Jesus (Greek: Ἰησοῦς, Hebrew: יְהוֹשׁוּעַ)
The Many Names & Titles of Jesus (Chapter 1)
Jesus (Greek: Ἰησοῦς, Hebrew: יְהוֹשׁוּעַ)
The English name Jesus is a translation of the Greek name Iēsous (Ἰησοῦς), which is itself a translation of the Hebrew name Yehoshua/Joshua (יְהוֹשׁוּעַ). The name Joshua is formed by combining two Hebrew words Yeh and Hoshua, which together form the sentence meaning The LORD is salvation. This matches the explanation from the angel in Matthew 1:21 who says, thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Who gave Jesus his first name?
We read in Luke’s Gospel that the angel Gabriel was sent to the virgin Mary saying, Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS (Luke 1:31). And so while ordinarily we are named by our earthly father who generates us, Jesus, who is eternally generated from his Father in heaven, receives his first name from heaven through the angel. We read later in Luke 2:21, And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
This act of being named from heaven prior to conception by the mouth of the Lord (Isa 62:2) is fitting given Jesus’ divine origin. For as it says in Micah 5:2, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me one that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, even from everlasting. God’s everlasting salvation is named Jesus, and this name should call to mind the very first Jesus that we meet in Scripture, although we typically know him by his Hebrew name Joshua.
A New Joshua
Joshua, son of Nun, was Moses’ successor, and it was Joshua, not Moses, who brought God’s people into the promised land. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17). While Moses stood on the mountain top and beheld the land of promise from afar (Deut 34:1-5), it was Joshua who would cause Israel to inherit it (Deut 1:28). Joshua is the man of war (Ex. 15:3) who conquers thirty-one kings (Josh 12:24), and it is under Joshua’s leadership that God’s people receive their tribal allotments. And so Joshua, son of Nun, is the earthly type of the heavenly Joshua, who conquers all the kings of the earth, and to whom all the land belongs, and in whom all God’s promises are Yes and Amen (2 Cor 1:20). While Joshua told the sun to stand still (Josh 10:12), Jesus is the sun who stands still in His divinity (Ps 84:11). Jesus is the sun veiled in human flesh (Mark 9:3), who willed to assume our nature so that an old man could carry him. For when the infant Jesus was brought into the temple, Simeon took him up in his arms and said, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation (Luke 2:29-30).
Prayer
Show my Your salvation O LORD, for my eyes are weary of this world, my soul is without peace, and I have but one desire that I will seek after, that I may dwell in Your house all the days of my life, to behold Your beauty, and to inquire in Your temple. Hasten this day in Jesus’ name, Amen.