The Meaning Of Jesus’ Name And Titles
A good friend tells the story of a pastor of a small church. They didn’t have an offering basket so the pastor used to pass his hat. One Sunday at offering time the pastor put $10 in his hat and passed it around. After the service he and his little boy sat down to count the money. The pastor emptied the hat and there was only $10 in it. The boy turned to his dad and said, “Well Dad, if you would have put more in you would have gotten more out!”
We have been talking about how to study the Bible on our own. I hope that by now you realize studying the Bible is like drawing water from a well that’s fed by an underground spring. It will never run dry. It’s possible for you to do a brief study and draw a few tasty sips of truth. However, the more time you put in, the more wonderful truth you will find.
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In a previous post we identified 27 different terms from Mark 1:1-8 that we could look at more closely to understand better. Today we are going to look at a few words that we often pass over because they are so familiar to us. Mark 1:1 ends with “Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” We all know what those words mean, don’t we? Let’s dig a little bit and see what we find.
Jesus’ Name and Title In Mark 1:1
- Jesus
- Jesus’ name was a common name.
- The Hebrew form of this name is Joshua.
- The Greek form is derived from the Aramaic Jeshua or Yeshua.
- Jesus’ name means “Yahweh is salvation.”
- Christ
- This is a title and sometimes used as Jesus’ name.
- It means anointed.
- The Old Testament equivalents for this term are “anointed one” and “messiah.”
- In the Old Testament prophets, priests and kings were anointed.
- A person was anointed because he was singled out for a particular task for God.
- Those who first read this would immediately think Jesus as a king and warrior.
- Son of God
- It is first of all a description of family relationship.
- It’s also a unique title.
- It’s a title from the Father Mark 1:11 and that Jesus claimed for Himself Mark 14:61-62.
Mark begins this book with a bold and direct affirmation of who Jesus is by telling us Jesus’ name and titles. He is Savior, the Anointed and promised King from the Old Testament and the Son of God. Throughout the book Mark will explain and show how this is true. For now he simply declares it.
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Jesus wants to save you from your sin. He also wants to be in your life to lead you. Does your relationship with Jesus reflect that He is the Son of God? Do you rest in His love when you are worn out? Do you seek His power when you are weak? Do you turn to Him for direction when you’re not sure what to do? Think about what these familiar words mean to your life today!
Please leave any questions or comments below.
