What's in a Name
What’s in a Name?
Most people give lengthy consideration to the naming of their children. It is one of the first, and certainly most permanent, gifts a parent gives to their child. Some names are given to recognize kinship or to honor someone as family legacy. Other names are chosen because the name has a relevant meaning. It may be descriptive of come characteristic or object of affection. It may be a name of power and strength, or a name of virtue. Some names recognize the beauty of nature. There are other motivations as well, but you get the idea.
A multitude of similar motivations underlie the names and titles given to Jesus, and there are many. The Anglicized name “Jesus”1 carries the meaning “Yahweh is salvation.” When combined with “Christ” we add the concept of anointing to the name to arrive at Jesus Christ, anointed savior.
Other names and titles ascribed to Jesus, just from the first chapter of John’s gospel account, include:
- The true light, which gives light to everyone – John 1:9
- The only begotten of the Father – John 1:14
- The only begotten God – John 1:18
- The one in the bosom of the Father – John 1:18
- The Lord – John 1:23
- The Lamb of God – John 29
- The Son of God – John 1:34
- The Messiah – John 1:41
- Rabbi / Teacher – John 1:49
- The King of Israel – John 1:49
- The Son of Man – John 1:51
Those names and titles constitute the basis for a deep and lengthy study, and that would be fun to engage, but today we will focus on just one title, the one that preceded all of the above titles, the one we find in verse one of that same chapter.
Jesus as the Logos
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
– John 1:1, ESV
This is the first title ascribed to Jesus by John, and it is a title that is a bit of a challenge to present in English, so translators generally translate it as “the Word,” ὁ λόγος (hoh logos). Before getting into it, let me caution you to not conflate this term with the printed Bible, as many do. Written language, scripture, and drawing is referred to as γραφή (graphe) not λόγος. Other places in the New Testament, λόγος is rendered in terms of reason, communication, and logic.
Another interesting note is that the definite article in John 1:1 is not there. Almost every translation provides it, though some note its absence through bracketing or with a footnote. But the text literally reads, “In beginning,” ἐν ἀρχῇ, indicating the primary or most prominant of something.
Arché (ἀρχῇ), translated as “beginning,” is a term of principality, rule, authority, and origin. So I am inclined to see this as an indicator of “first” not in terms of sequence or time, but first in terms of preeminence, authority, and power. The same idea is carried forward in the apostle Paul’s letter to Colossae wherein he says that in all things Jesus is the beginning so that he has supremacy or preeminence.2
In beginning “was” indicates the eternal nature of ὁ λόγος. The Word didn’t once not exist and then spring into existence. The Word always “was.” He always existed, always exists, and will continue to always exist. Some have suggested that the phrase “in beginning” could be better translated as “from everlasting,” and it is difficult to argue with that. Consider Jesus’ statement in the gut-wrenching prayer from just before he was put to death.
And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
– John 17:5, ESV
The Father and the Son were together before anything, even time itself, existed. To say “in beginning the Word” (ἐν ἀρχῇ ὁ λόγος), is to state emphatically, “Jesus is God.” This is declared just so in the verses that immediately follow:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
– John 1:1-3, ESV [bold mine]
As the Revelation of John winds down, we see him describing Jesus again as the Logos, the Word of God.
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
– Revelation 19:12-13, ESV
Just as we use words to express our ideas, desires, and thoughts to others, helping them understand who we are on the inside, so it is with God. Jesus is that Word, that Logos, showing us the heart of God, the desire of God. So true is this that Jesus is described as the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, that from which words are formed. He is the Alpha and the Omega.3
The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is God’s “last days” word to humanity, the climax of God’s divine revelation.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
– Hebrews 1:1-3, ESV
The Logos Explains the Father
I love the way the New American Standard Bible renders John 1:18, saying that though no one has seen the Father, Jesus, the Son, has explained him.
No one has seen God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained Him.
– John 1:18, NASB
John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1 stand in parallel. In the beginning was the Logos. The Logos was with God and the Logos was God, just as . In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Jesus was before Jesus created what is.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
– Colossians 1:16, ESV
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
– Psalms 33:6, ESV
Jesus, the Son of God, the pre-incarnate Christ, the Word of God who spoke all things into existence. Jesus Christ is the Logos, and the Logos is God!
1. Originally from the Hebrew, Y’shua, meaning “Yahweh is salvation.” In the New Testament Greek, this becomes Iēsous. Through the Middle Ages the Latin name Jesu or Iesu was used in religious contexts.
2. Colossians 1:18
3. Revelation 1:8
