Matthew: Christian Rabbi presents a radically different approach to the study and understanding of Matthew and all the Gospels. Building on ground-breaking scholarship by English theologian Michael Goulder, it presents historical and cultural background, then offers a radical (but highly convincing) scenario for the development of the Gospel: as a cycle of Sabbath readings for use in synagogues (and later, in churches when Christian groups had separated from Jewish congregations). While taking a historical approach in examining each section of the Gospel in turn, presenting every Biblical source and parallel for each verse, the book discusses significant theological problems and issues. (Why did Matthew omit Mark’s account of Jesus’ family seeking to have him locked up because they thought he was crazy? Why do all the Gospels take different approaches to playing down the significance of John the Baptist?) Suitable for ongoing group study or individual reading.
Christopher B. Sanford was raised as a Presbyterian, dropped out, was influenced considerably by Unitarianism, and was active for over a decade in the Unity Church. He discovered A Course in Miracles, and led a Miracles study group for a number of years. He brings an intelligent layman’s skepticism to Biblical study. He has spent over a decade reading outstanding scholars and comparing their views, in an effort to come to a personally satisfying understanding of what the historical Jesus may in fact have said and done and taught. The study has brought many surprises. The Jesus of history has little in common with the Jesus of faith.
1:21 "...And You Must Name Him Jesus"; or, What's in a Name?
21“And she will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” |
This verse is a continuation of the a
ngel’s announcement to Joseph.
Discussion:
Given the ubiquitous use of the name Jesus in our society -- even on bumper-stickers -- yet at the same time a use restricted (except in Hispanic culture) to the one unique Jesus our culture recognizes, it may be worthwhile to pause a moment to explore the historic origins and significance of this name.
Imagine for a moment that you have been transported back to the Galilee of two thousand years ago, and you see a familiar figure strolling ahead of you on a main street in Nazareth or Capernaum. (We won’t go into how you could possibly recognize him, since all our images of Jesus date from centuries later, and he most certainly didn’t look like any of them.) You cry out, “Jesus!” What happens? Probably nothing, except for a few locals glancing in your direction to see why this foreigner is shouting out something incomprehensible. Why? Because -- even if you had recognized the right man -- his name wasn’t Jesus.
As Meier (I.205-208) points out, the original full Hebrew form of Jesus' name is Jehoshua, of which the more ordinary form in pre-exile[1] times was Joshua. In Hebrew, this name means "Yahweh saves." After the Babylonian exile (in the 500s BCE), the more common form was Yeshua[2], often shortened (particularly in Galilee) to Yeshu. These old patriarchal names had fallen out of favor, but the Seleucid monarch Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BCE), in trying to Hellenize Palestine, triggered a backlash -- Jews who resented Antiochus’ effort to replace their culture with a Greek culture reacted, among other things, by reviving Hebrew Bible names for their children. (Interestingly, Matthew gives a reason for this choice of name but only indirectly translates it -- perhaps assuming that his Jewish readers know enough Hebrew to be aware of this.)
So by Jesus' time, there were numerous men named Joshua or Jeshu. (Both of these names are taken over into Greek as Iesous, with the "s" at the end to fit Greek grammatical rules.) The Jewish/Roman historian Josephus (in Jewish Antiquities 18.3.3 §63-64) mentions about twenty different men with this name from around the time of Jesus -- so being named Jesus in those times was a little like being named Bill or Bob today.