The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1915-06-05
THE LAMB OF GOD
''Thou Shalt Call His Name Jesus,
For He Shall Save His People
From Their SINS"


must be invented; in the cours of
time they become hereditary. John
the Baptist would have been called
Zacharias after his father; but in
early times the Hebrews made names
for their children. The name was Of
ten a memorial of some circumstance
connected with the birth, descriptive
of the child's appearance, or comment
Grating some event.
Had it been left for human wisdom
to fix a name for the child of the Vir-
gin, we can hardly form a guess as to
what the result would have been. Not
a little friendly discussion is some
times excited by the difficulty of fix
ing a name. The right to determine
the name belongs to the parent, and
God the father had made the name
known. The name selected was beau
tifully simple. A child may be
taught to lisp it, and the dullest men,
DRY to retain it. Divine greatness is
transformations. The simplest word in
our language is "God," and the next
to it is "Jesus."
This was no new name brought
down from heaven. A new name is
cold and meaningless, and stirs no
liSiIlOIlco VI CIS past. 1HCIC 10 a
warmth about an old name, and there
vas more than n little Jewish boy
who bore this very name at that time.
In the high priests family alone there
were no less than three, each of whom
would be high priest in turn. There
was Jesus, son of Sapphia, who n
day would become a notorious bri-
gand; and there was the still better
known Jesus surnamed Barabbas.
whom the people would one day prefer
to Christ. There was Jesus Justus,
who later became a faithful helper
of st. Paul, and Jesus the friend of
Josephus, and Jesus the peasant, who
one day would terrify Jerusalem with
his cries. So there was many a moth
er's head beside that of Mary which
bent over a little child Jesus.
Named After National Hero.
How came so many boys to be cal
led by the same name? Because
there was a hero back in the national
history of the Jews who bore that
name. l know that you will not find the
nam in the Old Testament, but you
must remember that spelling and pro-
nunciation had changed a great deal
since the son of Nun led Israel into
the land flowing with milk and honey.
Jesus and Joshua are exactly the
same name, only one is the Greek
form and the other is Hebrew.
What does the name of Jesus mean
to US? Is it to US merely the name
of a child born in Bethlehem 1000
years ago? No, it mean more than
that. Is it to us merely the name of
a teacher, a marvellous teacher, in
deed, who spake as n having author
ity, and who is the founder of the
purest philosophy of life which the
world knows? No it means more
than that. Is it to US merely the
name of a prophet who foretold events
to come and made known to men the
will of God? 1t is that and more.
The name "Jesus" means to US the
Lamb of God that taketh away the
sin of the world. If Jesus is only
a pedagogue or a schoolmaster, he
does not touch the. deepest necessi-
ties of mans condition. Such a view
of him may improve a mans morals,
and elevate him somewhat in other
respects, but it can never save him
from the power and consequences OF
sin. Jesus is himself the salvation
which he taught, and which he com
missioned his disciples to preach. He
alone can give pardon for the past,
purity for the present, and power for
the future.
For Love and Victory.
And his name stands for love. He
is the love-gift from the father, and
he slowed me and gave himself for
me-" In the power of his life | shall
possess my life, for the name Jesus
also stands for victory. In it is all
the power of the Nazareth victory,
and the wilderness victory, and of the
great climax victory of Calvary and
of the Resurrection morning.
The name of Jesus is a hidden name
to US until we begin to know and I'M
derstand him personally, and then it
becomes to US more than a name; it
becomes a spirit of power within us.
He belongs to US, this Jesus. He be-
longs to the beggar in the street, II
he will take him. He belongs to the
proud man, the vain man, the selfish
man. He belongs to the needy man.
He is medicine for every mans sick
ness and want. He is the Savior
that stands to help every living Great
ure. Then bring to him all your
needs, bring to him your sins and he
will give you pardon, bring to him
your life and he will purify and bless
it. Bring to him the worship of your
heart, for God hath 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