Grafted-In Ministries
Did Yehoshua (Jesus) proclaim the name of the Father?
By Peter Miller-Russo
To determine the answer we must examine the New Testament scriptures that document Yehoshua's life, ministry, sacrifice, and his triumphant resurrection.
Except for a few Messianic translations of the Bible, the New Testament creates more confusion than clarity regarding the Name by predominantly using the title 'the Lord' when referring to either the Father or the Son. Unlike the Old Testament where the Name of the Father was translated as "the LORD" (with Lord in all caps as a replacement for the Hebrew Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey or YHVH), the New Testament translators have left it up to the reader to determine the writers' intent. But, fortunately, Yehoshua makes it clear that he did indeed know the Father's name and declared it:
And I have declared unto them thy name, and willLike the prophets before him, Yehoshua came to point men and women back to the Father and to the Father's name. In breaking down the preceding verse into three parts it becomes clear that Yehoshua is stating that by declaring the name of the Father, the love Elohim gave to Yehoshua will also be given to us (info in brackets added for clarification):
declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me
may be in them, and I in them.
- John 17:26
And I have declared unto them [disciples] thy name,
2. What Yehoshua will do
and will declare it
3. Why he did it
that the love wherewith thou [Elohim] hast loved me may be in them,
and I in them.
This is a wonderful blessing that comes from the power of the name of our Elohim. Notice that Yehoshua also links his ability to reside in our hearts to this outward declaration of the name of YEHOVAH.
Some argue that the word 'name' as used in the verse above does not really apply to the Name of the Father, YEHOVAH, but rather his reputation or character. However, of what use is a reputation or character unless it is attributed to an individual being, in this case Elohim. What honor is given to an individual without identifying them--by their name? Also consider what confusion is created by not identifying them by their name.
Many people worldwide are under the impression that all religions worship the same G_d and that those religions just have different names for Him. To be clear, the name of each of the g_ds of the major religions is NOT the name of the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- the Elohim of Judaism and Christianity YHVH (YEHOVAH). It is also NOT the name of Yehoshua's (Jesus') Father. Christians and Jews need to know the Name of their Elohim, and know that He is the only and true Elohim so that they will not fall prey to the deception being promoted by the New Age movement, the 'Chrislam' movement, and the One World Interfaith movement and unwittingly worship a false deity.
So did Yehoshua proclaim the Father's name? Consider that Yehoshua did only what the Father did. This is seen in the following verse:
Then answered Yehoshua and said unto them, Verily,The Son has done nothing of himself. He has only done what the Father has done. Thus we can be assured that Yehoshua's words and actions not only support the will of the Father, but more importantly they make MANIFEST the will of the Father on Earth.
verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of
Himself, but what he seeth the Father do:
for what things soever he doeth,
these also doeth the Son likewise.
- John 5:19
Just as YEHOVAH proclaimed His own name to the whole world, the Messiah proclaimed the name of YEHOVAH to his disciples:
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thouThe word "manifested" from John 17:6 is translated from the Greek word φανερόω (pronounced phanero<ó). Phaneroó means "to make visible or make clear." Some English bibles translate the word "phaneroó" in a more modern way:
gavest me out of the world: thine they were,
and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
- John 17:6 (KJV)
I made your name known to the people you gave me.Yehoshua did not hide the Name. He obeyed the command to make YEHOVAH's name known to all people. Who are we to do anything less? As Yehoshua did what he had seen the Father do, we should do what we have seen the Messiah do (as shown through the Word).
They are from this world.
They belonged to you, and you gave them to me.
They did what you told them.
- John 17:6 (GWT)
When Yehoshua entered into the city of Jerusalem before Passover (on the week he was to be sacrificed) a large crowd greeted him in the name of YEHOVAH:
And the multitudes that went before, and that followed,
cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David:
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord;
Hosanna in the highest.
- Matthew 21:9
Did the people really call out the name of a pagan deity "Ba_l" (Lord), as shown in the verse above, instead of the name YEHOVAH when crying out to Yehoshua? To answer this we will consider a statement that the Messiah makes later after he had entered Jerusalem:
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets,Do you think Yehoshua was telling them "Blessed is he that comes in the name of Ba_l?" Of course not. Yehoshua was referring to the Father and was quoting from Psalms 118:26:
and stonest them which are sent unto thee,
how often would I have gathered thy children together,
even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,
and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
For I say unto you,
Ye shall not see me henceforth,
till ye shall say,
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
- Matthew 23:37-39
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of YEHOVAH:Based on Yehoshua's quote of Psalms 118:26 it is far more likely that the multitude in Matthew 21:9 were shouting:
we have blessed you out of the house of YEHOVAH.
- Psalms 118:26
And the multitudes that went before,When the religious leaders ordered Yehoshua to stop the crowd from crying out, he did not respond by rebuking the people but rather he told the priests that if the crowd stopped then the stones themselves would begin to shout--shout out the name of YEHOVAH! If the stones could shout it out, then we (who are greater than stones) should too.
and that followed, cried,
saying, Hosanna to the son of David:
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of YEHOVAH;
Hosanna in the highest.
- Matthew 21:9