Jesus the Christ Chapter 4

I’m actually posting this the day I read the chapter rather than the day after, so I’m caught up. Feel free to comment whenever you’d like.

Names! One of my personal favorite gospel topics. (Topics? Sure. It beats the ever so vague “… thingies?”) I find the fact that Heavenly Father takes names so seriously fascinating. I personally take it as full vindication of being a lit major- if symbolism is that important and prevalent, then it’s worth studying as a whole. I also find it terribly interesting to ponder given various ordinances in the LDS church- the process of presenting a baby to Heavenly Father to give them a name and a blessing being only one.

I’m making a list of the titles and names given to Christ (just as they come up in this book so far, and I’ll continue throughout our book club adventures- let me know if you’d like the list). So far there are 49. It’s interesting how each one denotes something different, some little (or big) insight into Christ’s role or, I’m assuming, personality. I think it would be really instructive to delve into the meaning of each one.

I found this quite intriguing in the notes: “Name in the scriptures not only equals that by which a person is designated, but frequently equals all that is known to belong to the person having this designation, and the person himself.”
Also, “Names of persons have been changed by divine direction, when not sufficiently definite as titles denoting the particular service to which the bearers were called, or the special blessings conferred upon them.”

Taking that into account when considering that we are to take upon us the name of Christ, or thinking of the people of Benjamin in the Book of Mormon who were given a new name that would never be blotted out, is kind of eye opening. So much more responsibility than just “being a good example” or whatever we think of when we think of taking the name of Christ.

My personal favorite name/title of Christ, or the one that resonates the most with me, is I Am. I love the consistency of identity it states, the complete integrity. I can completely trust someone designated I Am.
Which resonates the most with you?

(PS. You don’t have to be part of the Jesus Book Club to comment, and you don’t have to ask to be part of the book club- chime in, anyone!)

4 thoughts on “Jesus the Christ Chapter 4

  1. bruce on

    I also find the importance placed on names to be very interesting. As a kid, I remember thinking that Saul and Paul were two different people and didn’t quite understand why they were somehow linked to each other. Before I understood that Paul was basically the Roman equivalent of his Jewish name, I thought that he took a new name as part of his conversion. Sort of a shedding of the old skin.

    In pagan tradition and folklore, there are all these weird stories about the power you hold over someone when you know their “true name”. After having joined the Church and seen the importance placed on naming, it makes me wonder what kernel of truth did those pagan stories grow out of.

    I think names are much more important that we truly realize. Unfortunately some of those reasons aren’t really fit to typed out in the comments field of blog post (no matter how nice of a post it is!).

    Sorry my dear, you’ll have to ask me about it in person 😉

  2. I agree about the importance of naming being fascinating. Since attending the temple the first time (speaking of names) I have read over and over a story in the scriptures that uses that name. I wonder what it has to teach me.

    The name that resonates the most with me for Jesus is…Jesus 🙂 Knowing it means “savior” in Greek is really profound for me. Jesus saves us, from our sins, from ourselves, and rescues us from despair. I’m so grateful for Him and for that.

    Oh, and Bruce, your comment reminded me of the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin!

  3. as a plug for reading the footnotes, i wrote this in my margins last night in regards to footnote number 1: “simon becomes peter; heareres become rocks; taking in information leads to faith/belief”

    so, don’t forget the footnotes 🙂

  4. Maryanne on

    B, I wonder about the folk beliefs about knowing someone’s true name too. There’s got to be something to that. I mean, some connection. And I think I know what you’re referring to in your comment, lets talk about it later. 🙂

    Brandy, I love that footnote. And that’s a great insight about that specific name change. That would be an interesting study- to look at all the name changes and what they signify. I thought Abraham and Sarah’s were especially interesting.

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