09-Chapter 2. The Name Jesus Christ: The Threefold Office
Chapter 2. The Name Jesus Christ: The Threefold Office
“Thy name is an outpoured ointment.”—Song of Solomon 1:3. “And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). What is meant by this name? Why exactly is the Redeemer called Jesus Christ?
[1] The Name Jesus The name “Jesus” has a threefold meaning. First of all it is simply
1. His personal Name. “Thou shalt call his name Jesus” (Matthew 1:21). But “Christ” is not first of all a personal name. Therefore to suit the context in Ephesians 2:12 and Hebrews 11:26 not Jesus But only Christ could be used, as is in fact the case. But inasmuch as by the incarnation the name Jesus would be given to the Son of God it is at the same time
2. His Name in Humiliation. Indeed, so much is this name connected with the humiliation of the Lord that He has it in common with others: as with Joshua the son of Nun, the successor of Moses (Gk. IesousHebrews 4:8), and with Joshua the high priest of the time of Zechariah (Zechariah 3:1), with Jesus Sirach, Jesus Justus (Colossians 4:11), and even with Jesus the father of the Jewish-Arabian sorcerer Bar-Jesus (son of Jesus, Acts 13:6). From this it is clear why the Gospels speak mostly of “Jesus,” while throughout the Epistles the title “Christ” stands in the foreground. For the Gospels deal with the time of His humiliation, while the Epistles testify of Him as the One exalted and glorified; and in the name Jesus the thought of salvation preponderates, but in the title Christ the glory. In the Epistles “Jesus” stands alone only where His former lowliness is to be stressed: 2 Corinthians 4:10; Php 2:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; Hebrews 2:9; Hebrews 12:2; Hebrews 13:12 (contrasted with ver. 8). As Peter said on the day of Pentecost, only by resurrection and ascension did Jesus become properly Christ, in the full sense of the word: “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified” (Acts 2:36). Inasmuch, therefore, as the path of the Lord passed from self-emptying to glory the New Testament follows the same path, the path from “Jesus” to “Christ;” just as, conversely, the Old Testament had gone forward from the general idea of Messiah, that is, Christ, to the historical appearance of Jesus of Nazareth. But the chief significance of the name Jesus lies in the proper meaning of the word: Jehoshua, the Lord is salvation. Therefore it is especially
3. His Name as Saviour, the world’s Redeemer: “It is he who shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). As such it makes a threefold revelation of the exclusiveness of His salvation, for He and He alone, can save (Acts 4:12). Hence the emphasis in the Greek upon the “He” in Matthew 1:21; the limit of His salvation, for He will save only “His people,” that is, the saved from all nations (comp. 1 Peter 2:9; Titus 2:14; Acts 15:14); and the depth and breadth of His salvation: for not only does He redeem from the consequences of sin—condemnation and judgment, but from the sins themselves, from their bondage, lordship, and power. He is the source not only of justification but of sanctification also (Cor. 1:30).
All this lies in the name Jesus. In it is declared the “Contents Table,” title, symbol, motto of His saving activity. It is therefore no wonder that this is the name that fills the praise of the redeemed to all eternity; no wonder that in it every knee shall bow, of all in heaven, on earth, and under the earth (Php 2:10). But what is the method and manner in which the Lord reveals the treasures of His name Jesus? The answer lies in the title Christ.
[2] The Name Christ Here there are four main threefold facts which unlock for us the inner meaning of this title:
1. The threefold official anointing in the Old Testament.
2. The threefold unfolding in the New Testament.
3. The threefold bondage of man through sin.
4. The threefold work of Christ as Redeemer.
1. In the time of the Old Testament salvation there were three chief theocratic anointings ordered by God: an anointing of the high priest (Leviticus 8:12; Psalms 133:2), of the king, (1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Samuel 16:13),and of the prophet, (1 Kings 19:16). Therefore when the Mediator of salvation is described as Christ, Messiah, that is, Anointed, this means that the highest offices and dignities of the whole of the old covenant are united in His person, and that in Him all prophecies have reached eternal fulfilment. According to the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; comp. Hebrews 8:8-12), Messiah brings an extension of His kingship over the inner life (Jeremiah 31:33; 2 Corinthians 3:3); a general grant of the gift of prophecy, and an eternal consummation of priesthood (Jeremiah 31:34).
He puts His nature into His own people and makes them likewise kings, priests, and witnesses of His prophetic truth (Pet. 2:9: Revelation 1:6). And thus the Giver makes Himself to be the gift (2 Corinthians 9:15), and makes His own splendour as Christ, the sun, to stream forth from Christians, His redeemed (Acts 11:26).
2. Not all at once but in three great stages the Lord unfolds the glorious content of His title, Christ.
First He comes as prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-19), as Son, in Whom “at the end of the days” God has spoken (Hebrews 1:1-2), and Who, as “the effulgence of the glory” of God, makes known His Father’s nature with incomparable clearness, beyond all the prophets of old (John 1:18; John 3:13). And then this Prophet goes to the cross. He permits Himself to be laden with the sins of the world (John 1:29 :1 John 2:2), becomes at the same time both the lamb of sacrifice and the priest (Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 9:25-26), and effect through Himself the purification of sins (Hebrews 1:3).
Finally He is exalted and seats Himself at the right hand of the Majesty in the height (Hebrews 1:3), and now we see Him who “was made a little lower than the angels” “crowned with glory and honour as King, on the very ground that He suffered unto death (Hebrews 2:9).
3. But why precisely a threefold office? Why this threefold activity of the Redeemer? Because there exists a threefold necessity in the salvation of man; because Adam’s fallen posterity is held in a threefold bondage and therefore must be redeemed in three respects.
God has created man to be a creaturely reflection of His spiritual, holy, and blessed nature. That they might be a mirror of His spirituality He gave them the understanding; that they might be a copy of His holiness and love, the will; and that they should be a vessel of His blessedness and happiness, the feelings. But then came sin. The whole man fell. His understanding was darkened (Ephesians 4:18), his will became evil (John 3:19), and his feelings became unhappy (Romans 7:24).
4. Out of this total ruin the work of Christ now saves him. As Prophet He brings knowledge, i.e. light, delivers the understanding from sin’s darkness, and establishes the kingdom of truth. As Priest He brings the sacrifice, cancels the guilt and thereby the consciousness of guilt, thus delivering the feelings from the crippling pressure of misery and an accusing conscience, and establishes the kingdom of peace and joy. As King He rules the will, guides it in paths of holiness, and establishes the kingdom of love and righteousness.
Thus does His title Christ, embracing a threefold salvation, become the unfolding and explanation of His name Jesus. It is because the Redeemer is the Christ, the thrice-anointed, that He is Jesus, the Saviour. His threefold office sets man free in the three powers of his soul, the understanding, the feelings, and the will. A full, free, and complete salvation is introduced, so that the redemption could not be more perfect than it is. The threefold wretchedness of darkness, unhappiness, and sinfulness is met by a threefold, yet organically single salvation of enlightenment, blessedness, and holiness, and the spirituality (Colossians 3:10), glorious happiness (2 Corinthians 3:18), and holiness of God (Ephesians 4:24) shine anew out of the creature who is His image.