There are four Scripture portions that have been tugging at my heart for some time, because I truly believe that what we call people (and things) matters. Words matter. God’s words matter.

Yeshua literally means “salvation” in Hebrew. The name, as is common in Hebrew, has a specific meaning. Historically, names were not chosen because they were popular or sounded cool; they were chosen because they reflected or declared something about the person. 

When Adonai speaks directly to someone, giving them a special name or instructing them to give a name, they are to listen and obey. Consider the naming of the one we Christians know as Jesus:

“But while he was thinking about this, an angel of Adonai appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Yosef, son of David, do not be afraid to take Miryam home with you as your wife; for what has been conceived in her is from the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, [which means ‘Adonai saves,’] because he will save his people from their sins.'”

Matthew 1:20-21 (CJB)

“‘The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him ‘Immanu El’ [The name means, ‘God is with us’].'”

Matthew 1:23 (CJB)

“’For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’”

Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)

Additionally, we are familiar with the verses in Matthew 16:15-16, where Yeshua is asking his disciples who people say He is, and then He zeroes in on them specifically: 

“‘But you,’ He said to them, ‘who do you say I am?’

Shim’on Kefa (Simon Peter) answered, ‘You are the Mashiach, the Son of the Living God!’” (CJB).

Nowhere does God tell us to call His son, Jesus. Adonai is clear about who Yeshua–Immanu El–is and what He is to be called. What gives me pause is the seeming need to change meaningful Jewish names to less Jewish sounding, less meaningful, ones. Is this to make our lives easier because we don’t like to learn new languages (though Yeshua is not difficult to pronounce)? Is it to make Yeshua more like us, to create a savior in our own image? I realize it is not only Yeshua’s name we have changed, but it is His name change that is on my heart lately.

It could be argued that neither God nor Yeshua mind the name change, so long as the heart of our worship remains true, but the thought of removing the Jewishness from our Savior, the seeming need to make a very Jewish religion less so, just doesn’t sit well with me. And the further I go on this faith journey, the more I wonder if the spirit of our worship (Christianity) hasn’t in fact moved away from what Yeshua teaches, what Adonai calls us to, toward something that resembles American pop-culture. Changing the name of our Savior was just the beginning of removing the context from His story. He came for all people, yes. But we cannot ignore the historical and cultural significance of His message, nor can we remove or ignore God’s unconditional and eternal promises to Israel. 

We Gentiles were adopted into Israel. Perhaps we are to honor the old and the new? At any rate, studying the history of the church is a valuable endeavor, because the Christian church today is missing a significant portion of what Yeshua came to teach and to live–what He wanted us to carry on after His earthly departure until His return, namely: Torah. All of it. Not just the portions we find convenient and easy.

David Stern, author of The Complete Jewish Study Bible: Insights for Jews & Christians, chose to translate this edition of the Old and New Convenants because he “saw that the greatest schism in the world is the separation between the church and the Jewish people.” The more I study and come to know God, the more I see the truth of this statement.

Stan and I have struggled the past four years to find a church home, because everywhere we go, the focus seems to be on us, the audience, the sinner, the broken–on making us laugh and making us comfortable and making us feel good about ourselves–rather than on Him. 

There are ministries out there that teach their leaders it is a sin to bore people with the Gospel. As a result, they have tried to make Christianity an entertainment industry, because (apparently) they don’t believe the Holy Spirit can move if people are bored. Adonai never once tells us it is a sin to share the Gospel if those who hear it don’t receive it. He never commands us to entertain people with the Gospel. We’ve done that.

In short, we seem to be making Christianity more about us and less about the Messiah. It feels like our eyes are far more on ourselves than on things above.

My purpose here is not purely to criticize Christianity. While I do feel compelled to join David Stern and other Messianic Jews in their efforts to close the divide between Christians and Jews, I also write this knowing Adonai is calling me to worship differently. I may not change the Christian church, but I can make changes in my own life that reflect and honor both old and new.