I was listening to a Church History lecture the other night and the professor, Everett Ferguson, talked about the origin of saying “amen” after someone had prayed or after they heard something they agreed with. It is ancient in its origin. It appears as many as 100 times in the Old Testament as far back as Deuteronomy. Moses is instructed to put half the people on one hill and half on another and then the Levites will pronounce a dozen or more curses to which the People will be in agreement. Deuteronomy 27:16 is one of those curses. It says, “Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’” It also appears in the Psalms several times. Psalm 89 ends with a double expression in verse 52, “Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and Amen.” The New Testament is full of “amens.” It’s not unusual for Paul to end his letters with it. 1 Corinthians 16:24 closes the book with it: “My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.” The Lexham Bible Dictionary says that Amen is, “A Hebrew word that has served as a declaration of affirmation and as the closing exclamation of agreement to a doxology or prayer in Jewish and Christian liturgy.” It seems strange that the Apostle John would suggest that Amen is a title for Jesus. In Revelation 3:14, John writes, “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.” I think Rolls is correct when he speaks of this as being one of the Names of Jesus when he writes, “We may diligently search the chief cities of the nations, examine all the records of the centuries and ransack the literature of continents the world over, but will never find another bearing this name.”1

Whereas it was customarily used to end statements or prayers, as it is today, Jesus used it to begin his statements. But he doubled it when he was about to say something extremely important as well as unimpeachable in its truthfulness. Most English translations translate the double words as “verily, verily” but they are the same word. The Hebrew word is pronounced the same, Amen. The Greek took the exact same word and put it into their own letters of their alphabet but it is pronounced the same: Amen! When we say Amen today, were reproducing the same sounds the Hebrews spoke and the same sounds that the Greeks spoke. Amen sounds the same and means the same thing in any language. The double “amen” is seen in John 3:5. It reads, “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’”  The New American Bible, (NAB) actually translates Jesus quote as “Amen, Amen, I say to you no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Jesus used the introductory double phrase of “Amen, Amen…” (Truly, Truly or Verily, Verily) 25 times in the Gospel of John alone. He wants his listeners to understand the truthfulness of his words.

As far as being a name or title of Jesus as John records in the book of Revelation it’s referring to the very character of Jesus throughout his life on earth. Unlike the rest of mankind, Jesus “always” did the perfect will of his father. Whatever God asked of him, or whatever the Father said that’s what Jesus did or said. As Rolls adds to his discussion, “We affirm again that no one else, anywhere at anytime, always and altogether, said, “so be it” to every jot and tittle of the will of God. Because He did, he was able to use this claim in John 3:38 when challenged, as the supreme proof of His Sonship, “I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John 6:38). Paul tells us that Jesus, as the great Amen of the Father, is deserving of our complete faith. “We can be certain,” Paul says. He says in 2 Corinthians 1:20 that, as the Great Amen of the Father, we can be certain all of God’s promises will come true. We can say “Amen” to all of God’s promises because Jesus is the great “Amen” who will assure them. Paul writes, “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” Paul talks to Timothy about the trustworthiness of the Gospel and the certainty of his salvation through faith in Jesus. Timothy is likely struggling with sin. Don’t we all? But Paul gives Timothy full assurance that Jesus is completely trustworthy in saving sinners. He begins his letter to Timothy with “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

1 Charles J. Rolls, The Indescribable Christ: Names and Titles of Jesus Christ: A-G (Loizeaux Brothers, 1984).