His name is Grace

Name-designation is such a personal act. It uniquely identifies a person with his or her origin, culture or history, even with a place. Unlike any digital code, a person’s name commands immediate attention that it makes the human turn upon the sound of his or her name. Compared to the place where we were born or live, our given name or moniker becomes an indelible mark that identifies us. It directs power or authority, implies traits of either strength or weakness, and connotes a personality.

Ioften wonder why there seems to be a boom in the naming of girls with typically boys’ names. Women like Alex, George, Shannon, and Austin have been growing in numbers! even American celebrities Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have named their daughter James, as did Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis who called theirs Wyatt. Parents of baby girls from the recent decade seem to have gone a “generational shift”—they do not call their sons Sarah or Maria; they name their daughters Robin as demonstrated by statistics from government data in the United States.

One author explicates that in the year 2017, the name Noah was given to 170 girls while the name James was accorded to 77 girls. In contrast, the number of boys who were given girls’ names was as low as 6 and no higher than 17, “which is so small that it might reflect errors in birth records,” per the author. In the Philippines, more parents decide to take up the name Bong or Kim or even Cris for their baby girls than Marie for their baby boys (even Jose Marie). And more likely than not, it is rather unusual for these parents to christen their sons as Grace.

Name-designation is such a personal act. It uniquely identifies a person with his or her origin, culture or history, even with a place. Unlike any digital code, a person’s name commands immediate attention that it makes the human turn upon the sound of his or her name. Compared to the place where we were born or live, our given name or moniker becomes an indelible mark that identifies us. It directs power or authority, implies traits of either strength or weakness, and connotes a personality.

In Biblical times, names were given because of their meanings or attributes. For instance, Peter refers to rock, Jonathan for gift of the Lord, and, of course, Yeshua, which corresponds to the Greek spelling lesous, from which, through the Latin lesus, comes the English spelling Jesus.

While indeed a plethora from the human population is personally affiliated with a name, quite a considerable number are drawn to other people’s names as well. Inevitably, some form of inimitable connection is crafted because a person gives so much premium on the name of someone important to him/her and on what the other person stands for. For example, the last name Villar relates to the working phrase “sipag at tyaga” such that those under the family’s employ are understandably drawn to them because of these attributes ensconced in the name Villar. In the same vein, the surname Duterte invariably represents “war on drugs,” such that almost anybody who is minded, both locally and abroad, is either instantly awed or shudders in fear—nonetheless committing to memory what the name symbolizes. When it comes to first names, the name Adolf immediately connotes Holocaust, while that of Cory denotes democracy. In sports, any enthusiast can pass a test easily by associating Rafa, Tiger and Kobe with the fields of their expertise in tennis, golf, and basketball, respectively. In music, the name BTS commands at once an earsplitting thunder of squeals from fans worldwide because of its association with the best boy group with the most, if not perfect, in sync dance performance. It would not be difficult to ascertain therefore that people react to certain names the way they do because of their special association with such a name or personality.

Refreshing our memories in Biblical history, we remember the disciples John and Peter. Inasmuch as their names, by themselves, signify weighty meanings: “graced by God” for the name John or Hebrew Yohanan, and “rock ” or “stone” for Peter or the Greek Petros, it is how these followers of Jesus Christ regarded their Master that truly identified our Savior. Documentaries on names and their meanings abound in the annals of writing. Yet it is one’s perception of another person’s name and what the latter means to him that spells the difference. And I am referring to the fact that as between John and Peter, with no offense to the latter, it is the former who gave the most special regard to Jesus. The phrase “the disciple whom Jesus loved” or, in John 20:2 of the Bible, “the other disciple whom Jesus loved,” is used six times in the Gospel of John, and none in any other New Testament chronicles of Jesus. Not that Christ played favorites among his disciples, but John was so conscious of Jesus’ love for him that it was subsequently natural for him to follow his Savior. Whereas Peter boasted of his love for Jesus (John 21:15-17), John boasted about Jesus’ love for him (John 21:7, among 5 other verses). Both recognized Jesus as Immanuel, the name for “God is with us.”

Deducing from said Scriptural accounts, it is not so much the privileged access that these disciples had because of their connections with their Master, rather, it is how they view Jesus and connect Him with their lives that matters the most. Just like how Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Anton Lagdameo’s privileged admission to Malacanang, while significant, takes a second substance to how he actually views PBBM and connects him with his life. In other words, what PBBM means to SAP Lagdameo is something very personal to him, regardless of whether he has a VIP pass to the Palace.

To celebrate this Christmas season yet again, may we be reminded of the most definitive meaning of the name Immanuel. As we drive through the chaotic streets of Edsa or as we listen to holiday songs over the radio, most certainly we “know” that “God is with us” as we grew into that orientation either culturally, socially, or spiritually. Most believers have this knowledge that God loves them knowing “that He gave His only begotten Son for us” (John 3:16). But, from a very personal point of view, do I believe and recognize in my heart that God “truly loves me”? Yes, “me”! Just as John believed that he was the disciple whom Jesus loved, and not the disciple who loved Jesus. For John, Jesus spells Grace, or God’s unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor! (Ephesians 2:8) for Jesus was given to us by grace, as a gift, and “not based on works, lest anyone should boast.” When we are conscious of this personalized love, following and loving Him in the process comes out most naturally and more eagerly.

Thus, notwithstanding gender equations or neutrality, our Savior’s name is GRACE!