Cast your mind back to high school English class. Remember Romeo and Juliet, the young lovers from feuding families? When Juliet, a member of the Capulet family, is told that her romantic hopes for Romeo, a member of the Montague family, are doomed, she delivers these famous lines:
What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
She and Romeo learn that their names determine a tragic destiny.
Today, January 1, is New Year’s Day, a day of hangovers and remorse, a day of fresh determination and hope, a day for turning over a new leaf, wiping the slate clean, a day for making friends with Jenny Craig. But in the liturgical calendar, January 1 is the Feast of the Holy Name. It is the 8th day after Christmas. The law of Moses instructs that boys are to be circumcised on the 8th day of life. Apart from that physical mark of their membership within the people of God, the most important element of the rite was the naming of the child in the presence of God. On this day we remember that Joseph and Mary named their son Jesus, as the angel had instructed Joseph in a dream. (Matthew 1:21)
Jesus enters the English language through the Greek and Latin transliterations of the Hebrew “Ye’shua” which we would recognize as Joshua. In Hebrew, the name means “God saves” or “God has saved.”
In the Old Testament, as in many ancient cultures, the name of a person was meant to communicate something about their meaning and destiny. That’s why it is so significant when a person in given their name by divine decree or when God gives a person a new name. Abram (which means exalted father) has his name changed to Abraham (which means father of multitudes). Sarai (princess) becomes Sarah (my princess). Jacob (the usurper) becomes Israel (he strives with God). Jesus renamed Simon (which means listen) as Peter (rock).
God’s saving love is manifest in Jesus. His name, his life, his ministry and his saving death reveal this.
The followers of Jesus have, since early days, been called Christians – which means ‘little Christs’. That’s the name that we bear. As we contemplate the dawn of this new year, let’s determine to allow that new identity we’ve been given to be evident in the way we live and love.
Prayer: God of all ages, you have called us by name and made us heirs with Christ. Grant us grace to bear his name faithfully through all our days. Amen.