Changing Names

William Shakespeare famously wrote in Romeo and Juliet, “What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.”  However, can you imagine if your name were Adolf, Svetlana, Igor, or Lacretia?  Not that these are bad names, they’re just not our names.  I will sometimes quip, “I don’t care what you call me as long as you don’t call me late for supper,” but the truth is that, for the most part, our names matter to us, and another name would not be as sweet. 

The whole idea of changing names seems to me to be a stretch.  How does one go from being “Bill” to being, “Bob”?  The ladies out there understand this better than us men, though.  Many of them changed their name after they got married.  Historically this symbolized the break of identity with her father’s family and becoming a new family with her husband.  In the end though, she went from signing her last name “Smith” to “Jones.” 

In our Old Testament lesson yesterday God changed Abram and Sarai’s names to Abraham and Sarah.  This was no small matter.  He was not only changing their names, He also changed their identity.  Their names bound them to the promises God had made to them to bring forth kings, rulers, and a multitude of nations from them. 

God did this as part of the process of blessing all nations through Abraham.  He had chosen them to be the father and mother of a promised child, one that He would give to them in their advanced years.  That child would bear the promise that all nations would be blessed through him, and pass that inheritance down until finally the one would be born who would bless all people – our Lord Jesus. 

Their identity was bound to the coming of this savior.  They lived in the hope of His birth, for He would be the one to restore all people to God. 

Interestingly, Jesus spoke directly about how He would accomplish this task.  He said that He would suffer, die, and rise again on the third day.  The cross and empty tomb are the identifying markers we look at to recognize Jesus as our Lord and Savior. 

Abraham and Sarah lived in anticipation of Jesus’ coming.  We on the other hand live in the fulfillment of His death and resurrection.  Their identity was linked to looking forward to the savior’s coming, our identity is tied to looking back to the cross and empty tomb.  It is there that we see our savior.  It is there that we find ourselves redeemed. 

As Christians we live every moment in the shadow of the cross.  We are “little Christs” who carry the hope of Jesus’ death and resurrection to others.  We are also “disciples,” that is, we are followers of Jesus, the Risen One, and we go out into the world following Him.  As Christian disciples we look not only backward to see our salvation, but we look forward to the future Jesus has prepared for us.  We look forward to when He will come again to take us to be with Him in Glory.  In the meantime, we see the present and know that we have been placed here and now to represent Jesus and share the Good News of His life, death, and resurrection in this world. 

Blessings on your week!