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It's important to get someone's name right. Our names are a significant part of who we are, the way we are known and even the way we know ourselves.

To begin understanding Jesus, we need to know that there are many names for him. Each one gives a new perspective into his very nature.

God is calling your name now, and inviting you to consider again who Jesus is for you.

Listen

One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

John 1:40-42

Think

To anoint someone means to spread or pour oil onto a person or object. This may sound a little unusual to us today, but in Jesus’ day this was a very sacred act. David (that same kid who struck down Goliath with a stone) was anointed by Samuel with oil as a sign that he was destined to become the new king of Israel.

In Jesus’ time, the title of “Anointed” or “Messiah” meant “the ultimate king” of all the universe. It means that in the end, violence, dominance, injustice, popularity, good looks, having nice things – they’re nothing. They’re all nothing. Our world works very, very hard to tell us that these things are so important and that they have all the real power. But the truth is, they don’t.

In the end all that other “stuff” will wither away. But God will still be God, and God will still be with us. Real power was shown to us wearing a crown of thorns.

Marc van Bulck

Pray

Holy One, grant me courage, compassion and neighborliness. Make me an ambassador of the Anointed One. In Christ’s name, may it be so. Amen.

Go

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:14-17