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In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet asks, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” (II, ii, 1-2). Juliet coldly dismissed the value of naming things or people.
In the Bible, however, there’s much in a name. Biblical names often are loaded with meaning. So it should not surprise us that the name “Jesus” means something significant. In fact, His name is more than just significant: it is a name that saves and gives eternal life. When God the Son humbled Himself to take up human flesh, to suffer and die for the redemption of men, He took the name, “Jesus,” which means “The Lord saves.” That’s why in Matthew 1, when the angel announces to Joseph that Mary is pregnant with a child conceived by the Holy Spirit, the angel says to Joseph, “You are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
The angel gives us a load of insight about Jesus simply by revealing His name. The angel says that Jesus is a Savior and specifically, what kind of Savior He is. He saves people from sins. The angel didn’t say, “You will name Him Jesus, for He will save the environment,” or “He will save His people from their creditors,” but “He will save His people from their sins.” The proper work of Jesus is to rescue people from sins. That doesn’t mean that He came to show us how to live a sin-free life. It doesn’t even mean that He came to help us somehow to make up for our own sins. It means that Jesus makes it as if His people’s sins never existed.
To save us from our sins, Jesus bore them “in His own body on the tree” (1 Pet 2:24). On the cross, He suffered the forsakenness of God that we had earned through our rebellion against the name of God. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Yet in that forsakenness, He called on the name of God. He held to that name and to His own name, “the Lord saves,” for it was His mission to save us. He didn’t back out of His given name, but gave His life in place of ours, a ransom for many. His blood was shed for us, for without the spilling of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Woe to all who would seek God outside the name of Jesus Christ, the Crucified One, for not only does His name mean that He came to save us from our sins, but also He is YHWH, the LORD God Himself in the flesh. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” He identifies Himself as the One who spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and so He is the LORD Jesus. That is why St. Paul wrote in Philippians, “At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” — YHWH. And the Sunday after Easter, Thomas made the great confession of Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” This is the mystery and joy of Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter: The great I AM was born as a babe in Bethlehem, was named Jesus, and finally was crucified for our sins and was raised to life for our salvation.
The Bible was written that you might believe that Jesus is Lord and Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name. Through His Word, Jesus does what His name means for you. He seeks out and saves you who were lost to sin. He snatched you out of the bonds of sin in Baptism by placing His name upon you — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
When you put your name on a book, desk, or office, it tells the world whose it is. Baptized in the name of Jesus, you belong to Him. You have no other Lord but the Lord Jesus. That’s the only name that can avail against the powers of hell.
In Peter’s Pentecost sermon, he said, “Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.”
In your Baptism, you are given the full name of Jesus along with the water: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Where the Lord has placed His name, He has made a commitment to care for the child as one for whom Christ’s death for sin is that child’s death for sin and for whom Christ’s rising is that child’s rising “to newness of life.” You are Christ’s child, a son or daughter of the Everlasting Father.
And the baptized children of God gather weekly to receive the Lord’s Divine Service to us. The name which was put upon us in Baptism is woven throughout the church service and holds it all together. We begin in the name of the Lord with the Invocation. Then we cry out, “Our help is in the name of the Lord … I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord.” And the LORD Jesus is present with His name to forgive us: “I forgive you all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Later we pray, “Hallowed be thy name.” We even end the service with the name of Jesus again being placed upon us: “The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you, the Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.” The LORD Jesus keeps us; Jesus makes His face shine on us; Jesus is gracious; Jesus looks on us with favor; Jesus gives us peace. All by the power of His holy name.
What’s in a name? Juliet was dead wrong: in fact, everything is in a name, when that name is LORD Jesus Christ. St. Peter said it best: “There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The name of Jesus is the only place in this gigantic universe to find the name of the God for salvation. His name is the location of forgiveness, life, and salvation for you, and He has placed His name upon you and claimed you as His own. So let today, and every day of this New Year, and every day of your life, be lived in that saving, life-giving name: in the name of Jesus. Amen.
