The Name Game (Part 4) -- Naming Jesus

Recently, I was reading the Gospel of Mark for a devotional blog I write, and I was struck by how Pilate, among others, named Jesus in those last hours.

Mark 15:1-5

And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate.
And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
And he answered him, “You have said so.”
And the chief priests accused him of many things.
And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.”
But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

Jesus was taken to Pilate and said nothing except to answer as to his identity, that Pilate had called him the King of the Jews. As I have written previously, Jesus didn't defend himself against the false charges or the incomplete naming. So much is said today about the oppressor’s habit of naming the oppressed, but here Pilate names Jesus “King of the Jews,” and Jesus didn’t object. Was Jesus the king of the Jews? Yes, but that was not everything he was—he was so much more! Yet he felt no need to correct Pilate’s condescension.

Governments tend to be threatened by the authority of Jesus, which is historically present in the lives of his followers. Ultimate authority does not rest with Caesar, and for most rulers and realms, this inflames their inferiorities, and persecution spills over onto the church. However, like Christ, those who have come to realize that Jesus’ death and resurrection have removed the penalty of sin and opened up access to eternal life, what fear is there in death? If we don’t fear death, it shows the superiority of the kingdom that we serve. Remember, Jesus came to set us all free from the fear of death, as it says in Hebrews 2:14-18,

^“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

He set us free from the fear of death! And because state control is ultimately related to the fear of death, we are no longer oppressed by the fear of death, because we have received eternal life in Jesus Christ. We don’t ever stoop to trying to establish the kingdom by force by attacking the servants of the oppressors like Peter did, but we explicitly trust in the heart of God and the Spirit of God to bring about the plan of God. If we overcome, in Christ, Jesus promises to give us a new name. 

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it." (Rev. 2:17).

So even when people consider us less than we really are, we can, like Jesus, accept the true part and trust God for the rest. 

Jesus knew his life was in the Father's hands. He knew his life was being given as ransom for even those who attacked him. He knew who he was as the Father had named him, “Jesus” (Matthew 1:21; lit. Yahweh is Salvation) and declared, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11)

But here in this moment of trial…

• I wonder about the expressions on his face, the sense of eternity in his eyes.
• I wonder how the priest and leaders felt when he looked them in the face.
• I wonder if his countenance, though bruised and disfigured, glowed with the radiance of a pure spirit. Certainly, Pilate wondered and marveled at Christ.

The Name Game (Part III): Re-Naming Me?

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

As we continue our series on “naming” and its connection to oppression and power, we can read in Ecclesiastes 6:10-12,

Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he. The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?

So what does this mean, and what does it have to do with our discussion? I found it interesting that the ESV Study Bible comments,

God is the one who has already named all things. To “name” something is to exercise authority over it (Gen. 2:19–20). The Preacher thus confesses that God rules over all things, and he points out that it would be foolish for mankind to dispute with God’s sovereign ordering of the world; to do so would only produce more words and more vanity.

Sometimes we don’t like the names God has assigned to us, and we desire to make a name for ourselves. Yet the name that the Lord makes great is to be preferred over the kind of greatness we produce ourselves. It is the difference between Babel, 

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4).

And Abraham,

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)

Which of these paths do we really want to follow?

I have been aware in my life that the enemy wants me to name myself either too highly, as though I were some kind of awesome specimen, or too lowly because of my past failures. 

The first is illustrated by Oprah’s self-exalting sayings found on Starbucks’ cup sleeves.

The second is captured powerfully in the song Hello My Name Is, by Matthew West. He writes in part,

“Hello, my name is Regret
I’m pretty sure we have met
Every single day of your life
I’m the whisper inside
That won’t let you forget

Hello, my name is defeat
I know you recognize me
Just when you think you can win
I’ll drag you right back down again
‘Til you’ve lost all belief

Oh, these are the voices. Oh, these are the lies
And I have believed them for the very last time

Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, I have been set free
"Amazing Grace" is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King

I am no longer defined
By all the wreckage behind
The one who makes all things new
Has proven it’s true
Just take a look at my life

Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I've been saved, I've been changed, I have been set free
"Amazing Grace" is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King…”

While we all face an enemy like “Tobiah and Sanballat” who wants to use fear to control us and “give me a bad name in order to taunt me” (see Nehemiah 6:12-13), he no longer has the right to name us. We have been set free from bondage to sin and death, and now our family is named by our heavenly Father himself. God not only has the right to name us, but the name he gives is a great gift!

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…” (Ephesians 3:14-17)

The Name Game (Part 2): Do You Like Your Name?

Photo by Daniel Thomas on Unsplash

In my last post, I talked about how it was a common practice in the ancient world for captives to be renamed by their captors. We considered Daniel and his three friends as a case study. While Daniel 1 records their renaming, there are several other references to it later in the book. In 4:7-9 King Nebuchadnezzar admits that he had renamed Daniel after his own god. Daniel takes it with no recorded complaint. In 5:11-13 the next king Belshazzar is counseled by his queen to call on the man formerly known as Daniel for insight into the vision of the handwriting on the wall,

There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”

It should be noted that last night of the Babylonian empire, in stunned deference they revert to calling Belteshazzar Daniel! But later under the Persian, we find that the Belteshazzar name continued to stick (10:1-2). So why doesn’t Daniel make an issue of it? Was he really intimidated by his captors? I don’t think so, he had a lot of leverage in the dream interpretation gig, yet he was respectful. It’s like he knew who he was in the Lord and nothing else mattered even as the “third ruler in the kingdom”.

While I am not justifying the practice of naming as a show of power and control, I do ask the question of what difference it makes when we know who we really are…or perhaps whose we are. It didn’t seem to bother Daniel and company. He was following in the footsteps of Joseph who, when he was taken from the dungeon and appeared before Pharaoh, was given a new name (and a hyphenated one at that) Zaphenath-paneah (Genesis 41:45).

Sometimes we get stuck with a bad name at the hands of our parents, take Phineas’ son for example, “And she named the child Ichabod, saying, ‘The glory has departed from Israel!’ because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband.” (1 Samuel 4:21) He was named “No glory” right from the start—ouch! Or perhaps we could think of Nabal in 1 Samuel 25 whose name means “fool”, as his wife pointed out to David, “Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him…” (v.25) Or what about Jacob the “heel-grabber”? Or Isaac (laughter), Issachar (wages), or Jabez (caused pain)? The possibilities are nearly endless.

So are we doomed to be only what others have named us to be? No, we have a choice. We can always respond to God's love and live for his glory no matter what our past might suggest. Nabal had an opportunity to make a wise and diplomatic decision but chose not to. Jacob was concerned about the things of God but had to learn to surrender to God’s plan and timing. By the way, God changed his name to Israel. God is in the business of changing names, bad names for good and good names for better.

The question facing us is, will we receive his blessing or insist on our own way?

 

More on this next time!

The Name Game (Part 1)

Top Baby Names 2014

At the creation, God called out the Day, Night, Heaven, Earth, Seas (Gen. 1), and finally Man
(Gen. 5:2). His naming was a natural and reasonable function of his role as the Creator. So when he created man, in his own image, man was also one who would naturally and creatively name all the creatures as a function of his God-given dominion (Gen 2:19-20). Down through history parents’ naming of their children would be an almost sacred function of creativity and dominion.

Often the naming seemed to rise to the level of the prophecy as parents would call out all the possibility and purpose that their faith in God might work in their children. We see this frequently in the Bible. Sadly, sin marred this sacred naming process and in many cases, it became less about a God-given dominion and blessing and more about domination and a mocking control of others…whom we have no right to name.

I grew up knowing what it was to be called names—some good, some bad. On the playground kids always seem to show their oppressive creativity in devising the most unpleasant nicknames. Trust me I know…probably you do as well. At home, even my Dad’s affectionate nicknames for me were words that might be hard for some to swallow such as “Knucklehead”, “Twerp”, and “Dummy.” It could have been much worse. While my dad meant better than the kids on the playground, his naming left much to be desired.

Much has been written in recent years about the oppressor’s practice of naming the oppressed. However, this practice is an ancient one. You can read Daniel 1:1-7 as four young Jewish youths who were taken from Jerusalem as part-hostage and part-culture changers are renamed in especially insensitive ways by their Babylonian captors. How many of them can you name by their real names? (Three of their oppressor-given names are more familiar to us than their original names. Try to answer before looking below.)

  

Original Name	Meaning	Captive Names	Meanings
Daniel	God is my Judge	Belteshazzer	O Lady [wife of the god Bel], protect the king
Hananiah	Yahweh is gracious	Shadrach	“I am very fearful”; or “Command of Aku” [moon god]
Mishael	Who is what God is?	Meshach	“Who is like Aku?”; or “I am of little account”
Azariah	Yahweh is a helper	Abednego	Servant of Nebo (the shining one) sun

Contemporary understanding of justice emphasizes the right of a person to “name his own universe.” But why is this important? So how should we respond when we are named by others? In what ways will their naming of us affect our lives?

As a case study, let’s consider these four Hebrews. How did Daniel and his friends react to their re-naming? (In addition to Daniel 1:1-7, you may want to consider 4:7-9; 5:11-13; and 10:1-2.)

How does this biblical example inform our own situations?

I probably have at least two more posts I could write on this subject but would like to get a dialog started here instead of preemptively putting my opinion out there. Will you join me?