Don’t Just Call Him “Jesus”
I was recently having a conversation with a friend of mine who was very closely associated with a man of South American descent whose name was “Jesus” (hay- SOOS). Those of us who are English-speaking have a hard time understanding why anyone would name their child Jesus, because for us there is only one Jesus, and he is the Son of God. We would say that only one individual has the right to be given that name (Matt. 1:21).
But in other cultures, names and the origins of names have different pronunciations and meanings. The original Hebrew equivalent to Jesus is Yeshua, which is closely associated with Joshua, and the meaning is the same – that “Jehovah is salvation.” It was normal to have a child with basically the same root spelling or meaning as Jesus in ancient Hebrew culture. In like manner, the Hispanic population thinks of the name Jesus as not associated with the Son of God, but when they say “Jesus” they are speaking of a person like we might speak of John or James or any other common name in our language and culture.
And now the real point – the explanation of “Jesus” being ascribed in Latin America goes even farther and gets more specific. My friend explained to me that when people of Hispanic origin talk about our Jesus, they ALWAYS say “Jesus Christo” (YAY-soo krIHs-toh), they never just call the Savior “Jesus.” When I thought about that, I begin to ponder just how right they are.
You see the name of the Son of God has been watered down to just, “Jesus.” If you just call him Jesus then to some he may only be a figure from history, nothing more than a man. But to say he is the Christ – THEN you are saying he is the anointed of God! Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah. He is the chosen one. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He is the One to whom all majesty and honor is to be ascribed. He is so much more than the 21st Century, post-modern, Americanized, Jesus.
In our world, from social media to television to politics and everywhere else our Savior has become only Jesus. In fact, one could argue that the only time “Jesus Christ” is used anymore in America is for someone to swear by saying it, or to take the Lord’s name in vain. How sad! We use it for emphasis in our conversation but we don’t emphasize that the name itself means he went to the cross to save us all from our sins and give us hope! It occurs to me that we have so negated the power and authority of Jesus in our language that it would be just as peculiar for an American to always refer to Jesus as Jesus Christ as it appears somewhat strange to us that anyone would give their child the name Jesus.
So the Hispanic population calls our Jesus – “Jesus Christo” – Jesus Christ. They say it that way every time it leaves their lips. They don’t just call him Jesus. I think they got it right. He’s so much more.
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6
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AUTHOR: Jeremiah Tatum
Photo background credit: Mark Heybo on Creative Commons
