The Story Behind the Song
There’s an old saying, “Good things come in small packages.” It means that the size of the item does not necessarily accurately reflect its value. For instance, a piece of furniture that takes up a lot of space in a room may be worth several hundred dollars, but a piece of jewelry that can be easily worn on one’s finger, wrist or neck may be worth tens of thousands.
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The same holds true for people. The Philistine giant Goliath discovered that little David, the shepherd boy, packed a powerful punch. Of course, we realize that it was God working through that youth Who supplied the power, but it was still in a small package. Lottie Moon, the Southern Baptist missionary to China from 1873 until her death in 1912, stood less than five feet tall, but her impact on international missions has been tremendous.
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Likewise, there are smaller psalms and larger ones, but the same Holy Spirit inspired the writers. Psalm 117 is the shortest psalm in the Bible—only two verses—but its message is just as important as the one that follows it two chapters later, Psalm 119, the longest psalm in the Bible with its 176 verses.
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What is true of items, people and psalms is also true of songs. Sometimes good things come in great, impressive packages, such as eminent songs of the faith that have multiple stanzas and a chorus, maybe even a bridge section and a coda. But “Jesus, Name Above All Names” is a good thing that comes in a quite small, inconspicuous package. It’s an unpretentious song comprised of just one stanza of eighteen words. And those eighteen words don’t even form true sentences with a subject and a verb. They’re simply a list of descriptors of Jesus. The tune is just as unassuming as the words. Just 37 notes in length encompassing only one octave, the vast majority of them (32 of the 37) fall within the first four tones of the scale. The harmony is also quite modest, consisting of only four common chords.
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Yet this humble song, composed by Naida Hearn in 1974 while doing her family’s laundry in New Zealand, has been sung around the world. It’s been published in twenty hymnals and translated from its original English into German, Spanish and Arabic. In 2012, just 38 years after she wrote it, “Jesus, Name Above All Names” was included on Maranatha! Music’s Top 25 Praise Series Classics Edition album.
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Jesus…
So what was it that made the song a global phenomenon? It wasn’t the lyrics or music; it was a truth that has long been known by Christians—that there is power in the name of Jesus. Peter knew it when he said to the man who had been lame since birth, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” (Acts 3:6). Paul knew it when he spoke to the demon who possessed a slave girl, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her” (Acts 16:18).
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Name above all names…
The names for Jesus that are listed in Naida Hearn’s song all speak to Who He is and what He has done and is continuing to do. The first descriptor, “name above all names,” speaks to His preeminence. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul wrote that “[God the Father] raised [Jesus] from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:20-23). Paul also wrote to the Philippian Christians, “God has highly exalted [Jesus] and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
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Beautiful Savior…
“Beautiful Savior” is a phrase that begins the fourth stanza of another hymn, “Fairest Lord Jesus.” Hearn uses that same phrase to combine two biblical ideas—the beauty of the Lord as referenced in Psalm 27:4 and Jesus’ role as Savior. That title was bestowed upon Him by the angel who announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds (Luke 2:11) and was reiterated by the Samaritans who heard the witness of the woman at the well (John 4:42).
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Glorious Lord…
“Lord” was another title that addressed Who Jesus is. It is a title He owned: “You call me…Lord, and you are right, for so I am” (John 13:13). He was a glorious Lord, as the angel Gabriel related to Mary about her son: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32-33). Peter was an eyewitness of the glory of Jesus. He later wrote of the experience of being on the Mount of Transfiguration: “…we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain” (2 Peter 1:16-18).
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Emmanuel, God is with us…
“Emmanuel” and its translation “God with us” speak to what Jesus came to do and continues to do. He came to be with humanity. He walked with the disciples, spoke to the crowds, ate with sinners and tax collectors, and raised Lazarus from the dead. And to this very day He is still with us: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
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Blessed Redeemer…
Zechariah, the Father of John the Baptist, prophesied when his son was born: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people” (Luke 1:68). He was not talking about his own newborn, but of One still yet to come Who would redeem not only Israel but all who would place their faith in Him. Titus stated that that Redeemer was Jesus: “For the grace of God has appeared,…our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness” (Titus 2:11, 13-14).
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Living Word…
Hearn’s final descriptor of Jesus is an apt last word. In the prologue to John’s gospel, the apostle wrote of Jesus: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. …And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14). Later in his gospel, John would recount how Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11) and how Jesus would do just that: “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30). Although He was crucified and undeniably dead, death could not hold Him. As Christians joyfully proclaim every Easter, “He is risen; He is risen, indeed!” Jesus Himself said, “I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:17-18). He is the Living Word! He is Jesus!!
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