Preaching Jesus Series...Part I:
I believe the goal of preaching should always be to preach Jesus so that a decision will be made by one to come to him, or another to stay in Him! If we don't preach Jesus, it's not the gospel. Today many people are experiencing a deep desire to know Jesus Christ in a more personal and fulfilling way. Therefore, we are beginning our Preaching Jesus Series. In this exciting series, we will help you prepare to effectively preach Jesus by reviewing some of His names, His life, history and various other aspects of who He is. It is so important that we as ministers of the gospel have a thorough understanding of Jesus and the atoning work He has done on behalf of the world. Therefore, for convenience, we will create bulleted points to help you as we journey to learn more about our Savior, His name, life and work. Please know that none of the information these articles presented in this series are intended to be exhaustive. We are providing a very general framework for your ease of use and learning. So, let's get started!
Part I: Interesting Facts About the Name of Jesus (Matt. 1:21)
- The name Jesus, during the life of our Savior on earth, was one of the most popular names selected by Hebrew parents to name their sons. The name Jesus is said to have derived fromits relationship with the name Joshua.
- The name occurs frequently right through the early part of the second century and then abrubptly discontinues to be used by Jews because it so closely related to Christianity and by Christians because they believed the name was so significant and special that only Jesus Christ himself should have that name.
- The name Jesus is by far the most frequent used name in the Gospels, it even outnumbers the name "Lord" used in the book of Acts three to one.
- In the epistles the name typically follows the great "Pauline Formula": Lord=title; Jesus=Name; Christ=Office
- If you look closely, there's no record of anyone addressing Jesus directly by His name (Jesus) during his earthly life and ministry, except potentially in the account of the theif on the cross found in Luke 23:42.
- Jesus, himself, is said to use the name Jesus to identify Himself only twice (Acts 9:5; Rev. 22:16) both occuring after His ascension and glorification in Heaven.
- "Jesus" is the greek equivalent of the Hebrew name "Joshua", which is a contradiction of the name "Jehoshua" meaning "Jehovah the Savior."
- The name "Jesus/Joshua" is built on the Hebrew verb stem stem "yasha" which means "Saved." The first use of this verb in scripture is said by Dr. Elmer Towns, to also be the embyonic first mention of the doctrine of salvation. (Exodus 14:30)
- The name Jesus means "Jehovah the Saviour," but when applied to Christ it is a declaration that HE is Jehovah the Savior.
- The first to every hear the name of Jesus was Mary, who was told by the angel that not only would she bear a son but that she should "call His name Jesus."
**The above article is based upon personal research with ephasis based upon the text, "The Names of Jesus" by Dr. Elmer Towns. No part of the "The Names of Jesus" text has been reproduced or republished by the PreachingWoman.com organization. However, we do credit Dr. Elmer Towns for the initial research and information that inspired this article.
