Matthew 1:21
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, which means “YHWH saves,” because he will save his people from their sins.
The question may require an answer based on our personal relationship and experience of Yeshua in our lives. However, it might also be good to know who Yeshua is in the Scripture knowing that he can never be otherwise. He was, he is, and he will always be the same throughout eternity.
Yeshua, whom we also know as Jesus, is the Eternal Word (John 1:1-5) who in the beginning was the Word, who was with God, and who was God. Yeshua from the beginning is the Word, who is God. Yeshua is God. Yeshua is the Word who became flesh (John 1:14); and the same Word whose name is called the Word of God in Revelation 19:13. And because God is Love; therefore, Yeshua is Love. In John 14:6-7, Yeshua is also the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Now that we know who Yeshua is in the scriptures, is he the Yeshua we know in our personal experience? Do we experience his love in our lives? Is he our way, our truth, and our life? Or do we seek other ways and truths to help us achieve our mundane challenges and dreams? Do we seek counsel from him through the Word (the scriptures)? Or do we put down his Word when it doesn’t seem to align with our wishes? Do we accept him as our God and saviour?
If our answer is a yes, do we then keep his commandments? Do we walk in his ways? Do we follow the laws that he followed?
Yeshua did not come to destroy the Law or the prophets; he came to fully preach them. See an explanation of Matthew 5:17-20. And because he came to fully preach (fulfill) them, therefore he must have followed and kept them.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands; (John 14:15)
21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me, and the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” (John 14:21)
23 Yeshua answered him, “If someone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Someone who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words — and the word you are hearing is not my own but that of the Father who sent me. (John 14:23-24)
6 He who says he abides in Him (Yeshua) ought himself also to walk just as He (Yeshua) walked. (1 John 2:6)
And what were the commandments Yeshua was referring to? Were they the commandments of YHWH given to Moses? Were they Yeshua’s instructions to his apostles/disciples? Or were they something else?
We are reminded again of the same passage in Matthew 5:17-20 that one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
17 “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah — not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P’rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
I personally believe that we are to keep both the commandments of YHWH our God (Torah) as well as Yeshua’s teachings (in the new testament) for they do not contradict — but supports, confirms, and strengthens God’s purpose for our lives. And if they do contradict, they do because we have not yet fully understand the context of how, why, or to whom they were written.
Because of this belief, the Bible (both the old and the new testaments) has become my counsel, my strength, my comforter, and guide in humbly trying my best to walk in Yeshua’s ways. I am not advocating to anyone to follow the Jewish practices and traditions — nor am I saying not to. I only wish to convey that Yeshua came to save us and to show us how to walk in Obedience to the Father by following the commandments. This obedience is the result of the grace we receive from Yeshua when he died on the cross. This obedience is the fruit of our love for YHWH, a sign that we are His people.
These commandments are written in the scriptures. We do not need to add, remove, nor replace them with man-made traditions, practices, and interpretations. They build walls and thus make them hard to follow and keep.
25 It was at that time that Yeshua said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you concealed these things from the sophisticated and educated and revealed them to ordinary folks. 26 Yes, Father, I thank you that it pleased you to do this.
27 “My Father has handed over everything to me. Indeed, no one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
28 “Come to me, all of you who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.[a] 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:25-30)
Yeshua’s name means God our salvation or God our safety.
What Yeshua or Yahushua or Yehoshua Means