NAMES AND TITLES OF JESUS
NAMES AND TITLES OF JESUS
We will commence this study with the name Jesus itself, which is a Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, meaning, "Yahweh (God), is salvation." Jesus' name describes His function, which is expressed in scripture by His title of Saviour (CP Mt 1:1; Mk 1:1; Lu 1:26-31 with Mt 1:18-21; Lu 2:11; Jn 4:42; Ac 4:10-12; 5:30-31; 13:23; Eph 5:23; Php 3:20; 2Ti 1:10; Tit 1:4, 2:13, 3:6; 2Pe 1:11; 2:20; 3:2, 18; 1Jn 4:14). We see in the majority of those scriptures that Jesus is also called Christ, which means Anointed One. This is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah, and applies to Jesus as the anointed one of God who it was prophesied from the beginning would fulfil God's plan of salvation for fallen man (CP Gen 3:15; Isa 9:6-7; 11:1-5 with Jn 1:41; 4:25-26). Jesus is also called The Christ (CP Mt 16:16; Mk 14: 61-62; Jn 20:31), The Lord's Christ (CP Lu 2:26) and The Christ of God (CP Lu 9:20).
In Mt 1:1 Jesus is also called the Son of David, which he was by direct descent through Joseph's line (CP Mt 1:1-17). Son of David refers to the Messianic King promised in Old Testament prophecies as a descendant of David. Being called the Son of David pointed to Jesus as the one to fulfil God's covenant with David in the Old Testament to establish an eternal kingdom and bring peace to Israel (CP 2Sam 7:12, 16, 25-29; Psa 89:3-4; Isa 16:5, Jer 23:5 with Lu 1:31-33; Ac 13:21-23; Rev 3:7). David's throne was emblematic of the Messianic Kingdom (CP 2Sam 7:13-16; Psa 89:26-29). Jesus is also called the Son of God (CP Mk 1:1; Ro 1:3-4). This expresses Jesus' Deity (CP Jn 3:18; 5:25; 9:35; 10:36; 11:4). Jesus is referred to as the Son of God nearly seventy times in the New Testament but these are the only scriptures in which He referred to Himself as such. Elsewhere He called himself simply The Son (CP Mt 11:27; Lu 10:22; Jn 3:36; 5:26; 8:35-36). God called Jesus My Beloved Son (CP Mt 3:17; Mk 1:11; 9:7; Lu 3:22; 9:35). Peter also called Jesus the Son of the Living God, when he declared Him to be The Christ (CP Mt 16:16). Demons acknowledged Jesus' Deity - they called Him the Holy One of God (CP Mk 1:23-26). Son of the Most High God (CP Mk 5:1-8). The angel Gabriel referred to Jesus as the Son of the Highest (CP Lu 1:31-32). But Jesus' self-designated title was the Son of Man. This expresses His humanity (CP Mt 8:20; Mk 2:28; Lu 5:24; Jn 3:13-14). Daniel ascribed the title of Son of Man to Jesus in the Old Testament in his record of the prophetic vision he had of Christ's second coming (CP Dan 7:13-14). John also ascribed the title to Jesus in the Book of Revelation (CP Rev 1:10-13; 14:14). Although His Deity was veiled by His humanity, there are a number of scriptures which proclaim outright that Jesus was God (CP Mt 1:23; Jn 1:1; 20:28; Ro 9:5; Php 2:5-8; 1Ti 3:16; Tit 2:13; He 1:8-12; 2Pe 1:1). In Mt 1:23 Jesus fulfilled Isaiah's Old Testament prophecy of the incarnation - God taking on human form - (CP Isa 7:14 with Mt 1:22-23). In Jn 1:1 Jesus was God the Word, who became flesh and dwelt among us. This also refers to the incarnation (CP Jn 1:1, 14). Jesus fulfilled Micah's Old Testament prophecy also of the incarnation (CP Mic 5:2). The Governor who was to come out of Bethlehem, whose going forth from everlasting, refers to the pre-existing Jesus as God (CP 1Jn 1:1-2). Jesus Himself proclaimed His deity when He declared to the Jews that He already existed at the time of Abraham (CP Jn 8:24, 28, 56-58). I am is what God called Himself when He spoke to Moses out of the burning bush on Mt Horeb (CP Ex 3:13-15).
The clearest affirmation of Jesus' Deity is His title of Lord. He is called that over seven hundred times in the New Testament, denoting His sovereignty (CP Mt 3:3; Jn 20:24-31; Ac 2:36; Php 2:5-11). These scriptures all denote the sovereignty of Jesus and it is the same throughout the rest of the New Testament. Jesus also proclaimed Himself Lord of the Sabbath (CP Mt 12:1-8). The Sabbath was merely an Old Testament shadow, or type, of which Jesus is the New Testament fulfilment (CP Col 2:8-17). The Sabbath - a day of rest every seventh day for Old Testament Jews - was fulfilled for New Testament Christians by faith in Jesus (CP He 12:22-26). Jesus gives rest to all who come to Him (CP Mt 11:28-30). The rest that Jesus gives Christians is the eternal rest that is in God, in contrast to only every seventh day for the Old Testament Jews (CP He 3:7 - 4:10).
Another title ascribed to Jesus was King of the Jews. The Magi - wise men - called the baby Jesus that (CP Mt 2:1-2). Jesus acknowledged the title as His when questioned by Pilate on the night of His arrest (CP Mt 27:11; Jn 18:37). Thou sayest is an affirmative response. Jesus was the King of the Jews, or Israel, who the Old Testament prophet Zechariah prophesied would come riding upon an ass (CP Zech 9:9 with Mt 21:4-5; Jn 12:12-16). Jesus called Himself Light, and the Light of the World (CP Jn 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35, 46). Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy by Isaiah that the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light (CP Isa 9:1-2 with Mt 4:12-17). Great Light here means underived and absolute light - the opposite of all darkness. John the Baptist bore witness to that Light - he went before Jesus to prepare the way for Him (CP Lu 1:76-79; Jn 1:1-9). Dayspring in Lu 1:78 means the springing up of light, referring here to the coming of Jesus, the Light of the World. Simeon declared Jesus to be a Light to lighten the Gentiles, when, in conforming to the Old Covenant law, Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus up to the temple to present Him to God (CP Lu 2:22-32 with Isa 42:6).
Another title given to Jesus was Master (CP Mt 8:19; Mk 10:17, 20; Jn 20:15-16; Col 4:1). Jesus referred to himself too as Master (CP Mt 23:8-10; 26:18; Jn 13:13-14). Jesus also referred to Himself as A Greater than Jonah and A Greater than Solomon (CP Mt 12:41-42; Lu 11:30-32). Jesus was also a Prophet. He fulfilled Moses' Old Testament prophecy that God would raise up a prophet from the midst of Israel like Moses, who all must obey or be punished by God (CP De 18:15-19 with Ac 3:22-26). Jesus acknowledged Himself to be a prophet (CP Mt 13:57; Lu 13:33). Jesus was the Stone which the Builders rejected, the Same is become the Head of the Corner. This fulfilled the Messianic prophecy of Psalm 118 (CP Psa 118:22 with Mt 21:42 and 1Pe 2:7). Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone - the Head of the Corner - in God's redemptive plan (CP Isa 28:16-17; Mk 12:10; Ro 10:11; Eph 2:19-22; 1Pe 2:6). The "builders" who rejected the stone are the Jews who rejected Jesus (CP Ac 4:11). Unto those who believed on Him, Jesus is a Tried Stone, a Precious Corner Stone, but to unbelievers He is a Stone of Stumbling, and a Rock of Offence (CP Isa 8:14-15 with Ro 9:31-33; 1Pe 2:4-8). Jesus is the Foundation Stone, a Sure Foundation (CP Isa 28:16 with Eph 2:19-20). Jesus is also referred to in the Old Testament as the Stone of Israel (CP Gen 49:24).
Jesus was referred to as both the Carpenter's Son and the Carpenter (CP Mt 13:54-56; Mk 6:1-3). It is obvious from Mk 6:3 that Jesus plied His trade as a carpenter before commencing His earthly ministry. He alluded to Himself as the son of the householder in His parable of the same name (CP Mt 21:33-41). Here Jesus demonstrates the Jewish religious leaders response to His ministry. The householder symbolises God; the husbandmen are the Jewish leaders; the servants are the Old Testament prophets, and the son is Jesus Himself. Jesus was the Door to the Sheepfold … the Way, the Truth and the Life (CP Jn 10:9; 14:6). Jesus was the Good Shepherd (CP Jn 10:10-16); the Great Shepherd of the Sheep (CP He 13:20); the Shepherd and Bishop of Your Souls (CP 1Pe 2:21-25); Chief Shepherd (CP 1Pe 5:4). Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy by Zechariah that the shepherd would be slain and the sheep scattered (CP Zech 13:7 with Mt 26:31). This is how man's redemption was purchased.
As God's Servant and His Beloved upon whom He would put His Spirit, Jesus fulfilled another Old Testament prophecy by Isaiah in Mt 12 (CP Isa 42:1-3 with Mt 12:15-21). This also highlights the three-in-one Godhead of Christianity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which is further highlighted in Jesus' fulfilment of Isa 61:1-2 (CP Isa 61:1-2 with Lu 4:16-21). John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world in Jn 1 (CP Jn 1:29, 36). This expression emphasised the redemptive character of Jesus' ministry. It refers back to lambs without blemish, which were sacrificed as sin offerings in the Old Testament (CP Ex 12:1-3, 5-7, 12-13; Lev 4:32-35). Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world signifies the substitutionary, sacrificial death of Jesus by which redemption and forgiveness are accomplished. The lambs sacrificed in the Old Testament prefigured the supreme sacrifice of Jesus in the New Testament (CP Isa 53:4-12 with Ac 8:32-35; 1Cor 5:7). Christ our Passover is Sacrificed in 1Cor 5:7 refers to Jesus dying for our deliverance from the penalty of sin, as the passover lamb died for the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt.
In the Gospel of John Jesus was called Rabbi. This is a title of honour, meaning doctor, teacher, master. He was called this by His disciples and Nicodemus (CP Jn 1:38, 49; 3:2). Blind Bartimaeus and Mary Magdalene called Jesus Rabboni (CP Mk 10:51; Jn 20:16). Rabboni derives from Rabbi and is the highest title of honour accorded to a religious leader. It means literally my Great One or my Great Master. Also in the Gospel of John Jesus called Himself the True Bread from Heaven, the Bread of God, the Bread of Life, and the Living Bread when He explained to the Jews that the Manna Moses gave their forefathers in the wilderness was not the true bread from heaven - it merely sustained them bodily. Jesus declared to them that He was the true bread from heaven and that He would sustain them both spiritually and eternally (CP Jn 6:32-35, 47-58).