Philippians 2:9-11
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Look with me this week at the passage in Philippians as we consider a few things Paul is trying to tell us. What is the name above every name? The person Paul is speaking of as the subject of God’s exaltation is of course Jesus. But what is the name he is talking about? Is it the name Jesus? I do not think so. It is this name that is above all other names that I want to consider.
There is a movement saying we must address Jesus in His Hebrew name, in order for salvation to happen, one must say Christ’s name as it was first written in His day. Much like the Jews of the Old Testament handled the name Yahweh in that it was so holy they used LORD in place of it. Likewise this new YAHushua movement feels to not say the name as the Jews did is wrong, but claims the sacred name YAHushua must be used and not Jesus. YAHushua means “Yahweh is Salvation” or LORD is salvation.
If you don’t know by now Yeshua is the Hebrew name of Jesus. The old English “y” sound was rendered as “j” and this is why we now have Jesus as Christ name. This movement wants to add back the “y” sound along with “ah” giving you “YAHushua” as the name of Christ.
They base their reason on this passage in Philippians and one found in John.
John 5:43
I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
Do they have a case? Not at all.
If you enjoy Bible study, and you have studied this book before, you will know that many if not most writers feel Paul is claiming the supreme name given by God is Jesus. I will disagree with this notion for a few reasons. Reason number one, no name is ever to be placed above Yahweh (Jehovah). Next is that this passage tells us the name that is above all others, if you read it to the end, Verse 11 says it for us, “Jesus Christ is Lord”.
LORD is the name that Paul is talking about. This is a powerful statement of Christ’s deity. This is why every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, because Jesus Christ is LORD God. The full power of this statement can only be felt when we see the name of LORD is above all human names even to the point of the name Jesus itself.
Now I’m not talking just of the human element here in having a name that others had. However this also is true. The name Jesus was very popular in Bible times. So the name itself cannot be viewed as a sacred name. But more than this we must also remember that Jesus was given names other than LORD found in this passage. When you consider the other names and understand they are not as high as LORD, it is staggering.
Jesus is called the Son of Man. Many see this name as just speaking of His human nature, but the phrase means much more then this. If you consider how Daniel uses the phrase you will know it means much more.
Daniel 7:13-14
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Jesus is also called Son of God. This name of Christ clearly speaks of Jesus’ deity.
1 John 4:15
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
Jesus is called God’s Messiah. He is God’s Son. He is the Son of Man, He is our prophet, priest and King, the Alpha and the Omega, the door, the Beloved and many other names. But above all names, Jesus is called LORD. And with this name, every knee shall bow.
So why is LORD the name that is above all other names? I feel it has everything to do with the linkage to the personal name of God in the Old Testament, Yahweh
Early Christians would not say, “Caesar is Lord” as other Romans did. This was done not because they did not see Caesar as ruler, but because of how they viewed the word Lord. They insisted that Jesus was LORD meaning Caesar was not divine, but rather Jesus. No Jew would say the word Yahweh, for to them it was too holy even to pronounce. They replaced Yahweh with Adonai, which means LORD. So for them to say "Caesar is Lord" would be like calling Caesar God.
Adonai, the Hebrew name for Lord, to the Jewish mind became nearly synonymous with Yahweh, the personal name of God. This passage in Philipians 2 declares Jesus Christ is Yahweh.
An additional note regarding this word is that Adonai does not just mean LORD. The word contains a personal ending. It is best read, “my LORD”. It is the word that Mary used speaking to Jesus in the garden after the resurrection. It is also the word Thomas used in his confession, “my Lord and my God.”
The passage speaks of a time when Christ will return as Lord of all, and even if you do not call Him “your LORD,” you will call him Lord. Our LORD must return to earth and conquer evil completely and establish righteousness forever.
Do you look for our LORD’s return? The early church had a short prayer they prayed in hope of His return. This prayer has been preserved for us in the Aramaic language. It is but a one word prayer. The one word comes from two Aramaic words that run together. The words are “come” and “Lord.” These words read as Maranatha, which means “Our Lord is coming.”
Is it your prayer to see Him come? Do you pray to know Him? This should be our life and hope.
Maranatha! Lord Jesus come.