706
LORD
LORD
sometimes 6 KijpLos tj/xwv, usually with the addition ot'IrjJoOs ot'Itjctovs XpicrTos. Wliat is suggested by this title as assigned to Christ? The simplest answer is that it calls up the relation of king and subject, conceived in the Oriental spirit as that of lord and slave (cf. 1 K 17^- 29=* [LXX]), as typical of that which obtains between Christ and the believer. St. Paul frequently calls himself 5ov\os 'lT](Tod XptcTTov (Ro 1^ Gal P", etc.) ; on one occasion he uses that term as a worthy designation of a faithful discii)le (Col 4}'-^), and reminds believers that such slavery is the condition into which they have surrendered themselves (1 Co 7").
(2) The majesty of Christ. — The title Ki^ptoj as api^lied to Christ suggests something more than the relation of sTibjection in which the believer stands to Him. It is deliberately selected to assign a certain lofty dignity to Christ. It was the custom in the East to call gods by the title ' Lord ' (Deissmann, Licht vom Osten, 253 ff.), and, as we have seen, the practice of the LXX had made this term the familiar one to the Jew for his God Jahweh. The title was deliberately transferred to Christ by the early Christians to signify that they worshipped Him as a Divine Being. In 1 Co 8^'' St. Paul defines the Christian attitude to Christ by contrasting it with that of the worshippers of false gods. They worship many so-called gods and lords, but the Christian has but the ' one God, the Father, of whom are all things and we unto him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.' Here St. Paul places Christ alongside of God as entitled to Divine honour. How such a position is compatible with the strict monotheism of the ' one God, the Father,' he does not discuss. It may be, as Johannes Weiss {Christus, p. 26) suggests, that he selected the title ' Lord ' for Christ liere as predicat- ing a dignity one rank lower than that of Supreme God, and so leaving room for that relation of sub- ordination which the Apostle elsewhere assigns to Him (2 Co P, Eph l^^). It was in virtue of the Resurrection that the Church came to invest Jesus with such unique dignity. This is the standpoint of Peter in Ac 2^--^^. Jesus of Nazareth, ' a man approved of God' (v.^-), has by the Resurrection and Exaltation been made by God ' both Lord and Chi'ist.' So in Ro 1^ St. Paul says that Jesus has been constituted (opiadiuTos) God's Son in power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resur- rection of the dead (cf. also Eph l-""^-). And the well-known passage Ph 2^"" accounts for Jesus' investment with the title ' Lord ' along the same lines. After the humiliation of the Cross ' God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name ; that in the name of Jesus [i.e. whenever the name is invoked in prayer by oneself or sounded in one's ears by others (W, lieitmiiller, Im Namen Jesu, 1903, p. 66 f. )] every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' There is ditierence of opinion as to whether ' the name which is above every name' is the title 'Lord.' In view of the confession of Lordship to which the passage leads up, it seems natural to adopt this interpretation. By exalting Jesus, God has raised Him to supreme honour. He has bestowed on Him that name which He had hitherto borne Himself. The passage becomes pregnant with meaning when taken (as Weiss suggests [op. cit. p. 27]) in connexion with the LXX of Is 42'* : iyCn Kijpio% 6 Beds, tovt6 /xo6 ian rb 6vofia, ttjv 86^av jxov i-T^pcp ov SiJjffu. But this name and this glory God has given to another. He has invested Jesus with the Divine name ; He has given Him supreme sovereignty. All beings in heaven and earth must
bow the knee before Him. He virtually takes the place of God, the monotheistic position being safe- guarded in that concluding phrase, ' to the glory of God the Father.'
The whole of the NT goes to corroborate the lofty estimate of the dignity of Christ suggested by this title. As Lord He comes in the mind of the Church to take His position alongside of God, to exercise such functions as had been attributed to God, and to receive such reverence as had been accorded to God alone — according to an inter- pretation of Ro 9^ which is linguistically unex- ceptionable. He is even called 0e6s (cf. also 2 P V). Prayer is addressed to Him (Ac 7""*, Ro lO^^, 1 Co r^, 2 Co 12^). He is expected to judge the world (2 Co 5^"^-, 2 Ti 41- 8), and is endowed with Divine omniscience (1 Co 4''). It is He who assigns their various lots to men (7'^), who grants power of service and endows with grace (1 Ti 1'^-"), who stands by and strengthens in time of trouble (2 Ti 4"), and delivers out of persecutions (3'^). All authority in the Church proceeds fi'om Him (1 Co 5S 2 Co 10^ 13'»). The most frequent form of benediction invokes His grace. Baptism is per- formed in His name (Ac 8"* 10^^). That name is invoked when the sick are anointed with oil (Ja 5^^} ; and not only on such formal occasions, but in every Avord and deed (Col 3^''), for that appears to be the significance of the phrase, one is to ' do all in the name of the Lord' (Heitmiiller, op. cit. p, 69). He is the Creator of all things (1 Co 8^, Col V^) and Lord over all beings (Ac 10^, Ro 10^^), our only Master and Lord (Jude*).