JESUS THE LAMB OF GOD


THE MOST HOLY NAME OF JESUS

1 Jn 2:29-3:6; Ps 98:1,3-6; Jn 1:29-34

Behold the Lamb of God

The Most Holy Name of Jesus is celebrated as an optional memorial today. We reflect on the celebration because of the Dominicans’ devotion to the Most Holy Name of Jesus. The Name of Jesus derives its holiness from its source and purpose. Concerning the origin of the name, the scripture gives us to understand that the name Jesus comes from heaven. The archangel Gabriel revealed the name at the annunciation to Mary, that she is to conceive and bear a son through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, and the child will be the Son of God and must be called Jesus. This heavenly origin points to the holiness of the name because everything from God is pure and holy. In addition, the holiness of the name of Jesus is also from the holiness of the child to be conceived and his greatness. According to the angel Gabriel, the child will be great and called the Son of the Most High. We have these in Lk 1:31-32. Thus, both the name and the child are from God; these two add to the holiness of the name of Jesus. The divinity of the Eternal Word, who assumed our human nature, makes his name holy. Because the name of Jesus refers to the second divine Person in human nature, it carries divine holiness. When we invoke the name of Jesus, the power and authority it holds is that of the divine Person of the Eternal Word. Hence, the name of Jesus is most holy in its origin and reference.

The name of Jesus is also most holy in the purpose for which God reveals it. Because God revealed the name of Jesus as the name of the second divine Person, it is for our salvation. The angel Gabriel also revealed this aspect of the heavenly name, for he said that the child would be great and called the Son of the Most High. These refer to the manner of his life, which would attain greatness through righteousness and the doing of the will of God, by which he will save his people and rule over the kingdom of David, his father. Saint John underlines the principle of being begotten by God in the first reading as righteousness. “You know that God is righteous—then you must recognise that everyone whose life is righteous has been begotten by him.” The Man Jesus Christ presented himself to us as the Son of God by his sinless life, by which he revealed the will of God the Father, which is our salvation from sin and evil. Thus, the saving power of the name of Jesus comes from his sinless life and the Spirit of holiness that manifested in his life and work. The purpose of the name of Jesus and the One who bears the name is the revelation of the Father’s will, which is our salvation at the same time. John the Baptist recognised and showed him to us by this same mark: “Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.”

To invoke the most Holy Name of Jesus is to submit to the Father’s will, which defeats sin and evil in us. The invocation of the most Holy Name of Jesus is the invocation of the Spirit of holiness, united to the name in his sinless life as the Son of Man. It confirms what God told the Baptist: “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Our profession of faith in the name of Jesus is the declaration of our readiness to submit to the will of the Father and walk in the newness of life it confers on the believer. Such a profession of faith made in the sincerity of heart characterise our baptism in the name of Jesus Christ as a new spiritual birth. So, the name of Jesus becomes powerful as we journey into his mystery guided by the Holy Spirit into the meaning and sacredness of the most Holy Name of Jesus. We shall be like him when we attain the fullness of the revelation of the holiness of the name of Jesus Christ. We must go through the journey of purification and illumination, as John affirms: “Surely everyone who entertains this hope must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.” The best way to revere the most holy name of Jesus is conversion from our sinful way to his way of life—doing the will of the Father. That is the way to achieve the purpose of his coming into our nature. We sing a new song of praise to God for giving us the most holy name of Jesus as the key to the door of his manifold treasure of salvific graces.

Let us pray: O God, who founded the salvation of the human race on the Incarnation of your Word, give your peoples the mercy they implore, so that all may know there is no other name to be invoked but the Name of your Only Begotten Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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