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To the ancients, a name was not merely an identifying label, but a revelation of a person’s character and his or her role in society. It is the name that both defines and reveals the inner workings of the individual.
When a person’s name was invoked, that person’s character and authority were thought to be present as well. In this sense, it is like an attorney today acting in the name of his client, or an ambassador acting in the name of his country’s leader.
In Hebrew, the name “Jesus” (Yeshua) means “God saves.” When the angel revealed to Joseph the nature of Mary’s pregnancy, he told him, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). It was a revelation of the saving mission of our Lord, and it was a guarantee from God that the promised salvation was about to occur. God was about to save his people from their sin.
In his letter to the Philippian church, St. Paul quoted an early Christian hymn extolling the power of…
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