expensive gift of a pot of frankincense was truly an act of faith.
The third astrologer or “wizard” brought myrrh. This was perhaps the most insightful—and weird—of the three gifts of the magi. Myrrh was used as an embalming spice. It was used in burial rituals. In fact, myrrh was a sign of death. Not a very traditional “shower gift.” Yet here is death in attendance at the baby Jesus’ bedside.
Think about it. What was an amazing foretelling of what Jesus’ life would be on this earth: as a “king,” as a “priest,” and as the “messiah.”
Jesus’ birth transformed the definition of kingship from power to service. Jesus called into being a new kind of service, a service to the least, not a service to those with the most to give or a service to those most invested in keeping the status quo.
Gulliver’s Travels author Jonathan Swift (1667‑1745) refused to hire any new servant who flinched when told they would be expected to clean other servants’ shoes. The "flinch test" is not a bad litmus test for all followers of Jesus. In fact, “what makes you flinch” was a test Jesus gave his disciples when he stooped to wash their feet. Some of them failed the flinch test.
Jesus’ birth redefined the notion of priesthood—a priesthood focused not on bringing earth to God, but on bringing God to earth. We cannot “go up” on our own effort. But God, through the birth of Jesus, the very Son of God, does indeed “come down” to us. What wondrous love is this? What stunning humility did this take?
One of my favorite humility stories is that of George Herbert (1593-1633), a poet and Anglican priest who, when he was close to death, passed on his collection of poems to his good friend Nicholas Ferrar. Ferrar was the priest who founded the Little Gidding Community, which T. S. Eliot made famous a century ago. After his death Herbert arranged to have deposited his entire collection of poems in the care of Ferrar. His only instructions were to deposit them as he saw fit. If he felt they might do some good for the world, publish them. If not, burn them. These are among the finest poems in the English language. They contain some of the most beautiful language ever written. Yet George Herbert entrusted his entire genius to the hands of another, and put their very survival in the service of human betterment. That’s SO Jesus.
Third, and most dramatically, the gift of myrrh by the Magi anticipated that the Messiah’s journey would not end in some kind of triumphant military victory, but would end in personal sacrifice and death. Myrrh, the anointing spice for the journey from this world to the next, was a strange and yet amazingly poignant and insightful gift.
This is why Ladislaus Boros writes in The Mystery of Death (1973) that “Love and death have a common root.” In his words, love triumphs over death “not because it abolishes death but because it is itself death. Only in death is the total surrender that is love’s possible, for only in death can we be exposed completely and without reserve.” In other words, to resist death is to resist life. To embrace life’s meaning is to embrace death’s myrrh.
In this week’s gospel text John proclaims that, “to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God” (vs. 12). But what “name” were disciples to be confessing. Was it the name of King, Priest, or Prophet/Messiah? Was Jesus “King Jesus?” Was Jesus “High Priest Jesus.” Was Jesus “Messiah Yeshua?”
Or was Jesus the “only son, full of grace and truth” (v. 14)?
Jesus’ name was not uncommon. Some scholars say it was the third most popular male name of Jesus’ day. But it did have a lot of uncommon historical baggage. The Hebrew “Yeshua” has been usually translated into the name “Joshua.” It was a name that meant “to rescue” or “to deliver,” or even “he saves.”
The most popular names in 2014 for a girl were “Sophia” (“wisdom”) and “Aidan” (“bringer of fire”). How many Moms and Dads thought their baby girls or boys were philosophers or pyromaniacs, wizards or fireflies? Probably not too many. They just liked the name.
But Jesus’ name was divinely picked and delivered by angelic messengers. It had special significance. The name of “Yeshua,” or “Jesus,” meant so much to so many. It was a name that spoke of deliverance and transformation, “healing in his wings” and “peace on earth good will to men.” It was a name that offered stellar challenge and revolutionary change. “Yeshua,” “Jesus,” was a name heavy with history and hefty with human hopes. “Shua” was Hebrew for a “cry for help,” for one who was needing rescue. While “Yahu” (YHWH) was a specific arrow word to God, to Yahweh, a heartfelt howl to God for help.
What “name” do you believe in right now?
Do you believe in the name of some politician who promises you a more secure future–and promises to pay off your student loans?
Do you believe in the name of your employer who pledges that somehow things are going to be “better” this next quarter and keeps the carrot dangling of a bonus?
Do you believe in the celebrity you follow and fan, and favorite their every tweet?
Do you believe in powers and principalities of this world?
Or do you believe in the “Prince of Peace.” Do you “believe in his name” the “name above all names,” the “name under which every knee shall bow?”
Or are you hedging your bets?
There have been a lot of “names” that have been “game-changers” over the centuries. The Caesars, Constantines, Charlemagnes, Martin Luthers, John Calvins, Napoleons, Washingtons, Lincolns, Fords, Roosevelts, MLK’s, Mahatma Ghandis—to name a very few. They were all big names and they all brought about big changes. But they only brought about changes in “stuff,” and changes in “state,” not changes in the soul.
Who REALLY changes the course of our lives? The names that shaped the course of your life are probably not the “big names.” Instead it is your uncle who took you fishing every other weekend, just because. It is your sister, who drove you crazy and loved you always, no matter what. It is that one teacher who inspired you to study math, or science, or literature. It is that coach who both toughened you physically and taught you emotionally.
Jesus is the only name that we can call upon to ask for singular, cellular changes in our life. “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds.” Jesus is the only name that can change the course of our life story, the only one that can save the state and stuff of our soul. Jesus: Prophet, Priest, King. Messiah Yeshua.
Lift high the name of Jesus,
Of Jesus our King.
Make known the power of His grace,
The beauty of His peace.
Remember how His mercy reached
And we cried out to Him.
He lifted us to solid ground,
To freedom from our sin.
Jesus came to earth, took on human flesh and form, in order to give a “name” to God’s love and redeeming covenant. That love, that covenant, did not stop with the name of Jesus. Jesus was the one whose birth, and life, and sacrifice, showed us how to offer the “name” of God’s love, and Jesus’ gift, to everyone we encounter.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881), perhaps the greatest Russian writer of all time, in a country famous for its great writers, liked to tell the story the he heard from his cook when he was a child living in Matryona. You can find it in his masterpiece, The Brothers Karamazov:
Once upon a time there was a peasant woman and a very wicked woman she was. And she died and did not leave a single good deed behind. The devils caught her and plunged her into the lake of fire. So her guardian angel stood and wondered what good deed of hers he could remember to tell to God; “She once pulled up an onion in her garden,” said he, “and gave it to a beggar woman.”
And God answered: “You take that onion then, hold it out to her in the lake, and let her take hold and be pulled out. And if you can pull her out of the lake, let her come to Paradise, but if the onion breaks, then the woman must stay where she is.”
The angel ran to the woman and held out the onion to her. “Come,” said he, “catch hold and I’ll pull you out.” And he began cautiously pulling her out. He had just pulled her right out, when the other sinners in the lake, seeing how she was being drawn out, began catching hold of her so as to be pulled out with her. But she was a very wicked woman and she began kicking them. “I’m to be pulled out, not you. It’s my onion, not yours.”
As soon as she said that, the onion broke. And the woman fell into the lake and she is burning there to this day. So the angel wept and went away.
As Christians we often close our prayer with the phrase “in Jesus’ name.” That is not just a nice sounding post-script. “In Jesus’ name” means in the name of the one who came to “rescue,” to “deliver,” to “save,” each and every member of the human race. “In Jesus’ name” is the most powerful prayer we can ever utter, for it is only “in Jesus’ name” that we are redeemed and rescued.
But remember: We are saved to save. We are saved to join Jesus’ mission in the world. You are not the sole proprietor of your soul. Or as Paul puts it, “Do you not know that….you are not your own? You were bought at a price” (1Cor6:19‑20). And the one who paid the price, the price of love, is named Jesus—our King, our Priest, our Messiah.
1.
There is a name I love to hear,
I love to sing its worth;
It sounds like music in mine ear,
The sweetest name on earth.
Oh, how I love Jesus,
Oh, how I love Jesus,
Oh, how I love Jesus,
Because He first loved me!
2.
It tells me of a Savior’s love,
Who died to set me free;
It tells me of His precious blood,
The sinner’s perfect plea.
3.
It tells me what my Father hath,
In store for every day,
And though I tread a darksome path,
Yields sunshine all the way.
4.
It tells of One whose loving heart
Can feel my deepest woe,
Who in each sorrow bears a part
That none can bear below.