Jesus Who? Call Him What?

?

Call Him Jesus?

by Rory Moore

If we did not already have confusion in Christianity today, there seems to be a growing number of Christians, or should we say Yahoshuans, Yeshuans, or Christianos that put forth an interesting array of apellations for the Saviour.
Jeshua, Yeshua, Yeshuah, Yehshua, Yehshuah, YESHUA, YESHUAH, YEHSHUA, YEHSHUAH, Yeshouah, Y'shua, Y'shuah, Jeshu, Yeshu, Yehoshua, Yehoshuah, YHVHShua, YHVHShuah, Yhvhshua, Yhwhshua, YHWHShua, YHWHShuah, Yhvhshuah, Yhwhshuah, Yahvehshua, Yahwehshua, Yahvehshuah, Yahwehshuah, Jahshua, Jahshuah, Jashua, Jashuah, Jahoshua, Jahoshuah, Jehoshua, Jehoshuah, Yashua, Yashuah, Yahshua, Yahshuah, YAHSHUA, YAHSHUAH, YASHUA, YASHUAH, Yahushua, Yahoshua, Yahoshuah, Yaohushua, YAOHUSHUA,  Iahoshua, Iahoshuah, Iahushua, or Iahushuah?? 

Now while there are various spellings and pronunciations, sometimes folks can slip into the  legalistic side of how we call on the Savior. (and He still shows up!)

I culled a few variations from a number of sources: Yahshua YESHUA Yeshua Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach Iesous Ieshoua yehÖshÙa yehoshua Y'SHUA Yĕhowshua YAHUSHUA came from someone correcting me. Yahusha "Yahusha and this Yahweh? That's a mistransliteration of G-D's name! The word is meaningless! .. “Yeshua is not the Hebrew name of Jesus. It would be Yeshai" -was seen on a YouTube post. and from a FaceBook post: "YAHUWSHUWA" ... can also we spell c-o-n-f-u-s-i-on?

If you are Japanese, He is YaeSu Nim; in Tamil, YaeSu Nim; in Fiji, Jisu;  or in Russia: Иисус Христос, -Iisus Khristos, A Serbian calls on ISUS, a Slovakian Jezis.

Why do we need to make such a simple thing so complicated?
If you are reading this, God bless you, I sincerely mean no insult or offense to anyone from any of the various camps. Folks go to verbal fighting over their pet version and Jesus saves no matter what language you speak. 

There are a lot of people named in the Bible, why stop with only another translation version of Jesus?    Here is a list in Romans of NAMES of saints:
Rom. 16:
8  Ampliatus...
9  Urbanus... and Stachys my beloved.
10 Apelles... the household of Aristobulus.
11 Herodion...  Narcissus...
12  Tryphaena and Tryphosa.. Salute Persis....
13  Rufus ....
14  Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas...
15  Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints 

And do not forget Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Timothy, Titus, Paul, Peter,  Philomen, Cornelius, Dorcas, and others.

Hopefully, you will see some humor in this exercise by now. 

The chances are very good that if you are reading and understanding these words it is because you read and understand English no matter what your ancestry might be.  And if you are the typical American Christian, you probably read and believe in the Bible Scriptures that you read in English, even if we get a bit tongue tied over some of the Biblical names.

One lady told me how she had become confused of how to address God in prayer because of the variations of Jesus' name.  SAD! 

Well I hope many of us take comfort in the fact that even though some of us do not read Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, or Greek, the truth of Scripture is not limited or hindered by our lack of ability to read and/or speak those languages. 

If you are Latino, God bless you in the name of Jesus (Hay-soos) Christo.If you are from Alabama and speak with a Southern accent, Jesus saves.
If you are praying and in need, calling on "JEEE-sus", or it comes out sounding like "JeSUS!", fear not.  God hears and answers our cry.

Years ago, before religion got to me, in repentence and brokeness, I called on to Jesus to save me.  HE did, and my life was changed by Him from that day forward.  No, the Lord did not send someone over to correct the sylables I had uttered or instruct me in the Hebrew, Latin, or Greek pronounciation.  I just started reading the Bible and prayers answered when I asked in Jesus' name.

Later, as a Holy Spirit baptized believer, I began to experience healing and the casting out of demons through the Name of Jesus.
Yes, people were healed, saved, and delivered all through the name of Jesus that I read about in my Bible. Praise the Lord JESUS.    

There is absolutely no irreverence or disrespect in this writing, nor is it meant as a slap to any of our Jewish brethren that choose to call on "Yeshua" or the like. What God did for me through Jesus, He will do for a Jewish believer in Yehoshua, or a Latino who calls on "Hey-soos Christo". 

The point is why get hung up over the correct pronunciation  from a language you don't even speak?

Some of the contenders go as far as saying Jesus was really Zeus, the Greek pagan god.
That is sheer RIDICULOUS and absurd.  

God ordained the New Testament to be written in Greek,
Over 911 times it was spelled in the Greek form IESOUS, as a Greek lexicon will prove.

Even though Jesus is rooted in the Hebrew Old Testament, the New Testament never gave us the Hebraic form, so relax.  
Even when Old Testament verses are quoted in the New Testament, they are in the Greek language.

What is most important is that you read God's Word in the language you understand, and call on Jesus in your language in faith knowing that God hears you.

 If you are an English speaker, I assure you devils are cast out in Jesus' name, lives changed, healings and miracles are done. When we pray, God hears and answers, in Jesus name.When we read our English KJV, ASV, NKJV, NASV, or even the NIV, there is no need to stumble over the English version of Jesus on the printed page, the same is true for a Chinese, Korean, or Russian Christian reading their translated version of the Name of Jesus. God still hears and answers.
Here it is in Greek: Ihsou=v The Transliterated Word  Phonetic Spelling
  Iesous     ee-ay-sooce' 

May Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Messiah, the Savior, deliver us from un-necessary strife over syllables, vowels, and silliness.