I was going to write about my term life insurance quote from Wholesale Insurance, but then I decided I’d better finish my thoughts on the name of our Messiah.
I fear that, in some respects, those who are so legalistic about using the name Yeshua only are in danger of making such usage an idol. There is no “magic quality” to the name Yeshua, or Jesus. They are the equivalents of each other, and one must not be careful to pin the mistakes of the historic church on one of the names for our Messiah.
What has power and meaning and salvation in Him is the person that name represents: the sole incarnate Son of Adonai, the Living Torah. Whether you call Him Jesus or Yeshua is not as important as whether you recognize who He is, as He revealed Himself to be.
I am a messianic and love the name of Yeshua. But I was not always messianic, and when I came to know Messiah, it was the name of Jesus I called on. That does not make the first 15-plus years of my salvation less legitimate, as some might suggest.
I’ll close with this final thought: My father is up here visiting with my wife and I for the Thanksgiving holiday. When we pray over our meals, we have on occasion taught him our Hebrew prayers that use the name of Yeshua.
However, my Dad is 86 and although he tries to be open, there’s a limit to what he can adjust to. As a courtesy to him, we have taken to reciting a prayer over our meal that my father is far more comfortable and familiar with:
“Come, Lord Jesus. Be our guest, and let this food to us be blessed.”
While I will always love the Hebrew meal blessings, and the fact that I know that those are the words Yeshua himself prayed over his meals, I would never want that lesson to transform from a blessing into such spiritual arrogance that I would assume my salvation is superior to that of someone else, who only knows Messiah as Jesus.
Any teaching that denies Jesus as a legitimate name for our Messiah goes too far and leads only to division, spiritual darkness, and worst of all, false theology. Haven’t we had enough of that, both in Judaism and Christianity?
It’s time to worship the Father in spirit and in truth, not drive people from Him over petty squabbles like this.
Tags: Jesus, my term life insurance quote from Wholesale Insurance, Yeshua
OK I use the name Jesus when I’m talking to people who don’t know the name of Yeshua. But when I’m at service, on Shabbat, I want to hear His Hebrew name because He was Hebrew and a Jew and I don’t see where He changed His name. I feel safe when I hear Yeshua. My name in Hebrew is Dina, but I want to be called Diann (and not Dianeeeee)not Dina. And I do know when you pray, God knows who’s Name your praying in cuz He knows your heart.
See, somebody reads this, once in a while.