Five Stages of Discipleship - “Stage 1 - Death (Non-Discipleship)”

 Last week in Doug Haskin’s sermon, he mentioned something in the first service that caught my ear. He said that the Navajo people have a fear, or at the very least, an uneasiness about death. So I started looking into that. The story goes that when the Spanish came in and diseases spread, the time was called “running away from death.” If someone stayed near someone who was dying they too would get the disease and most likely die. Historians point to that moment when fear about being around the death began. 

The custom then developed that only two people would be around a dead body. They would cover themselves in ash and only wear moccasins. If the person died in their home, the building was burned. If they died outside of the home, their possessions would be buried with them. In addition to this, after the burial of the body, tracks to the site would be swept away so that the spirit of the person could not find their way back to the family. On top of this, a custom of not speaking the person’s name came about as to not draw the person away from the afterlife. So fear of death isn’t so much the issue, but rather the returning of the dead.

 

And this idea of death, a light hearted subject for a Sunday morning, is what leads us into our sermon series on discipleship where we are going to start off in the Gospel of John chapter 3, verse 1. And as you open to John 3:1, let me set up what the next five weeks are going to look like. 

We’ll be talking about growing in our faith walk with Jesus. Jesus calls us to be his disciples, which means we are to be learning from the Master. Being a disciple presupposes that growth will happen in our lives. One of the great travesties that has entered the Church is that we say a prayer of accepting Jesus and we get a mindset that’s it until heaven. Too many times I have spoken with people who hold this idea. 

But Jesus says things like, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. (John 15:4)” Or “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)” Or “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Matthew 7:24)”

Greater listening and greater obeying of the Master is Jesus’ intention. The goal is that we begin to experience the gift of eternal life now, which is called the abundant life. Putting the words of the Master into practice is living and growing in our relationship with him. 

So for the next five weeks, we are going to walk through five stages of discipleship. These stages are Dead, Infant, Child, Young Adult, and finally Parent. I want to challenge you, that as we walk through these stages, that you are honest with yourself in where you are. If you are an infant, then praise God, and know that you have whole new discoveries of his faithfulness ahead of you. If you are a parent, then praise God, because we need fully mature believers to lead others into deeper understanding. No matter where you find yourself, the goal isn’t to beat yourself up about it, but rather to grow.

So let’s jump into it and begin with stage one, death. Let’s read John 3:1-21 together.

“1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.’ 3 Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ 4 Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?’ 5 Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’

“9 Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ 10 Jesus answered him, ‘Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.’

16 “‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.’”

Now there’s a lot that we could cover in this passage but for our purposes today, we’re only going to be looking at this passage from the 100ft view. 

At the end of Jesus’ conversation he makes a statement that reverberates back through the interaction. In verse 19 Jesus says, “… and people loved the darkness …” This is important because at the beginning we’re told very plainly that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. From the passage we know that Nicodemus is a Pharisee, and it’s not uncommon for the religious leaders to come and challenge Jesus, but Nicodemus does this at night to be more covert. He didn’t want his fellow Pharisees to know of this meeting. Jesus calls it out that people love darkness because it covers their deeds. A hint at Jesus’ desire for us to live in the light of God and not the darkness of sin. Jesus’ challenge to Nicodemus is to come out of darkness and into the light.

This is the call that Jesus sends out to everyone. The dichotomy is very simple, there is the light of Jesus and the darkness of the world. If you don’t have the light, then all you’re left with is darkness. 

Walking backward through the conversation we can see that within darkness there is condemnation, while in the light, there’s no condemnation. In the darkness stands those who do not believe in Jesus, while in the light, stand those who do believe.

So what’s all that mean? Why are there these dichotomies of darkness and light? Of condemnation and forgiveness? Of believing in Jesus’ or not? The answer is sin. Sin is the darkness that breeds death. Sin is what condemns us to separation from God. Sin is what keeps us from believing in Jesus. Death is the state that all humanity is in apart from Jesus. We’re all just roaming zombies if you will.

The proclivity to sin entered into the human race via Adam and Eve. It was their sin that turned the creation upside down. It is their sin and their weakness to it’s temptations that flows through each of their children. It is why David in his Psalm 51 writes, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (51:5 [NIV])” What is sin? One definition has it as, missing the target. As an archer nocks his arrow to the bow string with the purpose of hitting the bullseye, he releases and the arrow sails through the air, missing the target. And so sin is missing the God mark. God says this, and we do something else. But it’s deeper than simply missing a target. It’s desiring those things that God said don’t. It’s desiring lies, when God desires truth. It’s desiring what isn’t ours and it’s stealing to get it. It’s dishonor people in our lives; from parents to friends, to bosses, to employees. It’s lusting after others, and sleeping with someone who isn’t our opposite gender spouse. It’s placing things in front of God, or making things, even ourselves, into God. It’s taking the Lord’s name in vain by our words or deeds. It’s not keeping holy things respected and trampling them with disdain.

Sin is simply doing what God says not to. And the more we engage in sin, the more destruction we cause in our own lives and the lives of others. And then we make justifications for why it’s okay to continue doing the sinful things. Like our parents Adam and Eve, we blame it on others. The blame shifts to parents, to spouses, to friends, to jobs, to situations. And instead of the light showing our faults, we sink deeper into darkness. And our sin is ever present with a knife at our throats, condemning us before God. It is a sad state, and as long as we stay in a state of sin, we stay in a place where we will always reside, death. A state of everliving darkness. As Jesus would go on to state, “But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 8:12 [NIV])”

So every person who has ever and will ever live is in this state of condemnation, of death, by their own sin. Every person is in a state of darkness, and so the light of Jesus comes into the world of sin to bring us out of darkness into the light, out of condemnation into restoration, out of death and into life. 

Continuing walking backwards in the conversation, Jesus speaks of believing in him for that transfer from darkness to light; from condemnation to restoration. Jesus references a story from the life of Moses that Nicodemus would know. Due to the Israelites sin of turning away from the land that God had promised them, they were punished with snakes that came into the community. People were being bitten and many died. Moses called out to God for mercy. God told him to make a booze serpent and put it on a pole. If a bitten person looked to the pole they would be saved (Numbers 21:6-9). Jesus points to that saving act and says, that’s what we are to look towards. We are being bitten by the snake of sin and dying in condemnation because of it. So Jesus is lifted up as a sacrifice that we might look to him and be saved. We are to believe in what Jesus has said and done. That belief is an act of trust. Trusting that Jesus is right and we have lived in pursuit of sin. Trusting that he cared for us and places himself in a position to forgive that sin. And then walking hand in hand with him the rest of our lives. 

It’s the transition from the dark to light, from condemnation to restoration, that Jesus begins the conversation with Nicodemus. 

Jesus speaks of re-birth. In response to this, Nicodemus thinks of actual birth, and reentering the womb and being reborn. But Jesus is talking about a spiritual birth. A renewal of the soul. This happens only by a movement of the Spirit. We cannot earn the renewal, the light, the restoration, the life. It has to be given to us, and we must receive it. Jesus offers everyone the opportunity to receive his offer of light; his offer of restoration and rebirth. We must accept that gift. Paul writes it like this in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

And how do we receive it? Paul writes this in Romans 10, “8 But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ (10:8-13)”

The first stage of discipleship is the non-disciple. It’s a realization that we are not a follower of Jesus. It’s a recognition of our sin and that we are condemned to death by those sins. It’s coming to a point of saying, I have sinned against God and I need to be renewed by the Spirit through the work of Jesus being lifted up on the cross.

At this heartfelt recognition, we embrace the light. God pours out renewal on us, and from that moment on, he looks at us in the light of his grace. Perfect in eternity, through the lens of Jesus. 

But God wants us to fully experience that renewal and that light. That’s why every person who trusts in Jesus as their Savior is a disciple, who is called to grow in their walk with Jesus. Once we move from death to life, from darkness to light, from condemnation to renewal, we are to walk in a state of growing. As a young couple begins to walk their lives together, so too, each disciple is to walk their lives with God.

The start of this walk is what we’ll talk about next week. 

My challenge for you this week, however,  is one of two things. First, if you don’t know Jesus as your personal Savior, what’s holding you back? If you have questions, you can talk to me after the service or during the week, or you can drop that connect card into the bags later on in the service, and I can get back with you. Jesus didn’t come to condemn you or the world, but open the way out of death into eternal life. Don’t let that gift pass you by.

Second, if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, then praise him in the next song as if it was your first time praising him after he saved you. Let us recapture the moment of our first experience when we moved from death to life. Jesus was worthy of our praise then, and he is worthy of it now.

Let us move ever closer to our Savior, further into the light of his love. Amen.

YHVH the Divine Covenantal Name - A Scholarly Paper

                                                                            Introduction

The shepherd tended to his father-in-law’s sheep as they roamed the wilderness. As the flock came near a mountain, the shepherd’s eyes fell on a bush engulfed in flames yet not being consumed by the fire’s incinerating effects. Intrigued by the fire, the shepherd said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. (Ex. 3:3 [ESV])” That turning from his life as a shepherd changed the trajectory of the shepherd’s life. Soon, he would know why the bush raged in fire, yet it did not burn. The angel of the LORD was within the bush, and the voice of God called out from the fiery bush. A messenger, a leader, a prophet would the shepherd become, for God would send him to his people to proclaim freedom and blessing. But what God had called? By what name was this deity to be known? This is the question the shepherd would ask, “If I come to the people of Israel … and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them? (v.13)” To this God replied, “’eh-yeh ’ǎ-šer ’eh-yeh” “I am who I am. (v.14)” 

For the first time in the Scriptures, the God of heaven and earth gave his chosen name, which he intended his people to know him by, a name that would become the basis for the covenant relationship of the Israelite people. The name which Jesus would invoke to lay his own claim of divinity. YHWH, the divine name of God. God reveals his covenantal name so that his people knowingly carry it to honor him worldwide. In the following paper, I will briefly explore the origins of the covenantal name of God in the Ancient Near East, how the Israelites treated the name in the Old Testament, Jesus’ and the New Testament’s treatment of the name, and finally, the implications of the covenantal name for Christians today. 

Overview

The following paper focuses on four areas in conjunction with the covenantal name spelled YHWH below, which is the most common rendering. The first of these is YHWH in the Ancient Near East. In this section, I will examine the most ancient connection point with the covenantal name in ancient Egypt. I will move forward in time, covering other possibilities for using the name outside and inside its Semitic use. I will also briefly review the name’s origins, focusing on Northern and Southern origin. Finally, in this first section, I will show how the biblical story fits the evidence.

In section two, I will explore the agreed-upon first use of the YHWH name in Exodus three. In looking through the interaction between YHWH and Moses, I will show the meaning of the name for the people of Israel and how it reveals, in part, the nature of God. From there, I will briefly detail its use throughout the Pentateuch and the rest of the Old Testament. A brief mention will be made to examine Exodus 20:7 and its implications for the Jewish community. This section will then end with a focus on the name in Israelite worship.

YHWH And Jesus is in section three, which will focus on how Jesus connects himself to the covenantal name. A brief look at the seven “I am” passages will be mentioned, focusing on those “I am” statements that illicit a reaction from the Jewish audience, found in the Gospel of John chapters eight and ten. A connection will be made via the Greek translation of the Old Testament to the statements, thereby showing how Jesus was purposeful in his affirmation that he is the YHWH of the covenant. This section will then conclude with a look at Matthew 28:19 and the name Jesus teaches his disciples by which to baptize—exploring how the covenantal name is Triune.

The final section transitions to the Church and explains how the name motif was carried out through the New Testament writings. There will be a focus on Peter and the first uses of the name of Jesus in Acts two through 4. Following this, time will be spent with Paul and his uses of Jesus’ name in his writings, with much attention given to the statement in Philippians 2:10. The section ends with wrestling with the question of whether it is legitimate for the Church to use the terminology of being name bearers of God, as Israel is. The paper concludes with a brief overview and a call to Christians to follow in line with past believers who honored God by bearing his name.

YHWH In The Ancient Near East

Since the covenantal name, YHWH, seems to be the most connected to the period of Israel’s dealings with Egypt, this connection must be examined. By using three historical anchor points: the foundation of Solomon’s temple, the temple’s destruction, and Babylonian clay tablets, Gavin Cox places the Exodus around 1445/6 B.C.  Irving L Jensen and Paul N. Benware agree with this dating, while Provan, Long, and Longman agree that the date is one of three highly plausible dates. Taking this date, and due to Pharaoh’s declaration in Exodus 5:2, “Who is the Lord … I do not know the Lord …,” it would make sense that the name of YHWH would not be found any earlier that the time of the Exodus. In Michela Schiff Giorgini’s 1957–1963 excavations of the temple of Amenhotep’s second courtyard, the phrase “land of the nomads of Yahweh” has been uncovered. This temple dates to Egypt’s eighteenth dynasty and Pharaoh Amenhotep III between 1387-1348 B.C. This would be in keeping with Egypt’s later encounters with the nation of Israel as they bore the name of YHWH, in the time of Joshua and the judges as Israel transitioned from nomadic to solidifying into a bordered nation.

In the same period of Egypt’s eighteenth dynasty, a Book of the Dead papyrus was found to contain a non-Egyptian name. To translate this name, Cox uses the transliteration of both Egyptian and Hebrew to arrive at the English rendering of “[The] Lord [is] my shepherd Yah.” Cox concludes that the name’s bearer could be an elite Jew sometime before or during the Exodus. The use of Yah in Israelite names before God’s self-identification in Exodus three is in keeping with the biblical text. Joseph’s (Gen. 30:24), or Yehoseph, meaning “Yah (YHWH) has added.” Another example of a theophoric name can be found in Exodus 6:20 with Moses’ mother, Jochebed, or Yahkabed, meaning “Yah (YHWH) gives weight or is impressive.”

Widening the focus of the use of YHWH in the Ancient Near East, Josef Tropper mentions the name in neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid writings from the eighth and seventh centuries B.C.. In cuneiform texts from this period, Tropper sees two variations of the name, ia-aḫ u-ú and ia-a-ma, as they are used in theophoric names. Aramaic inscriptions of Akkadian texts form the yh or ywh of the names, similar to their use in the above examples of Yehoseph and Yahkabed. 

In keeping with the region of the neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid empires, Markus Witte and Jürgen van Oorschot open their book addressing the debate within academia of the origin of the name YHWH as being either in the northern region of Mesopotamia or southern towards the area of the Sinai Peninsula. Advocating a north origin, Manfred Krebernik uses examples such as the Ancient Near Eastern god El interacting with Baal and the mountain Ṣapā/ūnu, which occurs in the eighth and seventh century B.C. Here Krebernik draws associations with YHWH when he writes, “The Ugaritic name of the mountain has a Hebrew equivalent ṣāpōn with the general meaning ‘North,’ which in Ps 48:3 it is still recognizable as the name of a mountain associated with Yhwh.” Due to this overlap and others he sees, Krebernik makes his case for the name YHWH and the worship that followed to be based in the north. This is not necessarily incorrect. As one looks at the history of the world through the Genesis account, Noah’s ark is said to have “… came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. (Gen. 8:4)” The location of which Anne Habermehl puts within the kingdom of Urartu in modern-day Turkey. It would logically follow that the first mentions of YHWH would also be in the area. 

However, Jörg Jeremias says, “… Israelite groups adopted the worship of Yhwh (in whatever form) from the Midianites or Kenites.” This connected YHWH with the Israelites around the time of the Exodus in the region of Egypt and points to earlier attestations than Krebernik. To bolster his argument, Jeremias brings up the expression in Exodus 33:30, “El (is) the God of Isra – El.” Kerbernick builds off the idea that El was the Hebrews’ deity before they adopted the Midianites’ YHWH through Moses’ marriage. Yet this theory would be inconsistent with Moses’ mother’s name containing “Yah.” Since the account of Moses’ interaction with YWHW is to be taken as truthful, God connects his identity before Moses with being the “… God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. (Ex. 3:6)”

Due to the failings of both arguments to provide a smoking gun to the origins of YHWH in the Ancient Near East, Oorschot and Witte conclude, “The present volume cannot deliver a clear and indisputable answer to the question of the historical beginning and origin of the worship of Yhwh.” Barring such a definitive origin, the biblical account would seem to give us a cohesive understanding. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was known by many names, one of which was Yah or “He who creates life.” This name was incorporated into the names of the nomadic Semitic people. Those Semitic people found in the lineage of Jacob or Israel eventually were brought into Egypt, continuing for over four hundred years the tradition of incorporating Yah into their names. Moses then encountered this God at Mt. Horeb, where Yah gave his covenantal name as YHWH. This coalescing of the debate with the biblical story leads us from YHWH in the Ancient Near East to YHWH entering into covenant with the nation of Israel, as found in the Exodus account.

YHWH, From The Exodus Through the Old Testament

Wout Jac van Bekkum sets the point of Exodus 3 as “… the main sources for the biblical attitude to the name of God …” It is within the meeting of YHWH and Moses that sets the basis for all interactions with YHWH throughout the rest of the Old Testament into the New. There are several points of interest in this first encounter between the YHWH and the future leader of Israel. The first is the setting. Moses is out attending his father-in-law’s flock. While shepherding, he comes upon a bush that burns but is not consumed by the fire. The biblical account states, “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. (Ex. 3:2)” Moses first step in his encounter is through God’s angel, or messenger. This encounter happens if not directly on Horeb, then in its vicinity, a mountain already recognized as “… the mountain of God. (v.1)”

Yet, as Elaine Phillips notices, the angel says nothing to Moses. Instead, it is God himself who speaks to Moses, calling him by name. This is the second point of interest. In verse five, God’s revelation of who he is indicates something more in Moses’ response. van Bekkum states, “In traditional Jewish exegesis … [God] revealed himself in the voice of Moses’ father.” The purpose of this was due to Moses’ inexperience with prophecy and the divine. Jewish exegesis puts forth that God spoke in the voice of Moses’ father so that Moses would be neither frightened nor lead him to take prophecy lightly. When Moses responds affirmatively, God informs Moses that he has come to a holy place and must remove his sandals. Following this, God reveals that he is the God of Moses’ father, showing who he truly is. Moses’ response is to hide his face in fear.

The third point of interest is God’s first revealing of his identity. God not only calls himself “… the God of your father … (v.6)” but also “… the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” It is strange then that Moses would ask in verse thirteen, “If I come to the people of Israel, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” It appears that in Moses’ mind, the revelation of the God he is speaking with and the description given would not be enough to convince the people of Israel that Moses was indeed sent. A specific name must be given for the Israelites to believe. Whether this is the case or whether this is Moses’ second attempt to discount his calling (verse twelve being the first) matters not because God does give him a name, “’ eh-yeh’ ǎ-šer’ eh-yeh.” van Bekkum writes, “Numerous commentators and exegetes have observed that we are given here an explanation of the tetragrammaton … Whatever reservations one may have regarding the etymological correctness of this derivation, one cannot negate the fact that a connection with h-w-h/h-y-h gives meaning to the divine name …” This divine name reveals  God’s past, present, and future being. The God that is before Moses is the God who is the Yah that has been at work, is at work, and will be at work. The Greek Septuagint renders this name as ego eimi ho on (“I am THE BEING”). As English translations render it, “… I am who I am … (v.14.),” a blanket statement which carries with it the idea that “… the Lord is the eternal self-existent and sustaining source of all that is, entirely sufficient for all past, present and future trials and triumphs … The root of this verb is the basis for the divine name Yahweh …” In speaking of this, R.R. Reno states, “God is announcing that he is the source and summit of all that is. He is the High God, the Transcendent, the One who is and cannot not be.”

From this moment onward, the Israelites would know the self-revealing name of their God, YHWH. Tradition holds that Moses wrote the Pentateuch. Knowing that God reveals his covenantal name to Moses at the burning bush, when writing Genesis, Moses inserts the covenantal name roughly one hundred and eighty-nine times to make it a point that the covenantal God of Israel is from the beginning of all creation. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy contain one thousand four hundred and twenty-seven uses of YHWH, with the rest of the Old Testament containing the rest of the seven thousand seven hundred and ninety uses of the covenantal name.

It is the covenantal name of YHWH that in Exodus twenty, the LORD would make the third command, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. (Ex 20:7)” Due to this, E. C. B. MacLaurin notes that “… pious Hebrews and Jews did not pronounce, substituting for it the common Semitic word meaning ‘lord.’” Though MacLaurin sees several weaknesses with this history of why the name was replaced, he agrees that it is “… held everywhere and for a very long time…” The reason for this almost universal avoidance of the Tetragrammaton is due to Jewish Oral Law’s restriction of it. To avoid breaking the third command, it has become customary in Jewish communities to substitute YHWH for other names while speaking, such as Adonai and The Name, and while writing, such as G_d. Since the name has not been spoken since roughly the third century B.C., and Jewish translators omitted vowels as part of the respectful treatment of the name, any hope of correctly sounding out the name is done through the use of Adonai’s vowels and the estimation of the Yh and Wh sounds.

The LORD’s name, given to Moses, ushered in the covenant with Israel and also shaped the nation’s worship. YHWH would become a focus of the cultic worship of Israel; this can be seen throughout the Old Testament because he deserves to be praised. Psalm 113:2 declares, “Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore!” Again, the Psalmist writes, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. (118:26)” The teacher in Proverbs states, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. (18:10)” Daniel declares, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. (2:20)” Israel took the name of the Lord as not simply a way to refer to their God, but rather as the center point of their worship. YHWH, the central point of all aspects of life, especially in the realm of salvation, prepares the way for the Messiah Jesus to come and claim the covenantal name for himself. 

YHWH And Jesus

As in the centrality of God’s name in the worship of Israel, so is the name of God in Jesus’ mission. Jesus calls out, “Father, glorify your name,” to which the Father replies, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. (Jn 12:28)” This glorification was done through the works of Jesus. In his high priestly prayer, Jesus states, “… Holy Father, keep them in your name … (Jn 17:11),” referring to his disciples being protected and strengthened. Because the Gospel of John focuses more than the other gospels on the significance of Jesus’ name language, Joshua J. F. Coutts remarks, “Occurring as it does in such a wide range of expressions, it is likely that the name was a fundamental category for John …”

Though much can be said about Jesus’ purposeful use of the divine name throughout John, no connection is more pointed than his seven I am statements and their corresponding twelve verses. This paper focuses on the implications of YHWH in these statements. As was stated above, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Septuagint, and specifically how YHWH is translated therein, is ego eimi ho on. Jesus connects with the covenantal name of God by utilizing ego eimi in all but one of the twelve verses where he states, “I am.” The seven statements are: “I am the bread of life (6:35, 48, 51),” “I am the light of the world (8:12; 9:5),” “I am the door/gate (10:7, 9),” “I am the good shepherd (10:11, 14),” I am the resurrection and the life (11:25),” “I am the way, the truth, and the life (14:6),” “I am the true vine (15:1).” Robert H. Gundry writes of these statements that “These suggest the claim to be the ‘I AM-YAHWEH’ of the Old Testament.” David A. deSilva not only connects Jesus’ “I am” statements directing to God’s self-revealing of the covenantal name but also placing himself throughout Scripture. deSilva writes, “In most instances, Jesus is presented as ‘exegeting’ his own significance in light of the Old Testament images … the primary background is almost certainly provided by divine speech in the Jewish Scriptures, beginning with Exodus 3:14: ‘I am who I am.”

Jesus’ intentionality of connecting himself to the covenantal name and his Jewish understanding of this connection comes in two places: chapters eight and ten of John. In chapter eight, Jesus talks about how he does not seek his own glory, but “… there is One who seeks it… (8:49)” Jesus then states, “... if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. (v. 52)” To this, the Jewish people scoff and challenge Jesus, bringing up how many prophets have died and questioning if Jesus believes himself greater than even Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. Here, Jesus makes an important statement, “… before Abraham was, I am. (v.58)” John records the immediate reaction of the Jewish audience when they “… picked up stones to throw at him … (v. 59)” The immediate action of grabbing stones to kill Jesus speaks to the intensity of the conversation. Jesus was not simply connecting himself to a long line of prophets from God but to the eternal God. This would not be the last time Jesus’ words connecting himself to God would end with the Jewish audience reaching for stones.

In chapter ten, there are two “I am” statements: door/gate and good shepherd. This leads Jesus into a teaching on his authority, and it is told, “There was again division among the Jews because of these words. (v.19)” This division would grow and come to a head at the Feast of Dedication, where Jesus would push the issue of his divine connection by stating, “I and the Father are one. (v.30)” John records that “The Jews picked up stones again to stone him, (v.31)” for the reason of “… blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God. (v.34)” Again, the Jewish audience understood that Jesus directly connected himself to the God of Israel, placing himself equally with YHWH. 

Turning from John’s Gospel, something needs to be said about Jesus’ transition from the covenantal name of YHWH to the trinitarian name of Matthew 28:19. Like the covenant of Israel based on the name God gave them, Jesus performs a similar covenantal right based on the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here, Matthew Henry recognizes that there are not three names but one. Giving one unifying name on the mountain carries the same intention and force as when the one divine name was given to Moses on Horeb. When a person is baptized in the Triune name, they take on the New Covenant under the grace of Jesus. Here, Jesus again connects himself to the covenantal name, initiating his New Covenant with people of many nations grafted to his eternal purposes.

Undoubtedly, as far as Jesus was concerned, he and the covenantal name YHWH were one and the same. Jesus expanded that understanding of that name to include him and, by doing so, revealed his triune nature. Due to this, Jesus’ disciples would carry on the connection with his name as the name by which one must be saved and under which his Church would carry out his mission.

The Name Through the Church

In the first sermon of Jesus’ Church, given by Peter to the masses gathered on the day of Pentecost, the apostle said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins … (Acts 2:28)” Following this, Peter and John are walking to the temple when they meet a crippled man. It is “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth …” that the man is told to “… rise up and walk! (Acts 3:6)” Not long after the first sermon, Peter and John stood before the ruling council of the Jews and proclaimed, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)” Yon-Gyong Kwon rightly recognizes that “Peter did not have money, but he had something much better, namely, the name of Jesus Christ. This name healed this person not because it was magical but because it was (and still is) authoritative and powerful.” But it is Craig Keener who draws the connection to the invocation of the name of YHWH by the prophets, noting, “As God’s representatives, prophets sometimes commanded, speaking by the word of the Lord, and their words were fulfilled … Such commands, though addressed to the object in question, could also function as implicit prayers by reflecting dependence on God.” The covenantal name of YHWH now carried forward the Church under the name of Jesus as representing the new covenant by which all people may enter into salvation. Throughout the rest of the book of Acts, it will be under the name of Jesus that the Church will continue to spread.

Paul would continue using the name of Jesus by calling upon,, appealing to, assembling under, and being sanctified and justified under it. Paul gave thanks in the name of of Jesus, sought to do everything in and glorify the name of Jesus, and commanded others in the name of Jesus. Finally, John points to the name of Jesus when he wrote, “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. (1 Jn. 3:23)"

The name was so intricate to the basis of all that was done in the Church that Paul would write, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:9-11)” This statement closes out the hymn, which began in verse five and is one of the most poignant pieces of Scripture, which points to the equality of Jesus with the Father outside of Jesus’ own words. The connection of Jesus being the name to which all knees will bow leads Charles B. Cousar to write, “Since the Isaiah reference demands that the name that is above every name must be YHWH, so in Phil 2:10–11 the name every tongue confesses is not Jesus, but “Lord” (YHWH), the name of status and power.” The Church has borne the name of Jesus in keeping with Jesus’ connection to the divine name of Exodus 3, and by whose name all things were created.

At this junction, Carmen Joy Imes brings up an important question, “Making this leap from ancient Israel to us, today, we must ask, “Is it legitimate for Christians to read the Sinai narratives as our story and to read Israel’s vocation to bear Yahweh’s name as our vocation?” Imes emphatically believes this is true. This is due to Peter using Sinai covenant language when speaking about the Church. God intended that his covenant with Israel be borne by the name YHWH; it is now God’s intention that his Church, in the new covenant, bear this Gospel message by the name of Jesus. As Imes ends her article, “As Old Testament scholar Terence Fretheim said so poignantly in his commen­tary on Exodus, ‘At the deepest level, use of God’s name is a matter of mission.’ May we bear God’s name with honour.” Let the Church, those who call on the name of Jesus for salvation, continue to bear the name of God for all eternity.

Conclusion

God has always sought people with whom he would dwell. In pursuing this, he chose and set aside a people who would bear his name. Through a covenant with Israel, the name YHWH was given by which the nation would be known to serve. This name would become the focal point of all worship for the Israelites, and through sin and repentance, his name would continue to endure throughout Israel’s history. When the second person of the Trinity, the Word, became flesh, Jesus continually connected his name to the covenantal divine name. His disciples would then bear that name throughout the writings of the New Testament. Today, every person who calls upon the name of Jesus continues bearing his name before the nations. As the Israelites were called to do, Christians were also called to honor and keep their names holy. In doing this, the Church points to the second coming of her Lord and the day his name will be known and revered on all the earth.

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