In the name of Jesus. (Easter 4)
Acts 4: 5-12; John 10: 11-18 What do we mean when we use the phrase ‘in the name of Jesus’? We have probably all seen scary film footage of sharp-suited evangelists shouting a blessing at people kneeling for healing. ‘In the name of Jesus I heal you’ – hand on forehead, knocking them over. A few weeks ago I saw a Facebook notification of someone stating that their church will be ‘praying the name of Jesus over the city’. It felt a bit like an incantation or a spell. I wondered how the residents of the city might feel to have the ‘name of Jesus prayed over them’ in that way? Of course for some people the name of Jesus is used as an expression of surprise or shock – it becomes a swear word ‘ Jesus!’ Meanwhile in our quieter corner of the church, we may find ourselves reluctant to speak the name of Jesus much at all. I think for many of us the embarrassment factor begins at ‘church’.. goes up for ‘God’.. up again for ‘Christian’ and is highest for ‘Jesus’. Fortunately, Peter