Episode Details

In Scripture, there is great significance behind a name. A name was much more than a label or a way to identify someone.

Today, names often carry little significance beyond what sounded good to our parents at the time. We choose names from baby books, family traditions, or popularity lists. Most people never stop to ask what their name means. It’s simply what people call us. Take me, for example. I’m Pamela. You’ve known me as Pamela for years. You’re probably not sitting there wondering about the deeper meaning of my name. Honestly, I’ve carried this name for over fifty years and had to look it up myself. It means “all sweetness.” I’ll let my family decide whether that’s accurate!

But the names in our Bible are of great meaning. Mother’s didn’t pick names based on an internet list of popularity. Names were given to reveal a person’s identity, character, reputation, purpose, and sometimes even their destiny. Names carried meaning, and they often told a story.

If you were given a bad name from birth with a bad meaning. Poor kid. Imagine being given a name that meant “sorrow,” “fool,” or “no mercy.” Every introduction would become a reminder of a negative identity. In biblical times, names carried such weight that a person could spend a lifetime either living into that identity or fighting to overcome it.

We also see throughout Scripture that when God gave someone a new calling, He would sometimes give them a new name to reflect their transformed identity. Their new names signified that God was doing something new in their lives and inviting them into His greater purpose. That name carried a calling and an identity.

Here on this podcast, we spent a few weeks studying the names of God found in our Bible. Through those names, we gained a deeper understanding of His character, authority, power, and love. We encountered Him as:

YHWH, the self-existent and covenant-keeping God
Adonai, our Lord and Master
Elohim, the Creator
El Shaddai, God Almighty
Yahweh Rapha, the Lord who heals
El Roi, the God who sees
Abba, our loving Father
Jehovah Jireh, our Provider
Yahweh Shalom, our Peace
The Good Shepherd who faithfully guides and cares for His people

What became clear through that study is that God’s names reveal who He is. They unveil His nature, His attributes, and His relationship to His people. Every name teaches us something about His character and His work.

So if names matter this much throughout Scripture, and if God’s own names reveal His character, then we should expect the name of Jesus to be overflowing with meaning.

Yet many of us hear “Lord Jesus Christ” so often that we stop hearing it altogether. It becomes a familiar phrase. But to the first-century believer, every word in that name carried enormous significance. “Lord Jesus Christ” is not merely a title. It is a declaration. It announces His authority, His mission, and His identity.

A few months ago in Venice, Italy, my friend and I knelt beside a woman who spent her days lying face down on the streets begging. I’ll never forget the moment she looked up at me and said in her language, “Jesus Cristo?”

Immediately, there was recognition. Immediately, there was connection. Immediately, there was hope.

We didn’t share the same language. We didn’t share the same culture. But we shared one name. The name above every name. The Lord Jesus Christ.

What is this name … The Lord Jesus Christ?

1. LORD: This word Lord was originally spoken in Greek as Kyrios. Kyrios means master, owner, one who has authority. When Jesus said in Matthew 28:13, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth”, he’s showing that he is the Lord. He has all authority – not some authority, not a little authority. ALL authority. And where is this authority? In both heaven and on earth. He’s in charge of everything. All things everywhere in heaven and