What does the phrase Jesus H. Christ mean?
"Jesus H. Christ" is a common exclamation, and the writers in this collection never discuss the phrase itself — but they say a great deal about the two words it plays with. Taken seriously, the expression trips over two mistakes at once: it treats "Christ" as if it were a surname needing a middle initial, and it uses a holy name as a piece of loose talk.
"Christ" Is a Title, Not a Surname
The word people treat as Jesus' last name is actually an office. It marks Him out as the promised One that Israel was waiting for.
Morrish Bible DictionaryAn official title of the Lord Jesus, which became used as a name... The Hebrew word is mashiach and means 'anointed.'... but the Lord Jesus is emphatically 'the Anointed,' this being the meaning of the word 'the Christ' which should be read in many places in the New Testament.
One translator deliberately wrote "the Christ" rather than "Christ" in places, precisely because the shift from title to surname had already begun long ago and blurs something real.
J. N. Darby"Christ" has become in the language of today a simple name; in earlier days this was not the case... since, in our opinion, the designation of the office and the name should not be confused, in order to keep the force of the word, we have written "Christ" when it is used as a proper name, and "the Christ" when it means the office of the Messiah, the Anointed.
What the Name "Jesus" Actually Says
There is no middle initial to supply, because the name is not a family label at all. It was chosen before His birth and packed with meaning.
A J PollockThis name was divinely given to our Lord in relation to His manhood. But what a glorious name it is! Other names may indicate His position and offices, but the name Jesus is personal to Himself. It is made of two Hebrew words — Jah, a contraction of His wonderful name Jehovah, the self-existent God in covenant blessing in relation to His people, joined with Hoshea or Joshua, meaning Saviour.
The two words together, then, are name plus office — and each carries its own weight.
Walter Scott"Jesus" is made of two syllables, meaning Jehovah-saving (Matt. 1:21). It was a Name given Him before His birth, and one which exactly describes His Person and work. The greatest of all Names, the Name above all others, is that of Jesus (Phil. 2:9-11). It occurs more than 600 times in the New Testament, and is never prefixed by an adjective; nor was the Lord ever, except by demons, directly addressed as Jesus.
How the Name Was Treated by Those Closest to Him
The men who walked with Him every day, ate with Him and slept rough with Him, had every excuse for casual speech. They never used it.
A J PollockThough the name Jesus is recorded over 700 times in the four Gospels, yet not once do we read of His disciples addressing our Lord by His personal name. This is something we do well to think over, and to admire the way these young disciples carried themselves in reverence to our Lord. We find they used other words, and rightly, in addressing the Lord, such as Lord, Master, Rabboni.
The same name that gets thrown around as a swear word is the one before which the whole universe is going to bend.
F. A. HughesFinally, we refer to the One who bears the greatest Name of all — the Name of Jesus... it is at the Name of Jesus the whole universe will bow — "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth." A divine decree which through infinite grace works in our hearts now.
Flippant Speech and the Third Commandment
The command against taking God's name in vain covers more than perjury in a courtroom. Careless speech falls under it too.
Leslie M. GrantThe third commandment forbids taking God's name in vain (v.11). This may be done seriously or flippantly. One may seriously swear by God that he will do a certain thing, and then not do it. People are so irresponsible that such things become commonplace to the point of then using God's name flippantly, so that they don't care how offensively they talk.
Softened substitutes and comic variants do not solve the problem either. Dressing the name up in a different form is still the same habit wearing a disguise.
William KellyFor though the oaths in question refer to the creature rather than to God, though they may pretend care for His name by substituting other forms for His; who entitles men to adopt anything of the sort in daily conversation? He is the Judge, Who has assured us that of every idle word that men speak they shall give account in the day that comes.
Mercy for the Careless Tongue
None of this is written to shame anyone into silence. The name being abused is the name of a Saviour, and that is the whole point of it.
C StanleyOh, sin-convicted swearer, or liar, murderer, or adulterer, there is yet mercy — mercy yet for you.
Summary
- Name. "Jesus" is His personal name, given before His birth, meaning Jehovah-Saviour — not a first name waiting on a middle initial.
- Title. "Christ" means the Anointed; it is an office, not a family name, though it drifted into use as one.
- No initial. Since neither word is a surname, "Jesus H. Christ" has nothing to abbreviate — the joke rests on a misunderstanding.
- Reverence. Those who knew Him best never once addressed Him by the bare name; softened swear words are still the same habit in disguise.
- Mercy. The name misused in anger is the name that saves; every knee will bow to it, and mercy is still open to the one who has abused it.