This week I have been thinking about names. On Sunday we had a reading from John’s gospel (1:29-42) where Jesus was called many different names and they were all packed with meaning and significance.

• Lamb of God – when Passover is celebrated, a lamb is killed and eaten to remember the first Passover story when the blood of the lamb was smeared on the doorframes of the Israelite houses so the angel of death would ‘pass over’ their homes as he fulfilled that dreadful plague, the death of the firstborn son of each home. Lamb of God would have been a name that spoke of rescue, deliverance from death, the spilling of the blood of the lamb to save God’s people.

• Rabbi – Jesus is called this by Andrew in answer to the question from Jesus, ‘what do you want?’ In one word Andrew conveys something of who he thinks Jesus is, a teacher, and reveals who he would like to be, a student. He then asks, ‘where are you staying?’ Andrew and the other disciple present are in it for the long haul; they don’t just want a roadside conversation with a wise man but to journey with him…here’s someone worth following.

• Messiah – after Andrew has met Jesus, he goes to tell his brother Simon and he greets him with these words, ‘we have found the Messiah.’ Messiah, and its Greek equivalent of Christ, mean ‘anointed’ and the first thing that springs to my mind is the anointing that happens when a King is crowned, something we read about in the Bible with people like David and something we’ll get to witness ourselves later this year as King Charles is crowned, a ceremony which still involves being anointed with oil. A rescuing lamb, a teacher, and a King – all conveyed in 3 names.
While we’re thinking about names…

For Simon, meeting Jesus had a profound impact, and this gets off to an impressive start – barely two seconds in Jesus’ presence and Jesus is renaming him Peter! Normally when we first meet someone, we work hard to remember their name after being introduced, we don’t usually respond with ‘I’m very pleased to meet you but I’m going to be calling you something else!’ But God does have a bit of a reputation of renaming people…

In the Old Testament, a name change from God usually meant something significant had happened or was going to happen – a name change denotes a change of relationship to God (think about Jacob becoming Israel or Sarai becoming Sarah). When God looks at us, he doesn’t just see the actuality but the possibility. Jesus renamed Simon ‘Peter’, which means rock, knowing the firm foundation he would provide for the building of God’s church.

Is 2023 a year for a name change? Is this a year where you would like something to change in your relationship to God? Why not pray and ask God how he sees you…what he calls you…

Rev Emma