Jesus, name above all names;
Beautiful Savior, glorious Lord.
Emmanuel, God is with us;
Blessed Redeemer, Living Word.song “Jesus, Name Above All Names”, by Nadia Hearn
© Copyright 1974 by Scripture in Song
Such a simple song, yet such a great feeling of humble devotion. How do you feel when you say the name of Jesus? Humble? Reverent? Unworthy? Thankful? Hopefully you treat the name of Jesus with more respect than the world does, with so many saying His holy name without so much as a thought of it being more than “just a word”.
How did people treat the name of Jesus in Bible times?
- People were healed in the name of Jesus (Acts 3:6)
- The name of Jesus is equated with good news (Acts 8:12)
- Sinners were baptized in the name of Jesus (Acts 10:48)
- Evil spirits fled at the name of Jesus (Acts 16:18)
Indeed, we’re told that there will come a day when “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11) So we know there will come a time when everyone will praise the name of Jesus — even those who curse His name today!
When you speak the name of Jesus, do you do so with the understanding and the realization that you are speaking the very name of God Himself? In a very real sense that I don’t believe we can understand completely, the Son and the Father are one (John 10:30, John 17:11, John 17:22). Certainly the phrase “I AM” had a very specific meaning to the Jews — a meaning they understood without question to be God (Exodus 3:14), and which was considered to be His name. Are you aware that Jesus used this phrase on at least two occasions to refer to Himself?
- When walking on water: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14:27, Mark 6:50, John 6:20)
- When responding to the mob: “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (John 18:4-5)
But wait a minute, you say. Jesus didn’t simply say “I am”. He said “I am he” or “It is I”. And you’re sort of correct. That’s the way these verses are often translated into the English language. Look at what He really said though. What He said in both of these situations was originally recorded in the Greek language, and in the Greek all 4 of these verses use the phrase “ego eimi” — I AM.
This was no mistake on Jesus’ part. In the case of trying to ease the disciples’ fear, He was letting them know that God was with them. (In fact, isn’t that exactly what one of His other names — Immanuel — means? Matthew 1:23)
Why He said this to the mob, I don’t know, but I do know their response, and it was nothing short of a mind-breaking, take-your-breath-away awe: “When He told them I AM, they drew back and fell to the ground.” (John 18:6 — That’s my paraphrase of the Greek. Hover over the verse for the ESV translation of it.) In effect, He’s saying, “I’m God — take me if you want”, and they responded accordingly — if only for a moment.
All right, my point in all of this is that “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow”, and every time we say His name we should bow — not necessarily physically, but mentally humbling ourselves before Him, recognizing Jesus as our Lord and our God (John 20:28), and that His name is undeniably the name above all names.