What Name Should we call Jesus? Yeshua, Yahusha or Something Else?

The sacred name myth exposed

Posted on June 25, 2026 by Paul Ellis // 0 Comments

Like fashion, religious superstition changes with the seasons.

One year, it’s all about blood moons and astronomical phenomena. “Jesus is nearly here!” Then it’s about Israel and Russia. “Armageddon is upon us!” Well, this season, superstition has a new catalogue, and it concerns the proper way to address Jesus.

“Hey, Paul. You forgot to say ‘Lord’ Jesus. Are you unsaved?”

Sorry, I meant to say the Lord Jesus.

“You really ought to say Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t forget the Christ.”

I kid you not. These are actual comments I get on social media regularly. If I refer to my Lord and dearest Friend as just “Jesus”, I get in trouble.

Pro tip: It’s perfectly fine to say just “Jesus.” Yes, he is the King of kings, but this isn’t Buckingham Palace. There is no rule that says you must recite all his titles every time you speak of him.

But don’t take my word for it. Learn from the New Testament writers who occasionally referred to just “Jesus”:

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. (1 Th. 4:14)

Hmm. Perhaps the Apostle Paul wasn’t really saved.

The author of Hebrews did this all the time. “But we see Jesus…” “Consider Jesus…” “Fixing our eyes on Jesus…” “Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant…” (Heb. 2:9, 3:1, 12:2, 24).

Is Jesus Lord of all? Of course! But he won’t get upset if you don’t mention his titles every time you talk to him. I promise. It’s in the Bible.

What about Yeshua?

Lately there has been a new trend sweeping social media—or rather, an old trend making a seasonal return—and that is the habit of referring to Jesus as Yeshua, Yehoshua, and Yahusha. Perhaps you have seen these names.

You might have also seen YHWH, or YHUH, which some use as alternative names for God. Never mind that Jesus told us to call God our heavenly Father (Luke 11:2).

I have seen variations of these names many times over the past few weeks. It’s like a Phonetic Pandemic.

There are historical reasons behind some of these names (Jesus was probably known to his Jewish friends as Yeshua) but there are no spiritual reasons for using them.

If you think you will become a more spiritual or enlightened person by adopting the correct Hebrew phonetics, then you are departing from scripture. If you think your prayers will get fast-tracked to the top of the queue if you use a “sacred name”, you’re fooling yourself.

Some use these names to promote a return to the law-keeping of Judaism. “The real Yahusha kept the commandments and honored the traditions, and so should you.” Beware this grace-killing message! It leads straight to dead works an unbelief.

The New Testament was written in Greek, and the apostles consistently used Iēsous, the Greek form of Jesus’ name. Iēsous became Iesus in both the Latin Bible and the 1611 edition of the King James Bible. Then English speakers began swapping I’s for J’s and we ended up with Jesus. “Jesus” is not a mistranslation of Iēsous. It is simply the modern English descendant of:

Yeshua → Iēsous → Iesus → Jesus

Did you know the name “Jesus” appears nearly 1,000 times in the New Testament (depending on which translation you are using)? In contrast, his titles “Lord” and “Christ” appear about 700 and 500 times respectively.

Those other names—Yeshua, Yehoshua, and Yahusha? They are never mentioned. Not once.

Pronunciation Is Not a Spiritual Gift

If you are a Hebrew- or Aramaic-speaker and you are more comfortable saying Yeshua than Jesus, by all means say Yeshua. But if you are more concerned about names than knowing the person of Jesus Christ, you’ve missed the point.

There is no magical power in saying mystical names that supposedly have some historical significance. The power comes from knowing the Person of Jesus Christ. This is why we preach the simple gospel of Jesus Christ—so that people might come to know the Savior and be saved.

Wherever the apostles went, the boldly proclaimed the good news of Jesus. They did not delve into special names or complicated phonetics. Whether speaking to Jews or Greeks, they preached Jesus. We would do well to follow their example.

I’ll leave the last word to my friend Pastor Jeremy White, who recently posted this on Facebook:

The obsession with “secret names,” special pronunciations, and linguistic elitism often reveals something deeper: People drift from the simplicity of the gospel and start searching for hidden knowledge that makes them feel spiritually superior. That’s Gnosticism, not Christianity. The good news of Jesus has always been gloriously accessible to ordinary people in ordinary languages. Which is probably why the apostles preached Christ boldly across the Roman world instead of stopping every sermon to conduct a Hebrew pronunciation workshop.

The good news reveals Jesus, and Jesus is so much bigger than his name.

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