Wyatt loves saying Yeshua and regrets condemning people who say Jesus. In this August 28 broadcast, he explains why the name feels intimate to him and recalls changing his mind about what others should say. He still uses Yeshua, but he welcomes believers who call the Savior Jesus.
Begin with the person being addressed
At 25:47, Wyatt turns to his New Living Translation and points to several appearances of Jesus’ name. His examples come from accounts of ministry: baptism, healing, and the response of a Samaritan village. He paraphrases the woman’s testimony that Jesus told her everything she had done.
Wyatt asks viewers to notice who is acting in the passages they already read: the one who heals, speaks, and receives the villagers’ belief. His examples direct attention to Jesus himself before he addresses the dispute over which name to use.
For someone unfamiliar with the online debate, the essential question is whether a different name refers to that same person. Wyatt’s answer is yes for Jesus and Yeshua. He is not discussing two competing saviors. He says he worships Jesus while also using Yeshua.
Ask a plain question: who do you mean by that name? The answer may reveal agreement an accusation would have hidden. If it reveals a real difference, you can talk about that difference with the person who actually holds it.
Affection does not need an exclusive claim
At 26:54, Wyatt explains that Yeshua feels intimate to him. He associates it with the name Jesus’ mother used. He is telling viewers why the name matters in his worship; that personal meaning is where this part of the conversation begins.
His affection deserves to be heard at that level. A word can carry personal meaning because of the setting in which someone learned to pray, the passage they were reading, or a moment they associate with God’s care. There is no need to dismiss that meaning in order to question an exclusion built around it.
Wyatt allows another person to share the preference:
“If you want to call him Yeshua, praise God.” (31:06)
The invitation leaves room for devotion. It does not require the whole community to adopt his vocabulary. Readers can use a similar approach when explaining their own practice: describe why it helps you attend to Christ, then stop before converting your experience into a rule for everybody else.
The difference may be only a sentence. “This name helps me pray with attention” describes an experience. “Your prayer cannot be heard unless you use it” makes a much larger claim. Wyatt’s account challenges that second move.
The strongest evidence of the discussion’s personal stakes arrives at 31:06. Wyatt remembers condemning people who called the Savior Jesus. He says God corrected him firmly, and he states that he will never repeat that behavior.
Wyatt remembers taking the position he now rejects. He had used his preferred name to decide which believers to condemn. His admission makes the discussion personal: he is correcting something he did, rather than only criticizing an argument others make.
Ask what you are doing with a preferred word. Does it help you pray, or mainly identify people to rebuke? Has the discussion made you more attentive to Christ, or more eager to show that your group knows something others missed? Wyatt’s admission makes room to ask those questions of yourself.
Listen for contempt in the way you explain a conviction. Do you still want to understand the person answering you? Can you hear their prayer without preparing a rebuke? Wyatt’s change of mind asks as much of his posture as it does of his vocabulary.
Salvation is larger than a sound
At 29:11, Wyatt imagines someone honestly seeking the Son who died for their sins, only to be condemned because the name was wrong. He rejects that picture. A minute later, he places the emphasis on what Christ did: dying for sins and rising from death.
He also lists several names and titles used in Christian speech, including Emmanuel, Prince of Peace, and Everlasting Father. In his argument, these do not divide the object of worship into unrelated figures. They direct attention toward the Savior he is thanking.
Wyatt rests his answer on Christ’s saving work. He thanks the Savior who died and rose again, and he refuses to make one spoken form the gatekeeper of sincere prayer. He also draws on ministry experiences he credits to Jesus when explaining why he trusts that name.
A newcomer worried about getting the name wrong needs a clear answer. Wyatt says they may call on Jesus. Keep the reassurance close to the Savior they are seeking: who he is, what he has done, and why they want to pray. Pronunciation anxiety need not take over that conversation.
Make space for languages you do not speak
At 32:24, Wyatt recalls seeing translated footage in which people used an unfamiliar name while speaking about Jesus. He uses that example to widen the question: why should English wording define everybody’s access to the same Savior?
Wyatt then describes a vision in which heavenly speech was translated into his mind. He understands it as another reason to think beyond one language. His earlier example gives us something simple to practice here: let a person explain an unfamiliar name before deciding what it means.
Later, at 1:32:30, he reads Revelation’s song about the Lamb’s blood ransoming people from different tribes, languages, peoples, and nations. He connects worship with people beyond a single audience and its language. Listen to that reading alongside his earlier account of unfamiliar translated speech.
An ordinary practice follows: allow someone to explain the language in which they worship before measuring it against your own. Ask for the meaning of a phrase that matters to them. You may discover that the unfamiliar sound carries a familiar confession, while learning something about the person speaking it.
Return the conversation to gratitude
The dispute can keep growing when every reply becomes another accusation. Wyatt asks people to thank the Savior who gave himself for sinners. If a discussion about names becomes an effort to prove your terminology superior, pause and consider whom the discussion is meant to honor.
For your next prayer, choose the name you understand and speak plainly about what you are thanking Christ for. If you are talking with someone who chooses another form, let them explain it, and describe your own preference without attaching a threat to theirs. Shared attention to the Savior can carry more weight than pressure to copy a speaker’s phrasing.
Start at 25:47 for Wyatt’s naming discussion and stay through his account of correction at 31:06. In the complete livestream, his affection for Yeshua sits beside an explicit welcome for believers who say Jesus. Hear what changed when he stopped using a beloved name to close the door on somebody else’s prayer.
Video moments
- 25:47His open Bible starts the discussion about Jesus' nameYouTube ↗
- 26:54Wyatt explains why the name Yeshua feels personal to himYouTube ↗
- 30:06Wyatt puts Christ’s saving work before pronunciationYouTube ↗
- 31:06Wyatt recalls condemning those who said JesusYouTube ↗
- 32:24Translation broadens the question beyond EnglishYouTube ↗
- 1:32:30He reads about people from every language in RevelationYouTube ↗
Scripture mentioned
- John 4:39
- Revelation 5:9–10
A few questions
Does Wyatt object to calling Jesus Yeshua?
No; he says he uses Yeshua himself and objects to condemning people who address the same Savior as Jesus.
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