Today we are going to look at a side of Jesus that is often overlooked. Too often Jesus is portrayed in modern culture as the ultimate in inclusiveness and openness. In the more extreme modern teachings Jesus has been re-imagined (as if that can be done to an actual historical person) to be more like an emotional comfort animal than our Lord. In fact, “lord” is a word that has almost fallen out of usage completely in American English. Today we are going to look at what it means to have a Lord.
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
First and foremost a lord is a master or to use a more contemporary term a “boss” or even an “owner” as distasteful as that thought is to modern ears. Bosses do not give instructions for people to consider and discuss, bosses give instructions to be obeyed and carried out. Often when I hear people including myself use the word Lord, I hear in the back of my mind the voice of Indigo from the movie “The Princess Bride”: “You keep using that word, I do not think that it means what you think it means”.
To have a Lord is to relinquish your autonomy and place yourself completely under the authority and rule of that Lord. Jesus is Lord, he is The Lord. Whether people obey him or not, his position is unchanged. He will be the judge of us all in the end and our behavior, while it can not by itself save us, does matter. When Jesus tells us something he expects us to obey him. We are often deceived by our own shortsightedness into thinking that immediate gain or pleasure makes our decisions correct. This is false, Jesus is the judge of what is correct and he is the judge of the whole earth. The freedoms we have are not for our pleasure but rather a gift and an opportunity for us to act in love for the benefit of others in obedience to Jesus.
The result of obedience
Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:46-49 ESV)
This passage comes from Luke in what is sometimes called the “sermon on the plain”. This teaching has many similarities to the “sermon on the mount” in Matthew 5-7 and they both end with this analogy of building on the rock vs building on the sand. But in Matthew rather than ask the question we have above, Jesus queues up the “house on the rock” analogy with this statement,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23 ESV)
It is important to really look at this passage by Jesus and not simply pass it off as hyperbole or try to nuance it out of existence by burying it is some form of systematic theology or church doctrine. The words of Jesus trumps all later doctrine and systematic analysis. We need to hear it in the same way the original hearer did and be equally shocked. Think of it, you go out to hear a preacher/prophet/healer that everyone has been talking about and what do you hear? That your eternal destiny hinges on whether or not you obey his teaching. That is way beyond audacious, I’m quite sure that this left many followers and would be followers completely speechless and others enraged.
Putting these passages together
If we take the passages in Luke and Matthew together we see that there is both a requirement and a benefit in obeying Jesus in this age and the next. The storms that hit the two houses are not the final judgment, but rather the storms of persecution and hardship. Obedience to Jesus gives us the strength to stand through anything this world can throw at us. Given the worlds situation at the moment that is something I think every Christian on earth should be thinking about now.
The passage in Mathew though tells us that beyond the pressures of this life there is final judgment, and that is an even greater concern. In the final analysis the question will be, are we walking with Jesus or are we walking according to our own desires? In the final judgment not even religious exploits will suffice only obediently walking with Jesus as our Lord, our Master, and our Boss. Now let’s look at one last aspect of the authority of Jesus. In John, Jesus makes the following statement.
You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. (John 13:13-16 ESV)
What does this obedience look like for us?
In a word, following Jesus who is the way. In this story Jesus washed the feet of his disciples very deliberately in order to give them an example. We need to demonstrate the gospel as much as preach it. Jesus made this clear in this example and underscores this teaching with the reminder that the servant is not greater than his master. If he as their master washes their feet then they need to wash each others feet for the servant is not greater than the master.
So this week let’s encourage each other and serve each other, remembering that we are not our own to do as we please, we belong to our Master and we must do as he says and do what he does. We don’t do this to earn our place in heaven, but because we belong to Jesus and we have already been given a place in heaven, thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus. He is our Master and Lord.
Jesus set aside his glory and gave his life for our benefit. As his servants we must follow this example. For us there is only obedience to our Lord or disobedience to our Lord. When we placed our faith in Him we gave our life to him, just like he gave his life to us.
This is a hard passage, not because it is hard to understand but because it is hard for our old selfish nature to hear that we are not our own boss. But the truth is, we are not the our own, we were bought with a price.1 This is why we need to encourage each other daily, so we don't give up and give in to our own base desires. When we follow Jesus in washing each others feet, so to speak, we demonstrate the gospel and we make it easier for everyone to love and serve each other as we love and serve Jesus.
Have a great week!
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV)
So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:12-17 ESV)
Share this post