Reading
Luke 2:21
After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Devotion
Today's painting is El Grecco's "The Adoration of the Name of Jesus." Created between 1577 and 1579, the painting currently resides in the Royal Collections Gallery in Madrid, Spain. At the top in the center we see the letters "IHS" which are Greek for the first three letters of Jesus name: Iota, Eta, Sigma. ΙΗΣΟΥΣ is the Greek form of Jesus. January 1 is the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus and so this painting came to mind.
It is a bit of a weird work. In the bottom right hand portion of the painting, we see the yawning gates of hell like the mouth of a beast, perhaps Leviathan. Elsewhere we see some of El Grecco's patrons included, notably Philip II, King of Spain, Pope Pius V and Sebastiano Venier, founders of the Holy League, and Don John of Austria, victor of the battle of Lepanto. Angels fill the top of the painting. Aldous Huxley has this to say in his meditation on the painting: "Confronted by the mysterious whale, the undertaker king, the swarming aerial saints and scurrying sinners, I give my fancy license and fairly wallow in the pleasure of bewilderedly not knowing."
I juxtapose this pleasure of 'bewilderedly not knowing' with the nature of True Names. In many cultures, to know the True Name of something or someone is to know the true nature of that something or someone. The translation of the Hebrew of Jesus (or more accurately Yeshua, יְהוֹשֻׁעַ) has several possibilities: Yahweh/Yehowah saves, (is) salvation, (is) a saving-cry, (is) a cry-for-saving, (is) a cry-for-help, (is) my help. Another recent study proposes that the name should be understood as "Yahweh is lordly". The Greek version sounds a lot like the word for 'healing'.
Ponder this week, dear reader, the nature of names. Who is Jesus to you? Who are you? What is your True Name?
Prayer
Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer).