Feast of the Holy Name 2.1.11 In this name alone
Peter and John heal the crippled man by the power of the Name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus Christ, stand up and walk!
There are many names in the world, of people and things, but only one name out of all of them has such power to work miracles.
When we call upon this name we are calling upon the power of God Himself, the Creator and Saviour of the world. The same power which put this world in place and which keeps it running is contained in that one Name.
We do not call on the name of Bill or Fred or Nigel or Cedric in the same way. We call other names but we do not expect them to heal us, or forgive our sins. We don’t cry out in the depths of our anguish, O Sam, save me, O George, forgive me my sins!
For one thing those gentlemen are not able to hear us unless we are in their presence. And they don’t have the power or authority to grant such requests. But we take it for granted that Jesus can hear us wherever we call upon Him, and that He has ‘all authority on heaven and on earth’.
Among men He is unique. And among ‘saviours’.
He is often ‘demoted’ to be listed along with other admirable figures in past or present times. So He is put in the same list as Gandhi, or Martin Luther King – as social reformers of their times. Or He is listed with other heads of religions, or enlightened figures: Buddha, Mohammed.etc... as just one among others.
But it is impossible to put Him in any list implying equality with others. Others are not God! He is.
Other people may be admirable in their way, and do some amount of ‘saving’ insofar as they improve certain conditions of their time – but no one else comes close to being Saviour of the whole world and potentially of every person in it.
So we need to be clear about who and what we are calling upon when we utter this Name.
It is a name which opens the gate of heaven and brings down blessings upon us. It may work miracles, depending on what we are asking for, but it will always bring some form of improvement in the situation.
It is therefore a Name which must never be used lightly or carelessly, much less blasphemously.
Because of its great power it is hated by the evil spirits and this accounts for the attacks upon the Holy Name.
Just as we don’t pray to Fred or Bill, nor do we use their names as swear words; but the Name of Jesus, yes. It is so used thousands of times a day – a kind of negative compliment. This Name is so powerful it is worth hating if we do not love it.
In this Name the divine and the human meet. God has many names and we can use any of them in our prayer, but this particular Name has significance because it brings home to us the wonder of the Incarnation.
In Jesus God meets Man because He is both. In Him the closeness of divine and human is at its fullest. There is perfect reconciliation and unity between the two natures. Therefore, we in all our human distress can do no better than to call upon Him who understands our human difficulties and has the divine power to make things right.
He is the gateway to Heaven for us, either taking us there or bringing heaven to us. We are healed, forgiven, saved, blessed – always something good – whenever we call upon His Name.
Blessed be God, Blessed be His Holy Name, Blessed be Jesus Christ true God and true Man, Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
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