Jesus in the Bible: The Meaning of His Name, His Mission, and His Exaltation
The name Jesus (Ἰησοῦς, Iēsous) is the Greek form of the Hebrew Yehoshua (yĕhōšûaʿ) and its later form Yeshua (yēšûaʿ). The name means “Yahweh is help” or “Yahweh is salvation,” built from the Hebrew root yšʿ (“to save, deliver”), a root that appears in many Hebrew and other Semitic names. In the Old Testament, the best-known bearer is Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ successor. By the time of the New Testament, the name Jesus was common in both Aramaic and Greek, which is why the Gospels often say “Jesus of Nazareth” to distinguish him from others.
In the New Testament, Iēsous is used a few times for other people (including Joshua) but overwhelmingly—hundreds of times—for Jesus of Nazareth, whose life, death, and resurrection stand at the center of the Christian confession. The earliest believers came to see that the meaning of the name (“Yahweh is salvation”) describes not only God’s character but also what God has done through Jesus in the last days: the Kingdom of God has drawn near, and salvation is now bound up with this crucified and risen one.
1. The Name Jesus: Meaning and Use in Scripture
The name Jesus ties together Old Testament hope and New Testament faith.
Hebrew forms: Yehoshua (full form) → Yeshua (postexilic shortened form).
Meaning of the name: “Yahweh is salvation/help.”
Key Old Testament bearer: Joshua, the one who leads Israel into the land.
By the first century:
The name is widespread among Jews (inscriptions, ossuaries, papyri).
The New Testament uses Iēsous:
For Joshua (e.g., in some Greek OT quotations).
For a few other figures.
About 913 times for Jesus of Nazareth.
In the Gospels and Revelation, the simple name “Jesus” usually refers to the historical man, often without explicit title. In the letters, the name more often appears as “Jesus Christ” or “Lord Jesus”, showing how post-Easter faith combined the historical name Jesus with titles like Christos (Messiah) and Kyrios (Lord). The name itself remained concrete and human, but increasingly Christians used it as a confession that the crucified Jesus is also the exalted Lord.
2. Jesus of Nazareth: His Proclamation of the Reign of God
Despite the fragmentary and layered nature of the Gospel traditions, a coherent picture emerges of Jesus’ mission.
A. The message of the Kingdom of God
Jesus announces that the Reign of God is drawing near (Mark 1:15). This includes:
A call to repentance and faith (“repent and believe in the gospel”).
Promises of blessing to the poor and hungry (Luke 6:20–21).
Warnings to respond while there is time (e.g., parables of urgency such as Luke 16:1–7).
The same Kingdom that brings deliverance also brings judgment on the unrepentant. Here Jesus stands with John the Baptist, but rather than offering a single ritual like John’s baptism as protection from wrath, he proclaims a wide amnesty—even outcasts are invited to return.
B. Forgiveness, repentance, and moral teaching
Jesus’ ministry calls people to:
Receive God’s forgiveness (seen in parables like Luke 15).
Practice a transformed life shaped by the Sermon on the Mount and similar teaching.
Live in light of the coming Kingdom, where obedience carries eschatological weight.
His words often have a wisdom tone (sayings, proverbs) and sharpen the Law:
He intensifies ethical demands (e.g., anger and lust in Matthew 5).
He strictly forbids divorce (Luke 16:18).
He sometimes sets aside ceremonial practices (Mark 7:15) and questions common interpretations.
C. Signs of the Kingdom: healings and exorcisms
Jesus’ miraculous healings and exorcisms act as visible signs of God’s saving reign:
They show victory over demons (Mark 3:23–27; Luke 10:18).
They anticipate the final renewal of creation.
They sometimes function as proof that God’s Kingdom has already come upon his hearers (Matt 12:28; Luke 11:20).
Jesus also eats with tax collectors and sinners, acting out God’s welcome to the lost. In all these acts, the Kingdom of God is both future (coming judgment and restoration) and already present in Jesus’ words and deeds.
3. From Crucifixion to Resurrection: Early Faith in Jesus
Jesus’ confrontation with authorities culminates in his death.
A. Conflict and crucifixion
His sharp words against hypocrisy, his authority over the Law, and his symbolic action in the temple likely contributed to his arrest. The authorities hand him over to Rome as a pretender to kingship. The inscription on the cross (“King of the Jews”) reflects this charge.
From one angle, the crucifixion looks like:
The defeat of his mission.
A curse (Deuteronomy 21:23).
A denial of messianic expectations.
B. Resurrection faith and early confession
Yet within a short time:
The Twelve and Jesus’ family are again in Jerusalem, proclaiming that God raised Jesus from the dead.
Early formulas (echoed in Romans 8:11; 1 Thess 4:14) center on Jesus as the one whom God raised.
Different streams of tradition (e.g., sayings material in “Q” and appearance traditions) converge on the conviction that God vindicated the crucified one.
From this conviction flow several interconnected beliefs:
Jesus is enthroned at God’s right hand (Romans 8:34; Acts 2:33–36).
He is now recognized as Messiah and Son of God in a unique way (Romans 1:4).
His death is understood as vicarious—“for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3), often in light of the suffering servant of Isaiah 53.
The name Jesus, then, refers both to the historical teacher and to the risen one whose resurrection inaugurates the last days.
4. Jesus in Early Christian Worship and Theology
As the message spreads into the Greek-speaking world, believers interpret Jesus’ significance in fuller theological ways.
A. Exaltation and lordship
Early confessions declare:
Jesus as Kyrios (Lord), sharing in God’s rule (Philippians 2:9–11).
Jesus as God’s Son, sent into the world (Romans 8:3; Galatians 4:4; John 3:17).
Jesus as exalted in heaven, yet still active on earth through his name and Spirit.
The pattern:
Humiliation (incarnation, suffering, cross).
Exaltation (resurrection, enthronement).
describes how God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ.
B. Incarnation and preexistence
Passages like:
Philippians 2:5–11
John 1:1–18
Colossians 1:15–20
Hebrews 1:2–3
speak of Jesus as preexistent with God, the one through whom God creates and reveals. The name Jesus becomes the earthly name of the one who, as Word or Wisdom, was with God from the beginning and then became flesh.
C. Mediation, salvation, and judgment
In Pauline and other New Testament writings:
Jesus mediates salvation (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13).
He reigns until all enemies are subdued, then hands the Kingdom to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:20–28).
Final judgment is entrusted to him (2 Corinthians 5:10).
The name Jesus thus gathers up themes of salvation, mediation, kingship, and judgment for the last days.
5. The Name Jesus in Later Christian Tradition
As Christian theology develops, the name Jesus continues to carry both humanity and divinity.
Church Fathers speak of “our God Jesus Christ” (Ignatius, others), yet still within a fundamentally monotheistic framework.
Some texts emphasize the humanity in the name “Jesus” and use “Christ” for the eternal Logos or office.
Gnostic and magical texts also invoke Iēsous as a powerful divine name, sometimes blending him with Old Testament divine titles.
Over time:
Christian worship includes hymns and doxologies addressed directly to Jesus.
Confessions such as “Jesus is Lord” and even “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28) become central markers of Christian faith.
Ecumenical councils clarify in what sense Jesus is confessed as true God and true man, without abandoning the confession of one God.
In all of this, the basic biblical meaning of the name remains: “Yahweh is salvation.” The one called Jesus of Nazareth is proclaimed as the one in whom God’s saving rule has already broken into history and will be fully revealed at his return.
Bible verses about Jesus, His name, and His saving work
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
“You shall call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:31)
“For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)
“The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
“God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36)
“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
“Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3)
“Though he was in the form of God… he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6, 8)
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
