Beginning at Moses: A Guide to Finding Christ in the Old Testament by Michael P. V. Barrett

Author:Michael P. V. Barrett [Barrett, Michael P. V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ambassador International
Published: 2016-01-21T17:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 6

CHRIST IN HIS NAMES

A rose by any other name may smell the same, but a rose is a rose. In our culture, our given names are usually nothing more than labels for identification. The name we use to address a person, for instance, often indicates our relationship to him. We tend to call only good acquaintances by their first names. Further, we may address by his first name someone whom we consider beneath our station in life, such as an employee, but we would not presume to call a superior by his first name. Nevertheless, we tend to be thrilled when a boss addresses us by our first name, inferring correctly or incorrectly, that he really knows and cares about us. I suppose I will never forget the day my principal Old Testament professor and mentor called me “Mike” for the first time. I took that as a sign that I was worthy and capable in his estimation of pursuing my degree. I was such an impressionable kid. We have now been colleagues and friends for years, but to this day I find it awkward to address him by his first name. I’ll call him by his last name without using his degree title, but that irreverent circumlocution is as far as I can go. Too, although our first names are in some way special, their use or nonuse does not depend on what the names may mean etymologically or historically. They’re just labels. They can identify us, but they do not describe us.

Nicknames are something else. Not only do they identify an individual, but they also describe something about him. We assign nicknames to public figures as well as those who are close to us. Husbands and wives often refer to each other with particular and sometimes peculiar names. Some terms of endearment like “honey” and “sweetheart” are well-worn and may show little imagination, but they are nonetheless special, communicating something only to each other. My wife’s name is Sandra, but I call her Sander. That’s my special name for her and the fact that it communicates nothing to anyone else is okay. We do have a couple of others that we will take to the grave. Nicknames flourish in the world of sports. Some years ago there was a baseball player who was known as “Mr. October” because his bat always seemed to come alive in the playoff season. Those who follow professional golf can immediately identify “the Bear” and “the Shark” and make the connection between the name and some characteristic of their play. I am told professional wrestlers, too, are known by certain descriptive nicknames, but I suppose if I knew what they were I would not be writing this book, and that if you knew, you wouldn’t be reading it! I think that’s a different world, but you get my point. Nicknames communicate something about a person. We sometimes refer to people by the position they hold or occupation they perform: Mr. President, Mr. Chairman, Pastor.

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