Thursday, April 4, 2013

What is the real name of Jesus Christ?

People have argued with me for years on who Jesus Christ was, what his name is, and how to properly address him by name. First of all, Jews of the first century had only one name, plus "son of (his father)"- ben. So, Christ is not part of Jesus' real name - it simply means 'anointed', indicating the Messiah.

The name Jesus is the Greek translation of the name Joshua, an approximate transliteration of the Hebrew or Aramaic Yehoshua. In the Old Testament, Joshua is always transliterated into English as Joshua, but the New Testament was originally written in Greek, so the Greek form, Jesus, is used in English.

So, Jesus Christ's real name was Joshua ben Joseph, or more correctly, Yehoshua ben Yosef (Hebrew) or Yehoshua bar Yosef (Aramaic). But why do we call him Jesus? and are we committing a sin or do we have the wrong Jesus by not addressing him by some other name? Not in the least! I am willing to submit that it is more important do believe in the words of The Christ, or in Jesus and to believe on his name versus pronounce it properly.

Conclusion: It will not be a contest on how to best pronounce his name. Jesus, Yehoshua, or Yehoshua bar Yosef, the prince of peace, the anointed one, Messiah, the Prince of Peace, he goes by many names. What's important with us is that we do not vary in the ways that we follow him, but that we endeavor to follow his example!

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