Let us briefly, but reverently, consider the wondrous meaning that resides in the name “Jesus.” It is the Greek form of Joshua, which itself is a contraction of Jehoshua, that is, “the help of Jehovah.” This word occurs in Numbers 13:1616These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua. (Numbers 13:16), 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 personal name, all others being titles, and we may then surely look upon it as worthy of our careful thought.
Jesus Is Jehovah
We may first remark that though this name is preeminently human and given to Christ as man, it also proclaims Him as God over all, blessed forever. The first syllable “Je” or “Jeho” tells of 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, 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 as seen in the Jehovah of old; they 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: Jesus, the help or salvation of the Lord.
Jesus the Man
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 throughout 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 inhabits 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 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 “today” of grace, and of the “forever” of glory. Oh! how little do our hearts grasp the simple fact this name repeats to us, that our Saviour, our help, is “Jehovah” Himself.
But while the name has such a high and holy meaning, it 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 and 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.
Bible Student, 2:25