By Wayne Crocker
Much can be learned about the wonderful life and work of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we should meekly follow Him by looking into the many Scriptural names by which He is called. The names are presented below in no particular order.
Seed of the Woman: God told the serpent/devil, “I will put enmity between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heal” (Gen 3:15). This is related to seed, as of one, as Paul taught regarding the seed of Abraham, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as one, And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Gal 3:16). This first reference to Jesus Christ teaches He would be virgin born (not man’s seed, but woman’s seed). The serpent bruised the heal of Jesus when he, the devil, inspired wicked men to crucify Him. But, at the same time Jesus bruised the serpent’s head by His sacrificial death on the cross: Christ took on human flesh “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil”(Heb 2:14).
Shiloh: “The septre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be” (Gen 49:10). Until the coming of Shiloh/Christ, Judah would remain the rightful ruler over the tribes of Israel. It is said that the word Shiloh means peaceable. He brought peace between God and man. God’s people, both Jews and Gentiles were and are gathered to Christ.
Son of David: Matthew 1:1 calls Jesus Christ, “the son of David” and He was addressed by this name time and time again by the people crying out to Him for help. In order to be the rightful King of the Jews, it was necessary that He come from the lineage of David. Our Lord Jesus Christ is an eternal King who forever rules over His people and exercises dominion over all creation.
Immanuel or Emmanuel: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa 7:14). We find the fulfillment of this prophecy in Matttew 1:23: “…they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” This tells us that Jesus is God! He is called the Son of God.
Wonderful: Isaiah tells us the Son of God’s “name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6). To those who by God’s grace are brought to a knowledge of the Savior, He is known as the most wonderful person that has ever been. His love, mercy, and grace that has delivered us from eternal hell and has given us the promise of eternal life makes us know He is most wonderful!
Counsellor: As a counsellor, Jesus represents us and pleads our case before the Father. “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). As counsellor, He continually counsels us through His recorded words in Scripture and by His Spirit that dwells within us.
The mighty God: Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man. He proved that He was not just a man, but the mighty God as He exercised power over the storms, healed all manner of sicknesses, raised the dead, walked on the water and performed other miracles.
The everlasting Father: Jesus told Philip, “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). Jesus said in John 10:30, “I and my Father are one.” The only way we can know the Father and know about the Father is through His manifestation in Jesus.
The Prince of Peace: Jesus made peace between God and man through His death for sin upon the cross. He brings peace to the troubled hearts of His children. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
Branch: Isaiah 11:1 tells us “…a Branch” will grow out of the roots of Jesse. Jesus is called “a righteous Branch” raised unto David (Jer 23:5). The name, “Branch”, is also used in Jer. 33:15, and Zec. 3:8 & 6:12 to refer to our Lord Jesus Christ. His natural lineage is through David, the son of Jesse.
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS: Jeremiah tells us: “In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer 23:6). Jesus is our righteousness. It is only through Him that we can be righteous. Our sins were imputed to Him, and His righteousness is imputed to us: “For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (II Cor. 5:21).
JESUS: The angel of the Lord told Joseph: “…thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Mat. 1:21). The word “Jesus” means savior. That is the reason the Christ child was named “JESUS”. This was a name above all others. “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-13).
Christ: means the anointed of God and is synonymous with the Hebrew word, “Missiah” . Jesus was anointed to take away our sins.
Word: From eternity, Christ existed as the Word of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). By this second person of the God-head, God spoke the universe into existence and by the same Word has communicated or “spoken unto us” (Heb. 1:2). John tells us that “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:2). “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14).
Lamb of God: John the Baptist pointed out Jesus to his disciples saying: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world”. Christ came into this world to be a sacrificial Lamb that would take away sin. “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:12). Peter tells us that we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Pet. 1:19) .
Shepherd: Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11). This good shepherd loved His sheep so much that He laid down His life for them (John 10: 11,15). Jesus was and is “that great shepherd of the sheep” (Heb. 13:20). Gospel ministers are sometimes referred to as shepherds, but Jesus is “the chief Shepherd” (I Pet. 5:4). Thankfully, our great Shepherd irresistibly calls all His sheep and they all follow Him (John 10:27) and He gives “them eternal life; and they shall never perish…” (John 10: 28). Since we belong to the Shepherd, we ought to follow Him in obedience in this present world for “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psm. 23:1).
Prophet: Moses told the people “A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you” (Acts 3: 22). Peter taught that God had “raised up his Son Jesus” (Acts 3:26) as that prophet spoken of by Moses, and that the people should listen and follow this prophet. Many people, after hearing Jesus speak, recognized Him and said, “Of a truth this is the Prophet” (John 7:40).
High Priest: Not only was Jesus the Lamb of God, but He is the High Priest that offered the sacrifice. He took upon Himself human flesh “that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17). This High Priest “offered himself without spot to God” (Heb. 9:14) as “by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:12). In addition to making the sin offering, a high priest ministers to the people. Our High Priest can be “touched with the feelings of our infirmities” (Heb. 4:15). He is an eternal High Priest in the order of Melchisedec who makes “intercession” for us (Heb. 7:25). “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners…” (Heb. 7:26).
King: “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness…” (Isa. 32:1). This prophesy is referring to the coming reign of King Jesus. When Jesus was born, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, “Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” (Mat. 2:1,2). Although Jesus in His earthly ministry did not seek or receive the glory and honor that is normally given a king, He most surely was the King. A few days before His crucifixion, He rode an ass into Jerusalem in fulfillment of the Scripture, “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and the colt the foal of an ass” (Mat. 21:5). Jesus acknowledged before Pilate that He was a King, but His kingdom was not of this world (Mat. 27: 11, Luke 23:3, John 18:33-37). Today, He rules from His throne in heaven as “King of kings, and Lord of lords” (I Tim. 6: 15 & Rev. 19:16). As His subjects, we should honor and glorify Him. Finally, our King will come in glory to carry His sheep home to heaven and to pronounce His righteous judgment upon the wicked goats and cast them into everlasting punishment (Mat. 25:31-46).
The reader can likely give other names by which our Lord Jesus Christ was called, such as Master, Lord, etc. Although this writing has been quite long, I have only scratched the surface regarding the many wonderful works Jesus did in keeping with the names He has rightly been called.
Yours in hope,
G. Wayne Crocker