Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Acts 2:36
Few things are more surely believed among us than that the Man Who was known as Jesus is both Lord and Christ. Of this we are certain and on this our eternal destiny depends. We are also certain that this same Jesus always was and always will be both Lord and Christ. But there are some who disagree. And they use today’s text to claim that it was not until after He rose from the dead did Jesus become Lord and Christ. They are wrong, of course. In order to make such a claim, they need to reject all of the rest of the Bible and the many many references that prove that Jesus ever was and ever will be deity, and that the titles Lord and Christ have always been His.
A thousand years before His birth, Jesus was identified as Lord when David addressed Him as such in Psalm 110. Jesus referred to this when He confronted the scribes in Luke 20. Before His birth, while He was yet in Mary’s womb, Elisabeth identified Him as her Lord (Luke 1:43). The Gospels record many instances during His life and ministry when He was addressed as Lord. So this title was always His, and only by ignoring vast quantities of Scripture can anyone deny it. Nor can they deny all of the evidence that He has ever been the Christ. Remember how the shepherds were told by the angel that the One born in Bethlehem’s stable was Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11). They were not told that He would become Christ the Lord, but that He is Christ the Lord. And also remember the old man Simeon in the temple who had been assured that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Christ (Luke 2:26). Remember too the occasion when Jesus asked His disciples Who He was, and Peter replied, ‘The Christ of God’ (Luke 9:20). Even the demons had no question about His title when they addressed Him as Christ the Son of God (Luke 4:41). With such overwhelming evidence, we must reject those who take a wrong meaning from our text. But what is the right meaning?
During His life of service, Jesus was known as meek and lowly, the humble servant. He displayed to His disciples the need for humility, and instructed them to follow His example as He washed their feet, telling them that the greatest among them would be he who serves. In His role as the Servant, He set aside the roles of Lord and Christ. He did not cease to be Lord and Christ, but He ceased for a little time to function in those roles. Only as the Servant could He submit to man’s rejection and God’s punishment. It was upon His resurrection that He took up again the functions that were always His. And that is what Peter meant when He spoke of Jesus being made both Lord and Christ.
We have a great Saviour Who is both Lord and Christ. And we have a great Bible that identifies and describes Him. -Jim MacIntosh