Would Jesus by any other name still save as sweet?

Because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:18

The question I am wrestling here is not can the works and lives of Buddha, Muhammad, or the pivotal figure of any other major religion actually bring about sanctification, of an individual or the world. My question here is very much on the issue of our use of language and when does the name of a thing actually represent that thing, or fail to represent it.

Maybe one has encountered a baptismal font with the phrase “suffer little children to come unto me”. For the modern reader the term “suffer” has an inherent negative meaning, we relate it to the concept of affliction. The translators of the King James Bible used the term “suffer” much more benignly, it simply means “allow” and can even have positive connotations, as we encounter in this case where Jesus is seeking little children to surround him against prevailing custom. “Suffer” here is meant to denote a full inclusion and acceptance, not a space of perdition that must be endured. The term “suffer” once pointed to a neutral or even positive reality while now the term refers to negative realities. The word and that to which it points has changed.

So if we are to take “the name of the only Son of God” seriously as a statement it is not as simple believing in the name “Jesus”, or “logos/word”, or ‘bread of God/life”, or “king of Israel”, or “good shepherd” to state the other names that John uses to name that which is "Jesus". We also need to be ensuring that the name continues to point towards that which is “Jesus”, and not to some lesser idol of our own creation. What we are asked to question is if when we say “I believe in the name of Jesus” are our beliefs pointing us towards that which is “Jesus”? It could even be asked can a person believe all this is inherent to that which is “Jesus”, as much as any one can, but not associate such with the name “Jesus”? The reality being that what many associate with the name “Jesus” might fall very short indeed to the reality that believers profess while those who do not use the name "Jesus" might indeed be using other words that point directly to "Jesus" in many ways.

This is why it is important to search deeper than simply a name, and ask ourselves what does that name actually point towards. This takes us beyond nominal face values and forces us to regard the truths to which we are trying to point, and to find when and where individuals are seeking to point towards those truths. It is my thought that our goal should always be to find those places where people are oriented towards the truth of Jesus Christ, and let the names by which those truths are known become manifest, incarnate even, as they will.

In order to suffer all coming to "Jesus" it means that we must suffer being sure that we fully know the names that point to "Jesus" to fully address if our use of the term points us to the reality.