The name Jesus means God saves in Hebrew. It was given to His Mother by the angel Gabriel at the annunciation. There are also many names identifying Jesus, including one from the Canticle of Zechariah. Mary was already three months pregnant when she visited him and his wife to help her cousin during the birth of John the Baptist. After the child was born Zechariah prophesied about his son: “And you, child, will be called prophet of the most high, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins, because of the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will visit us.” Luke 1:76-78
This designation for the son of God, Daybreak from on High, became the name of the novel that grew out of it like the shoot of Jesse finally arrived in the world as promised by Our Father in heaven. This came about by His tender mercy and that is the reality I hoped to convey in this work of fiction.
DJ Pasternak, Author 