I was pleased to see this link this morning reposted from "the poached egg":
Jesus Is the Only Way to Heaven because God is the Only Way to God
It reminded me of my studies in the names of God and how Jesus's name implies not only the Gospel message, but its distinctness from other religions, and the exclusivity of Christianity (for lack of a better way to say that). From "Behind the Name.com," I have cut and pasted the meaning and history of Jesus as a name:
"English form of Ιησους (Iesous), which was the Greek form of the Aramaic name יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshu'a). Yeshu'a is itself a contracted form of Yehoshu'a (see JOSHUA). Yeshua ben Yoseph, better known as Jesus Christ, was the central figure of the New Testament and the source of the Christian religion. The four Gospels state that he was the son of God and the Virgin Mary who fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. He preached for three years before being crucified in Jerusalem."
See the meaning and history of "Joshua" in the same source:
"From the Hebrew name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshu'a) meaning "YAHWEH is salvation". Joshua was one of the twelve spies sent into Canaan by Moses, as told in the Old Testament. After Moses died Joshua succeeded him as leader of the Israelites. As an English name, Joshua has been in use since the Protestant Reformation."
So basically, tracing Jesus's name back to "Joshua" and Yehoshu'a, it means "YAHWEH is salvation," or to put it more simply, "God saves."
Now let's reason through this. Why would God need to save unless people are in trouble and cannot save themselves? Why would God save people of his own grace and mercy unless he loved them? Would an unloving, ungracious, unmerciful God do this? People with alternative views of Jesus should examine what his name means. The name is saying something heavy laden with historical meaning and understanding. If God is our salvation, we don't depend on ourselves- our own behavior, works, meditation...anything for our own salvation. A feature which makes the Christian faith distinct from other religions is that very component- God's saving grace and work is of and from Him, not us.
A brief word about exclusivity. God wanted to bring us, humanity, back into relationship with Him, because He loved us. That was impossible as it was because we were/are wicked, and He is just, holy, and righteous. He, therefore, sent His son Jesus to die on the cross as a propitiation, an appeasement, to reconcile us back into relationship with Him. How is that going to work if we deny Jesus or that any of this happened, or deny that that's what the reason was that the crucifixion happened? That would defeat the whole purpose. God wants us to be in relationship with Him.
To quote Scripture, "Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.
The argument from Jesus's name not is an airtight argument to prove the Gospel true, it is just that His name's meaning is a strong witness to who He is and His work on the cross for our salvation- it bears witness to the Gospel, itself. I often put it like, "inescapable revelation" to borrow a phrase from Greg Bahnsen. You can run, hide, and even bend and contort yourself to try to deny the Gospel and the truth of God's word, but the proof of the truth for the whole thing is right where you are.
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