Recently,
I was reading about the importance of giving your children good names. It reminded me of a list I’d seen of some bad
names had by some characters in history:
Charles the Simple, Son of Louis the
Stammerer. So called for his policy of making concessions to the Norse invaders
rather than fighting.
Louis the Sluggard, noted for his
self-indulgence, he ruled from 986 to 987 over the Franks.
Ethelred the unready (968-1016) so called
because of his inability to repel the Danish invasion of England. At first he
paid tribute to the Danes, but their raids continued and he was forced to
abandon England for Normandy in 1013. Those who are more generous call him
Ethelred the ill-advised.
Louis the Fat, like his father, was obese.
At the age of 47 because of his extreme corpulence, he was unable to mount his
horse.[i]
Proverbs
22:1 reminds us that a good name is better than great riches. Members of prominent local families would
probably agree. The family reputation,
especially in small communities, is all-important. If a family member behaves in an unseemly
manner, then it’s likely that others who bear that same name could be seen in
the same light. This could have social,
and even financial consequences. Nobody
wants to hire the siblings of Ursula the Untrustworthy, or children of Larry
the Lazy. Of course, if the community
knows you as Willy the Wealthy or Jennifer the Generous, that reputation
extends to your family as well.
In
light of this, it seems strange that God told Mary and Joseph to name God’s Son
Jesus (Matthew 1:21; Luke 1:31). Jesus was
one of the more common Hebrew names at the time. In fact, there are several Bible characters
named either Jesus or Joshua (both of which are Y’shua in Hebrew). So to be named Jesus in that John was like
being named John Jones in this culture.
Why such a nondescript name?
Maybe God wanted His son to be Everyman—to be common in order to
identify with all humanity. But the name
of Jesus is significant. It means Salvation, or A Saving Cry. When we need
salvation, we have only to cry to Jesus, and He will surely save!
In
John 16:33-34[ii],
Jesus says something very special about praying in His name. “At that time you won’t need
to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly,
and he will grant your request because you use my name. You haven’t done
this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have
abundant joy.” Even when He said
this, Jesus knew that this figure of speech was difficult to understand, so He
explained it. “Then you will ask in my name. I’m not saying I will ask the Father on
your behalf, for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me
and believe that I came from God (vv. 26-27).”
In other words, Jesus was saying that the Father hears and answers
our prayers because of the idenitity we carry as bearers of the name of
Jesus. This is something that’s easily
misunderstood, so we need to examine it further.
Many
of the Christians I grew up around insisted that when you pray, you MUST tack
on the phrase, “In Jesus’ name” at the end of every prayer. Maybe it was just a habit, but it seemed to
me (and to many) that this was a magical phrase you needed to use if you wanted
to get what you were praying for.
Praying “in Jesus’ name” was the key that unlocked the heavenly treasure
chest. Without that key, your prayers
just weren’t effective. Is this what
Jesus meant by praying in His name?
Certainly not—but to many believers (including myself) it still seems a
bit odd to end a prayer with simply “amen.”
Something else I was told
was that by adding this expression onto my prayers, I was invoking the
authority of Jesus. So, many of the
Christians I knew believed that this name was a weapon to use against the
enemy, or a badge to flash like a police officer ordering people. “When you pray in Jesus’ name,” they claimed,
“you are commanding things to happen in the spiritual realm.” But if this were true, then by throwing
around the name of Jesus, you’d be manipulating God, who cannot be controlled
by us or any force in the universe.
Now, this isn’t to say
that Jesus’ name isn’t powerful.
Philippians 2:9-11 says, “Therefore,
God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all
other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on
earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.” But
as powerful as Jesus’ name is—as effective as it is for breaking chains and
bringing down spiritual strongholds—praying in Jesus’ name means something
more.
For just a moment, I want
you to think about every single person with whom you have a close, personal
relationship. What’s the one thing all
these relationships have in common? You
know each other by name. Coming together
in Jesus’ name, or praying in Jesus’ name, may involve authority, but it’s not
commanding. It may involve getting what
you’re praying for, but it’s not about putting in your order with God. Gathering and praying in Jesus’ name is about
knowing Him personally, taking the name of Jesus the way a wife takes the name
of her husband, being called by Jesus’ name, and belonging to God. If you are a Christian, then you are a
Christ-one. You bear the name of Christ
because He lives inside you. Just as
Jesus is one with the Father, you are one with Jesus, and you bear His
name. It’s in this kind of intimacy that
you approach the Father in prayer—and God will give you what His perfect wisdom
knows you need.
In Isaiah 43:1b-3a, we
learn that just as we call Jesus by name, God calls us by name as well.
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have
called you by name; you are mine.
When you go through deep waters,
I will be
with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not
drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not
be burned up;
the flames
will not consume you.
For I am the Lord, your God,
the Holy One
of Israel, your Savior.
This
is the greatest thing about the name of Jesus—it’s our name too. God has called us by the name of Jesus,
declaring His righteousness even when we were not. And so we belong to God. Praying in Jesus’ name means remembering that
He never leaves nor forsakes us—and that wherever we go, God is there. He is our God, the Holy one of Israel. He is Jesus, our Savior. As believers we are so glad to be bearers of
His name!
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