What does the name of “Jesus” mean?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

What does the name of “Jesus” mean?

We are told in Acts 4:12 that there is salvation in no other name;
Phil. 2:10 says that at last “every knee” shall bow to that name; Acts
3:6 says that name caused the man born lame to walk. Says the poet,
“The name of Jesus is so sweet, I love its music to repeat.” But isn’t
it time that we should learn what the name means? It’s more than mere
emotion or tradition. There is dynamite locked in the very Hebrew name
itself.

First, what does it NOT mean? It does not mean “Jesus would like to
save,” or “perhaps He will save,” and it does not mean “He offers to
save.” The simple Hebrew meaning within the word is “Jehovah saves.”
Here’s what He is, not what He would like to be: He is a Savior. His
proper title was recognized by the believing Samaritans (they got there
before the Jews did!): “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42). He gives,
not merely offers, His flesh “for the life of the world” (6:51).

Furthermore, He is not a co-Savior, sharing the job with any one else,
least of all ourselves. You and I can’t share the honor! He “saves to
the uttermost,” that is, not part-way and then leaving us to finish the
job (Heb. 7:25).

This makes some people nervous; they’re afraid that if we say He saves
completely that we’re going to get lazy and not do “good works.” But
they don’t realize that when one appreciates what it cost the Savior to
save us, when the dimensions of His sacrifice are realized, the human
heart is so moved, so “constrained” (2 Cor. 5:14, 15), that the result
is total dedication to the “One who died for us and rose again.” There
is no end to the “good works” that His agape will forever “constrain”
us to do. While Jesus saves, we have something to do, but it’s better
to say we have something to believe. John 3:16 mentions no part we have
to play in effecting our salvation other than to believe, which means
“with the heart man believeth unto righteousness” (Rom. 10:10). We let
Him save us; we stop resisting Him. You are drowning in the ocean and
the lifeguard saves you completely, at the risk of his life. Do you
cooperate with him? Yes, otherwise you drown. Do you help save
yourself? No. You don’t give him a dollar tip and walk off proud of
yourself; you thank him for the rest of your life, and you walk humbly
ever after. Not one person eternally saved will talk about his own
accomplishment. There is a song the redeemed will sing that we can
begin to sing now (Rev. 5:11-13).

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