What's In a Name?

What's In a Name?

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, ‘No; he is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘None of your relatives has this name.’ Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came over all their neighbours, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, ‘What then will this child become?’ For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.

Luke 1:57-66

It feels like a particularly nerdy part of the Bible to be interested in, but I have always been interested in the meaning of names in the Bible. 'His name is Joseph', quick look at the footnote and see what Joseph means. 'Her name is Ruth', look that up and it means friend. It is not just biblical names that hold meaning, most names have some sort of meaning ascribed to them.

Perhaps it comes from my own name, Christian. Walking around with a name that means 'little Christ' or 'follower of Christ' I always felt it meant something to me more than just that my parents liked the name. It felt on one level that they were saying something about what they hoped for me.  

I ask myself, do I truly live into my name? If someone saw me in this world would they see a little version of Jesus? 

I know in the west we don’t really ascribe much power to nominative determinism but I can’t help but think that sometimes our names either say something about us or call us to something greater.

“No”, says Elizabeth, “he is to be called John.”

“His name is John” wrote Zechariah.

John means “Yahweh is gracious”.

While we might treat finding the meaning of our name as a little bit of fun, the deeper question of knowing who we are, where we come from and importantly whose we are, can help sustain us as we work to let Justice flow.

I suspect that over the course of John the Baptist’s life knowing who he was, was central to his work to spread God’s graciousness and justice, that self-knowledge was a source of strength for him. Knowing that I am a child of God is a source of deep comfort and strength as I engage in work for justice in this world.

It is true that not all of us have histories or origins that we might want to celebrate, remember or find peace in, but we can all find an anchor in our identity in Jesus.  We can find in belonging to Jesus something of the love and grace we wish to live out in this world.

Finding our identity in Jesus is not just about finding comfort for ourselves in this world, an easy trap to fall into at Christmas time. But more importantly it is also about finding grace, love, mercy and justice to live out for others in this world.

What is something you can commit to this Christmas to live more fully into this grace, love, mercy and justice? How does your commitment point others to knowing and experiencing that God is gracious? How does knowing who you are in Jesus strengthen your commitment to letting justice flow?

Rev Christian Ford is currently the rector of the Anglican Parish of Gosford in the Diocese of Newcastle. He has served in churches in North Queensland and Lismore and loves nothing more than to see people realise that they are loved by God. He currently lives on Darkinjung Country.

This devotional is part of a series of daily email devotionals for Advent 2024 reflecting on the life-giving, thirst quenching justice of Jesus we long to see flow across these lands. A justice overflowing with love and compassion, bringing forth hope, healing, nourishment and flourishing for all.

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