Foundations of Faith
GOD THE SON (IV)
Lord Jesus Christ. About 70 times in the New Testament our Saviour is called by this three-part name. Why three names? Wouldn’t one be enough?
Jesus is His human, personal name. The Hebrew form of Jesus is Joshua and means “Jehovah is Saviour” (Matt. 1:21).
Lord is another word for “master” (sometimes used of slave-owners). Lord also identifies Jesus as the LORD or Jehovah of the Old Testament. For example, Jehovah says He is “the first and … the last” and the Lord Jesus says, “I am the first and the last” (Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:17).
By the way, did you notice that “LORD” in the previous paragraph was spelled with a capital “L” and small capitals “ORD” instead of lower case “ord”? Whenever you see LORD spelled this way in the Old Testament, it indicates that it is a translation of the Hebrew word Jehovah which was the name God used in relation to His chosen people, the nation of Israel. On the other hand, the word “Lord” in the Old Testament (with lower case “ord”) usually is a translation of the Hebrew word “adonai” which is the common word for a human lord or master.
Thus Lord is a title of respect, authority, and superiority. I believe it is significant that we never once read of Christ’s disciples addressing Him by His personal name, Jesus. Rather, they always used titles of respect, such as Lord, Master, or Teacher when addressing Him. (See Assignment 14)
Most of our readers are familiar with Rom. 10:9:”If you shall confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord … you shall be saved” (JND translation). These words had a very special meaning to the Christians in Rome. The Roman emperors at that time required that their subjects take an oath of loyalty by saying, “Caesar is lord.” The Christians refused to do this, at the risk of being thrown to the lions. Instead, they pledged their allegiance to Jesus Christ by saying, “Jesus is Lord.” Who is your Lord? It is impossible to know Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour without also owning Him as our Lord and Master–the new Boss of our lives.
Christ means “the anointed One.” The Hebrew word for “anointed” is “Messiah.” So “Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” The children of Israel were taught to look for the Messiah who, as a descendant of King David, would eventually bring righteousness and peace to the nation of Israel and to the entire world, but would also be a suffering Servant (2 Sam. 7:13; Isa. 11; 52:13-53:12; Dan. 9:25,26; Luke 2:26; 3:15; John 1:41; 4:25,29).
In summary, the name Jesus makes us think of all that He was as a Man on earth, including His teachings, His sinless life, and His sacrificial death so He could be our Saviour. The name or title Lord reminds us of His supreme authority over us. And the name Christ suggests His greatness as One sent by God to perform a special work on earth, and who has returned to His home in heaven.
Let us briefly consider two other titles given to our Saviour.
Son of God is an expression of His deity, His being co-equal with God the Father.
Son of Man requires a bit more explanation. This is the title by which Jesus most often referred to Himself. For example, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (Matt. 16:13). Every man, woman, and child born into this world is a son (or daughter) of man. But none of us would dare refer to ourselves as “the son of man.” The Old Testament tells us of one called “the Son of Man” who is coming to set up an everlasting kingdom over the earth (Dan. 7:13,14). When Jesus rightfully applied this title to Himself, the Jewish leaders resented it (see Matt. 26:64). It is an expression of His being fully Man, but in a totally unique way, that is, being also fully God at the same time. (See Assignment 15)
Do you still remember the meaning of the word Christ? If not, refer back to the previous section.
In the Old Testament, the act of anointing a person with oil (by either pouring or smearing oil on the person) was a mark of appointment by God for a special office. Anointing was used in connection with three offices:(1) priest of Israel (Lev. 8); (2) king of Israel (1 Sam. 10:1; 16:3,13); and (3) prophet or preacher on behalf of Jehovah (Isa. 61:1). The priest represented the people before God, the king represented God in ruling and guiding the people, and the prophet (literally “one who speaks for another”) brought God’s message to the people.
Christ, the anointed One, fulfills all three of these offices. As Prophet He has revealed the nature of God (in His perfect, holy life) and the message of God (in His teaching) to the people. As Priest He has first of all offered Himself as the supreme sacrifice for sin and now is at God’s right hand, praying for us and helping us (John 17:9; Heb. 2:17,18; 4:15,16; 7:25-27). As King and Lord He rules the hearts of the believers now and will yet in the future return to establish His kingdom over the entire earth (Col. 1:13; Rev. 19:16; 20:4).
Running the Race
WATCH YOUR TONGUE!
How do we treat these names and titles? Do we give them all the respect and honor that is due to the Owners of the names? Are God the Father and God the Son glorified, built up, magnified, made larger and more precious in the minds of our fellow man whenever their names are spoken by our lips?
Many of us are exposed daily to people who use God’s names in a careless, thoughtless, disrespectful way (see Exod. 20:8). It is very easy for us to fall into the habits of speech of those about us. We hear “Oh my God” as an expression of surprise, and “Jesus Christ!” as an expression of anger or disgust. Then there are euphemisms or substitute words that are thought by some to be less offensive, such as “gee” and “gee-whiz” (slang for Jesus), “gosh” and “golly” (slang for God), “cripes” (slang for Christ), and “goodness” (slang for God, as in “my goodness” and “for goodness’ sake”).
Let us be careful to watch our tongues. As indicated in the prayer the Lord gave to His disciples, let us seek to “hallow,” or keep holy, the names of God and of Christ whenever we speak those precious names.
Assignment 14: In Mark 1 and 5 we find two instances of men addressing Christ by His personal name, Jesus. Provide the references for these two instances and describe what kind of men these were.
Assignment 15: Write out two verses in different parts of Mark 2 that give examples of the kind of power or authority the Son of Man has on earth.