No Other Name, Part 5: Stryper

Published on august 15th, 2020 | by Steve Perkins

Names are powerful and important.  God allowed Adam to name all the creatures that He Himself had made (Genesis 2:19-20).  There is no other name except that of Jesus by which we can be saved (Acts 4:11-12).  In fact, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow (Philippians 2:9-11). 


In this series of posts, we will look at the names of Classic Christian Rock bands and what those names have to say about God.

Stryper-Yahweh

When the Yellow and Black Attack hit the world in 1984, nothing in the world of Christian rock and metal would be the same again.  With big hair and striped costumes that evoked more than one comparison with bumblebees, the guys sold out arenas alongside acts like Metallica and Whitesnake.  Yet more than a clever marketing ploy, the yellow and black stripes were a constant reminder of something of monumental significance.

Most people feel something surge inside them when they see an animal being abused.  Righteous indignation rises up when we even think about an innocent creature, especially one that cannot defend itself, being beaten or hurt.  Yet that is what happened to Jesus, and He endured it willingly for us.

Isaiah 53:5 says this.  "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:  the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."  Roman execution was particularly brutal.  It involved whipping before crucifixion with strips of leather into which had been tied bits of stone and metal to rip the skin and flesh.  Jesus could have avoided all that.  He Himself said that He could have called upon more than twelve legions of angels.  In other words, He could have spoken a word and more than 70,000 cosmic warriors would have been at His side.

But He did not.  He willingly took the stripes of Roman flogging and the nails of Roman crucifixion so that you could be made pure and holy in the eyes of God.