JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

189
● He is called "Lord" (Lk 2:11; Jn 21:7).
The title "Lord" (kyrios) is used of Christ with a great flexibility of meanings.
● As an adjective or noun of possession in both classical and Hellenistic Greek in the
sense of having power over or as a possessor such as in the case of the master of a
house or an owner of a vineyard (Ex 21:5).
● A polite form of address like the English "sir," the French "monsieur," the German
"herr." These terms all convey respect (i.e. Hebrew adonai which is used for the words
"husband" (Gn 18:12) or "prophet" (1 Kgs 18:7).
● Royal usage applied to governors, princes and kings. Kyrios was a favorite title of
Roman Emperors while Hebrew kings were addressed as adonai. The English
equivalents, "My Lord," or "Your Majesty" do not carry the same religious content.
● Religious usage in that it was the normal title of the Greek gods, prefaced before the
God's name. Kurios Serapis is Lord Serapis. This word had religious usage throughout
the Middle East whereby in Judaism the title Adonai (Lord) became the substitute for
the divine name in the reading of the Scriptures, and in the Septuagint (the Greek
translation of the Old Testament). Kyrios was used as the Greek equivalent.
"Lord" was an ideal term for the early church to use for Christ since all these meanings
were simultaneously found in Him.
The New Testament writers ascribe the term kyrios ("Lord") to Jesus, particularly in His
risen and ascended state. While the term can most certainly be used without any high
Christological connotations, there are several considerations which argue that the term signifies
divinity when it is applied to Jesus.
First, in the Septuagint kyrios is the usual translation of the name (Yehovah) and of the
reverential Adonai which was ordinarily substituted for it. Of the 9,000 times used in the
Septuagint 6,156 of those times is used as a replacement for the proper name of God, the
Tetragrammaton YHWH.
Several New Testament references to Jesus as "Lord" are used as quotations of the
Hebrew Scriptures. Texts employing one of the Hebrew names for God (Ac 2:20-21 and Ro
10:13 [Joel 2:31-32]; 1 Pe 3:15 [Isa 8:13]). These references make it clear that the apostles meant
to give Jesus the title Lord in its highest sense.
Finally, kyrios is used in the New Testament to designate both God the Father, the
sovereign God (Mt 1:20; 9:38; 11:25; Ac 17:24; Rev 4:11), and Jesus (Lk 2:11; Jn 20:28; Ac
10:36; 1 Co 2:8; Php 2:11; Jas 2:1; Rev 19:16).