Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.
Matthew 2:5-6 –5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” ¡Que la bendición esté siempre con ustedes y que Dios los bendiga, Amados! (May blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Belovéd!)
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! This week we begin something new – dare we call it a hybrid study? We’re going to look at something from the Scriptures for the Epiphany of the Lord celebrated this coming Sunday, and then we will look at the first of our Persons in the Bible installments. I’ve never done this before so it is something new, and perhaps we can do that together. This is the time of year when many of us resolve to start new things to which we aspire, resume old things we’ve neglected, or eliminate burdensome things we don’t really need any longer. We make those waffle-prone New Year’s Resolutions that often last less than six weeks. I hope this endeavor will be in the first category of useful aspirations.
The Scripture for today’s short (we hope) meditation quotes a passage from Matthew which in turn quotes from Micah 5:2 – 2 But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. That last phrase, “whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” connotes the eternal aspect of God – eventually revealed as Trinity – and signifies the fulfillment of the promise to David of a Ruler who would govern Israel forever. John the Baptizer later told us that Jesus was from “forever” when he stated Jesus was grater than he because Jesus preceded him (even though John the Baptizer was conceived before Jesus was).
Here we see that God does not always, – in fact, rarely – chooses the greatest and best to lead his people. He chooses the least likely, the lowest esteemed, the most humble to carry out his will. We have only to look to the last section of Sunday’s Gospel and see that the Magi (plural of Magus Latin for “magician” – Persian Priests of Zoroaster) “on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.”
And so we have the Epiphany – the Showing Forth, the First Manifestation of Jesus, the Christ of God conceived and born of human flesh and Divine Nature – and we see that first this little baby whom the Angels call “Christ the Lord” (See Luke 2:11) is visited and seen by shepherds, among the lest respected persons in Israel, and then to men who were Priests and great kings (presumedly) of Pagans from the nations of the Gentiles. This signifies he is to be a King of all kings and Lord of all lords. We see this designation in 1 Timothy 6:13-15 – 13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. This is also our charge, our duty, our kuleana (Hawaiʻian: responsibility). We are pledged to and serve Jesus who is Emmanual (↔ Music Link)
And we have just encountered the first of the Persons in the Bible which we will study – Jesus.
We begin with the bold declaration of The Apostle Peter in Acts 4:12 – 12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved. You may recall that in ancient times a name was a key to a person’s life. It was as much a title as it was a designation for recognition. In ancient Israel – and to this very day – Jews do not pronounce the name the Lord gave to Moses at the Burning Bush. They will refer to him as Adonai (the Lord) or call him by ha-Shem (the Name). When the Name of God is invoked in any form, ALL of God is invoked. The Trinity is called up, and no member of the Trinity acts alone but rather all act in unison. This also means that all the ways – or names – by which we know and call God are also invoked. In these messages we have referred often to El Shaddai-Olam, Almighty, Everliving God, ha-Ruach, ruach ha-kodesh (Holy Spirit), and several other characteristics like his Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, and Eternal Salvation.
In like manner, ALL of Jesus’ names titles, and characteristics are invoked together in the name Jesus. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church at paragraph 2666 we read:
CCC 2666
But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: JESUS. the divine name may not be spoken by human lips, but by assuming our humanity the Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it: “Jesus,” “YHWH saves.” The name “Jesus” contains all: God and man and the whole economy of creation and salvation. To pray “Jesus” is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for him. (My emphasis added)
What did the Disciples call him? Probably Yeshua (yeh-SHU-ah) which means “Jehovah is Salvation,” or God saves.” It is similar to – actually synonymous with – Yehoshua, Joshua. Our Lord Jesus the Christ of God is not the only “Jesus” mentioned in our Bible. We also have Jesus Barabbas, Jesus ben Ananias, and Jesus ben Sirach. Our Savior would have been referred to legally as Yeshua ben Yoceph meaning Jesus son of Joseph. Joseph was the name Rachel gave to her son. The name is derived from the Hebrew root יָסַף (yasaph), meaning “to add” or “to increase,” and Rachel’s exclamation at his birth was “May the LORD add to me another son.” (See Genesis 30:24) The Lord God granted that prayer for he and she gave birth to Benjamin. Regrettably she died in childbirth as he was born.
As with his Heavenly Father, Jesus had many titular names. I strongly encourage you to explore and learn to pray The Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus. As you do this, you will find that you, too, know Jesus in many ways, and you might even come up with some titles of you own for how he has influenced your life. Please try that this week.
Next week we will take another briefer look at the Scriptures associated with The Baptism of the Lord (and the Christmas season will be over that following Monday). We will also choose another name from the Bible and get better acquainted with him/her. Please give me some feedback about this first issue of the new format. God bless you always and all ways.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!
Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.
Matthew 2:5-6 –5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” ¡Que la bendición esté siempre con ustedes y que Dios los bendiga, Amados! (May blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Belovéd!)
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! This week we begin something new – dare we call it a hybrid study? We’re going to look at something from the Scriptures for the Epiphany of the Lord celebrated this coming Sunday, and then we will look at the first of our Persons in the Bible installments. I’ve never done this before so it is something new, and perhaps we can do that together. This is the time of year when many of us resolve to start new things to which we aspire, resume old things we’ve neglected, or eliminate burdensome things we don’t really need any longer. We make those waffle-prone New Year’s Resolutions that often last less than six weeks. I hope this endeavor will be in the first category of useful aspirations.
The Scripture for today’s short (we hope) meditation quotes a passage from Matthew which in turn quotes from Micah 5:2 – 2 But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. That last phrase, “whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” connotes the eternal aspect of God – eventually revealed as Trinity – and signifies the fulfillment of the promise to David of a Ruler who would govern Israel forever. John the Baptizer later told us that Jesus was from “forever” when he stated Jesus was grater than he because Jesus preceded him (even though John the Baptizer was conceived before Jesus was).
Here we see that God does not always, – in fact, rarely – chooses the greatest and best to lead his people. He chooses the least likely, the lowest esteemed, the most humble to carry out his will. We have only to look to the last section of Sunday’s Gospel and see that the Magi (plural of Magus Latin for “magician” – Persian Priests of Zoroaster) “on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.”
And so we have the Epiphany – the Showing Forth, the First Manifestation of Jesus, the Christ of God conceived and born of human flesh and Divine Nature – and we see that first this little baby whom the Angels call “Christ the Lord” (See Luke 2:11) is visited and seen by shepherds, among the lest respected persons in Israel, and then to men who were Priests and great kings (presumedly) of Pagans from the nations of the Gentiles. This signifies he is to be a King of all kings and Lord of all lords. We see this designation in 1 Timothy 6:13-15 – 13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. This is also our charge, our duty, our kuleana (Hawaiʻian: responsibility). We are pledged to and serve Jesus who is Emmanual (↔ Music Link)
And we have just encountered the first of the Persons in the Bible which we will study – Jesus.
We begin with the bold declaration of The Apostle Peter in Acts 4:12 – 12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved. You may recall that in ancient times a name was a key to a person’s life. It was as much a title as it was a designation for recognition. In ancient Israel – and to this very day – Jews do not pronounce the name the Lord gave to Moses at the Burning Bush. They will refer to him as Adonai (the Lord) or call him by ha-Shem (the Name). When the Name of God is invoked in any form, ALL of God is invoked. The Trinity is called up, and no member of the Trinity acts alone but rather all act in unison. This also means that all the ways – or names – by which we know and call God are also invoked. In these messages we have referred often to El Shaddai-Olam, Almighty, Everliving God, ha-Ruach, ruach ha-kodesh (Holy Spirit), and several other characteristics like his Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, and Eternal Salvation.
In like manner, ALL of Jesus’ names titles, and characteristics are invoked together in the name Jesus. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church at paragraph 2666 we read:
CCC 2666
But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: JESUS. the divine name may not be spoken by human lips, but by assuming our humanity the Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it: “Jesus,” “YHWH saves.” The name “Jesus” contains all: God and man and the whole economy of creation and salvation. To pray “Jesus” is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for him. (My emphasis added)
What did the Disciples call him? Probably Yeshua (yeh-SHU-ah) which means “Jehovah is Salvation,” or God saves.” It is similar to – actually synonymous with – Yehoshua, Joshua. Our Lord Jesus the Christ of God is not the only “Jesus” mentioned in our Bible. We also have Jesus Barabbas, Jesus ben Ananias, and Jesus ben Sirach. Our Savior would have been referred to legally as Yeshua ben Yoceph meaning Jesus son of Joseph. Joseph was the name Rachel gave to her son. The name is derived from the Hebrew root יָסַף (yasaph), meaning “to add” or “to increase,” and Rachel’s exclamation at his birth was “May the LORD add to me another son.” (See Genesis 30:24) The Lord God granted that prayer for he and she gave birth to Benjamin. Regrettably she died in childbirth as he was born.
As with his Heavenly Father, Jesus had many titular names. I strongly encourage you to explore and learn to pray The Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus. As you do this, you will find that you, too, know Jesus in many ways, and you might even come up with some titles of you own for how he has influenced your life. Please try that this week.
Next week we will take another briefer look at the Scriptures associated with The Baptism of the Lord (and the Christmas season will be over that following Monday). We will also choose another name from the Bible and get better acquainted with him/her. Please give me some feedback about this first issue of the new format. God bless you always and all ways.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!
American Roman Catholic reared as a "Baptiterian" in Denver Colorado. Now living on Kauaʻi. USAF Vet. Married for over 50 years. Scripture study has been my passion ever since my first "Bible talk" at age 6 in VBS.
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
