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This is an article I wrote over two years ago; I have since revised and added a few things. I have brought it out of mothballs, as I think it is a good one for this time of the year, for Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season. In John 12:47, Jesus said, “For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” Truer words could not have been spoken, as Jesus’ name literally means ‘salvation,‘ as we will see in this updated article.
The word or name ‘Jesus’ in the New Testament comes from the Greek word ‘Iēsous’ (Strong’s G2424). It is pronounced ‘ee-ay-SOOS.’ Iesous is not a translation of Jesus’ name in Hebrew, but rather it is a transliteration. A transliteration takes the meaning of a word in one language and assigns it to the equivalent word with the same meaning in another language.
In the late 4th century, Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, a manuscript known as the Vulgate. In it, the Greek Iesous became the Latin Iesus. The English Bible eventually changed the Latin Y sound to the letter J, as in Jesus. ‘Jesus’ is mentioned some 983 times in the New Testament (KJV).
The name Jesus is derived from the ancient Greek form of the Hebrew and Aramaic name Yehoshua or Yeshua, which is etymologically related to Joshua (Strong’s H3091). The name Joshua or Jehoshua means “Jehovah (LORD or Yahweh) is Salvation.” Joshua is mentioned 216 times in the Old Testament (KJV), mainly in the Book of Joshua. Nearly all of them are about Joshua, the son of Nun of the tribe of Ephraim, and successor to Moses as the leader of the children of Israel. Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land of Canaan.
Both the Hebrew word Yeshua and the Greek word Iesous (Jesus) mean ‘salvation.’ Before Jesus was born, the angel of the Lord told Joseph in a dream, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21).
After Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph went to the Temple to present Him to the Lord, as required by the Law of Moses. They met Simeon (a man who was just and devout), who was waiting to see the Messiah, as the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Upon meeting baby Jesus, Simeon, who was filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed: “For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel” (Luke 2:30-32).
In effect, Simeon said, “For my eyes have seen Yeshua,” while he was actually holding baby Yeshua in his arms! No wonder the next verse says, “His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him” (Luke 2:33). God fulfilled his promise to Simeon as he saw and touched Jesus (Savior), the Christ (the Anointed one), before his death.
Anna, a prophetess of the tribe of Asher, was there in the temple as well. “And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). So, here we have two godly witnesses testifying to the legitimacy of Jesus as the Jews’ long-awaited Messiah. Both witnesses were under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1 tells the story of the birth of John the Baptist. John’s father, Zacharias, was a priest in the temple of the Lord at this time. Upon John’s birth, Zacharias, filled with the Hojy Spirit, prophesied the following about his newborn son: “And you, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the day-spring from on high has visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:76-79).
Here again, the word ‘salvation’ in verse 77 could be changed to ‘Yeshua ‘ or ‘Jesus.’ It would then read: “To give knowledge of Jesus unto his people by the remission of their sins.”
This prophecy came true approximately 30 years later, as recorded in Luke 3, when John began to preach unto all the country about Jordan. “As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:4-6).
Of course, the salvation of God is Jesus Christ. John was quoting Isaiah 40:3-5. Isaiah was prophesying about John the Baptist, who would become “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord.”
In Luke 19:9, Jesus goes to the house of Zacchaeus, a rich publican, and tells him, “This day is salvation come to this house, for so much as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Once again, you could substitute ‘salvation’ with ‘Jesus.’ The verse would then read, “This day is Jesus come to this house, for so much as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Regarding Jesus and salvation in the New Testament, I believe Peter might have said it best when he was asked by the rulers and religious elites in Jerusalem by what power or name the disciples of Jesus had cured a man. Peter said, “Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10-12).
Many non-Christian scholars like to point out that the name ‘Jesus’ is never mentioned in the Old Testament. Of course, this is technically correct, as Jesus is not a Hebrew word. However, we do have the Hebrew word, ‘Yeshuah’ or ‘Yeshua’ (Strong’s H3444). The KJV translates Strong’s H3444 in the following manner: salvation (65x), help (4x), deliverance (3x), health (3x), save (1x), saving (1x), for a total of 77 times in the Old Testament. Psalms has 45 mentions of this word, the most in the Old Testament, followed by Isaiah with 19.
Let’s look at twelve (the number for Israel) of these Old Testament verses that have the Hebrew word יְשׁוּעָה, or its transliteration, ‘Yeshuah,‘ in them. As I mentioned above, the most common English translation for this word is ‘salvation.‘ We will substitute the word ‘Jesus’ for ‘salvation’ to get a clear picture of Jesus as Savior in the Old Testament. Most of these verses also include the word/s ‘LORD‘ (Yahweh) or God (Elohim).
>“And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, stand still, and see the Jesus of the LORD, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more forever” (Exodus 14:13).
>“The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my Jesus: he is my God, and I will prepare him a habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name” (Exodus 15:2-3). This is a description of the Angel of the LORD, the pre-incarnate Jesus, saving the children of Israel from Pharaoh’s army. Moses called him a Man of War. See A Man of War: The Lord is His Name :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready.
>“Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; show forth from day to day Jesus”(1 Chronicles 16:23).
>“Oh that Jesus of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad” (Psalm 14:7).
>“His glory is great in your Jesus: honor and majesty have you laid upon him” (Psalm 21:5).
>“And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in Jesus”(Psalm 35:9).
>“Truly my soul waits upon God: from him comes my Jesus”(Psalm 62:1).
>“Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his Jesus” (Psalm 78:22).
>“The LORD has made known his Jesus: his righteousness has he openly shown in the sight of the heathen” (Psalm 98:2).
>“I will take the cup of Jesus, and call upon the name of the LORD” (Psalm 116:13).
>“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in Jesus” (Isaiah 25:9).
>“You shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior. And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither wasting nor destruction within your borders; But you shall call your walls Jesus, and your gates Praise” (Isaiah 60:16,18).
“In the Millennial Kingdom, the Holy City will be the source of pride and joy for all generations of Earth’s people. Wealth and favor will be accompanied by peace and righteousness, with violence, ruin, and destruction consigned forever to the past. Once again, the Hebrew word translated as ‘Salvation‘ is ‘Yeshua,‘ but in this case, the word for ‘praise’ actually means a hymn or song of praise. It’s absolutely fascinating to me that the walls and gates of the Holy City are modeled in the contemporary evangelical church. The emphasis is on Jesus, expressed in song after song of praise and worship.” {1}
Yes, Jesus is in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. He just goes by another name, Yeshua (Salvation). Salvation is not just what He does; it is who He is. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17). “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).
Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach (the Anointed/Messiah), came not to judge the world but to save the world, according to Jesus’ own words as recorded in John 12:47. He came so that all human beings could be saved from sin and eternal death. Two things are required to be saved. One is God-given, a free gift from the Father. It is called grace and is available to everyone. The second requirement is faith. It is a choice or decision that every individual must make for themselves. “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
What does it take to be saved by faith? “If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shalt be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:9-13). You cannot punt on this one. Not making a decision is the same as not believing. The result will be eternal death and separation from God.
“Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5-11).
Randy Nettles
Endnotes:
{1} The End Times According To Isaiah, Part 12 – Grace thru faith (Jack Kelley)
The post Jesus, a Name Which is Above Every Name :: By Randy Nettles appeared first on Rapture Ready.
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