In Acts 3:6, we read, “Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
When Peter spoke those words, we all understand he was not speaking English. Peter, a Jew born in Israel, spoke Hebrew, so instead of saying “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,” he would have said, “in the name of Yeshua the Messiah, walk.”
Why is this difference essential for us today, and does it matter if you say Jesus or Yeshua? It matters because this has to do with how you understand Jesus. If you get Jesus wrong, you get everything else wrong.
How is it possible to get Jesus wrong by using the name Jesus instead of the Hebraic name Yeshua?
Christians today believe Jesus is our source for everything. So when a miracle like the one in Acts 3:6 happens, we choose to believe Jesus healed that man. If a miracle happens today, in our lives, we choose to believe Jesus has done a miracle in our lives, so we give Him praise and glory our Lord, Savior, God, healer, and miracle worker. And if we need a miracle, we look to Jesus to give us what we need.
In the Bible, we see Jesus healing people, raising them from the dead, providing for them, and saving them. We never see Jesus taking credit for what He did or teaching anyone to worship Him or to praise Him for His miracles. Everything he said and did in the Bible pointed to His Father and was done to glorify the Father’s name.
There is undoubtedly a considerable difference between the Christian Jesus and the Jesus we see in the Gospels. Why is there such a difference? Because most Christians have gotten Jesus wrong, and when you get Jesus wrong, you get everything else wrong.
In Acts 3:6, we read, “Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
When Peter spoke those words, we all understand he was not speaking English. Peter, a Jew born in Israel, spoke Hebrew, so instead of saying “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,” he would have said, “in the name of Yeshua the Messiah, walk.”
What does the name Yeshua mean? In Hebrew, it is the short version of the name Yehoshua which means Yehovah saves. So when you in Hebrew use the name Yeshua or Yehoshua, you are saying “Yehovah saves.” So when Peter in Acts 3:6 says, “in the name of Yeshua the Messiah, walk,” he is telling the lame man “in the name of Yehovah who saves you, walk.” So what Peter is doing here is what Yeshua (Jesus) told us to do, to glorify and honor Yehovah.
The power is not the name of Jesus, the power is in the name of Yehovah, and this is what Yeshua came to teach us. But because most Christians insist on using the name Jesus instead of Yeshua, we will lose access to the power Yehovah intends for us to have. We will also get Jesus wrong, and when we get Jesus wrong, we get everything else wrong.
We see another example of this in Romans 10:13, where Paul says, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Because we Christians use the name Jesus, we automatically assume Paul is referring to Jesus. So we believe Romans 10:13 says, everyone who calls on Jesus will be saved. When Paul wrote Romans 10:!3, he did not have a New Testament, so Paul is doing here is quoting Joel where it says everyone who calls on the name of Yehovah will be saved. This is why we could just as easily translate Romans 10:13 as everyone who calls on the name of Yehovah will be saved because He is Yehoshua.
Do you need salvation today? Salvation from whatever is troubling you? Call upon the name of Yehovah, for He is Yeshua.
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