The wonderful One who was born in this wonderful way is Jehovah. And He is not only Jehovah—He is Jehovah with something else. The name Jesus means "Jehovah the Savior" or "the salvation of Jehovah" (Matt. 1:21). This wonderful Person is the very salvation which Jehovah renders people. He Himself is salvation. Because Jehovah Himself becomes salvation, He is the Savior.
Do not think that when we call Jesus we are just calling the name of a man. Jesus is not simply a man; He is Jehovah our salvation, Jehovah our Savior. This is simple, yet profound. When you call on Jesus, the whole universe realizes that you are calling on Jehovah as your Savior, Jehovah as your salvation.
The Jews believe in Jehovah, but not in Jesus. In a sense, they have Jehovah, but they do not have salvation or the Savior. We have more than the Jews have, for we have Jehovah the Savior, Jehovah our salvation. This is why we have such a wonderful feeling when we call on Jesus. Even if you were to say that you hate Jesus, there would still be a feeling within you. If you were to say, "I hate Abraham Lincoln," there would be no feeling. If you say, "I hate Jesus," some feeling is there. Abraham Lincoln has nothing to do with you, but Jesus does. Many have said, "I hate Jesus," and later were caught by Jesus. Whoever calls on the name of Jesus will be saved. If you touch the name of Jesus, you will be touched by Him. When we preach the gospel, it is good to help people call on Jesus. As long as they call on Jesus, something will happen.
Jesus is a wonderful name because Jesus is Jehovah. In Genesis 1 we do not find the name Jehovah. We find only the name God: "In the beginning God created..." Elohim—God—is the term for the God of creation. The name Jehovah, which is not used until Genesis 2, is used especially when God relates to man. The name Jesus is something added to Jehovah—that is, Jehovah our salvation, Jehovah our Savior.
Jesus is the real Joshua (Num. 13:16; Heb. 4:8). Joshua is the Hebrew equivalent of Jesus, and Jesus is the Greek translation of Joshua. Moses brought God's people out of Egypt, but Joshua brought them into rest. As our real Joshua, Jesus brings us into rest. Matthew 11:28 and 29 tell us that Jesus is the rest and that He brings us into Himself as rest. Hebrews 4:8, 9 and 11 also speak of Jesus as our real Joshua. The Joshua in the Old Testament text becomes Jesus in the Greek text of Hebrews. The Jesus mentioned in Hebrews 4 is our Joshua.
It is difficult to separate Jesus from Joshua because Jesus is Joshua, and Joshua is Jesus. Today, Jesus is our real Joshua who brings us into rest, the rest of the good land. He is not only our Savior saving us from sin, but also our Joshua bringing us into rest, the good land. Whenever we call on His name, He saves us from sin and brings us into rest, into the enjoyment of Himself. A line in a hymn speaks about saying the name Jesus a thousand times a day. The more you say, "Jesus," the better. We must learn to speak the name of Jesus all the time. Jesus is our salvation. Jesus is also our rest. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord Jesus shall be saved and enter into the rest.