What’s in a Name?
In October of 1990, four-year-old Ryan and two-year-old Megan joined in our excitement about the impending birth of child number three. Since an ultrasound didn’t show the gender of the baby, we knew we’d need to finalize two names before the big day arrived.
Choosing a name wasn’t an easy task, but this time around, Gary came up with a unique idea. He put all of our name possibilities on sticky notes and arranged them in rows on our kitchen cabinets. As we saw them throughout the day, we’d try them out. If either of us decided that we didn’t particularly like one, we’d dispose of that sticky note. When a new idea came to mind, we’d add it to the array of stickies. We both remember one evening when we had dinner guests, who after two hours of intense curiosity, finally asked about the paper adorning our cabinets. After becoming accustomed to seeing them there for a few months, we were so used to them that it didn’t occur to us how strange the sight might appear. (Just in case you are in the midst of choosing a child’s name, we did find this method to be effective!)
One name that we both liked was Kyle, but four-year-old Ryan intently insisted that it was an impossibility. You see, the neighbor boy was named Kyle and he was a teenager. “It’s not a baby’s name!”
If our new little House was a boy, we decided his name would be Nathan. His middle name would be David because Ryan’s middle name was Jonathan, and in the Bible, those guys were best friends. We hoped that would be the case with our boys, and as it turned out, all three of our kids were each other’s best friends.
Writing about Nathan’s name turned my mind to thinking about all of the names in the Bible that refer to Jesus — the name above all names, our Messiah. On Friday of this week, we will celebrate His birth and His plan for our redemption. While prophesying about Jesus’ birth, Isaiah writes, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”.
But the Bible is full of many other names referring to Jesus. I recently found a framed print of many of these names and have it hanging in our living room. If you contemplate each one, I believe you’ll be amazed, strengthened, encouraged, humbled, filled with gratitude, and will stand in awe of our God and His plan for you. Here are some of those names with accompanying Scripture references for you to take a look at for yourself.
Savior (Luke 2:11), Redeemer (Job 19:25), Lord of All (Philippians 2: 9-11), Deliverer (1 Thess. 1:10), Good Shepherd (John 10:11), Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14), Judge (Acts 10:42), Light of the World (John 8:12), Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), Advocate (1 John 2:1), Almighty One (Rev. 1:8), Author and Perfecter of our Faith (Heb. 12:2), Bread of Life (John 6:35), Alpha and Omega (Rev. 22:13), Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14), I Am (John 8:58), Lamb of God (John 1:29), Beloved Son of God (Matt. 3:17), Light of the Word (John 8:12), Mediator (I Tim. 2:5), Lord of lords and King of kings (Rev. 7:14), Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3), Holy One (Mark 1:24), Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6), The Way the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).
