What’s The Power of Jesus Name?
Jun 26, 2017 11058
There’s no “magical” power in the name of Jesus, but
all the power of omnipotence belongs to the One who bears it.
Christianity sometimes seems full of clichés – expressions that we use that doesn’t seem very meaningful to others. But can it be that they can also lose their meaning for us believers? Can we hear them, listening to them so often, and all the time thinking we know what they mean until we don’t even know what they mean ourselves?
Here’s an example: we talk about “the power of Jesus name.” What does it mean?
In the ancient world, names were not just words; they had power. And the name of the gods had potent cosmic power. That’s why most gods hid their true names from humanity. Nevertheless, there were huge traditions of the antiquity of people trying to discover the true names of the gods. This was true both within paganism and within Judaism. By using the true name of God in prayers and magical incantations, it was believed that you could somehow exert power over it to get him or her to do what you wanted. This background helps us to understand what the Bible says about the power of Jesus name.
The Bible Highlights the Power of Jesus Name
The Bible continually highlights the power of Jesus name. It tells us that God has exalted Jesus to the highest place,
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:9–11).
In other words, the name of Jesus is more powerful than any other name in the universe and much more so than all those other names that people tried to call on. The Name of Jesus is so powerful that it exercises power over and subdues every other being in the universe.
The Power of Jesus Name Isn’t Magic.
Jesus has promised his children that his name is so powerful that anything that we ask in his name will be done. (John 14:13). More than that, Jesus makes a fascinating statement in John 16:26–27 where He says that when His children ask for something in his name, he doesn’t have to ask the Father for that thing to be given to them. Essentially, the reason for this is that Jesus’ name is mighty.
The marvellous thing is that although the names of power in antiquity were often hidden and mysterious, God has revealed to his children, right from the beginning, what the true name of power is when the angel said to Joseph:
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins (Matt 1:21).
I am constantly bemused by those Christians who give great importance to discovering and knowing the true name of God. Then they usually insist on only ever calling God by that name, or even just in spelling it in a certain way. The truth is that God reveals himself by hundreds of names in Scripture, with the purpose that we not fixate on one name alone but instead on the manifold glories of his person.
There’s no magical power in the name of “Jesus”, but all the power of omnipotence belongs to the One who bears it. There is no virtue in repetitively chanting the name of “Jesus”, but there is salvation and joy in knowing the One who has asked us to pray in that name. Through him, all the power of the Almighty, and all the treasures of heaven, are at the disposal of his children.
– Eliezer Gonzalez
Leave a Reply