Only once in our English Bibles does the word, reverend, occur, though the Hebrew word, of which this is a translation, occurs no fewer than 376 times, under such headings as fear, dread, terrible, and kindred words. This is very impressive, showing that the word refers to God alone. We read, “He sent redemption to His people: He has commanded His covenant for ever: holy and reverend is His name” (Ps. 111:9).
His name is to be revered, for we read in Scripture that the Word was God, the “I am that I am” of the burning bush (Ex. 3:14); that the Word became flesh, and dwelt among men. Marvellous condescension! Our Lord Jesus Christ was “in the form of God” (Phil. 2:6), from all eternity, and became Man, veiling His Godhead glory, yet never ceasing to be what He was, “God … manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). Surely such an One claims our very highest reverence and worship.
In reading through the four Gospels we learn a lesson, we may well pay heed to. When our Lord’s birth was announced by the angel to Joseph, he said of Mary, “She shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).
This name was divinely given to our Lord in relation to His manhood. But what a glorious name it is! Other names may indicate His position and offices, but the name Jesus is personal to Himself. It is composed of two Hebrew words—Jah, a contraction of His wonderful name Jehovah, the self-existent God in covenant blessing in relation to His people, coupled with Hoshea or Joshua, meaning Saviour. Truly a wonderful name for us to contemplate—Jesus (Jehovah-Saviour).
When our Lord was about thirty years of age, He stepped into the limelight of public service. He called young men, whom He called apostles, to follow Him, and to company with Him in His blessed service for God and mankind in a sinful and needy world. They thus had the wonderful experience of sharing with their Lord in the everyday incidences of human life. Here we pause to ask a question, Does Scripture record one instance in which these disciples presumed to address their Lord by His personal name, Jesus?
Though the name Jesus is recorded over 700 times in the four Gospels, yet not once do we read of His disciples addressing our Lord by His personal name. This is something we do well to ponder over, and to admire the way these young disciples bore themselves in reverence to our Lord. We find they used other words, and rightly, in addressing the Lord, such as Lord, Master, Rabboni. He Himself again and again referred to Himself as the Son of Man.
We remember seeing verses of poetry concerning our Lord which sounded flippant and irreverent, grating upon one’s sensibilities as lacking the reverence which is ever due to our blessed Lord. His Manhood is indeed a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith, for we read, “There is one God, and one Mediator, between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:5-6).
Yet Thomas, the apostle of our Lord, who refused at first to believe in the resurrection, when convinced, did not greet Him as “Jesus,” but said “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28).
So we venture to give a word of counsel as to becoming reverence in prayer. Addressing God as Father, without any other name than Father, seems a familiarity that is not sanctioned by the New Testament epistles. It is there consistently linked up with the name of God; indeed all the Apostle Paul’s epistles begin with a salutation from “God the Father,” or, “God our Father.”
So too in the epistles the full title of our Lord is consistently given to Him, for He is both Lord and Christ. The message that He sent through Mary on the resurrection day was, “Go to My brethren, and say to them, I ascend to My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God” (John 20:17). Here He called His disciples for the first time, “My brethren,” and how unspeakably precious is this new relationship, yet the Lord carefully refrained from saying “Our.” Instead He used the two pronouns, “My,” and “your”, showing our relationship is subsidiary to His. In the light of this we should not speak of Him as “our elder Brother,” as some unfortunately do, since there is a relationship that is unique to Himself and not shared by us, as the eternal Son in the unity of the Godhead. Further, to the words, “My Father and your Father,” our Lord added the words, “My God and your God.” Is there not a needful lesson to be learned from this?
In the opening of the Pauline epistles we find the salutations with very slight variations to be as follows, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ,” thus giving to our Lord His full title; and the same thing is true in the matter of prayer. We cannot but feel that the observance of these things would lead us to refrain from ending our prayers by simply saying, “in the name of Jesus,” thus omitting His titles.
And further, if we are marked by due reverence, we shall take note of our Lord’s words, “When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Matt. 6:7). If this injunction were acted upon by all of us, we should be spared many a prayer-meeting made wearisome by a few brothers occupying the time with lengthy prayers, covering mainly the same ground.
There may of course be occasionally a matter of such urgency that all prayer is concentrated upon it, as was the case in Acts 12:5. But normally a petition is offered, and ratified by all present, as they say, Amen. After that, repetition does not indicate reverence.
Whilst we do rejoice in God’s exceeding grace, which has brought us into new relationships, so that we read, “He that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Heb. 2:11), we must not forget that in the previous verse He is called “the Captain” of our salvation. Let us be careful that as such we give Him the reverence that is His due.