December 10th by Megan Ligeti
And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.”
Luke 1:28-31
Choosing the name for our daughter was easy. When my husband and I were dating and daydreaming about what our future lives could look like, we both, shockingly, loved the exact same name for a girl: Lorelei. I loved the name because of the German mermaid legend. My husband loved the name because of a video game he had played as a child. About six years later, we had the chance to make that daydream a reality when we welcomed our daughter into this world. “Lorelei” suits her.
I wonder…how did God choose “Jesus?” It’s fun to imagine God curled up on a couch flipping through a copy of 1001 Baby Names. I’m curious…what’s the real story?
“Jesus’ original Hebrew name is Yeshua, which is short for yehōshu'a and can be translated to ‘Joshua.’ When Yeshua is translated into Greek, which the New Testament is derived from, it becomes Iēsous, which in English spelling is ‘Jesus.’”1
Other interesting notes:
The meaning of Joshua is “The Lord is my salvation.”
In Matthew 1:21 an angel says to Joseph, “…and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Joshua from the Old Testament is known as the person who leads Israel to the Promised Land and the renewal of the Covenant with God.
Some Bible scholars view Joshua as an Old Testament representation, or foreshadowing, of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah.
What conclusions might we draw from why “Jesus” was that special, perfect name chosen for the Son of God? And, how wonderful is it that reading a verse you’ve read a million times before can still raise new questions and provide new insights?
Prayer: In this moment, I will take the time and make the space to prepare my heart for this special season. I praise the name of Jesus, my hope, and my salvation. Amen.
1 Hannah Preston; “Was Jesus's Real Name Yeshua or Joshua and Is There A 'Right' Way to Identify the Son of God?”; Newsweek; published on 12/24/2018; accessed on 11/18/22 https://www.newsweek.com/jesus-yeshua-joshua-there-right-way-identify-son-god-1270917
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