The Bible explains, that when Jesus was born as an ordinary man, He laid aside all
His heavenly rights, His heavenly dignity, His glory, and His mighty power.
In Paul´s letter to the Philippians, we can read how “Jesus humbled himself and was
obedient to God until death, and therefore God exalted Him and gave Him the name
that is above every other name. In the name of Jesus, everyone must bow their
knee: every spirit creature in heaven, every human being, and every power of
darkness. Everyone must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.” (Phil. 2.7-11).
Let´s look at the name of Jesus and what it means. The original name of Jesus in
Hebrew is יהושע (read from right to left, Yehoshua). The name comes from the
following Hebrew words: Adonai יהוה the Lord and Yasha ישע saves.
יהוה is God´s personal name which God revealed to Moses (Exodus 3:15). Each
letter also has a picture in Hebrew: י yod – the image of the letter is a hand, ה heh is
a window that depicts grace, ו vav the picture is a nail. The name of God means
hand, grace, nail, grace. This personal name of God refers to Jesus and his great
atoning work.
The name יהוה often refers to God´s presence, power, and glory. The personal name
of God is used to express trust in His power and help. In Hebrew, this personal name
of God means “I AM or I will be or I live”. We see in the Gospel of John how Jesus
often refers to himself as I AM. It also made the religious leaders angry with Jesus as
we can read in John 8:56-59. The same reaction happened when Jesus was on the
cross. According to the Gospel of John, Pilate wrote the inscription on Jesus´ cross in
Hebrew, Latin, and Greek (John 19:19-22). In Hebrew, the inscription is this: יהושע
הנזרי ומלך היהדים (from right to left) Yehoshua – Jesus, HaNazarei – of Nazareth,
VeMelekh – The King, HaYhudim – of the Jews. The religious leaders saw the letters
יהוה, which means God, on the cross of Jesus. The apostle Paul said this same
thing in 2 Cor. 5:19 (NIV):” that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ …”
The verb ישע yasha, which is part of the name Jesus means salvation,
deliverance, welfare, prosperity and victory. This salvation covers all aspects of
human life. It includes healing, all-round well-being, protection, safety, help,
deliverance, forgiveness of sins, salvation and a long and fruitful life. ישע yasha these
three letters are the root of the word. י Yod represents the hand, ש shin refers to
God, and ע aiyn represents the eye and looking. One could freely translate it to say
God sees and stretches out his hand. It is interesting that God has placed His
fingerprint on the physical heart of every human being. When we look at a cross-
section of a human heart, we see the letter ש in the heart.
In the name of Jesus, every problem caused by the power of darkness in our lives
must bow down and disappear. Whether it is illness or a bad atmosphere at the
construction site or other hardships – Jesus Christ is above them. Jesus is Lord.
God says in Psalm 91:15: With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
My salvation here is בישועתי (bishuati) from Yehoshua. The apostle Paul said in 2.
Cor. 5:21 that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. It is the position Jesus has
acquired for us before God.
In Jesus Christ we have everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1: 3-4).
Therefore, let us always and in every situation trust and believe in our Lord Jesus.
He is powerful to save and to help us.
Sari Leskinen