Jesus The Amen

This name may be taken last as it sums up so much that is implied in other names and titles.  "Amen" is the transliteration of an adverb derived from a Hebrew verb which means "to confirm", or "to support".  In the Old Testament it is used freely, with the meanings "verily", "truly", "Yes", as the answer of an individual or a community to a command or word of the Lord, and it is often used in a similar way in doxologies.  From the synagogue it was taken over in the worship of the first Christian assemblies.  Its use as a liturgical acclamation is illustrated in 1 Corinthians 14:16, where, in discussing the speaking in tongues at Corinth, St. Paul asks how "the unlearned" will be able to say "the Amen" at the giving of thanks, if he does not know what is being said; and it is implied in John's descriptions of heavenly worship in Revelations (4:14; 19:4), by his own usage (1:6f), and by the response, "Amen: come, Lord Jesus", to the assurance, "He which testifieth these things saith, Yea, I come quickly"  (22:20). 

The Christological importance of the word is seen in 2 Corinthians 1:20, where, however, it is not yet a name.  "However many soever are the promises of God", Paul declares, in Christ is "the Yea"; "wherefore also", he adds, "through him is the Amen, unto the glory of God through us".  Here the reference is to the Amen uttered by the congregation in worship.  It is "though him", the Apostle declares, that it is uttered to the glory of God.  The fact that he speaks of Christ as "the Yea", that is, the fulfillment of the promises, shows that it is but a step to call Him also "the Amen".   This step is taken in Revelations 3:14, where John is bidden to write to the angel of the church in Laodicea, "These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God".  Manifestly, the reference is to the Exalted Christ.   Apparently, the name was suggested by Isaiah 65:16, "the God of Amen", for this may be the form in which John read the passage. 

As the Amen, Christ fulfills and attests the revelation of God.  This name is of unspeakable comfort in seasons of doubt, and of added strength in times of hope, to know that Christ is "the Amen" to all the assurances of God.

-excerpt was adapted from The Names of Jesus by Vincent Taylor pg 167-8

Jesus The Amen Pt 2

Rev. 3: 14.

In Revelation 3 Jesus is presented as "the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God." These are remarkable words, involving both His deity and His holy humanity. The word "Amen" as one of the titles of our Lord is of tremendous import. It is a Hebrew word signifying "God of truth." It comes at the close of Paul's three doxologies in the Epistle to the Romans, the centre one of which (Rom. 9) so obviously applies to the Lord Jesus — setting the seal of divine truth on His Manhood — "of whom, as according to flesh, is the Christ;" and upon His deity — "who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." Some seventy or more times in the gospels we hear our Lord saying, "Verily I say unto you." The words "Amen" and "Verily" are the same in the original language, the "God of Truth" was here in the Person of Jesus. Let us value His sayings!

It is a blessed Person bearing the title "Amen" — the God of truth, who presents Himself to the Laodicean Church in all its breakdown and failure. Stability, truth, faithfulness and witness were all absent, are still absent, from the great professing mass of Christendom, but all seen in their power and perfection in the "Amen." Another has said, "He is the Amen, the fulfillment and verifier of all the promises, the real Witness and Revealer of God and of truth, when the assembly is not — Head over all things, and the glory and witness of what it is as from God — as the new creation" (J.N.Darby).

Beloved brethren, He who as the precious Jesus, has captivated our hearts by the superlative love which led Him to the Cross, is the same blessed Person who holds and will hold everything in stability and power for the eternal glory of God Himself. "In Him is the yea, and in Him the Amen, for glory to God by us" (2 Corinthians 1: 20). God's glory and our blessing alike established in one glorious Man; how brilliant and enduring that glory — how sure and eternal our blessing! The Amen is at the right hand of God, His word is sure and stable, every promise securely vested in Him; God has triumphed! "Let us give unto the Lord the glory due to His Name."

-adapted from The writings of F. A. Hughes: "Jesus," "The Amen."

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