12/20/2023 0 Comments Oikon chapelwood![]() If you continue to resist shaping life according to the words and actions of Jesus, then he really isn’t your kurios. If you are still following your own desires and pursuing your own ideas, Jesus isn’t really your Lord. ![]() If you are still living life your way, Jesus isn’t really your Lord. Modern Christians are really good at saying “Jesus is Lord!” But Jesus’ teaching in Luke 6 and throughout the Gospels, is that if you call Jesus your Lord but you are still in charge of your life, Jesus isn’t really your Lord. And most importantly, if would be unheard of to have a Lord and live, speak, or act in any way that would be contrary to the Lord you represent. ![]() And it would be unheard of to not give yourself fully and attach your life to the Lord. It would be unheard of to not follow the guidance of the Lord. I now realize that Jesus is reminding his followers that it would be unheard of to have a Lord and not do what the Lord instructs. It was used as a tool of conformity to certain beliefs and behaviors that were laid out by churches and leaders, not always the teachings of Jesus. If I didn’t align with those beliefs in the way presented, then Jesus wasn’t really Lord of my life. When people would ask, “Is Jesus Lord of your life?” They were often asking about a certain set of beliefs. When we hear the term Jesus is Lord, what do we think? I’ve thought so many things in my life. The very nature of the question itself demonstrates how absolutely ridiculous it would be in that culture to have a kurios and refuse to do what the person in authority tells them to do! To call someone your Lord and refuse to heed their words would be offensive at best, and at worst would indicate that the person was likely not your kurios/Lord after all. But, it is extremely important for us to know that Jesus is intentionally playing off this cultural understanding of kurios when he asks this rhetorical question. He was kurios to his followers – any rabbi would have been. I grew up thinking of the term Lord as a religious title for Jesus and only him. In an educational setting, the teacher was the kurios to the students. If a household was wealthy, the servants would refer to the head of the household as kurios. An employer would be kurios to those who worked for him. A king or governor – someone with ruling authority – was a kurios. Everyone used it in society to acknowledge someone who had authority or position over another (the masculine is used because in Jesus’ day authority in most situations was held by men). In Jesus’ day, this word ‘kurios or kyrie’ wasn’t a religious word. In Luke 6:26, Jesus says, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” I love Eugene Peterson’s translation that reads, “Why are you so polite with me, always saying ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘That’s right, sir,’ but never doing a thing I tell you?” This sounds like a parent speaking with their teenager!Ĭhurches have done a disservice by over-spiritualizing the term ‘Lord’ that Jesus uses here. I imagine this is not a characteristic of my kid only. ![]() It didn’t matter what you said or asked, she already knew how to do it or she already knew about it… and if you asked her to do something she ALWAYS said she would do it. One of my daughters was famous for always responding, “I know” and “I will”.
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