Jesus Christ is Lord of ALL.

Questions from H.B. Bonsall The Person of Christ Vol.4

Tackle these questions first from the Bible. You will understand the Bible better.

1. What verse in Ps 110 addresses the Father and the Son as “Lord”? …..........................

2. How did Christ apply this verse to Himself and in which verse of Lk 20 did He do so? ..........................................................................................................................................

3. Who will put all enemies under His Feet? ( See 1 Cor 15:25, 28)....................................

4. Did God such a promise to any angel? (See Heb. 1)..........................................................

5. Where is Christ now seated?.......................................................................................

6. As used in the New Testament the word Lord appears with different meaning, as “Sir”, “Master”, “God”.

It is used in these  senses in the following ten verses. Write down which sense applies in each.

(1) John 20 :28...........................................

(2) Matt 10:25 ….........................................

(3) Lk 10:27 …................................................

(4) Matt 23:39............................................................

(5) Acts 2:21 ….............................................................

(6) Lk 16:5 …..............................................................

(7) Matt 25 :19 ….............................................................

(8) Jn 8:11 …....................................................................

(9) Jn 15:20 …..................................................................

(10) 2 Cor 13:14 …....................................................

7. There were three occasions when  Christ showed his Lordship over death by raising the dead. Of these one had died only four or so minutes before, one for some hours, and one four days. Can you locate these in the Gospel accounts?

…...........................................                ….........................................

…...........................................                …........................................

…...........................................                ….......................................

8. There are among many other recorded instances four where Christ showed His Lordship over demon power. Where are these found?

(1) a demonised man   …..............................

(2) a demonised women ….............................

(3) a demonised boy …..................................

(4) a demonised girl …............................ .......

9. Which of these four became a lifelong member of the disciple-band?.........................................

10 Christ often showed His Lordship over disease by healing people and very often gave some homely and practical advice as a piece of after-care. Give Three instances.

(1) ….......................... …............   …..............................

(2) …..........................................  …...........................

(3) ….........................................   …...........................

Here we have the Setting Forth of JESUS IS LORD in contrasts to the many ‘lords’.(kurioi or kuria) The Pagan mystery religions worshipped many ‘gods’ whom they referred to as ‘lords’ with divine attributes, even to this day. The reason he had for placing the mystery ’lords’ beside the pagan ‘gods’ was that Ephesus was overshadowed by the Temple of the goddess ‘Artemis’ or the Temple of Diana.

This temple is a striking example of pagan polytheism. It represents the mystery fertility cult dedicated to the kuria cybele and already by syncretism it combined the status of a mystery deity with that of a traditional goddess (Venus, Aphrodite or Artemis).Bonsall p. 22 Vol 3.

Wilhelm Bousset (1865-1920) claimed that Christianity came from one of these mystery religions which Paul met during his three missionary journeys. They often had a cultic meal, a baotism, a ceremony of initiation when they became one with their kurios. Paul often used the word ’mystery’ (musterion). The Lord or lady taking human form, suffering, rising from the dead, superior to all forces of nature, in heaven etc. He said that this was the source of Christianity

Rudoph Butmann produced a thesis in 1942 which tried to resurrect Boussets’ ideas in modern form thus reducing Christianity to a mere myth. It says, ‘believe what you like about the Christ of the Creeds, experience what you will of the Christ of experience, but the Jesus of History is forever gone”. This is a false story that Paul projected into the Church’s thought and life the basic elements of the mystery religions. Many believe Bultmann even today and they must be refuted on the grounds of classical history - The Historical Evidence for the Mystery Religions being brought forward as a proof that they are a source of Pauline Christianity. It is the Validity of this evidence that we challenge. We call upon Paul’s companion and fellow-labourer, Luke, as a witness. His double treatise of his Gospel and Acts of the Apostles we study with him Jesus is Lord on earth and in heaven .

The false Ideas and the true ideas of Jesus Christ is Lord.

1. What the pagans meant by KURIOS.

(1) Politeness. When a Pagan called someone Kurios it usually meant a polite address to a fellow-mortal, or Sir or Monsieur.

(2) Proprietor or Owner Perhaps he was a slave and the kurios was his master.

(3) Deity.  It could mean the kurios  was a god. The deified Emperors Caligula, Claudius, Nero and Domitian were all called Dominus = Latin for kurios; et deus noster [our Lord and our God]

2. What the Old Testament meant by Kurios.

In the LXX (Septuagint), the official greek version of the OT., kurios  was used to translate YAHWEH. Here again we have the three same meanings:

(1) Politeness Gen 23:6

(2)  Proprietorship Gen 27:37

(3) Deity  Kurios translates Yahweh and also the weaker word Adonai is used

3.What the New Testament and contemporary Jewish Writers meant by Kurios.

Following the Three stages of meanings:

(1) Politeness: A Jewish Rabbi would be addressed by his pupils as Kurios. The Lord Himself while on earth was a Rabbi and had his pupils or disciples who called Him Kurios as a mark of respect. eg. Lk 9:33

(2) Proprietor :This is implied in Lk 20:15.

(3) Deity Thomas when confronted with risen Christ cried out, “My Lord and My God” Jn 20:28

Kurios translated the Hebrew Yahweh In Lk 1:15,16; Lk 20:37 and cp. Matt 11:25

Doubting Thomas meets the Risen Christ

(1) The Lord. Frequently in the Gospels Jesus Christ is called “ The Lord (Ho Kurios)”. Among the pagan Greeks this term often applied affection, special reverence or special worship. In the NT this is often the meaning.

Many places in Luke He is called “The Lord” eg. Lk 7:13; 10:1; 11:39 etc. These are not merely a polite form of address nor a simple title, but more like a proper Name with divine implications. As a proper name it means ’one and only one in existence’.

(2) The Secret Transition: Though the Disciples might have used ‘the Lord’ in the shallow sense of a polite address as they lived with Him they shift in their address to something more significant and divine. The saw Him as One who took the place of God. Some were slower in making this transition. Peter exclaimed, Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God.” Matt 16:16. A similar thing took place with Messiah cp. Jn 6:66;15.

(3) Does Kurios apply to the Father or the Son? A general rule of interpreting the NT is that whenever Kurios obviously means god, yet is not specifically applied to the father, it refers to the Son.cp. 2 Cor 12:8.

Many Jehovah passages on the OT are applied to the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament, where again the  word Kurios forms a convenient link. B. Bonsall The True Lord p.25

(4) Why Kurios gained over other titles. Because it set forth the new dignity, exaltation and authority of our Saviour, the Lord jesus Christ. “Because Christ continues His Work since His Exaltation is the fundamental idea of the NT. “ The Gospel of John uses Kurios uses this title more than ever. Jesus is Lord is the theme of early Christianity.

(5) Heilsgeschichte Kurios identifies Jesus as the centre of all God’s saving acts in History. According to Claus Westermannn:

The Creator = the Lord of History = the Redeemer, acting over all the events of history to save His People whom He has redeemed.

Heilsgeschichte has two meanings: The History of Salvation : (1) God’s acts in Christ which wrought our Salvation.  And (2) “a saving History”, i.e. the salvation itself which springs from those acts.”ibid p.26

(6) The Aramaic Mari : Aramaic uses for Kurios the word Mari which has the same three shades of meaning: politeness, proprietorship and deity.  To express exceptional respect they would say (Mari,Mari). see Kurie, Kurie in Matt 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.

He is Lord of the Universe

(7) The Hebrew Adonai and Yahweh. The heb. Adonai, unlike Yahweh  but like Kurios,can transition through the same meanings of politeness, proprietorship and deity. Yahweh means God and nothing else..

(8) The Monolithic Kurios, of Bousset. He says that Kurios does not go through the stages or transitions of meaning and that Christ was on worshipped as Kurios in the Hellenistic setting with no oscillation of meaning. This first happened at Antioch and not in Israel. This is easily exposed as error. see the dying thief Luke 23:42  “Lord remember me.....” and the Frequent quoting of Ps 110:1 in Matt 22:41-46.Ibid p.26

4.  WHAT THE CHURCH MEANT BY KURIOS

(1) Were the Gentiles really the first to worship Ch The Chrrist?

What Bousset said that the Hellenistic Churches outside of Israel were the first to worship the Lord Jesus Christ  as divine scarcely squares with the Facts.The Jerusalem church believed that what Christ had said about eschatology and the glorious future he would bring on day. they were transformed from fear to joy when Cleopas and his friend hurried back from Emmaus to tell them “the Lord has risen” Lk 24:34 They were revived.

They were absolutely confident that their ‘Eschatological hope’ would be realised. The resurrection birthed the certainty that Jesus was ‘both Lord and Christ’ Acts 2:36 cp. Acts 2:46 and Matt 18:20.

(2) Kuriakos = “of or belonging to a lord” Note is use with the Lord’s Supper 1 Cor 1:20; and the Lord’s day Rev 1:10

It would appear that this was a day particularly devoted to the Lord Jesus; for:

(a) that is the natural meaning of the word “Lord” as used in the New Testament (compare the notes on Act_1:24); and

(b) if the Jewish Sabbath were intended to be designated, the word “Sabbath” would have been used.

The term was used generally by the early Christians to denote the first day of the week. It occurs twice in the Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians (about 101 a.d.), who calls the Lord’s day “the queen and prince of all days.” Chrysostom (on Ps. 119) says, “It was called the Lord’s day because the Lord rose from the dead on that day.” Later fathers make a marked distinction between the “Sabbath” and the “Lord’s day”; meaning by the former the Jewish “Sabbath,” or the seventh day of the week, and by the latter the first day of the week, kept holy by Christians. So Theodoret (Fab. Haeret. ii. 1), speaking of the Ebionites, says, “They keep the Sabbath according to the Jewish law, and sanctify the Lord’s day in like manner as we do” (Prof. Stuart). The strong probability is, that the name was given to this day in honor of the Lord Jesus, and because he rose on that day from the dead. No one can doubt that it was an appellation given to the first day of the week; and the passage, therefore, proves:

(1) that that day was thus early distinguished in some special manner, so that the mere mention of it would be sufficient to identify it in the minds of those to whom the apostle wrote;Barnes Notes on Rev 1:10

(3) Maranatha μαρὰν ἀθά 1 Cor 16:22  If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed.(anathema) The Lord comes!(Maranatha) is perhaps the oldest Christian Liturgical form of all. The Aramaic expression is even used in the church at Corinth. It is a Prayer sentence coming from two compounded words meaning : (1) Our Lord comes or (2) O, our Lord, come!

(4) Three important Scriptures The Jesus of History is Lord.

(a) Roman 10:9 RV  because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved:

RSV 9because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.

Barnes Notes :The Lord Jesus - Shalt openly acknowledge attachment to Jesus Christ. The meaning of it may be expressed by regarding the phrase “the Lord” as the predicate; or the thing to be confessed is, that he is Lord; compare Act_2:36;

(b)Phi_2:11, “And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Here it means to acknowledge him as Lord, that is, as having a right to rule over the soul.

( c ) 1 Cor 12:3  Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking in the Spirit of God saith, Jesus is anathema; and no man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit.

This legal formula was used by the Roman Magistrate to decide whether or not you were a “Christian - and so whether or not you should live or die. So to confess Jesus as Lord was often to sign one’s own death warrant.  Pliny’s letter to Trajan cp A.D.112

John Gill “Christ is Lord of all, of angels, good and bad; of men, righteous and wicked; of the chief among men, the kings, princes, and lords of the earth; as He is God by right of nature, and as Creator of them by virtue of that; and because of His providential power and influence in the government of the universe; He is Lord of His church and people, by the Father's gift of them to him; by his espousal of them to himself; by the purchase of his blood; and by the conquests of his grace; and as appears by the various relations he stands in to them, as father, husband, head, King, and master.

Now, though a man may historically say all this, as the devils may, and hypocritically, as formal professors and foolish virgins do now, and will at the last day; and as all men then will by force, whether they will or not, confess that Jesus is Lord, who have not the Spirit of God; yet no man can call him his Lord, can appropriate him to himself truly and really, as his Lord, Saviour, and Redeemer, as David, Thomas, the Apostle Paul, and others have done; but by the Spirit; since such an appropriation includes spiritual knowledge of Christ, strong affection to him; faith of interest in him, an hearty profession of him, and sincere subjection to him; all which cannot be without the Spirit of God: