KYRIOS CHRISTOS: THE LORDSHIP OF
JESUS CHRIST TODAY
MICHAEL F.
BIRD JUNE 9, 2015
FALL 2014
To profess
that Jesus is Lord is to make no empty claim. It is the singular most important
confession that a person can make about who Jesus is and about their
relationship to Jesus. To identify Jesus as Lord is to state that God the
Father has appointed the crucified and risen man, Jesus of Nazareth, as the
master and commander of the cosmos. To acknowledge that Jesus is Lord with
one’s lips, by surrendering one’s heart, and by bowing (metaphorically or
literally) one’s knees, means that one recognizes that Jesus is the ultimate
authority over all things. The sun at the center of the theological
universe of the New Testament is this: Jesus reigns.
Truth be
told, the Greek word Kyrios for “Lord” is not a technical title for a deity,
but simply denotes a person who has authority over someone or something.
In the ancient world slaves referred to their masters as Kyrios (Greek) or
Dominus (Latin). In the Gospels, when Jesus is addressed as “Lord,” it often
means no more than “Sir” or “Master.”1 However, there are other occasions when
designation of Jesus as “Lord” is clearly intended to convey Jesus’ divine
identity. The resurrection and exaltation of Jesus drove the early church
to refer to Jesus as “Lord” in ways identical to how the Old Testament referred
to God as YHWH. We need to remember that the Hebrew names for God, the
tetragrammaton YHWH and the more general Adonai, were usually translated in the
Septuagint (i.e. the Greek version of the Old Testament) with Kyrios for
“Lord.” So when Paul says that Jesus is the “one Lord” through whom all things
come (1 Cor 8:6 = Deut 6:4) and “everyone tongue will acknowledge that Jesus
Christ is Lord” (Phil 2:11 = Isa 45:23) he was using YHWH-language to describe
Jesus as the “Lord.” The purpose of this blend of scriptural allusion and
devotion to Jesus is to underscore the unequaled status given to Jesus by God
the Father.
In several
other instances the lordship of Jesus constitutes the rubric for the New
Testament witness to Jesus. For example, Psalm
110 opens with, “The Lord said to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I
make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” This was the favorite text for
Christian interpreters and preachers. Flip through any New Testament
concordance and you’ll find citations, allusions, and echoes of Ps 110
literally and literarily everywhere. A christological reading of Ps 110 gave
strong impetus to the view that Jesus was the singular highest authority in
heaven and earth.
Second, Paul
tells us that when the Judean leaders and Roman authorities killed Jesus, they
did not put a mere man to death, rather, “They crucified the Lord of Glory” (1
Cor 2:8). NB: Paul brazenly applies an attribute associated with God–the “God
of glory” (see Acts 7:2; Rom 3:23; 5:2; 1 Cor 10:31; 11:7; 2 Cor 1:20; Rev
21:23)– to Jesus. N.T. Wright puts it well: “The ‘rulers and authorities’ of
Rome and of Israel … the best government and the highest religion the world at
that time had ever known—conspired to put Jesus on the cross.” These rulers did
not recognize Jesus as the bearer of the regal and radiant splendor of God
Almighty.2
Third, the
place where Jesus’ glory will be supremely manifested is, of course, his second
coming. Aramaic-speakers in the early church regarded the return of the “Lord,”
Mara in Aramaic, as the coming of Jesus to judge the world (1 Cor 16:22; Rev
22:20; Didache 10.6). This is why Paul urged Titus to look ahead to “the
appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Tit 2:13).
The revelation of the Lord Jesus at the end of history would be the revelation
of the glory of Israel’s God. The final
and climactic manifestation of Jesus as Lord will take place at his second
coming when he rescues believers from the coming wrath (1 Thess 1:10), gathers
them to himself (2 Thess 2:1), and overthrows lawless authorities (2 Thess
2:8). This is the moment when Jesus
will be by might what he is by right, the cosmocrator, the divine master
and commander over everything and everyone! So whether it was expositing
Scriptures like Ps 110, contemplating the glory of God in Christ, or waiting
for Jesus’ return, all of this was saturated with the imagery of Jesus as Lord.
The lordship
of Jesus Christ was not merely a doctrinal formula, but something that pervaded
the witness, work, and worship of the early church. Have a brief glance through
the Book of Acts and you’ll notice as clear as day that baptism, thanksgiving,
prayers, hymns, praise, and celebratory meals all take place in the context of
devotion to the Jesus Christ as the Lord. In the early church, the word and
example of the Lord Jesus carry pre-eminent authority (1 Thess 4:15; 1 Cor
7:10; 11:1; 1 Pet 2:21). The preaching of the gospel was the proclamation of
Jesus as Lord (see Acts 2:36; 5:14; 8:16; 9:5 10:36; 28:31; 2 Cor 4:5; 2 Thess
1:8). Knowing God meant knowing the lordship of Jesus Christ (Eph 1:17; 2
Thess 1:8). In fact, the most basic definition of what it means to be a
Christian is one who confesses Jesus as Lord, because it is by such a
confession that one is saved (Rom 10:9-10), and such a confession can only me
made with the help of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3). On a more chilling
note, Paul declares that if anyone does not love the Lord, then he or she is
cursed (1 Cor 16:22). Evidently loving the Lord Jesus is identical to the
type of covenant loyalty that was expected of Israelites in the love for YHWH
(see Deut 6:4; 10:12-13).3
We should
also add there is a very sharp and subversive claim implied with the profession
that Jesus is Lord. In the Roman world of the first century, Caesar was
venerated as “Lord” over the realms he ruled, not just politically, but
religiously too. Worship of the emperor all over the empire, while localized in
form and varied in intensity, was aimed at ensuring the devotion of his
subjects. In ancient media like coins, pottery, and poetry one can find
celebration of the emperor as both a “god” and a mediator before the “gods.” In
some inscriptions one reads statements such as, “Emperor [Augustus] Caesar, god
and lord” and “Nero, the lord of the whole world.” Picture what it would be
like to confess that Jesus is Lord in such a context. Visualize yourself
standing on a street in downtown Rome announcing that a Jewish man put to death
by a Roman governor had been installed as King of kings and Lord of lords! To
some it might sound disgusting, while to others it would mark you as a
political dissident or simply a lunatic. N.T. Wright rightly observes: “To come
to Rome with the gospel of Jesus, to announce someone else’s accession to the
world’s throne, therefore, was to put on a red coat and walk into a field with
a potentially angry bull.”4
The best
analogy I can provide is this: imagine you are in an extravagant hotel in
Berlin during the 1930s for a dinner party attended by a mix of lawyers, doctors,
businessmen, and military officers. While the evening is mostly polite and
cordial, with small talk on everything from the stock market to the latest
operas, a military officer suddenly taps his glass and proposes a toast to the
Führer, Adolf Hitler. Then, as everyone stands, and raises their glasses, you,
being the committed Christian you are, interrupt and propose an alternative
toast. Everyone is startled and looks at you as you proudly utter in your best
German, “Jesus der Jude aus Nazaret ist der wahre Führer” (Jesus the Jew from
Nazareth is the true Leader). You probably won’t have long before the Gestapo
comes and takes you away to a very nasty place for making such a subversive
claim. Lest I seem to be overstating the political dimensions of Jesus’
lordship, keep in mind that Nero did not have Christians thrown to the lions
because they said, “Jesus is Lord of my heart.” The Romans were not
interested in the internal dispositions of people’s lives. Confession of Jesus
as Lord was always a scandalous and subversive claim. Profession of a “lord” is
not merely religious language for adoration on some spiritual plane; it is also
a matter of social and political protest. When it came to who was running the
show, the Christians knew that there were only two options: the Son of Augustus
or the Son of David. By singing and preaching about Jesus as Lord, they were
opting for the later, a claim regarded by political authorities as seditious.
As N.T. Wright suggests: “At every point, therefore, we should expect what we
in fact find: that for Paul, Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not.”5
It is
worthwhile to think about what proclaiming Jesus as Lord means for us today.
Some time ago H.A.A. Kennedy opined that “the term ‘Lord’ has become one of
the most lifeless words in the Christian vocabulary.” When the title “Lord”
lost its reverence it also lost its relevance and the title was reduced to
something like “a spiritually meaningful religious leader.” That is a
travesty because acclamation of Jesus as Lord is no empty confession or a vague
religious platitude. More likely, as Kennedy himself adds, “To enter into
its meaning and to give it practical effect would be to re-create, in great
measure, the atmosphere of the Apostolic Age.”6 I concur with Kennedy
because when we discover what it means to live with respect to the lordship
of Jesus, then we can get closer to the pattern of devotion that the New
Testament calls us to emulate. To confess that Jesus is “Lord” is to announce
that he is Lord of all. At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, every
Christian, every Jew, every Muslim, every Hindu, and every atheist, and they
will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. I don’t know whether you’ve thought
about it, but this is deeply offensive and disturbing stuff to postmodern
sensibilities. Confession of Jesus as Lord implies that all religions are
not equal. Jesus is not a leader who has his authority curtailed by politicians
or sociologists telling him which areas of life he’s allowed to give people
advice on. Jesus is the boss of everyone’s religion, politics, economics,
ethics, and everything. Jesus is not interested in trying to capture a big
chunk of the religious market; to the contrary, he’s in the business of
completely monopolizing it with the glory, justice, and power of heaven.
And he has every right to do so, being as he the firstborn of all creation, and
the cosmos is both his handiwork and his inheritance! Consequently Abraham
Kuyper was right to declare that “there is not a square inch in the whole
domain of human existence which Christ who is Sovereign over all, does not cry:
‘Mine!’”7 If that is the case, then true discipleship is about dutifully and
faithfully living out the lordship of Jesus Christ. Discipleship means ordering
our lives according to his story, symbols, teaching, and authority. Evangelism is not about asking people to
try Jesus the way they might try a new decaf moccacino latte from Starbucks. It
is more like declaring the victory of the Lord Jesus over sin and death,
warning of the judgment to be made by the Lord Jesus over all rebellion, and
inviting people to find joy and satisfaction in the life and love that come
from the Lord Jesus Christ.
In my visits
to the United States I have observed a strong historically conditioned aversion
to monarchs, masters, and lords in American culture. There is no American royal
family – though if we get another Clinton or Bush in the White House it might
be a de facto royal dynasty if you ask me – and such a family would not be
welcomed in most quarters. Apparently America has no plans to recant its
declaration of independence and to come under the gentle yoke of the English
monarch any time soon either! Most American churches would probably loathe the
prospect of having Prince Charles installed as the “Supreme Governor” of their
respective denominations (and I confess that I share the aversion too). In a
curious anecdote, R.C. Sproul observes:
Sometimes it is difficult for people
in the United States to grasp the full significance of the title Lord. An Englishman
came to this country in the decade of the sixties, and upon arrival spent his
first week in Philadelphia becoming acquainted with historic landmarks, such as
Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. In order to familiarize himself with
American culture, he visited several antique stores that specialized in
colonial and revolutionary memorabilia. In one such shop he saw several posters
and signboards that contained the slogans of the revolution, such as No
Taxation Without Representation, and Don’t Tread on Me. One signboard attracted
his attention more than the rest. In bold letters the sign proclaimed: we serve
no sovereign here. As he mused on this sign, he wondered how people steeped in
such an antimonarchical culture could come to grips with the notion of the
kingdom of God and the sovereignty that belongs to the Lord. The concept of
lordship invested in one individual is repugnant to the American tradition, yet
this is the boldness of the claim of the New Testament for Jesus, that absolute
sovereign authority and imperial power are vested in Christ.8
I understand
the patriotic dislike of foreign lords who might potentially attack and then
tax Americans. Yet such an aversion to a “lord” might be taken too far in some
contexts. Strange parts of American
evangelicalism –the so-called “no lordship” advocates – have even contended
that one should not even preach Jesus as Lord in evangelism, but only as
Saviour. Apparently making Jesus lord of one’s life is something that is not
meant to happen until much later in one’s Christian walk. Such a view, quite
frankly, merits the mother of all theological face palms. Profession of Jesus
as Lord is not asking for assent to the mere fact of his deity, but calling
people to faithfulness, obedience, and allegiance towards him. Jesus wants
followers not fans!9
If I may
gently plead with my American friends, with your aversion to “Kings” and
“Lords:” before you throw all the christological tea over side of the
theological boat, reflect on the words of Paul: “Grace to all who love our
Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love” (Eph 6:24). To love Jesus as
Lord is to love Jesus’ lordship. We do this knowing that Jesus is neither a
tyrant nor a despot. While Jesus is Lord of all, he is also Lord for all. The
goodness, kindness, love, and compassion of Jesus as our Saviour is also
reflected in Jesus as our Lord. If we were to make a Christian psalm book, the
most common refrain should be, “The Lord Jesus is good, his love endures
forever” (see Ps 100:5; 106:1; 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1)! To know Jesus as Lord
is to know and taste that God is good.
—
Michael F.
Bird is a professor of Theology at Ridley Melbourne College of Mission and
Ministry and a contributor to the Ichthus.
The exception perhaps is Matt 7:22 where Jesus
describes himself as the eschatological “Lord” of the end of history. ↩
N.T. Wright, Climax of the Covenant
(Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1991), 116 . ↩
D. E.
Garland, 1 Corinthians (BECNT; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2003), 774. ↩
N.T. Wright, “Romans,” New Interpreters Bible,
10:423. ↩
N.T. Wright, Paul in Fresh Perspective
(Minneapolis: MN: Fortress, 2009), 69. ↩
H.A.A.
Kennedy, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians, 439 cited in C.F.H. Henry, God,
Revelation, and Authority. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1999), 2:239. ↩
Cited in
James D. Bratt, Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 1998), 461 ↩
R.C. Sproul, Following Christ (Wheaton, IL:
Tyndale House, 1996), 31 ↩
Cf. further
Darrell, L. Bock, “Jesus as Lord in Acts and in the Gospel Message,” BSac 143
(1986): 146-54; Millard Erickson, “Lordship Theology: The Current Controversy,”
SWJT 33 (1991): 5-15; Michael S. Horton, Christ the Lord: The Reformation and
Lordship Salvation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1992). ↩
