1.—Jesus.
Let us briefly but reverently consider the wondrous meaning that resides in this name. Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which itself is a contraction of Jehoshua, that is “the help of Jehovah.” This word occurs in Numbers 13:1010Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. (Numbers 13:10), on the occasion of the changing of the name of one of the twelve spies from Oshea (help) to Je-hoshua (the help of Jehovah). The name Jesus was expressly given by divine command to the Lord, and it is His only name, all others being titles, and we may then surely look upon it as worthy of our careful thought.
We may first remark that though pre-eminently human and given to Christ as man, it also proclaims Him as God over all, blessed forever. The first syllable Je or Jeho-tells on divine authority the wonderful fact that our Jesus is Jehovah, the “I AM.” What a flood of comfort and blessings belongs to the knowledge of this one fact, that He, who carried His people on eagles’ wings all through the days of old, and brought them to Himself, whose longsuffering and patience were proof against their many murmurings, and who fed them during their whole journey through the waste howling wilderness, is our Jesus. Oh! that we knew more of the wondrous stores contained in this name. This first syllable tells us of His Eternal Godhead, of His covenant relations, of His mighty power, of His thoughtful love; all the glories, all the virtues but dimly seen in the Jehovah of old, are ours in Jesus now. It commands our reverence, it gives us lofty and fitting thoughts of Christ as the High and Holy one that inhabits eternity. But were the name to end here, we could not look on it without awe and dread; it would not be the Jesus we know. One syllable is wanting to make the name peerless above all others to us; Jesus, the help or salvation of the Lord.
This second syllable tells us of Christ as man; it speaks to our ears of a life of patient grace, an atoning death of infinite suffering; it proclaims to us pardon and peace; it opens the gates of heaven and delivers us from hell; it calls forth springs of gratitude, and notes of praise that shall not be hushed through out eternity. And observe that the two syllables are knit together; “the help” is “the help of the Lord,” how secure then, how divinely certain is our salvation! On what a rock does the feeblest believer rest when he rests on Jesus! When his weary head is pillowed on this name and his broken heart is bound up here, he is resting on the bosom of the High and Holy one that inhabiteth Eternity, and in His salvation is his trust. Jesus, a name so despised among men, so often called “of Nazareth” in contempt, is sometimes too lightly used by the believer now, but never by the one who has sat down in contemplation of its wonders, and listened to the unfolding of its majesty and fragrance, its deep and lofty meaning.
Does it not rest your heart, beloved reader, to meditate on His name? Do you not find a beauty, shared by none other in this oft repeated and familiar word? It reaches from the highest heaven to earth, from the throne to the cross, from the cross back again to the throne, from eternity to eternity. It speaks of the “yesterday” of the cross, of the “to-day “ of grace, of the “ forever” of glory. Oh! how little do our hearts grasp the simple fact this name repeats to us, that our Savior, our Help is “JEHOVAH” Himself that the Man crucified between two thieves for us, was none other.
But while the name has such a high and holy meaning, in was yet free to all. The blind beggar at Jericho was welcome to it, in common with all who at all times have a need that it can meet. It is remarkable, however, that after the resurrection, when that same Jesus had been made Lord and Christ, the name is used alone only some thirty times, on every other occasion having the prefix “Lord” or some other title added. This has a meaning for us; Christ is no longer the humble, despised and rejected man. We triumph in the fact that His sufferings are all over, that in heaven at last He has now His proper place, as He shortly shall have on earth as well, and in accordance with His new place in the glory, we call Him “Lord Jesus.” Such is His proper title now, though doubtless there are occasions when the blessed name can with all reverence be used alone. We may consider the title Lord at another time, we only just allude to it now to point out the change that the glory of the Lord has made in the use of the name “Jesus.”
This word has been the fragrance of Christian song for eighteen hundred years, and as long as the world endures will “How sweet the name of Jesus sounds” soothe and comfort the weary heart.
The following well known lines of George Herbert, though quaint, contain a deep and true insight into the virtue that lies in the name of “Jesus”,—
Jesus is in my heart, His sacred name
Is deeply carved here; but th’ other week
A great affliction broke the little frame,
Ev’n all to pieces; which I went to seek:
And first I found the corner where was J,
After, where E S, and next where U was graved.
When I had got these parcels, instantly
I sat me down to spell them and perceived
That to my broken heart, He was I ease you,
And to my whole is JESU.
With such a name shedding its sweetness abroad in our hearts, surely we can press on with fresh courage along the thorny road, cheering it with songs of praise to our Help, our Jehovah, our thrice blessed Savior, until at length the wilderness over, our haven reached, His presence entered, we understand in all their meaning those beautiful lines by Irwin”
Hark! the thrilling symphonies
Seem within to seize us,
Add we to their holy lays,
Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!
Sweetest sound in seraph’s song,
Sweetest note on mortal’s tongue,
Sweetest anthem ever sung,
Jesus! Jesus! JESUS!