An Uncommonly Powerful Name - Encouragement for Today - November 4, 2026

Encouragement for Today

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Lisa Harper November 4, 2026

An Uncommonly Powerful Name

Lisa Harper
Author of Theology for the Rest of Us

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah” (Acts 2:36, NIV).

When I was a teenager, Mom confessed that my name, Lisa, was more of a knee-jerk reaction than a preplanned blessing.

Her labor contractions with me had come early and intensified very quickly. In the surprising and painful blur of my birth, she and Dad forgot to pick out a name. So after I had been delivered and the nurse asked Mom what they had decided to call their new daughter, the only name she could think of was from a birth announcement she’d received previously from a distant relative in Mississippi. That’s how I ended up being saddled with Lisa, the most common female name for girls born in the 1960s.

I wonder if Mary found it curious that the angel Gabriel told her to name the Son of God she was going to give birth to Jesus (Luke 1:31). That name was about as common in first-century Jewish circles as the name Lisa was in American suburbia in the 1960s. God’s people had longed for a savior for centuries, so lots of Jewish mamas named their baby boys Joshua or Hosea (from the Hebrew name Yeshua, meaning “Yahweh is my salvation”) during that era. The names Joshua, Hosea, and Jesus all share the same Hebrew linguistic root, yasha, which means to save or deliver.

Surely, there were several other boys named Jesus in Nazareth, but “this Jesus” — as Peter refers to Him immediately after Pentecost — was the only one who had come to fulfill the prophecies:

“[David] spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it … Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah” (Acts 2:31-32, 36, NIV)

Before this moment in redemptive history, “Lord” had been a title exclusively ascribed by the Israelites to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and “Messiah” (rendered “Christ” in some English Bible translations) was a title used exclusively to describe the coming “Anointed One.” So Peter’s assertion that this Jesus, from Nazareth (a small, rural village of fewer than 500 people), was the Savior Yahweh had promised was an audacious claim! Yet the Holy Spirit permeated Peter’s words with so much power, conviction, and authority that 3,000 people repented and put their hope in this Jesus that day (Acts 2:37-41).

And according to Paul, that was just the beginning: one day “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11, NIV).

No, there is nothing common about the name of this Jesus, our Lord!

Lord, I’m so grateful You’ve revealed Yourself to us through Your Son, Jesus. There’s no one like You and no other name that can save us. Remind me daily of the power of Your name, to Your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.

OUR FAVORITE THINGS
If you're looking for a guide to theological ideas that will make them stick with you, check out Lisa Harper’s book, Theology for the Rest of Us: A User-Friendly Guide to Super Cool, Really Transformational Stuff About God and Why It Matters.

ENGAGE
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FOR DEEPER STUDY
Luke 1:31, “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus” (NIV).

Acts 2:38-39, “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call’” (NIV).

Which do you find easier to grasp — Jesus’ resurrection from the dead or His lordship over your life today? Why?

People today have many beliefs about Jesus that often don’t come from Scripture. How can you point others to “this Jesus,” the true Lord? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

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