LORD (CHRIST) (יהוה, H3378, אֲדֹנָ֕י; Aram.: אָדﯴן, H123, מָר; ὁ κὐριος, Lord, master).

The Gr. word for lord (kyrios), like its Heb. counterpart (’^adônai), embraces the thoughts of power, firmness and competency. It also includes the ideas of lawfulness. When used in the LXX to tr. the two Heb. words for God, YHWH and ’^adônai, names of relationship, it describes God in general as the sovereign of the universe, and in particular as the master of mankind, and as the One who has the right to exercise such authority.

Kyrios is found also in the NT. It was used here, as in the OT, to designate the sovereign God in relationship to His creation (Matt 1:20; 11:25; Luke 4:18).

But it was also the supreme title given to Jesus. “Jesus is Lord,” was perhaps the earliest creedal statement formulated and recited (prob. chiefly at baptism [Acts 8:16; 19:5]) by the Church. Although frequently found in Paul’s writings (Rom 10:9; 1 Cor 7:22; 12:3; 2 Cor 4:5), it was by no means original with him, nor was it borrowed by him, as some have suggested, from the Hel. mystery religions (so Bousset). Peter knew and used it (Acts 1:21; 2:36). The early Aramaic-speaking church, too, had worshiped Jesus as Lord, and its Aram. prayer, marana tha, “our Lord come,” still stands in the text as witness to this fact (1 Cor 16:22). Indeed, if Philippians 2:6-11 is a primitive Christian hymn, as some have claimed, then Paul was the recipient of an earlier tradition about the Lordship of Jesus rather than the originator of a new title to describe his own understanding of Him. This title stood also in the tradition Paul had received concerning the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:23).

By referring to Jesus as Lord, the Early Church declared Him as standing above the human level, an object of prayer (Acts 7:59, 60; 1 Cor 12:8; 16:22), and trust (Acts 5:14; 9:42; 11:24; cf. also the fourth gospel), sharing with God in His sovereign rule (Acts 2:34), and ultimately sharing with God in His nature. For being conscious that the OT regularly used kyrios to designate YHWH, early Christians, even Jewish Christians, nevertheless, chose that title as the supreme title to convey their understanding of Jesus. By it, therefore, they intended to identify Him with the God of the OT. This intent is seen most clearly in those NT passages where OT texts originally referring to YHWH are now boldly quoted as referring to Jesus (Rom 10:13; Heb 1:10; 1 Pet 2:3; 3:15).

The use of this title also meant that Jesus was master, worthy to receive power, glory and blessing (Rev 5:12). It meant He possessed all authority (Matt 28:18), and was the One before whom every knee must bow in submission (Phil 2:10), the universal sovereign (Rom 10:12; 14:9; Phil 2:11), King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev 19:16). Especially was He Lord to the Church (John 20:28; Rom 5:1; 2 Tim 1:8). “Slave” quite naturally, therefore, became a common designation of early Christians (Rom 14:4; 1 Cor 7:21-24). They served Him (Rom 12:11), ordered their lives in a manner worthy of Him (1 Cor 11:27), and paid Him obeisance, obedience being the only proper response of slave to master (Heb 5:9). The will of this exalted Master was often communicated to the Church through the revelatory word of His apostles and prophets (1 Cor 14:37; Rev 2; 3).

The ideas of firmness and strength inherent in kyrios were also important to the Early Church. When a Christian, therefore, called Jesus “Lord,” he meant further that he had a foundation upon which to build his life. En kyriō, “in the Lord,” is the frequently recurring phrase best conveying this idea (Rom 8:39; 1 Cor 7:22).

The death, resurrection and exaltation of Jesus were revelatory events. They alone brought the Church to the unquestioned realization that Jesus was indeed the Lord (Matt 28:18; John 20:28; Acts 2:36; Rom 10:9; Phil 2:9-11; cf. also the frequent application of Ps 110:1 to Jesus [Matt 22:44; Mark 12:36; Acts 2:34; Heb 10:12, 13]). Hence, when kyrios is applied to Jesus in the gospels prior to Easter its meaning is generally limited to “sir,” a title of respect, or to “master,” in the sense of “rabbi” (Mark 10:51, with Matt 20:33 and Luke 6:46; 18:41; John 13:13. But contrast Matt 7:21 and Mark 12:35, 36 where Jesus applied to Himself the title “Lord,” in a more profound sense).

It is worth recalling, however, that the gospels are post-resurrection documents, whose writers wrote from the perspective of Easter. To them Jesus was a teacher par excellence, but more than that, He was their sovereign Lord. Perhaps, then, the evangelists chose kyrios as a title even for the historical Jesus because it could reflect both the superficial understanding of the masses who saw in Him only a Jewish rabbi, and at the same time the later and more profound perception of the believing community who recognized in Him God become man.

Although the Church hailed Jesus as Lord, it also recognized that this role of His was a delegated one. They understood that when He would bring all enemies under His feet, he would then surrender His lordship and subject Himself to the One who subjected all things to Him so that the Triune God might be supreme (1 Cor 15:27, 28).

Bibliography L. Cerfaux, “Le titre et la dignite royale de Jésus,” Révue des Sciences philosophiques et théologiques, XI (1922), 40-71; XII (1923), 125-153; W. Foerster and G. Quell, κύριος, G3261, (1933) in G. Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the NT, trans. and ed. by G. W. Bromiley; W. Bousset, Kyrios Christos (4th ed., 1935); E. Schweizer, Lordship and Discipleship (1960); R. C. Nevius, “Kyrios and Jesous in St. Luke,” AThR, XLVIII (1966), 75-77.