Do You Know Tom Green?

“And she shall give birth to a Son, and you shall call HIS NAME יהושע for He shall save His people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:21

Have you ever wondered about the actual name of our Savior?  In modern English, most of us came to know Him as Jesus.  And I praise Yahuah (the Father) that He has been revealed to us.  But did you know that Jesus is not really His name?  Is this shocking to you?  Of course, His name is Jesus, right?  Or is it?

We know that He had Hebrew parents, living in a Hebrew culture, with a Hebrew language.  They would have given Him a Hebrew name, and not a Greek or Aramaic name.  And most assuredly not a Latin or English name.  And when you do some research, you find that His name has been transliterated multiple times to get to the “Jesus” of our English language.

It was transliterated to “Iesous” in the Greek from the Hebrew.

Then transliterated to “Iesu” or Iesv” in the Latin from the Greek.

Then transliterated to “Jesus” in the English from the Latin.

But did you know the original transliteration in the English from the Latin Vulgate was “Iesus?”  This is found in the 1611 King James Bible.  In fact, the letter “J” is a relatively modern invention, which was not common in the English language until the middle of the 17^th century.  The first people to come to America (possibly your ancestors) would have never heard the name, “Jesus.”  And absolutely no one walking the earth during the time of the Messiah would have known Him by that name.  In fact, the name “Jesus” wasn’t at all seen in any English language literature until the year 1704.

“And there is no deliverance in anyone else, for there is NO OTHER NAME under the heaven given among men by which we need to be saved.” – Acts 4:12

But does it matter?

Personally, I don’t believe that salvation comes by saying His name a certain way.  And I don’t think we should be upset when people use different names, whether it be Yahusha, Yahoshua, Yeshua, Iesous, Jesus, or any other linguistic form of the name.  But I do believe that if we are to be His bride, we will try to know His Name and do His commandments.  This is where Tom Green comes in.  You were probably wondering what the title of this post had to do with anything, right?

Close your eyes and think about a man named Tom Green.  What does he look like?  What does he eat?  What is his culture like?  What is his language?  What type of life does he live?  You probably have a certain picture of him in your mind.

Now close your eyes again and think about Tomás Verde…that’s Tom’s real name.  Do you get a different picture?  Does he look different?  Does he eat different foods?  Does he have a different culture altogether?  If you are truthful, then yes.  Knowing that Tom Green is in reality Tomás Verde, shapes our understanding of who that person really is.

It’s the same with the Messiah.

Yahusha Ha’Mashiach.  Our Savior, the Messiah.  He was a Hebrew.  More than that, he was a Sabbath-keeping, feast-celebrating, clean-eating, tzitzit-wearing, Torah-observing Hebrew from the tribe of Yehudah (Judah).  And He most assuredly looked and acted nothing like what we have imagined in our minds. 

In the Hebrew, names have meaning.  And Yahusha means “I AM your deliverer.”  It is the name of the Father (Yahuah) with a suffix, meaning “deliverer.”  In Hebrew letters, His name is recorded as “Yod – Hay – Uau – Shin – Ayin.”

“I have come in MY FATHER’S NAME and you do not receive Me, if another comes in his own name, him you would receive.” – John 5:43

And when the Messiah returns, what name will He return with?  Think about that for a minute.  Will He return with a Latin or English name, the recent multi-transliterated name “Jesus?”  Will He return in a different name for each culture?  Or will He return in His given name, יהושע (Yahusha)?

But again, what does it matter?  Well, I think it helps us to understand who He is and also what He expects of us.  He was not lawless nor does He teach us to be lawless.  He humbled himself to be obedient to the Father…

“…He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, death even of a stake.  Elohim, therefore, has highly exalted Him and given Him THE NAME which is above every name, that at the NAME of יהושע (Yahusha) every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue should confess that יהושע (Yahusha) Messiah is Master, to the esteem of Elohim the Father.” – Philippians 2:8-11

Yahusha taught us obedience.  He taught us His Father’s commandments.  And He instructed us to walk in them. 

The Scriptures can be difficult to understand when we use our culture to define them.  Understanding who our Messiah is from His culture can be beneficial in correctly interpreting what He teaches and what He expects from us.  Just as one learns and gets to know their spouse, as the bride of Messiah, we should desire to know Him in both spirit and truth.

So whatever name you use, do so diligently, with truth, respect, and honor to the Messiah.  And continue to dive deeper into the faith!