“GOD’S HOLY NAME IN OUR HEARTS”

6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.” 

John 17:6

We live in a day and age where God's Name has been reduced to a mere expression. Instead of speaking words of disgust or surprise, people unnecessarily and blasphemously invoke the Holy Name of God Almighty. But how can we Christians show appreciation to the Name of God?

John chapter 17 is a heartfelt prayer known as Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer.” After delivering His Farewell Discourse, Jesus now prays for Himself, the disciples, and future believers. This moment is also the start of Jesus’ “time.”

Yesterday, we learned that Jesus showed the world who God is and what He’s like. Here's a second spiritual nugget we can take from tonight's verse.

Jesus brought God’s Name closer to people’s hearts.

In the OT, the Jews spoke God’s Name, the four-letter symbol, YHWH, which is also known as the tetragrammaton. This name was held to be so sacred that it was never pronounced, except by the High Priest when he went to the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. It almost felt like God should not be named. These four letters stand for the name YAHWEH. In the Hebrew alphabet, there were no vowels at all. Eventually, people showed the vowel sounds with little signs above and below the consonants. The four letters YHWH were so sacred that the vowels of “Adonai” (“Lord”) were put below them so that when the reader came to YHWH, he would read not Yahweh, but “Adonai.”

What this means is that, during Jesus’ time, God’s name was so sacred that ordinary people were not even supposed to know it, let alone speak it. God was the distant, invisible, unapproachable King, whose name was not for regular people to speak.

So, when Jesus said, “I have manifested God’s name,” He brought God’s name closer to people. He bridged this huge gap between God and man. Because of Jesus, God is no longer the distant, invisible, unapproachable King, but the loving, caring, and welcoming Father. In fact, His name can now be invoked by anyone who comes to Him in humility.

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:13 

Paul quotes Joel 2:32 to explain that salvation is available to people regardless of race and nation. He says that whoever calls on the one true God as revealed in Christ will receive God’s gift of salvation.

Practically, we can call on the name of the Lord because we know Jesus intercedes on our behalf, so our prayers are heard in heaven. Isn’t it amazing that the God who made heaven and earth is always ready and willing to listen to your requests? Thank Jesus for bringing God’s name closer to your heart.

Pursue the Savior today!

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash