Being Christmas season and all, we are very likely to run across a lot of Scripture concerning the birth of Christ. I ran across Isaiah 7:14 and began wondering why we call the Lord Jesus instead of Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14 (NKJV) Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
Out of curiosity, I typed “His name” in the search box of my digital Bible app and came up with a lot of verses referring to the Lord’s name. There were four in particular that said the Messiah’s name would be called something other than Jesus.
- Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14) which means God with us — 2nd Person of the Trinity
- Wonderful (Isaiah 9:6)
- Counselor (Isaiah 9:6)
- Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6)
- Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6)
- Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)
- The Lord of hosts (Isaiah 47:4)
- The Word of God (Revelation 19:13)
These were not meant to be proper names, but actually descriptive titles of who the Lord was (and is).
Yeshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus, and its English spelling is Joshua. This is what the angel told Mary and Joseph to call Him.
Matthew 1:21 (Hebrew Text) “She shall bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Yeshua, for it is He who shall save His people from their sins.”
Luke 1:31 (Hebrew Text) “Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and will call His name Yeshua.”
Lesous is the Ancient Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Yeshua, and its English spelling is Jesus. The New Testament was originally written in Greek so we see Jesus written in almost all English Bibles, because that’s the correct way to say the Lord’s name in English.
So, the names Joshua and Jesus are essentially the same. Joshua is from the Hebrew translation, and Jesus is from the Greek transliteration.
Whether you say His name in English, Spanish, Greek, Hebrew, German, French… or any other language it still means “the Lord saves” and it’s still the name which is above every name.
Matthew 28:18 (NKJV) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. We fall down before the Lord’s throne and worship Him, in whose name we believe and through Him have received salvation and eternal life.
