Names of Jesus

Our Lord Jesus has many names and titles in the Scripture. The Apostles’ Creed lists several of them, which we discuss in the catechism in Lord’s Days 11-13. Here is a longer list. Each of these names is a call to admire the beauty of our Saviour and the glory of his saving work!

• Christ = Messiah = Anointed. Early on, the church attached this title to the name Jesus as a matter of routine, so that it often functions as a proper name: “Jesus Christ”. The name Christ summarizes the divine anointment and appointment of Jesus.
• Imma-nu-el. “With-us-God.” From the prophecy in Is. 7:14, repeated in Mat. 1:23.
• Jesus (= Joshua). “The LORD saves.” This first name was declared by the angel (Mat. 1:22; Luke 1:31) to describe the unique task our Lord came to do.
• King of Kings and Lord of Lords. A typical Hebrew way of saying “highest king and master” (e.g. Ps. 136:1-3). These highest divine titles are applied directly to the glorified Lord Jesus in Rev. 19:16.
• Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. That is how John the Baptist introduced Jesus when he first saw him. (John 1:29) The idea of lamb has clear sacrificial aspect; see also Is. 53.
• Lord. “Jesus Christ is Lord,” is the earliest public confession of the church. Not only does “Lord” imply authority, it was also the way God’s people expressed the covenant name Yahweh, “the LORD”. When Christians speak of their “Lord”, they not merely show respect, but give divine worship to Jesus.
• Saviour = Redeemer. “The Son of man came to seek and save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10)
• Son of God. The angel announced Jesus as “the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32). The intimate way in which he called God his “Father” prompted the Jews to ask him: “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (Mark 14:61) His affirmative answer became his death sentence.
• Son of Man. In Daniel 7:13, the “Son of Man” is given the dominion and kingdom over the entire world. Jesus often applied this title to himself.
• Word = Logos. Both John 1 and 1 John 1 introduce Jesus as “the Word”. He is the full divine revelation, and the way in which God powerfully speaks life and light into this world of death and darkness.

For a devotional based on these and other names of Jesus, see Ann Spangler, Praying the Names of Jesus. (Zondervan, 2006)