No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. – Genesis 17:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 6, 2012): Genesis 17

I have just finished reading Talbot Mundy’s book “Caesar Dies,” a fictionalized account of the final years in the reign of the Emperor Commodus. Commodus was maybe best known for his desire to fight as a gladiator in the games. But he is also known for the fluidity of his names.

Commodus was born Lucius Aurelius Commodus Caesar. When he became the sole emperor he added the name Antonius to his name (although later he would remove it.) He would also change his personal name from Lucius to Marcus, probably to honor his father Marcus Aurelius – although that name change would also be short lived. Later he would add the title Felix and the family name Aelius. Commodus would also add Herculeus and Amazonius in honor of Hercules, a figure that Commodus identified with, and Exsuperatorius in honor of Jupiter, among others. By the end of his life his name would morph into this -  Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Augustus Herculeus Romanus Exsuperatorius Amazonius Invictus Felix Pius. It was a name that Commodus hoped summed up all that he was.

Actually, name changes in ancient world were fairly common. To know someone’s name was to know the substance of their character. But character is something that comes with living life, not something that we know at the beginning of life. So the name given at birth became a place holder – one that could be changed once the character revealed itself.

However, it was Commodus that changed his own name, it was Commodus that saw something in himself that was not reflected in the name that he carried, but the name changer of the Bible was God. And the message was always that God saw us differently than we did. And so he changed his name.

It wasn’t that there was anything bad about the name that Abram carried. It meant “exalted Father” – it was a name that Abram could aspire to – but God didn’t just see an “exalted father,” he saw a “father of many” – he saw an Abraham. And that was something that Abraham definitely didn’t see.

For us, the question is never the one that Commodus asks – who is it that I see in me. The question is always “who does God see in me.” And the answer is that he sees more than we do – in us, he sees someone that can make a difference.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 18