The Name that is Above Every Name   

“In the Beginning … Was a Name”

Based on the page at www.torahbytes.org/sechel/name.htm

Before the beginning of “Christianity” as we know it today, there was a Name, and that name was Yeshua. Some people who give an explanation of that Name will tell you that it is Jesus’ name in the Hebrew language. But actually that is inaccurate. What is accurate is that it is the Messiah’s name, period, not a translation or transliteration into Hebrew of the name “Jesus.”

The Bible contains numerous examples of names that have meaning. We remember that Yitz’chak (poorly transliterated as “Isaac” in English) was given his name, which means “laughter,” because Sarah laughed when she heard that G-d said she was going to have a baby. Yeshua means “salvation” in Hebrew. When the angel appeared to Yosef in a dream he said, “You are to name him ‘Salvation’ because He will save His people from their sins.” He was named “Salvation” because He is salvation.

The word “Jesus” is neither a translation nor a transliteration of the name “Yeshua,” but the result of a whole series of transliteration errors. Therefore, the name “Jesus,” although it has a marvelous connotation to numerous people, has no factual meaning.

One interesting point about a name is identity. If you know someone, you call them by their name. If you have ever spent time in a country that uses a language other than your own, you no doubt have experienced some alteration in your name. But those closest to you have most likely always called you by your correct name, if they know it. If you are reading this, chances are pretty good that you are close to the Messiah. Why not call Him Yeshua? His mother even called Him Yeshua!

In Acts 26:14-15, Sha’ul (Saul in English, who also went by his Roman name Paul) was telling King Agrippa about his Dammesek (Damascus) road encounter. He heard a voice speaking to him in Hebrew. It was the Messiah, who, speaking in Hebrew, identified Himself by his name, Yeshua.

Why is this all so important? Well, first of all, it is “Truth.” Occasionally we have a hard time dealing with truth that contradicts what we are comfortable with in our emotions and our minds. For us, as Jewish believers in the Jewish Messiah, this name issue is significant because history has taken Yeshua’s Jewish identity so far away from truth that most Jewish people see Him as the “Gentile G-d” and therefore miss the fact that He is their promised Messiah. Another tragic piece of history is the killing of the Jewish people by Christians in the name of Jesus—a name given to Him by Gentile believers long after his resurrection and ascension. If His name had remained Yeshua (as the angel commanded his foster-father Yosef to name Him) His Jewish identity would have remained, and the killing of Jewish people in the name of Yeshua, would have been very unlikely. But as history has been twisted and distorted over time, even some Gentiles today still see Yeshua as the Gentile-only G-d. Isn’t it time YOU called on Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah of Israel by His G-d-given name?

We are firmly convinced that neither Yeshua HaMashiach nor the Shliachim intended to start a “new religion,” but rather only to fulfill, complete, and correct what was missing in Judaism. We therefore believe that the most valid form of worship is that practiced by Yeshua and His talmidim (disciples). We have therefore chosen to identify ourselves with that group of believers that is known variously as “the Messianic Movement,” “Messianic Judaism,“ or “Messianic Restoration.”

We further believe that much of the conflict that exists between Jewish believers in Mashiach and non-Jewish believers in Mashiach has been caused by anti-Semitic and anti-Gentile language that has crept into the household of faith. For example, the word “Jesus” is nothing but a compounding of errors. Nobody who ever knew Yeshua in the flesh ever referred to Him by that word. In fact, it is grammatically impossible to say that word in either Hebrew or Aramaic, as neither language has the “jay” sound.

When His name was transliterated from the Hebrew of the original Apostolic Scriptures into Greek (yes, I actually believe that the Apostolic Scriptures were originally written in either Hebrew or Aramaic) for transmission to the Gentile and Greek-speaking Jewish Messianic Believers in the Diaspora, the name was rendered in Greek as “Iesu.” When the “church” became centered in Rome and the Greek Scriptures were translated into Latin, the Romans added an “s” on the end of His name, because virtually all masculine Latin words end in “s”, making it “Iesus.” Then the Germans came along during the Reformation and changed the “I” to a “J” making the word “Jesus.” And then the men who translated the Latin and German version of the Scriptures into English didn’t bother to correct the error. In the meantime, as more and more Gentiles were brought into Messianic Judaism (or “The Way”), Yeshua became thought of less as the Jewish Messiah and more as the “Gentile G-d.”

As the Gentile “church” became more and more anti-Semitic and the persecutions “in the name of Jesus” became increasingly severe, Jews around the world began to hate that word more and more, and for good reason. But just stop and think how difficult that persecution would have been if the Gentiles had remembered that they were nothing more or less than “adopted” members of a distinctly Jewish sect. And how much more difficult it would have been to persecute Jews “in the name of” Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah. (See also our discussion on the word Jehovah.)  … Read the whole article here

See also: Why do we use the name “Yeshua” rather than “Jesus?”

“Jesus Christ” is not Messiah's name; it never was, and it will never be. It is grammatically impossible to say the word “Jesus” in either Hebrew or Aramaic. He is a Jew with a Hebrew name, Yeshua. If I know that your name is “George,” just where do I get off calling you “Fred” just because I like that name better than your real name? And why is it that the Bible is the only book in all the world that attempts to “translate” names? If a book is written in Spanish about a man named Juan Rodriguez, and the book is then translated into English, no attempt is made to “translate” his name as “John Rogers.” The only compelling reason that “Yeshua” is translated as “Jesus” and that the name of his brother Ya'akov is translated as “James” is because of the anti-Semitic translators who resented the fact they were both Jews! If it were ever the intent of the translators to actually “translate” their names into English, they would have been translated as “Salvation” and “Heel Holder” or “Supplanter” respectively! Ditto for the names Yohanan (“Yawheh Has Graced”), Miriam (“Rebellion”), and Sha'ul (“Desired”)! … Read the whole article here