“He replied, “Can you speak Greek?”
(Acts 21:37)
In the previous teaching we discussed how a theology that absolutizes the name of God, despite a certain degree of technical justification, is still missing the point. The bronze snake which represented Christ in the desert lost its original symbolic value and evolved into an idol. How many of our contemporary objects of religious curiosity have also been jaded by this attitude?
Christ’s entire ministry was founded on judging the state of man’s heart, not giving heed to external showiness like religious rituals or the correct use of language, among other things. God is not petty – a person addressing God as My Boss, or a person who grew up without a father who addresses Him as Daddy, or someone who speaks to Him as Beloved or Anointed or Messiah are all correct, as Christ is not concerned with the detail of the addressing utterance but rather with the attitude of heart of he who approaches Him. Most of what we eventually say is actually communicated from the Spirit, a space sans language where “deep calls unto deep” (Ps 42:7, LITV).
If Jesus is the name I have come to use in addressing the Son of God, and I worship him in “spirit and in truth” (John 4:23), “who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” (Rom 8:33).
This brings us to the second argument undermining the theology of a correct Name of God, that of linguistic consequentiality. A simple linguistic lesson – in English I would name my son John, in Afrikaans Johannes, in Greek Iōannέs, in Spanish Juan, in Brasilian Portuguese João, in Welsh Evan, in Scottish English Iain, in Irish English Séan, in German Hans, in Dutch Jan, in French Jean, in Italian Giovanni, in Russian Ivan. The name still remains John.
The written account of Christ’s life and world was mostly from a Greek-Hellenic perspective, as this was the main language used by the literate individuals of that time (as example see Acts 6:1 and 9:29). The Greek version of the Messiah’s name, delivered to Joseph by the Angel, was Iēsous, which if translated into Hebrew would be Yehôshûa (in English: Joshua). In Greek, Hebrew and English it means exactly the same thing – Jehovah is salvation. The fact of the matter is – regardless of what language is used, the same meaning underpins all. Most believers who insist on using the correct names of Christ are thus only interjecting their English with some Hebraic snippets.
Making an issue out of something which is not an issue at all is often a Satanic strategy in causing unnecessary polarization within the Body. Examine the history related in 2 Kings 18:16-18. Pentecost emphasized the existence of different languages (Acts 2:6; 8 & 11). The Body, “of every tribe and tongue and people and nation (Rev 5:9), all sing the song of the Lamb!
God is a Polyglot – who can map the language of the Spirit of God’s “groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26). “Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if you know?” (Prov 30:4). A name always points to identity, so the question should actually simply be: Do you know Him? (John 3:17).
- Sela: Answer the question.
- Read: 2 Chr 14; Job 12; Rev 16
- Memorise: Rev 16:15
- For a deeper understanding: Read Messianic Jew Arthur Katz’s Reality: the hope of glory.
