In biblical times, people were named not merely as a label to differentiate them from everyone else; every name had a reason behind it. People were sometimes named to reflect the parent’s reaction to the birth. he name Isaac means “he laughs,” reflecting the comedic element of Abraham and Sarah becoming parents at such an advanced age.

People were named to record a facet of their birth. Moses’s name sounds like the verb to draw out, reflecting the fact that Pharaoh’s daughter drew him out of the water. Names were also given to point to the nature or destiny of a person. No name embodies this purpose behind a name more than the name given to Jesus.

The name Jesus is a Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua. It means “Yahweh saves.” It was a common name. In the first century Jewish culture, it was given to sons as a reminder of the future hope that God would send a Messiah who would righteously rule over God’s people.

But in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the son of Mary and Joseph, the name’s meaning was fully realized. Not only did the name Jesus portend His role as the sole means of our salvation through His death on the cross; His name does even more. There is power in the name of Jesus. There is healing in the name of Jesus. It is the name above all other names. Even the demons know His name, and one day every knee will bow at the name of Jesus.