Name above all names

The most hated name in the world is not Osama bin Laden, Hitler, or Judas Iscariot. None of those names are internationally used as a cuss word. By far the winner of the Most Despised Name award is Jesus Christ. He is an all-time Hollywood favorite. His name is used as a cuss word in books and magazines, on radio and TV, all over the Internet, and in everyday speech. Jesus predicted that the world would hate Him because He testified that its works are evil (see John 7:7). The world hates Jesus for the same reason devious criminals hate the police.

Using His name as a cuss word is not the only way to deal with this problem of Jesus of Nazareth. You can try to wash your hands of Him by doing what the Mormons did—make up your own “Jesus,” who is the brother of Lucifer. Or you can do what Islam did—create a Jesus who is not the Son of God and did not die on the cross.

Or you could try to change the historical revelation of Jesus. Some claim that Jesus never performed miracles, that He was just a man who married and had kids, or that He died and was buried. Others have suggested that Jesus was fathered by a Roman soldier who raped Mary.

The Book of Acts tells us that the religious leaders of the day forbade preaching “in His name.” They hated the name of Jesus. Two thousand years later, not much has changed. A National Day of Prayer chairman refused to pray in the name of Jesus so as not to offend any Jewish participants. They seem to presume that Jews hate Him—one of their own. I am Jewish, and I don’t hate His name. I love it.

I cannot help but wonder how those who are offended by Jesus’ name would react if I concluded a prayer with, “In the name of the perfect Son of God, who was born of a virgin, suffered and died for the sin of the world, rose again on the third day for our justification, and is coming in flaming fire to bring vengeance on those who don’t know God and refuse to obey the gospel of salvation. Hallelujah! Praise His glorious name. Oh how I love Him. Amen.”

Philippians 2:9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name