Hymns: Jesus, Name Above All Names

I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the in-between hymns.

Today’s song is Jesus, Name Above All Names from 1974.

I remember singing this during the weeks after committing my life to Christ in August 1980. It was widely sung in the various Christian fellowships in Cork at the time. People would often start singing it spontaneously in prayer meetings. In fact, we always learned the new songs that way – and we’d use a hymn book for the old songs. This one is a deeply devotional hymn that I never want to forget.

I read that Naida Hearn composed it spontaneously while doing household chores, singing the entire song “straight out” as she meditated on Jesus’ biblical names. And, as with so many hymns, it reminds us that the name of Jesus is above every name. As God the Son, He was always God. But as a human, he went through the trials and temptations that we all go through, and after His death and resurrection, God the Father exalted His position as a human to be the name above all names.

Philippians 2:9-11
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

If God exalted him, how can Jesus be God? But that very passage starts with a reminder that Jesus is God – but He left His glory behind when He became a man.

Philippians 2:6-8
⁶ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
 Who, being in very nature^[God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

Some might wonder why Jesus didn’t strongly emphasize that He was God from the very beginning. We do get plenty of hints, but generally speaking, He allowed people to draw their own conclusions and only gradually revealed who He really was. I often see the words of “doubting Thomas”, when he met Jesus after the resurrection as acknowledging what all the other disciples had already discovered – or perhaps they already knew, but the resurrection confirmed it all:

John 20:27-29 
²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” ²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

In the Bible, when people direct anything like worship to anyone other than God, they are always swiftly rebuked. But Jesus never rebuked people who worshipped Him – though, as a human, He generally pointed people to the Father, because He wanted us to model ourselves on his life of devotion to God. Jesus is God and human. Some struggle to think of Him as God, and some struggle to think of Him as human. I remember being puzzled when I read verses that emphasized His humanity. For example, early in John 20, here’s what He said to Mary Magdalene.

John 20:17
¹⁷ Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

So, if Jesus is God, how can speak of “my God and your God”? As a human, and as our model, He treats His Father as we should – and looks to Him as His leader, Lord and God . And even before He became a human, I don’t see why loving someone who is God (loving the Father and the Holy Spirit in the case of God the Son) shouldn’t stop you from seeing them as God and as your personal God. A silly human illustration would be one of the Beatles being a fan of the other Beatles😀 and being in awe of them. But in this case we’re not talking about four persons in a group. We are talking about three persons in one being – the Trinity.

Anyway, here are some other versions of the song: