Who is Yeshua and what

does his Name Mean?

Talmidei Yeshua (Disciples of the Yeshua)

Who then is Yeshua HaMashiach?

Scripture says he is the only and unique Son of God, who was born into this world through the divine union of the Ruach HaKodesh (the divine force of God, known to Christians as the Holy Spirit) and a virgin girl from the tribe of Y'hudah (Judah). He lived and died as a Jew and was known as Yeshua, which means -"YHVH saves" (Mattityahu 1:21). Yeshua was and still is Isra’el's kinsman redeemer, who will in the near future will redeem firstly all Isra’el, then the rest of mankind. But, to understand the full significance of his redemptive work, it is necessary to recognise that during his life on earth he was the living fleshly manifestation of the One true God of Isra’el who was the Word of God who became a human (flesh). He was and still is YHVH who gave the words of Torah to Moshe (Moses) and was also the one who formed Adam from the dust of the ground (Gen 2:7). These attributes are confirmed for us in Yochanan 1:1-5 and again in Colossians 1:14-17:- 

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things came to be through him and without him nothing made had being. In him was life and the life was the light of mankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not suppressed it. .....

Col 1:14-17 It is through his [God’s] Son that we have redemption — that is, our sins [transgressions] have been forgiven. He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation, because in connection with him were created all things — in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers, or authorities — they have all been created through him and for him. He existed before all things, and he holds everything together.

Having been responsible for the formation of Adam, he alone through his own death and resurrection has become the one and only means by which mankind can be redeemed from the Adamic death, a fate to which was passed on to all mankind.

During his earthly life, Yeshua became the suffering servant rather than being the conquering king Y’hudah so desperately needed. Therefore, his right to messiahship was rejected by most of 1st century Isra’el. As a consequence of their failure to turn back to God and Torah during the forty-years between his resurrection and the destruction of the 2nd Temple, Y’hudah was rendered stonelike as Sha’ul said in (2 Corinthians 3:14). That stoniness was not only the result of their rejection of Yeshua, but also because of their failure to repent from their wandering away from YHVH and Torah.

God in his wisdom provided a 1900-year window between 67 CE and 1967 CE, during which some from among the Gentiles nations, would be called by Yeshua himself, and would become grafted into the scriptural life of Isra’el and as such become part of the “single new humanity” as described through the words of Sha’ul in Ephesians 2:11-16:- Remember your former state: you Gentiles by birth — called the Uncircumcised by those who, merely because of an operation on their flesh, are called the Circumcised — at that time had no Messiah. You were estranged from the national life of Isra’el. You were foreigners to the covenants embodying God’s promise. You were in this world without hope and without God. But now, you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of the Messiah’s blood. For he himself is our shalom — he has made us both one and has broken down the m’chitzah which divided us by destroying in his own body the enmity occasioned by the Torah, with its commands set forth in the form of ordinances. He did this in order to create in union with himself from the two groups a single new humanity and thus make shalom. 

That single new humanity is made up of both Jews and Gentiles who have together been called by Yeshua to become future Cohanim for God in the Kingdom of God, as confirmed by the words of salutation in Revelation 1:4-6, where Yochanan said:-

From: Yochanan

To: The seven Messianic communities in the province of Asia:

Grace and shalom to you from the One who is, who was and who is coming; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; and from Yeshua the Messiah, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the earth’s kings. To him, the one who loves us, who has freed us from our sins at the cost of his blood, who has caused us to be a kingdom that is, cohanim for God, his Father to him be the glory and the rulership forever and ever Amen.

Our Perpetual Rabbi

Like many rabbis before him, Yeshua gathered around him his own talmidim (disciples). As the B'rit Hadashah (NT) states that after his immersion he called twelve men to become his foundational talmidim. He spent the last year of his earthly life teaching and mentoring them, as was the practice of all Jewish sages before him. However, there was one profound difference between Yeshua and the earlier Jewish sages. As the Mashiach, he was the ultimate and final sage, because as the only and unique Son of God, Yeshua unlike the many sages before him even though he died was the first human to be resurrected. Therefore, as he still lives he instructed his Talmidim in Mattityahu 23:8-12:- “You are not to let yourselves be called ‘Rabbi’; because you have one Rabbi, and you are all each other’s brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘Father.’ because you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to let yourselves be called ‘leaders,’ because you have one Leader, and he is the Messiah! The greatest among you must be your servant, for whoever promotes himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be promoted.

Right down to the day of his return he promises he will be ever present through the Ruach HaKodesh because he alone had been resurrected and as such is still very much alive. Therefore, as Talmidei Yeshua we follow his every command and look to him alone as our Lord and Master and our only Rabbi. Finally, just before he ascended into heaven for the last time, he reminded his talmidim of their task which is recorded in Acts 1:8:–

“You will receive power when the Ruach HaKodesh comes upon you; you will be my witnesses both in Yerushalayim and in all Y’hudah and Shomron, indeed to the ends of the earth!” 

That final command did not quite reach the known ends of the earth of the 1 century CE as stated by Sha’ul in (Romans 15:17-24).

Just as the rabbis were a constant source of enlightenment for their own talmidim, so also Yeshua through the work of the Ruach HaKodesh, has been the light of the world. As we await his return, we have adopted the Menorah into our logo as a constant reminder of how Yochanan saw Yeshua standing amidst the seven Menorahs in Revelation 1:12-13, so we acknowledge that he is constantly standing as the light in our midst.

Furthermore, as Yeshua ascended to heaven for the last time, an angel spoke with his faithful talmidim. As Talmidei Yeshua we have adopted as our signature verses the words he spoke in Acts 1:11 and 3:21:-

1:11"This Yeshua who has been taken away from you into heaven, will come back to you in just the same way as you saw him go.".... and in 3:21 He has to remain in heaven until the time comes for restoring everything, as God said long ago, when he spoke through the holy prophets.

Yeshua not Jesus!

As talmidim of Yeshua, we have chosen to call our Messiah by his Hebrew name as instructed by the angel Gavri’el to his mother Miryam in Mattityahu 1:21 and Luke 2:21, where the angel said:-

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, [which means ‘YHVH saves’] because he will save his people from their sins.”..... Luke 2:21"On the eighth day, when it was time for his b'rit-milah, he was given the name Yeshua, which is what the angel had called him before his conception." 

There is no justification found in Scripture for the use of English name Jesus. The transition from the use of the Messiah’s God given Hebrew name did not begin until early in the 2nd century CE, by which time the Gentile faction of the Messianic Community withdrew from all things Hebraic. As time progressed that same Gentile faction leaned heavily toward the Greek Septuagint version of scripture, as the source for an alternative name. The name change aided their move toward Supersessionism, also known as replacement theology, the Christian doctrine that wrongly asserts that the New Covenant replaced the Old Covenant made with Isra’el at Mt. Horev, claiming the Tanakh (OT) no longer applied to Christian people. However, on the night before he died Yeshua himself said, in Luke 22:20 - “This cup is the New Covenant, ratified by my blood, which is being poured out for you.” The meaning of the word “ratify” is to make something valid.

Regrettably the Christian world have removed the meaning of Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 31:33, where it says:- “For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Isra’el after those days,” says YHVH:- “I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people.

By his own words and deeds Yeshua took the words of Torah from tablets of stone and embedding them into the hearts of all whom he personally called to be his talmidim. That validation took place through the work of the promised Ruach HaKodesh and has continued until this day, because there is no suggestion anywhere in Scripture, that the Torah of Moshe would be discarded. In fact in his own words he made that fact abundantly clear when he said in Mattityahu 5:18:- Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah — not until everything that must happen has happened.

So, as Talmidei Yeshua we embrace his God given name and why we also believe that it is important that we embrace the Sovereign Plan of God as expressed through the whole of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

"This essay was written by Graeme Purdie – Founder of Talmidei Yeshua Messianic Ministry of NZ and may only be shared in full and must include this citation at all times. All scriptural references, unless stated otherwise, have been taken from the Complete Jewish Bible by David H Stern. Copyright © 1998. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Messianic Jewish Publishers, 6120 Day Long Lane, Clarksville, MD 21029 www.messianicjewish.net."

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