God bestowed on him the name Jesus (cf. Philippians 2:8-11)

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (cf. Joel 3: 5; Acts 2: 21; Rom 10: 13)

“I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life,

you who believe in the name of the Son of God”. (1Jn 5:13)

Believing in the coming of the son of God, Jesus Christ "in the flesh," involves accepting God's great humility, which seems unbelievable. God, who is always above us, is easier to accept because he does not require such an unambiguous and real inner transformation. He can be worshiped as God in heaven, above us. It is enough to properly worship such a God in the form of external worship and to obey His commands. Instead, God made man calls us to truly follow him, and this is difficult because it requires a total change of heart.

It has always amazed me that the essence of faith is actually faith in the name of Jesus Christ, and that this faith is a testimony of having the Spirit. For us, a name is a title we use to address someone. It is formal. For Jews, on the other hand, the name expressed the essence of the person, his mission and meaning. Therefore, to believe in the name of His Son means, more or less, to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, that He has the power to save us, that power rests in His hands. To believe in His name is simply to believe in Him. However, the term "believe in the name" has a dynamic character in this understanding of the name – it means entrusting oneself to His mission, His power and action. At the same time, it has a very personal character. We use a name when we personally address someone. To believe in the name of Jesus – that is, to address Him personally.

Saint John is concerned with a very concrete, intimate relationship with God. The Gospel, in announcing the fulfillment of Isaiah's predictions concerning the light that illuminates the land of the Gentiles, indicates that this world is in the person and teaching of Jesus. His first message is: the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. “Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15). Behold, the kingdom is near, already here, at our hand, and not somewhere far away, so that we have to wait a long time for it. It is just around the corner and that is why we must convert. In the Apocalypse, Christ says: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” (Rev 3:20). It is precisely closeness that direct calls and obliges. This is how God comes to us: close, desiring a living relationship with us.

Thus, it is not so much the name of Jesus – which in the New Testament refers only to the historical figure of the Son of God – that is the guarantor of power, blessing and eternal salvation, but the act of acknowledging that this Jesus, the Son of Mary and Joseph, is Lord (Kyrios) and King (Basileus) of all creation: If, therefore, you confess with your mouth that JESUS IS LORD, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will attain salvation (cf. Rom 10:9). This recognition, if true, entails radical changes in personal and social life. Today it is worth returning to this truth, which for Christians has become so obvious that it has almost been forgotten – in favor of symbolic and functional terms of Jesus: Savior, Lamb, Friend, etc.

Faith in this name was the basis of all the powerful work of the apostles. When Jesus tells us today that we will be hated because of his name, he does not mean his own name, which was (and is) universal, but this unique name received from the Father, which is the source of blessing and salvation, and which has the power to restore order and harmony to the individual, to nations and to the world.

Until Tomorrow

fr. george