The Names of Jesus

Topics addressed in this lesson

(The inability of men to come to Christ, the responsibility of men to come to Christ, the provision for men to come to Christ)

Our last study in the book of Acts had to do with the healing of a man lame from birth who, in order to survive, became a beggar. Each day friends or family would take him to places in the city which were suitable for begging. On this day he was situated just outside the temple gate. There he lay, begging alms of the passers by. Little did he know that today would be his last day as a beggar. By the decree and purpose of God the man was about to be healed. His healing would serve to gain the people’s attention and to validate the words and work of the apostles, Peter and John. As they approached, the man called out to them. Peter took him by the hand and healed him, instantly, and completely, in the name of Jesus. The man rose to his feet and began leaping and praising God. The people coming to worship were amazed. They had seen this crippled man many times before. They knew he could not walk. Yet there he was, leaping and praising God. There was no doubt that a miracle had taken place, one which gave Peter an opportunity to preach Jesus. We look again today at what he had to say.

(Acts 3:12-26 NASB) {12} But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety (personal holiness or god-likeness) we had made him walk? {13} "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified HIS SERVANT JESUS, the one whom you delivered up, and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. {14} "But you disowned the HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS ONE, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, {15} but put to death the PRINCE OF LIFE, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. {16} "And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. {17} "And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. {18} "But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His CHRIST should suffer, He has thus (in this way) fulfilled. {19} "Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; {20} and that He may send JESUS, THE CHRIST appointed for you, . . . . {26} "For you first, God raised up His Servant, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways."

The apostle Paul once declared his intent to preach Christ and him crucified and nothing else. Anyone familiar with his epistles knows that he did exactly that. Every thing Paul taught had to do with Christ, directly, or indirectly. All the apostles made much of Christ. So it should be today. Christ is to be exalted in the church as well as in our day-to-day lives and conversations. Christ is the head of the church, the only Savior of sinners. He is the beginning and end of all things. The scriptures tell us that if Christ is lifted up, explained, preached, and taught, that God will draw His elect people to Him for salvation. Therefore, we must lift Him up in our preaching and evangelism. We must make much of the name of Christ for the good of the saints and the salvation of sinners.

It is, after all, through the name of Christ that all spiritual blessings come. Think of our adoption as the children of God. (John 1:12 NASB) “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name . . .” It cannot be denied that salvation comes through the name of Jesus. (Acts 4:12 NASB) "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved." Lets say it a little differently. One cannot be forgiven their sins apart from the name of Jesus. (Acts 10:43 NASB) "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins." Likewise everyone who fails to trust Christ for forgiveness remains un-forgiven and, therefore, unacceptable to God. In addition, our prayers are answered in the name of Jesus. (John 14:13-14 NASB) "And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. {14} "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” Further, the Holy Spirit comes to us in and through the name of Jesus. (John 14:26 NASB) "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

It is at His name that every knee, every human who has ever existed, will one day bow in respect and reverence. (Philippians 2:9-11 NASB) “Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, {10} that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, {11} and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. As Christians we are to do everything in His name. (Colossians 3:17 NASB) “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father”. We are to do this so that His name will be glorified. (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 NASB) “To this end also we pray for you always that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power; {12} in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ”. The applications and significance of the names of Jesus are as numerous as the two-hundred plus titles applied to Him in the Bible.

In the short passage we deal with today Peter uses five different names for our Lord which I would like to look at this morning. Peter calls the second person of the trinity a Servant in verse thirteen, Jesus in that same verse, The Holy and Righteous One in verse fourteen. In verses fifteen through seventeen He is referred to as the Prince of Life and in verse eighteen as Christ.

First, Peter tells us that the Son of God was a “Servant” of God. Acts 3:13 “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant.” In other words God exercised providential control over circumstances and people so that His Servant, Jesus, would be glorified or reveled for who He was and is. The present miracle is no exception. God glorified His Servant Jesus. Peter speaks carefully here. He intends to and does create a direct connection between the Jewish God and the man Christ Jesus. Their God, the God of their father, Abraham, had sent a Servant to them and they murdered Him. He was God’s personal messenger, representative, and ambassador. Peter intends to prove more than this however. He intends to prove that He was THE Servant of God described in the Old Testament which Servant was the Messiah. Consider with me the words of Isaiah 52:13-15 NASB. “Behold, My SERVANT will prosper, He will be high and lifted up, and greatly exalted. {14} Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men. {15} Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand”.

In Isaiah 53 we see how this Servant would serve God. “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? {2} For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. {3} He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. {4} Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. {5} But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. (By the sufferings of Christ believers are healed of the fatal disease, “sin”.) {6} All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD (God) has caused the iniquity (the sin, guilt, demands of the law) of us all To fall on Him. (The Servant, Jesus) {7} He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. {8} By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? {9} His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. {10} But the LORD (God) was pleased To crush Him, (Jesus, God’s Servant) putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. {11} As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it (the intended result I.a., the salvation of all the elect of God) and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, MY SERVANT, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. {12} Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

Jesus himself said this, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve”. And indeed He did serve. He served His Father and in doing so He served us. He served His Father by keeping His law and doing His will perfectly from the cradle to the grave. He served His Father by effectively redeeming those given to Him for salvation. (John 17:4 NASB) "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do”. A good Servant always accomplishes the work He is given to do. In obedience to His Father He gave His life for the ungodly, for us, that we might not perish but have everlasting life. He remains the everlasting Servant of God and of all who trust Him for acceptance with God.

The second name Peter uses is “Jesus.” Acts 3:13 “Jesus, the one whom you delivered up, and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him”. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means, “the Lord is salvation.” I needn’t tell you that this is the most common name attached to our Savior in the New Testament. But it was not picked out of the air. Our Lord’s parents didn’t by a book of names at the local grocery store and choose Jesus from a few hundred other possibilities. Rather, they were told what to name their child. (Matt. 1:21) “You shall call His name Jesus, for (or because) it is He who will save His people from their sins.” He was called Jesus because of who He was and what He came to do.

The Jews knew what His name meant but Jesus or Joshua was a common name. What made this man any different than the others? Indeed He was the Lord and Savior of men but He was not received as such. (John 1:11) “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him”. The Jews, our Lord’s countrymen, did not receive Him because they “loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). They loved the lie they were living as opposed to the truth Jesus brought and represented. Millions live that same lie today. I speak of the lie that if you adhere to a set of rules and laws to the best of your ability God will accept you into His heaven when you die. The Jewish faith, along with every religion on earth, except for Christianity, was then and remains today a works based or performance based religion. When Jesus came He began exposing the error of their ways. Jesus taught that salvation is gracious and comes to one through faith, not works. He spoke the truth, which shed light on their guilt and sin. They hated Him for that and so rejected Him and had Him put to death. Jesus is still the light and truth that reveals the guilt and sin of man today. Wherever He is preached and His teaching set forth some will hate Him and those who bring the message. At the same time some, those blessed of God, will accept the Servant of God, Jesus, for who and what He is, the Lord’s salvation.

Thirdly Jesus is called the Holy and Righteous One. Acts 3:14 “But you (Jews) disowned the HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS ONE, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you . . .”

The word “holy” speaks of being set apart to God. Jesus was completely separate from the world and sin. There was no sin in Him of any kind. He was and remains the Holy One, which title is found in the Old Testament and was used to speak of the coming Messiah. This is significant seeing that Peter’s audience was Jewish. Psalm 16:10, “For Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol; neither wilt Thou allow THY HOLY ONE to undergo decay.” Peter used this title for Christ again in (John 6:69) “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God”. In effect, Peter was saying you Jews disowned and murdered your own Messiah, Jesus, the Holy One, the Servant of God!

The word “righteous” in the title “Holy and Righteous One” is a close cousin of the word holy. No mere man has ever been righteous in his own right but Jesus was. He was both holy and righteous. This piles a great weight of guilt upon the Jew’s shoulders. They were guilty of putting the spotless, righteous, holy, Lamb of God to death. There was no fault, guilt, or sin to be found in Him. There was no reason whatever for Him to suffer the horrible death of crucifixion. Nevertheless, because they loved darkness rather than light they crucified the Son of God, the “Holy and Righteous One”.

Next Peter calls our Savior the, “Prince of Life”. (Acts 3:14-15 NASB) "But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, {15} but put to death the PRINCE OF LIFE, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses”.

This, to me, is the most wonderful of the five titles Peter used for Jesus. He was then and is now the “Prince of Life”. What a strange thing to say, “You put to death the Prince of Life. How can that be so?

The word rendered “Prince of Life” in our English translation describes a pioneer, founder, or author, of something. A look at Hebrews 2:10 will help us with the meaning. “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the AUTHOR OF THEIR SALVATION through sufferings”. Consider also the words of Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, {2} fixing our eyes on JESUS, THE AUTHOR AND PERFECTER OF FAITH, (Jesus is the one who gives us faith in the first place, He is the author, originator, creator of it. He is also the one who, by the Spirit, sees to it that all the redeemed continue believing till they are joined to Him eternally in Heaven. He is the author and perfecter of our faith, the Prince of Life.) who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”.

There are many instances in the New Testament where Jesus is said to be the source of life. Consider the following. (John 1:1-4 NASB) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. {2} He was in the beginning with God. {3} All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. {4} In Him was life, and the life was the light of men”. Jesus, brothers and sisters, created all that is! The Word was God and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us as Jesus, the Prince of Life. (1 John 5:11 NASB) “And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son”. Then there is the following text, 1 John 5:20 NASB. “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

Then we have the words of Jesus Himself. (John 5:25-26 NASB) "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live. {26} "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also TO HAVE LIFE IN HIMSELF; . .”. (John 11:25-26 NASB) Jesus said to her, (Martha)"I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, {26} and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" John 14:6 cuts to the chase with these wonderful words, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me”. No one will have eternal life without trusting in Jesus, the Prince of Life!

The very fact that Jesus was and remains the Prince of Life accounts for the fact that His murder was unsuccessful. Peter goes on to speak of the resurrection.

(Acts 3:14-15 NASB) "But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, {15} but put to death the Prince of life, THE ONE WHOM GOD RAISED FROM THE DEAD, a fact to which we (the apostles) are witnesses”. You killed Him but God raised Him again.

Did God raise Jesus from the dead. Indeed He did. But how does one distinguish between God the Son and God the Father in the resurrection since both had a hand in it. Here we are told that God raised Him. This is true but we can also say that, as the Prince of Life, He raised Himself. Remember the words of John 2:19 Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Jesus was not talking about the temple made of stone and wood. He was speaking of Himself. “Kill Me and I will give Myself life again within three days”. Think also of (John 10:17-18 NASB) "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I LAY DOWN MY LIFE THAT I MAY TAKE IT AGAIN. {18} "No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I HAVE AUTHORITY TO LAY IT DOWN, AND I HAVE AUTHORITY TO TAKE IT UP AGAIN. This commandment I received from My Father." Jesus is the Prince of Life, therefore, it was impossible to kill Him. There is life in Him, indeed, He is life! He is Jesus the Holy and Righteous One. He is the Prince of Life, and finally, He is the Christ.

Acts 3:18 “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His CHRIST should suffer, He has thus fulfilled”. Once again we are reminded of two wonderful truths. I speak of the responsibility of man and the sovereignty of God. Yes, the Jews had put to death the Prince of life. But we must not forget what Peter, in verse eighteen, brings to our attention. God had determined beforehand that Jesus would die in exactly the way He did. Jesus came to save His people from their sin and to do that He had to give Himself as a sacrifice for sin. The prophets of old revealed God’s plan for His Son and it was fulfilled when the Jews put Him to death. (Isaiah 53:4-6 NASB) “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him STRICKEN, SMITTEN OF GOD, and afflicted. {5} But He was PIERCED THROUGH FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, He was CRUSHED FOR OUR INIQUITIES; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. {6} All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; BUT THE LORD HAS CAUSED THE INIQUITY OF US ALL TO FALL ON HIM”.

God put Jesus to death by the hands of wicked men for the redemption of His lost sheep. The words of the prophets have been fulfilled. However, Peter declares, you are in real trouble! You delivered Him into the hands of those who put Him to death. You brought false accusations against Him. You cried out, “Crucify Him!” The blood of the Messiah is on your hands!

(Acts 3:19-20 NASB) "Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; {20} and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you . .”

With these words Peter does what all preachers of the Gospel must do. He calls upon his listeners to do what they cannot but must do, repent and trust Christ for salvation. Why can’t they repent? Because they are dead in trespasses and sins and the dead cannot help themselves. Why then did Peter demand the repentance of the Jews. And why do I now say to you, “Repent and trust Christ for the salvation of your souls”? I issue this command on behalf of Christ because it is the Gospel and the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of sinners. Which is to say, when Jesus says come to Me He includes with that command the strength to come. Like Lazarus who had been dead three days sinners are unable to go to Christ, they are dead. If it was only me calling sinners to repentance I would be involved in a fools task and no one would ever be saved. But I am not alone in this work so far as I preach the gospel true to the scriptures. The words are Christ’s and they are accompanied with power sufficient to accomplish their intent. The command with a promise is this, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved”. Your concern must not be whether or not you have the power and strength to believe, yours is simply to obey. Jesus will provide all you need to come to Him. Salvation is all of grace. You contribute nothing at all. Simply trust Him as you are told to do. Rest your never dying soul in His everlasting arms. He is the Holy and Righteous One in whom you must hide in order to escape the wrath of God. By faith His holiness and righteousness will become yours and by that righteousness you will find acceptance with God.

What hope have the dead of coming to Christ? Much hope indeed for He who calls is the Prince of Life. "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live. {26} "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also TO HAVE LIFE IN HIMSELF.”