Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Derrick Porter each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This will be given Sunday, April 6, 2025. This is week No. 4,986 of the broadcast.
Juliet asked, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (“Romeo and Juliet,” by William Shakespeare, Act 2, Scene 2, lines 85–86). This famous line from Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is intriguing and correct; a rose smells like a rose regardless of what we call it. But when it comes to our Savior Jesus Christ, power is found in His very name.
A few years ago, I had the privilege of visiting with someone I deeply admire. This man had dedicated much time and effort to truly come to know his Savior. I asked him what this time spent studying the life of Jesus Christ had done for him. After a thoughtful pause, he responded, his voice filled with emotion, “He has turned my despair into hope.”
Despair into hope, beauty for ashes (see Isaiah 61:3) — this and so much more is made possible because of Jesus Christ. As we pray to the Father with our might to come to know more about Jesus Christ, we invite Christ’s matchless power into our lives. Through our personal communication with God, we discover that there is power even in the sacred and humble utterance of the name Jesus Christ. As we seek to do things in His name, our testimony of His name grows. And so we gather and worship, we pray and we sing, we repent and we trust, all in His name.
Jesus Christ is known not by one name or title but dozens more. These names and titles articulate what His enabling power can do for each of us. For instance, He is:
- Our Advocate with the Father.
- Our Counselor in times of need.
- The Prince of Peace in moments of fear.
- The continual Author and Finisher of our faith.
- The Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.
- The Light of the World.
(See “50 Names and Titles of Jesus Christ,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org.)
So what’s in a name? When it comes to the name of Jesus Christ, everything. His titles and names remind us of His divine role in our lives — bringing us hope, healing, transformation and salvation.
He is our Savior. He is our Redeemer. He is the Christ.
Tuning in …
The “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL News Radio 1160AM/102.7FM, KSL.com, BYUtv, BYUradio, Dish and DirecTV, SiriusXM (Ch. 143), tabernaclechoir.org, youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoir and Amazon Alexa (must enable skill). The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time on these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedules.
