Matthew 10:5-6 part 1
In today’s message we will be looking at 4 very simple practical evangelistic
principles we can take from Jesus instructions we read in Matthew 10:5-6,
But par for the course with the living word of God, there is far more here
than we will be able to cover today.
So today’s message will be much more geared to addressing the
practicality behind this text, with sprinkling in some of the important
theology that would be found within Jesus’ words that will set us up for next
week’s message that will seize the opportunity to address the theological
portion of the text
Pray
5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the
Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel.
The first practical application we see is Jesus addressing the 12 apostles.
From this we see, Christ did not send his disciples to go out alone in this
mission that he gave to them.
In todays text there are two parallel passages that give a more full picture
of what we can see here
Mark 6:7 says
he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave
them authority over the unclean spirits.
And luke 10:
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of
him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to
go.
The importance of laboring alongside a brother or sister in Christ is an
absolutely massive principle, one that reaches into the importance of being

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rooted into a godly community. This principle is so expansive but for now as
just the first out of 4 principles we won’t go in depth here.
In the book of ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10
For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when
he falls and has not another to lift him up!
Throughout the word the significance is made clear
Paul and Barnabas made a great evangelistic duo who went through
europe and asia, same with the missionary couple of priscilla and aquila
also in the book of acts
Then in the old testament you have Moses and Aaron who together, lead
israel out captivity and into the wilderness,
then you also can look at Jonathan and David and the close bond the Lord
had given them in their formative years and how that even helped to shape
the course of history for all of Israel
You can even look within creation when God made man, he said it was not
good for man to be alone, so he made him a helper that would be suitable
for him.
Two proverbs come to mind when thinking of this first of 4 principals
Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.
And proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
One of the reasons I would say I am proud to be an elder here at Vine
church is because of how we steward this first principle, The Lords has
placed it on our hearts to hold such an emphasis on developing and
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fostering on these relationships that is being done not just here on
sundays,
but even more intimately within the seed group level where as brothers and
sisters in christ who are all in different spots in their walks with the Lord,
can come together and do life with one another and offer encouragement
and accountability towards each other through life’s victories and
challenges.
Using that time to grow genuine bonds that has Christ at the center of it. So
much so that when you think of those people, they are more than friends
they are family who has your back and is walking along your side and helps
by Gods grace to look at what he has in front of you to spur you on to
greater depths of intimacy with the Lord
And the seed groups provide a wonderful context for us to co-labor in by
allowing you to extend an invitation to someone who the Lord has allowed
for you to build a relationship with, who doesn’t yet know the Lord, and get
them connected with others who might be able to share insights that you
weren’t able to in that moment.
But, refocusing back to today’s text, If you were to look a little bit further on
in this discourse you will see Jesus telling his disciples that they are going
to face rejection, hardship and difficulty.
This should really not come with any surprise to us, Jesus’ message of the
arrival of the Kingdom of God is so against the grain of the way this world
and how the unredeemed fleshly nature of man is
Having a brother co-laboring alongside turns those adversities into
opportunities to pick one another up and spur them on to the next day, help
sharpen each other as they are laboring together to bring about the Lords
will, celebrate the victories he has given them, and helping each other to
keep their eyes on the prize and running the race that has been set before
them

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This leads us to our next principal that we can take from the text is as we
see Jesus’ instructions
“Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans”
Jesus could have just said only go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,
but leaving little room for further interpretation Jesus gives specific and
intentional instructions to his disciples.
So our second principle for today is to have specific intentionality leading to
your desired outcome
Of course there is significant theological purposes of why Jesus is saying
this which we will circle back to
Aside from the theological significance, this principal of specific
intentionality really speaks to a stewardship of one’s time
When reflecting on this principle in my own life what comes to mind is when
I would hire out to some young person for an unskilled labor job. If I wasn’t
crystal clear, or specifically intentional in setting up my own expectation for
what and how it was to be accomplished, there would honestly be no
shortage of surprises of what I would find when I came back to them.
I learned, and frankly am still learning, the value of being specific when
giving instructions.
Specific intentionality really does not matter however unless there is
discipline and self control behind it. It is akin to when Paul is giving his
marching orders to Timothy
No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the
one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes
according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the
first share of the crops.

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Or in his first letter to the Corinthians
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives
the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises
self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we
an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the
air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control
There is an order to things,
and when we find ourselves working alongside that order that God has put
in place, it will be well with us.
God has given us two ways to see and understand the order that he has
instilled in creation that are both equally important, spending time in His
word, and spending time with Him in prayer.
As we spend that time in prayer and in his word, we will begin to have our
thoughts become his thoughts, our desires begin to become his desires
And in living out this second principle of being intentional would be
recognizing that the more time we spend in pursuing a greater
understanding of who God is and how he is shapes our hearts and minds
for us to recognize the directions he is leading us in and leaving behind our
old ways of going about things and clinging to his instructions
And then being intentional about living it out day in and day out, like the
athlete who is competing or a soldier who doesn’t get distracted but sticks
to his orders.
Principle 1 was the value on working alongside of someone

2 having your efforts focused with intentionality, which goes hand in hand

with the third principle we can pull from Jesus’ instructions
Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of israel
The apostles were to go to the people they would be able to relate to most,
this would be the most fertile ground for them to become more equipped.
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These disciples have been set up by Jesus for success with these 3
principles, not that it will be easy, remember, Jesus will go on to tell them
how hard it will be,
but because they will be getting so many reps in,
So many opportunities to share the good news of the kingdom with people
who should be vigilantly looking for it,
and who should already have a foundational knowledge of who God is and
how he has worked in the past with them and their fathers before them
And with each opportunity they take in proclaiming the message of the
kingdom they will get more and more experience
Eventually leading themselves to being able to relate to more and more
people just like we see Paul saying to the corinthians
[1Co 9:22-23 ESV] 22 I have become all things to all people, that by all
means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I
may share with them in its blessings.
The jews were a specific group of people that his disciples would be
altogether familiar with,
The lost sheep of israel would be their family, friends, relatives, that they
shared so much in common with,
They held onto the same promises of hope for a better tomorrow and future
generations of their people and that is exactly what they were to get across
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel
The disciples were to convey to their fellow countrymen the things that they
grew up being taught is true and it is here, the promises of God are for

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today and he wants you to experience them as his chosen people to show
the world who he is
The principles of being specific and starting with those who you can relate
to best, should not be ignored for ourselves as we are seeking to grow in
the gifting and calling of evangelism.
Throughout the series we have been giving the example of going to our
neighbors, and I think that would fit well under principle 3 here, but so
would our co-workers and family, if your a student people who you have
class with, if you have kids, other parents who show up to the activities.
Remember the aim of starting with the people we can relate best to is to
get those reps in, grow in having those conversations rooted in truth
pointing to the hope and necessity of a relationship with Jesus Christ
So we can grow in being all things to all people for the sake of the gospel
Nows he jews were not this random group of people Jesus sent the
apostles to, and it wasn’t just because the apostles could easily relate to
them as well. It was because this was the group of people that God had
chosen to be his chosen people.
Why did he choose Israel?
The answer is in Deu 7:6-8 which basically says that God chose Israel
because they were weak, they had nothing to offer Him,
Before Abraham was called by God to go and follow him. His family line
was just about wiped off of the face of the planet his name was Abram
which meant exalted father,
which had to feel like a cruel joke every time he heard his own name. He
was pushing close to 75 years old and had no children to carry out his own
name.

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And then fast forward a few generations and the sons of Abraham Isaac
and Jacob were being held in a foreign land as slaves
This was exactly what God had wanted, the reflection of God would stand
out all the more leading to God receiving his maximum glory. God didn’t
want their to be confusion to who the glory belongs too
So God would chose the Israelites to have this unique relationship with,
one that would be expressed through giving of a covenant
And then to his covental people he would through Moses, give them his
perfect law with the intention to show the world how different God’s chosen
people were to live, compared to everyone else
The Lord sent them Prophets to act as his mouthpiece to them to help
encourage them sometimes, but more than not often warn about how they
have strayed from him and bring to help bring correction into their lives
And it was even through the israelites God had chosen his messiah to be
born out of, who would not just be the savior for the jews but rather the
savior of the world as the Lord had promised through the covenant he
established with Abraham
The relationship that God had sovereignly chosen to have with them was
meant to serve as a light to the rest of the world showcasing the goodness
of who He is
remember today’s text,
“Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but
go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Now if we read this too quickly, we might not give this a second thought, but
Jesus is extremely intentional in what he says so lets be students of the
word and ask the question

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What about everyone else?
Because we read in Matthew and the other gospel accounts Jesus having
both before and after this point plenty of interactions with both gentiles and
samaritans,
showing his sovereign grace and love to not just the Jews but them as well
Do you remember the story of the canaanite mother who came to Jesus on
behalf of her daughter?
Mat 15:22-28 ESV] 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region
came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my
daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a
word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying,
“Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”
You can clearly see, from their response, these mighty apostles really had
a deep understanding of the heart behind evangelism
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he
answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the
dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from
their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your
faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed
instantly.
What about the roman centurion? It was only two chapters ago in chapter
Matthew 8
This roman soldier goes to Jesus and says his servant is at home and he is
paralyzed and in absolute agony but we don’t see Jesus turn to him and

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say sorry wish I could help you but your not jewish, you had better wait until
Paul comes along to help you
No, he says, okay lets go now, i’ll go to your house and heal him,
but it was then the soldier who stops him saying
[Mat 8:8-13 ESV] 8″Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof,
but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man
under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he
goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’
and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who
followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the
kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it
be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that
very moment.
lets look closer at these two examples,
to the cannanite Mother, Jesus wasn’t throwing a petty insult at her by
calling her a dog, rather he was telling her it is the job of the parent to first
feed their children before an animal.
But just like the parable Jesus told of the persistent widow, she continued
on by telling Jesus,
who is the bread of life by the way,
that she had acknowledged that she was not part of the special covenant
God had with Israel but even so she had faith that even just the overflow of
the grace that was poured out to Israel would be enough to save her
daughter and grant her request
She by faith was able to recognize Jesus as Lord, and as Lord over all their
was no exhausting of his grace

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And we get additional insight by looking at the roman commander, who as
well was able to by faith, recognize Jesus as Lord over all, like the
canaanite woman, but when Jesus told the commander that he would go
and heal his servant, the commander stopped him
The people around him must have been wondering what the heck is this
guy doing, Jesus is about to give him what he came for and he says “Lord I
am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word and
my servant will be healed”
He didn’t just recognize the Lord as Lord, he recognized his authority over
all. It was his unquestionable sovereignty over all,
For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to
one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my
servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it
The text says Jesus marveled at this,
Church, could you imagine what it might be like to have the author of life
marveling over your faith?
I imagine it would be like in a few years my daughter Zelia, who is 6 months
now, would come up to me and ask me for some money to buy me a
fathers day gift. And instead of her giving me a pair of socks, where she’ll
pocket the left over change for herself, she goes and buys materials to
make me a gift that she would put her heart and soul into. That would be of
far greater significance than something that $20 could have ever bought
me. That is something I would marvel over
While reflecting on this the question came to mind, would Jesus marvel
over my faith? And it was a good question to think soberly about
So church, I ask you that same question,
Do you think Jesus is marveling at your faith right now at this point in your
life?

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And reflecting about my own life just led me to praise God for his patience
with me
It filled me with gratitude for the work he has done in me
and leaves me excited to continue to press on to the hope that lies before
me in Jesus Christ.
Back to the soldier
Then Jesus tells his disciples Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I
found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and
recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,
12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In
that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth
Just so your clear, Jesus is talking about hell in those last two verses
God had chosen to display who He was through the sons of Abraham Isaac
and Jacob by the same sovereign grace that we see on full display through
Christ
but by no means did he ignore the rest of his creation
But The Lord himself speaking to Moses saying in Exodus 33:19
And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on
whom I will show mercy.
Paul in the introduction of the book of Romans puts it beautifully
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation
to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it
the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,as it is written, “The
righteous shall live by faith.”

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This roman commander and mother were two individuals who who were
not apart of any of the twelve tribes of Israel, but they had lived by faith,
but perhaps one of the most interesting points of similarities within these
two examples is when both of the people had appealed to the sovereign
grace of the Lord for healing, it was not even for themselves.
They were interceding on behalf of another of whom they loved, and no
longer wanted to see them tormented by the effects that sin has had on this
world.
And Church, is that not what we have been talking about as the true heart
that is behind evangelism?
A heart that is a witness to the brokenness of this world and asks God to let
His will be done on earth as it is in heaven?
Which leads us to our fourth and final principle for today, which is “Go”
5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the
Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel.
By way of reminder first we saw Jesus instruct the twelve to work
together
Then he got specifically intentional with his instructions to his
apostles
And sent them to the people they would be able to relate to the most
And now this last principle of Go is one that is found throughout all of
scripture,
God called Noah to go into the ark
God called Abraham to go into an unknown land leaving behind his comfort
and security to obtain an uncertain promise of a future inheritance
God called Moses to Go lead his people out of Egypt into the exodus

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God called Joshua to Go bring his people across the Jordan into the
promised land
God called Gideon to Go to war
God called Jonah to Go to nineveh and preach repentance to the people
And there are many more examples that we could spend a lot more time
on, the point is this, when God says Go he is calling you to go.
Now for the particular task he had called his apostles to go and do, he does
go on to say in verse 23 that they won’t have enough time to finish this job
before the son of man comes
Let’s take a step back for a second to just put ourselves in the shoes of
these disciples
While their exact ages are unknown a lot of scholars share a viewpoint that
they very well could have been teenagers with Peter being the oldest,
mentioning that he was married
They have been following Jesus for a year and a half by this point, and
most of them were uneducated fisherman from the backwood country
region of galilee,
with one was a hated tax collector and another was a zealot
All this to give you a better picture,
Jesus’ ministry to his disciples might have actually looked closer to a youth
ministry,
as he is leading this motley crew of mishmashed personalities, who have
left families and home to follow him and now they are to be sent through all
of the towns of Israel to tell them about the kingdom of heaven being here.
By foot, through roman occupied territory
But not to worry Church, they were using the buddy system

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This would be a daunting task, both they and Jesus knew they could not do
this on their own.
But by God’s sovereign grace he gave to this specific group of 12 apostles
his authority, The same authority that they had witnessed Jesus using to
heal the sick, cast out demons, heal the lepers and raise the dead for the
past year and half.
Jesus gave them everything they needed to get the job done by allowing
them to follow his example and operate in his authority under his
instructions
Jesus told them to go,
time and time again in scripture God gives a command and it begins with
go.
Again pretty simple practical principle here but when given a task, or you
know something that you have to do, the easiest time to get it done is right
then and there if possible.
Being a few months into this sermon series, really highlighting Gods desire
for us to evangelize, to be an extension of his grace and mercy I want for
you to ask yourself how have you been doing with this truth,
Have you felt God grow the desire in your heart to want to share the same
love he has shown you in your life? Have you reached out to your
neighbors, your co workers, friends and family for the purpose of showing
the love of God to them?
From the lens of practicality these four principles are great practical ways of
getting started in this for us living out Jesus’ great commission

• Work alongside another brother or sister in christ, Join a seed group,
  any one of them would be blessed to have to be committed to them
• Be specific with your efforts
• Start with people you can relate to
• And Go

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But Church, if I can offer but one bit of encouragement to you.
First and foremost These principles don’t matter at all if you don’t start by
seeking direction first from the Lord.
Pray to God,
If you’re not yet apart of a seed group, or you feel like maybe you haven’t
committed yourselves fully to one, ask the Lord to guide your steps directly
to talk with me or any one of the other elders here at vine and we can get
you plugged in
Seek out wisdom from the Lord in who he has already placed in your life
that frankly you can step up to doing a better job in showing the love of
Christ too
And as the Lord brings those people to your mind, share those people that
he has brought to your mind with a brother or sister in christ or your seed
group elder so you hold yourself accountable to acting on what the Lord
has put on your heart
And then actually go, and again share with your seed group family how
your effort of showing the love of God has went
Because church this life is a battle for souls, and the enemy is defeated by
the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony
So yes, to be clear our text today does explicitly show Jesus instruction to
his apostles, to whom he gave authority, that they were only to go to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel
But the book of John says in chapter 1 Jesus,
The true light, which gives light to everyone, and he was coming into the
world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the
world did not know him. 11He came to his own,and his own people did not
receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he
gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood
nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God

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I will submit to you now church the same reason why God had chosen to
reveal himself to the world through a special covenantal relationship with
Israel
is the same reason he has chosen us, as his church and has entered into
a new and better covenant with us to show the world who he is
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to
worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose
what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and
despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things
that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And
because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from
God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is
written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 corinthian 1:26-31
This truth give me a great relief,
This means if God didn’t choose me because of my work ethic, my good
works, my skills, abilities, or good looks, I am able to rest in the identity and
the works of Jesus
Me becoming less, so he is able to use my life to magnify his great name
God, who needs no one to tell him what is in the heart of man, had sent
Jesus to this earth and ultimately the cross to suffer and die for us
While we were still his enemies he did this for us church
He met us where we were at, and he is still meeting us where we are at,
but he doesn’t call us to stay where we are at, he calls us to go under his
power and his authority

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Ultimately what makes Jesus’ instructions to his apostles and these 4
principles significant to us, is how it points us to Jesus’ great commission,
his instructions to us
[Mat 28:18-20 ESV] 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
You can see how similar the matthew 28 text is to the matthew 10 text.
But you want to know what the main difference between these two texts is?
Its the cross,
it is finished, the veil that had separated God and man had been torn by the
life death resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ who is now sitting at
the right hand of the Father
And we see in this great commission, Jesus had been given all authority in
heaven and on earth, so he commands those who would follow him to GO.
Go and tell all the nations, the whole world, the story of how God the
creator of all who rules over all, left his heavenly throne and took on our
human form.
Tell the world about the God who became man, who was before all things,
was completely in control from his virgin birth to when he chose to lay down
his life and make right our wrongs.
Tell the world about everything we see, in between his birth and death on
the cross, all of what He has taught about how we are to live in freedom on
a world held captive by sin.
Tell the world that Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world, but the world
already is condemned

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Tell the world that Jesus has made a way to escape that condemnation,
that it is as simple as believing and following Him.
like caananite mother, who recognized Jesus for who he is
Like the Roman centurion who saw Jesus as Lord and had authority over
all things
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on
earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Because Church Jesus is coming again, and his second coming will not be
like the first.
Thank God for his patience, because with each day that he has not
returned is a day he graciously gives us opportunities to live out these four
principle with the aim to get people just one step closer to Jesus.
Thank God for his mercy he has shown to us and continues to show us
new mercies every morning
And thank God for His never ending, never failing amazing grace
Let us go from here church remembering from our text today, that the same
God who chose to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, is the same
God who, through his Son Jesus, chose you, and has given you his holy
spirit to work in you and through you to bring him his maximum glory
What better of a way to show God just how thankful we are by going and
doing in Jesus name