Christians cringe when they read the reference to a Hispanic person named Jesus.  We go out of our way to make sure we pronounce it Hay-Soose so we don’t risk showing disrespect for the name of G-d’s Son.  Just how far would we go to make sure we obey the Third Commandment?

Christians praise the name of Jesus.  We hold that name higher than any other name.  That is why we overemphasize Hay-Soose when we say it.  We want to make sure everyone knows the difference in our pronunciation.  Besides, a Hispanic with that name is NOT Jee-Zus but rather Hay-Soose because that is how they pronounce it and we want to show respect by pronouncing it correctly, right?  Uh, maybe.

My name is actually not Rod, but rather, Rodney. (Don’t laugh!)  All legal documents that I sign are signed "Rodney" because that is my name.  "Rod" is a nickname.  A nickname is assigned by people who know you well enough to shorten or butcher your name without offending you.  Someone named Joseph may be called Joe.  Timothy might be called Tim.  Joyce may become Joy.  All this is acceptable when speaking casually amoungst close friends.  That habit takes a disrespectful turn when applied to something that is sacred and holy.  Catholics would never shorten Pope John Paul to J.P.  Saint Andrews Episcopal Church would be offended if we called it Saint Andy’s.  As Christians, we would never dare shortening Jesus Christ to J.C.  Names that are considered holy are treated with the utmost respect, as they should be.

Exodus 20:7 says, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your G-d in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes his name in vain."  Does this also refer to the name of Jesus?  Is that name as holy as Yahweh?  Maybe we should first ask,  "Is the name of Jesus valid or accurate?"  Was the Son of G-d’s name, Jesus?  Anglo Christians are the ones who perpetrated the usage of the name, Jesus.  Any time we hear someone refer to Yahweh’s Son as Yeshua, we assume they are a Jew, which might not be the case at all.  Why then do different people call Him different names?  Shouldn’t everyone call Him by his correct, given name?  I think so.

Jesus was a Jew, more specifically, He was a Hebrew.  There is no "J" sound in the Hebrew language.  The yod "y" is sounded as a yeh not ja. Taking only that into consideration, we might assume His name is pronounced Yee-zus which is still incorrect.

Here is a brief breakdown of how we came to know the name Jesus.  In Hebrew, His name is Yeshua.  From there, it was translated to Iesous (Ee-ay-sooce) in the Greek.  From there, it was translated to Latin.  There is still no "J" sound.  When translated then to English, it became Jesus.

border=”0″>
  Hebrew  Yah sh ua   Greek  Ie  s  ous   Latin  Ie  so us   English  Je  s  us

The common pronunciation in Hebrew is Yeshua.

Let’s reverse the translation process for a moment.  What do you think would happen to your name if someone translated your it from English to Latin to Greek to Hebrew?  If someone read the Hebrew translation, it is quite doubtful you would recognize your name if they said it.  If they called, you would not answer because they would not be saying your name.  If you called me by my name after that many translations, I would probably correct you and you would then say it correctly if you respected me.

To make sure we reverence Holy names, we should make sure that we not only know what they are, but we should also say them correctly.  Jesus and Yeshua are not the same name.  His mother called Him Yeshua, as did His disciples.  That’s a pretty good judge of what His name is, don’t you think?

There is much information on this topic on the Internet if you care to do some research.  Don’t get tangled up in the Holy Name movement that says you MUST MUST MUST call Him by the correct name or you will be vaporized into a cosmic dirt clod or some other such nonsense. This is not an eternal life or damnation issue.  It is one of love and respect and as a Christian, you love and respect our Lord, right?

The scriptures say "At the name of Yeshua, ever knee will bow and tongue confess Him as Lord."  Someone wouldn’t want to miss out because they said Jesus, would they?