Jack Hardaway
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Yeshua.
It would have sounded something like that.
First century Aramaic, we don’t know exactly how it would have been spoken, but it would have sounded something like Yeshua. Deliverer. Savior.
In English, Jesus.
The name the Angel spoke.
The name that Joseph heard.
The name that Joseph and Mary gave their son, eight days after birth at his circumcision.
Yeshua.
What’s in a name?
Today we celebrate that name.
The name that is the new beginning.
In the first century it was actually a very common name.
The name that breaks the chains, that sets the captives free, the name used in exorcism, and frequently at Baptism.
What’s in a name?
Power. Power to bring life.
It was given the eighth day after birth, the first day of the week after birth, the number eight, a number of new beginnings. They would have thrown a party, for the circumcision and the giving of the name. The sign and the blood of the covenant with Abraham, for the children of Abraham, the Old Covenant, the ancient covenant of being God’s people, binding God and the people together in blood.
Today is New Year’s Day, a day of beginnings, a day to remember the name that sets us free, that hallows what was, and blesses what is to come.
The common name that makes all things uncommon.
The name that is power, the true mature power of humility, of being a servant.
The name to hold with deep reverence and love.
In this name we see love, and are given the freedom and power to love, to forgive, to dream, to reach out, to hope, to find joy and peace, even when tempted, even before evil, even at the grave.
Yeshua.
It would have sounded something like that.