The Year I Read the Bible with Laurie Larsen

Episode 17: What Does the Name “Jesus” Mean?

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God leaves nothing to chance!  When he sends angels to go talk to the future earthly mother and father of his beloved son, he tells them exactly what to name the child.  Did you know the name Jesus means "The Lord Saves" and "Yahweh Saves." And Emmanuel means "God Is With Us."  It's all right there in the name!

Laurie has a heartwarming conversation with friend and author Christina Sinisi today.  Christina shares insightful comments about how God shows himself in our lives -- in the big and the small.  Also in today's episode, the ladies discuss their favorite worship songs and hymns, and we get to listen to Laurie's favorite and Christina's favorite.  Stay tuned for a fun and inspiring chat.

Take a look at Christina's body of work which she discussed on today's episode:

Christina's website 

Purchase links to all of Christina's books

And don't forget Laurie's body of work as well!

Hi, I'm your host Lori Larson, and this is the year I read the Bible. Welcome a Lifelong Christian. I thought I was familiar with the Bible, but in 2023 I accepted the challenge of reading the whole thing, cover to cover. Whenever I encountered something I didn't understand or wanted to learn more. I jotted it down, but I kept reading to stay on schedule. Then I reached the end Imagine Confetti rating down on me, and a huge sigh of relief. I had 40 topics to research in 2024. I started diving into all those topics. I did research, I wrote blogs and I shared them with whoever might wanna learn too. And in 2025, the project continues. I published a book containing all my essays, and now a podcast. Is there something you can learn from that dusty book that sits on all of our shelves? Yes. Yes, there is. Let's dive into The year I read the Bible. Hello listeners, are you ever going about your daily life and you know you're whatever age? As far as myself, I'm in my mid sixties, early to mid sixties, and you hear a song or a little snippet of a song and it just. It takes you back to a completely different time of life and you can remember exactly what you were doing at that particular time. That's the power of music. And today's episode took me back to a very different time in my life. Let's get into it. It's called, what does the name Jesus mean? There was a worship song that I used to love singing when I was in high school. My youth group had formed a worship choir, and I was one of the guitarists as well as a singer along with my friends. We would sing in church and occasionally we'd take the show on the road and perform at other churches or youth gatherings. The song I'm reminiscing about was called Jesus. There's something about that name. It was recorded by the Gaithers and it was a gripping melody. Very simple musically and lyrically, but for me and undoubtedly for others, it is very meaningful. Some of the lyrics go like this. Jesus repeated several times. There's something about that name, master Savior, like the fragrance after the rain credit goes to the songwriters, Gloria and William j Gaither, as we step boldly into the gospels and start our journey reading about Jesus. I agree with the song title. There is something about that name. What does the name Jesus mean in his gospel? Luke tells us this story about the angel who visits Mary Jesus' mother to forewarn her about events to come. Luke one 30 through 33 in the New Living translation. Don't be afraid. Mary, the angel told her, for you have found favor with God, you will conceive and give birth to his son and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the son of the most high. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David and he will reign over Israel forever. His kingdom will never end. In Matthew's Gospel, we read the story where an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph Mary's fiance. After Mary becomes pregnant, Matthew one 20 and 21, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. Joseph son of David, the angel said, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife for the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and she will have a son and you are to name him Jesus, for He will save his people from their sins. In my Bible, there's a note attached to the name Jesus that reads Jesus means. The Lord saves. It is also commonly believed that Jesus translates to Yahweh saves. Yahweh is a name that Old Testament Jewish people used to address God. So God, Yahweh is sending his son Jesus to save us. It's all right there in the name as we read further in Matthew's gospel. We learn another name for Jesus and its meaning. Matthew 1 22 and 23. All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet look. The virgin will conceive a child. She will give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God is with us. The verse Matthew is referring to. Here is isaiah seven 14. I did some homework on the name of Jesus to see if I could gain any additional insights in Hebrew. Jesus' name is Yaa, which over time became contracted to the shorter. Yeshua ye Yeshua, and therefore Yeshua as well, means the Lord is salvation. If ever a name was packed with significance, it is the name of Jesus. Scripture says, Jesus has been given the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven. And on Earth and under the earth and every tongue acknowledged that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father, Philippians two, nine through 11. I find it so wonderful that as God orchestrated his master plan for sending his only begotten son to earth, that he left no detail to chance. He even instructed the couple he chose as earthly parents, what to name him the most powerful name of all. As we read further into the life of Jesus, we learn that the name of Jesus represents spiritual authority and power over evil forces. Mark's gospel relates several stories of Jesus's power to make demons flee from people they possess. And others in which Jesus's followers purge people from evil demons simply by summoning Jesus's name. So what does all this tell us as Christians? To me, it tells us that we serve a powerful God and we have a loving and powerful advocate in Jesus. We can rest assured that there is nothing that we will ever encounter in our lives that Jesus cannot see us through. Jesus was sent to us by the Father to provide salvation to those of us who believe in him. And although that knowledge doesn't guarantee or even suggest an easy life with no challenges, it means that as we encounter the troubles of life. That will always accompany us. We can reach out at any time to Jesus for help as we go about our way, and we know that from the very beginning, Jesus was our savior and our salvation. His message is love, and that provides me with great comfort. Let's take a moment to pray. Dear Father, thank you for sending your son. And for naming him such a beautiful, meaningful name that we can call on for all occasions. Amen. And because I felt so nostalgic when I started reminiscing about that Gaither song, there's just something about that name. I wanted to play it for you as well. We'll listen to the song and then we'll go straight to our interview with my guest for today. Jesus. Jesus. That.

Laurie:

And I'd like to introduce my guest for today. This is Christina Sinisi from my American Christian Fiction Writers Group. Welcome, Christina.

Christina:

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

Laurie:

I'm so excited to have you on the podcast today. You and I have known each other. I believe it's going on five years now. Why don't you start by telling us a little bit about yourself and then also how you and I became acquainted with each other. I.

Christina:

So I am a professor at Charleston Southern University, a psychology professor. I am married to a history professor. And I have two grown children, but I've been a writer since third grade. When people ask how do you, get started, it's like I, I started as soon as I could actually write. I grew up in the mountains of Virginia and the back backwoods, and we didn't have kindergarten, so I had first grade. And I didn't come in prepared, you know, if they had tested me, I wouldn't have been prepared. Nobody had taught me anything.

Laurie:

Wow.

Christina:

So I, yeah, I started writing in third grade and have just written ever since. But I had not been published until, I had been writing fantasy and had been getting close and just didn't get it. And then, my mentor suggested that I switch to inspirational romance because I've been writing fantasy romance. And now with the popularity of fantasy romance, I'm like, romance, why didn't I say? But it's, I'm where I'm supposed to be. I'm where I'm supposed to be because my faith is so important to me. So when she. I suggested that I switched over from Romance Writers of America to A CFW. And, and I'm actually starting to try to remember whether it was 20, it was the fall of 2019, I believe, because 2028 was COVID that, upstate member. Just took it upon herself, which is amazing. She wrote people down in this area of, around Charleston, South Carolina, who are already members of American Christian fiction writers, invited us to an organizational meeting. You were there from the start. I was there from the start, and we have since bounced back and forth as officers because we both believe in the group so much and want it to keep going.

Laurie:

Yes. So those listeners who have been listening to these episodes in order have met several other of our chapter members in the last few weeks. They were guests on the podcast, and I think I, I told the story about how, we chartered the new chapter in January, February of 2020, had our

Christina:

Mm-hmm.

Laurie:

In person, of course.

Christina:

Yeah.

Laurie:

then in March, COVID hit shut down everything. And for the next like nine months, we had to meet over Zoom, which was not conducive to starting a brand new organization with people that didn't know each other. But you know, it's all worked out and we have a

Christina:

Yeah,

Laurie:

vibrant group now.

Christina:

and it's interesting because I think we still managed to become friends from the start. I just don't remember a problem with that, even with the virtual aspect of it.

Laurie:

I agree. God put us together, I think.

Christina:

Yes.

Laurie:

Well, great. So what are some of the books that you have, published or what are the

Christina:

Okay.

Laurie:

listeners who are interested might, find out about your books?

Christina:

do love to tell the story of how I finally became published, having written all my life. I was becoming published just as this chapter was forming.'cause in 2019, I had only been a member of A CFW for months, and the beginning of June, I saw an email where a publisher was asking for Christmas novellas by the end of the month, and I wrote my first, novella, so that was a benefit that that didn't have to be as long. But, I wrote it in three and a half weeks. And it was called, Christmas Confusion, and I sent it to Anaya Press and they, accepted it. And because I had to write it so fast, I just looked around me and said, who do I wanna write a love story for? And there was a young lady at my church that was just a sweet, sweet person and single, and I was like, I wanna write her a love story.

Laurie:

Oh, how sweet did she know you were doing that?

Christina:

Afterwards, and not only that, I mentioned I put characters in there that are from my church and my church members just love that.

Laurie:

that's cool.

Christina:

So yeah. So that's a series set in Charleston. The first one is about the young lady at my church, Tiffany, but. Obviously completely fictional. After that, it was just her name and some characteristics she has. But, and in that story, I had two sisters that didn't exist, but my mentor, after reading the book, said, I wanna know the sister stories. So I started writing the sister stories and that's where that series comes from. So it's Christmas confusion, sweet Summer. And why they call it falling are the three books in that series. But, sweet Summer is a full length novel and when I sent that to the publisher, they're like, oh, we don't have time to get a full length novel ready the next year. And I wanted to keep going. I didn't want any momentum such as it is that I had to, to stop. So I hurried up and wrote another novella for Christmas for the next year, because, I had gone to visit my sister who has a beach house on Hatteras Island, which right now prayers up for them again because of a hurricane. But when we went to visit her, it was right after Hurricane Dorian and we went to Ocracoke Island and saw the devastation That was still there months.'cause we went to visit her at Christmas time. Of 2020 after September when the hurricane had gone through and it was just amazing in a sad, tragic way. So I wanted to write a story about the, just the resilience of those people on that island. So, so that one is Christmas on Okracoke, and it seems like once I write characters, I don't wanna let'em go.

Laurie:

Yeah.

Christina:

so I have published another book, another Outer Banks Christmas, and I loved. Christmas novellas. So that is where that one came from. And then I was gonna publish the third in that series last November with Anaya. They had bought the book and was giving me a release date for November. And then, they were a small press and they just didn't make enough money. And so they, closed shop literally two or three days before my book was supposed to come out.

Laurie:

Which is

Christina:

So,

Laurie:

a reality in the small press publishing business. Well, it. Somewhat of a reality, even in the large traditional publishing business. You know, um,

Christina:

yeah.

Laurie:

just so many other options now. It used to be that publishing companies were the only ones you could ever get your book published, and now there's just so many options.

Christina:

Right?

Laurie:

not the only games in town anymore, so,

Christina:

Yes.

Laurie:

yeah.

Christina:

And it's funny, I think some people read just as much or more than ever'cause it's so easy to have access to books, but then there are a whole lot of people who don't read. So,

Laurie:

Right,

Christina:

um,

Laurie:

the other

Christina:

so

Laurie:

are looking for really short, articles and something they can read on their phone as opposed to opening up a big novel.

Christina:

So I'm still hoping to have that one published. It's out there. It's been submitted to a publisher, but in the meantime I've been writing new books and I'm about ready to submit another one to a different place to get'em out there. I,

Laurie:

the best thing you can do is just keep adding to your inventory so that when you do finally hit the right publisher, you've got stuff to send them. The show notes, on my podcast website, I will definitely send links to your website and to your, purchase links for your series so that people can check those out.

Christina:

Thank you.

Laurie:

Well, today we are here to talk about the essay. What does the name Jesus mean? It was kind of a short and sweet essay, A little bit shorter than, some of the other ones that, I've written. But I was very interested about how the gospel writer, Luke about an angel, who visited Mary to tell her about. God's plans for her to be the mother of his son. In Matthew, we see that an angel also visited Joseph Mary's betrothed, but it was in a dream. What do you make of the decision of the angel? The same angel to visit Mary in person, but Joseph in a dream. Was there anything significant there?

Christina:

First off, I, I really loved your questions. They are different and not the typical, which is always interesting.

Laurie:

Thank you.

Christina:

You're welcome. I hesitate to impugn meeting where there is none. Clearly stated. So I don't know that it's a significant, but, one of the things that I am an angel person. I love reading about Angels. I've actually written another novel that's just sitting on the shelf, with an angel thread where there's a guardian angel. So I studied about Angels during that time and one thing I reminded myself'cause it's in the Bible several places, angels are actually busy. Depending on how you interpret it, there, we each could have a guardian angel, or at least children do.

Laurie:

Mm-hmm.

Christina:

They're fighting the forces of evil. There's like battles being waged. And there's also the possibility that they might have thought that Joseph would react better to, being approached in a dream. And Mary would be more open to in person. I love thinking about things, and I don't think there is any problem with thinking about why there might have been a difference, but I don't know that it's stated,

Laurie:

Mm-hmm.

Christina:

I would lean back on that angels are busy and that they may have just decided that this would be the best way.

Laurie:

Yeah. And I also think that, Joseph, I know he was a man of God. And, he had this message from God that was kinda hard to take, it was a very

Christina:

Yes.

Laurie:

to take. It was hard for Mary as well, but for

Christina:

Mm-hmm.

Laurie:

it was, you are the one who's chosen to carry my son. And, you're gonna name him Jesus, and he's gonna, save the world. I mean, wow, what a message. You need that in person, right? You can't just wake up from a dream and say, did I dream that? Like, wow, But for Joseph, it's a little bit different of a focus,

Christina:

at at.

Laurie:

Yeah. She was a virgin who got pregnant. Nobody's gonna believe that he didn't, have intercourse with her before their marriage. I mean, was ready to leave her, just so that. The rumors and, she wouldn't be held up, as someone doing something wrong, by the rules of the faith. So maybe for him dealing with this, would need a dream. Wake up, think about it. Wow, that was kind of crazy. And then eventually, I'm sure that Mary came and told him.

Christina:

Mm-hmm.

Laurie:

the angel had prepared him in a dream. I

Christina:

Yeah.

Laurie:

just kind of thinking of how it all played out.

Christina:

Yes.

Laurie:

see some wisdom in Joseph being notified in a dream maybe before Mary has a chance to tell him so that it's a preparation so that when

Christina:

Mm-hmm.

Laurie:

him maybe he. Okay, I've heard it twice now. You know,

Christina:

Yeah.

Laurie:

accept it.

Christina:

Yeah. There are, several novels. I don't know if you've read them. Gosh. Now I'm gonna have to remember the authors, Ann Perry wrote a book about trying to think about the life of Jesus. And again, i'm fascinated by those because I think we are quite welcome to think about it because we're focusing on the savior and if we make mistakes, it's okay. But, just reading those and thinking not just about Joseph's possible sense of betrayal, but then no matter what, because of the timing, people would know that, she was pregnant before they were married. Jesus would've grown up. To some degree, a little bit of an outcast.

Laurie:

It is possible. You're right,

Christina:

Yeah,

Laurie:

the rumors behind, oh, the whispering. You know, the Bible is kind of the master of understatement sometimes. And

Christina:

Yeah.

Laurie:

fiction writers, so obviously we like to build up the story and the emotions and the dialogue and

Christina:

Mm-hmm.

Laurie:

of writing we do is so different than the stories in the Bible. And sometimes I like to just try to place myself at the time in the place

Christina:

Yeah.

Laurie:

like, what did he think? What did she think? How was she reacting? What was going on? And

Christina:

Mm-hmm.

Laurie:

a lot there. There could be reasons why God, intended it to be that way. But the important thing is immediately accepted her role,

Christina:

Yes.

Laurie:

Joseph, I think eventually, I, don't think it seemed very long, but he took a little more

Christina:

Right?

Laurie:

but he accepted it

Christina:

Yes.

Laurie:

And God picked

Christina:

Yes.

Laurie:

the right parents. So the point of the essay was the different meanings of the name of Jesus. I listed several of them, the Lord saves Son of

Christina:

Mm-hmm.

Laurie:

Yahweh saves. What are your favorites of the names of Jesus or the meanings of the name Jesus. And are there any of them that are more meaningful to you?

Christina:

It's gonna seem like I don't necessarily answer questions straight on because I honestly, I thought about it and I was like, but I, I don't have one that I would pick out. But what I would like to share is that, because I just love Jesus' name no matter how, and then, actually I think I'm a little bit ahead, so I'm gonna go accidentally to the next question because it all ties together. I think the next question is the song,

Laurie:

Yes.

Christina:

song. And,

Laurie:

Uh.

Christina:

And the reason I'm going ahead is because it all connects. It's not a technically a worship song, it's a hymn, but what a friend we have in Jesus. Is this song that just immediately came to mind. And growing up, I grew up in the mountains on a farm. I would sing songs like that to the cows in the barn, just singing all over the place. So what a friend we have in Jesus is that song that I love so much. That night after preparing and choosing that and writing that out, my devotion that night was about the hymn, what a friend we have in Jesus.

Laurie:

gosh. Isn't that funny?

Christina:

And then the next morning I have two different books. I'm Lutheran, the Daily Devotion at Night and then a different one that I just purchased in the morning. And the next morning the, devotion was about the names of God.

Laurie:

Oh, wow. It was all tied

Christina:

So

Laurie:

It was all

Christina:

it was all tied together. Yes.

Laurie:

he,

Christina:

I just, whenever, you know, some people call them God moments, some people call them God winks. But I just think that first off this podcast, I'm supposed to be doing this as a blessing and whatever name that touches people's hearts, God is involved in our lives. It's not distant, it's not far. He's one of those that I read is God is Near Us,

Laurie:

Mm-hmm.

Christina:

and that's just amazing to me. If you think about all the songs, all the hymns in the world, that could have been in my, and then my devotion's not about songs, it is just what they talked about that night. And then the next morning, the names

Laurie:

beautiful. beautiful. Yeah. I love seeing evidence that God is there with us in every moment of our lives. The details,

Christina:

mm-hmm.

Laurie:

I

Christina:

The details.

Laurie:

he's in the details and he not only provided his. To the world. He not only picked Mary and Joseph as his earthly parents, he told them what to name him, and

Christina:

Mm-hmm.

Laurie:

itself has meaning. The name itself tells the people he is, you know, Yahweh saves Jesus, saves Jesus is, just how important he is so that we can't miss the message, he's in

Christina:

Yes,

Laurie:

and he is also in the big, amazing things.

Christina:

Yes.

Laurie:

That's really beautiful. Thanks for sharing that. Do you have anything else you wanted to say about this topic before we wrap it up?

Christina:

I shared that same story with, my Sunday school class. It's important for us. Even in those little things to share with people too,

Laurie:

Yeah.

Christina:

so that people know that, maybe whomever is listening, whomever you're sharing with. Maybe that person hasn't felt God's presence in their lives recently, but he's there. We just have to look and be aware and be open.

Laurie:

Yeah, just, today I had lunch with a friend and she, had read the book that I wrote about the year I read the Bible, and it inspired her to do her own yearly bible study. Now she's. Extremely knowledgeable about the Bible to begin with. So she didn't have a lot to learn anyway, but she did continue to pick up new messages and new meanings and she was reading along and she wrote my name in the margin of whatever she was reading about. it was the Isaiah four. Basically the lyrics that Handel used for his Messiah that was written in Isaiah four. And,

Christina:

Mm.

Laurie:

She that I loved handle's Messiah because of a chapter in this book. In the year I read the Bible, I covered and how he used Isaiah to write them aside so it's just a good example of God showing up in her Bible study, she thought of me we're kind of a sisterhood of trying to learn more about him.

Christina:

That's wonderful.

Laurie:

All right. Well I wanna thank you so much for being on the show today, and I also have next week to look forward to where you will be the guest on our next episode.

Christina:

Thank you so much.

Laurie:

Okay. We'll talk to you again soon. Bye-Bye. Christina.

Christina:

Bye bye. Have a great day.

And now we'll play the song that Christina just shared is her favorite song about Jesus. and that's it for today. Thank you very much for being here with me on the year I read the Bible Podcast. We'll be back with another episode next week. If you enjoy this podcast, please do all the normal things to spread the word like it, review it, share it with your friends. If you are interested in additional the year, I read the Bible resources such as the book, the video channel, and the blog, I will include the links in the show notes, and I'd love to hear about your own journey to read the Bible cover to cover. Have you done it or are you doing it right now? Please reach out to me and let me know how it's going. Until next time, it's Lori Larson with the year I read the Bible. Bye.

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