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Here the Son of man promises that He will come in the glory of God, His Father. Baha'is understand this to be a reference to the name Baha'u'llah, which, in fact, means "The Glory of God". In the original Arabic the meaning is actually fuller, signifying at once the glory, the light and the splendour of God. Thus, Baha'is see in the name Baha'u'llah, the fulfillment of Christ's promise of His return in Glory (129:1) Of course, that Elijah can return with a new name is a fact that may be totally irrelevant to Christ's Return. After all, Elijah was but a man; Christ, the Son of God. And certainly I am not attempting here to equate Elijah with Christ. What I am attempting to show is that the same God that promised that Elijah would return has promised that Christ will return. And based on the prophecies which we now know have been fulfilled, we can see that their meaning can be quite unpredicted (129:2) But even the fact that prophetic language uses symbolism, and that Christ Himself constantly spoke in this way, may hold little weight in asserting that Christ's name could be different at His Return. There is, however, in addition to the above, further evidence in the New Testament, that at Christ's return, He may not be called Jesus, or Christ. Christ's own words shed significant light on the claim that the name Baha'u'llah may indeed be His name at His Return. Besides the fact that Christ said that His return will be in the glory of His Father, he also refers to something quite astounding: His "new name": (129:3) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. Revelation 2:17 (129:4) Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. Revelation 3:12 (129:5) There are many images in these words of the Savior. It is not my purpose here to explore their possible meanings, but rather to focus on the promise of the "new name" (129:6) The promise of the "new name" does not receive much comment in expositions of the Second Coming. It is regarded as quite a minor, often overlooked feature of Christ's Return, and understandably so. Christ is Christ, and His followers are Christians, and why should we believe that these names may change at His Return? Some may, but I've never heard anyone, seriously consider out loud, that Christ may actually come with a new name, or what that new name might be. Is it hidden in the scriptures? Did Christ hint at what it would be? Well, nowhere does Christ state explicitly what His new name will be, but he does say that He will have a new name. Additionally, as in the case of other prophecies, we cannot tell, of course, whether Christ intends that literally He will have a new name, or does He intend that this prophecy has some other meaning. We know that as far as the record of the New Testament reveals, no one referred to Jesus as Immanuel during His lifetime, even though the Old Testament clearly states that He will be called by that name. Therefore, the fact - that there is a reference in scripture that He may have a new name - does not , in itself, ensure that He will have a new name
(129:7)
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