Numbers 6:22-27; Psalm 8; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:15-21
The Rev. Candice B. Frazer
Most of us remember the Grimms brothers’ fairy tale in which a mean, little gnome spins straw into gold for a beautiful peasant girl on the condition that she give him her first-born child. Once the girl, now a queen, gives birth to her first born, the little gnome comes to collect the newborn child. The young woman begs him to release her from her foolish promise and the gnome agrees if she can tell him his true name. He gives her three days to discover it. On the eve of the third day, the mean, little gnome is dancing around a fire and singing out his name in an early victory celebration—certain that the young queen will not be able to guess his name—when he is overheard by one of her loyal courtiers. The next day, when the gnome comes in victory, he is met with defeat as the young queen names him ”Rumpelstiltskin”.
There is an ancient belief in European cultures, and others, that knowing a person’s true name denotes power over them. Knowing someone’s true name is a deeper power than simply being able to break an agreement as in the case of Rumpelstiltskin; it is a power in which you hold sway over another. Take, for instance, whenever a mother uses a child’s full name. Growing up, whenever I my mother said my full name, “Candice Leigh Burk”, I knew I was in trouble and my whole demeanor changed to one of fear and trembling. That is power.
Slaves often had their real names stripped away and named something derogatory. Upon gaining their freedom, they would name themselves something symbolic. Names have almost magical properties and the power to name is the power to denote identity and thus ownership.
The Diné people, known to us as the Navaho, will not give their real names. Instead, they will hand over an ID card when asked for their name as they believe speaking the word aloud gives the other person power over them. Once they have died, their names are never spoken again.
Mormons are said to be given secret names at birth. When Mormon women marry, they tell their names to their husbands so that, on the Day of Judgment, their husbands can call and wake them.
It is not simply power that a name can hold, in Scripture, names tell us something about a person. Adam comes from “adama” which means “earth”. “Jacob” means “supplanter” and if you remember the story of Jacob, he tricks his twin brother Esau to receive the blessing of their father, Isaac, and becomes one of the most important patriarchs of the tribes of Israel as he fathers the twelve sons from which they evolve. David means “beloved” and Solomon means “peace” both of which denote their rule as kings of Israel. It is not simply in the Jewish scriptures that we see names as having meaning and power, Jesus changes Simon’s name to Peter or “Cephas” meaning the “rock” or “cornerstone” upon which Jesus builds his church. Saul which means “questioner or examiner” changes his name to Paul which means “humble or small”. Names mean something and it is no different with Jesus the Christ.
Today is the Feast of the Holy Name. A feast day we rarely get to celebrate in church as it falls on January 1 each year. Though Jesus’ name and meaning may seem obvious to us, it is important to take a moment and remember exactly who the divine is that becomes fully man. We name him Jesus Christ not because his parents were Mary and Joseph Christ, but because in his name we wed Judaism and Christianity together in the unfolding of our salvation.
Jesus is a Hebrew name rooted in the name Joshua. You might remember that Joshua was the one who led the people into the Promised Land after the death of Moses. He was a strategic commander with great military prowess and directed the settlement of the twelve tribes of Israel. The name “Joshua” literally means “YHWH saves”. Jesus, as a derivative of this name, means “healer”, “physician”, or “savior” with the meaning of savior specific to “deliverer” or “rescuer”. Thus, the name the angel directs Mary and Joseph to give to Jesus as “savior” is better understood as “deliverer”. It is a name meant to remind us of Moses who has delivered his people and set the captives free. When we hear the phrase “Jesus saves”, we are grounding our theology and understanding of who Jesus is, though we might better quote “Jesus delivers” as Jesus saves us from something not for something.
Christ is a Latin name, rooted in “Christos” and translated in Hebrew as “masiyah” or “messiah”. It means “anointed with oil”. Israel anoints kings, priests, and prophets as a symbolic representation of God choosing them for a sacred task. Throughout the ancient world, including Israel, this anointing predominately refers to kings. In ancient tradition, kings were not crowned. Instead, oil was poured upon their heads as a symbolic understanding that they were chosen by the people’s god. Thus, the phraseology “Christ the king”. Again, a redundant but important refrain for who we understand Jesus Christ to be.
The marrying of these two names—Jesus and Christ—draws together not only our fundamental belief about God, it also connects us to our Hebrew roots. God comes to earth as savior and king to offer us new life and renew our purpose and understanding of God’s kingdom. Before we were known as Christians, we were known as “Jessaeans”—“Jesus savers”, as the movement spread, we came to be known less as “savers” of others and more as “Christ followers” or “king followers”. To be a Christian is to recognize the sovereignty of Christ as king and submit to his reign. That is what the Holy Name is truly about—a reminder that we are subjects to Christ who is our savior and our king.
Being subject to Christ does not mean that our submission is passive. Instead, we submit to Christ in active ways that honor him. Just as Mary and Joseph obey the angel and name their son Jesus, they also observe the religious custom and have him circumcised in the Temple on the eighth day. Obedience and observance are what true submission to Christ as king is about.
Obedience does not mean we follow all 613 laws of Torah, but it does mean that we do our best to live according to his call in partnering with him and one another in the building up of his kingdom. Observance is the way in which we continue to honor God by showing up for God—at church, through Christian formation and ministry, and in our work of mission and outreach. Our work of obedience and observance is not done in order for us to get something out of it. It is not transactional. We don’t go to church or give alms to the poor because we are trying to assure ourselves a get-out-of-hell-free pass. We do the work of obedience and observance because we recognize that, fundamentally God is our savior and our king, and we are so powerfully moved by that, we want to honor God and live into the life that he invites us too simply to grow in relationship with him and subsequently one another.
The vast majority of people who showed up at Elizabeth II’s jubilee this past year didn’t do so because they wanted to earn her favor or be recognized by her. The 250,000 people who queued to see the Queen’s coffin did not expect anything in return—they came only to pay their respects. The estimated one million people who lined the streets of Elizabeth’s funeral procession did not do so because they thought they would get something out of it—they did it out of honor and respect for her. A true monarch is not one who forces people into submission but invites them into fellowship and builds them up in purpose and in love. That is who Jesus Christ is. And on this day, of all the days of the year, we remember why we honor and respect God with us, Immanuel.
Jesus Christ, savior and king, the covenant of the Old Testament and the promise of the New drawn together as our hope. He is no Rumpelstiltskin demanding impossible sacrifices of us. He is the one who delights in us and continues to build us up while inviting us to be part of the building up of his kingdom as well. That is why we are to know his name before he is even conceived. God hides nothing from us. He ensures that we know his name not because we might exercise power or control over God, but because by knowing his name, we are granted power by him to spread that name through all the world.
It is at the name of Jesus that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.