24. What does it mean that Jesus was made Lord

8/14/2019 24. What does it mean that Jesus was made Lord

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Muslims Asking Christians: Questions & Answerhttp://answering-islam.org

www.Nurul-Haque.Co.Nr

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Sam Shamoun

Question:

Peter is recorded in Acts 2:36 as preaching that God "made" Jesus Lord at hisascension. Doesn’t this disprove the Trinitarian view that Jesus has always been

Lord?

Answer:

Here is what the text actually says in context:

"Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he

would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the

resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see

corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being thereforeexalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the

Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear. For David did not ascend into

the heavens; but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till Imake thy enemies a stool for thy feet.’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know

assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you

crucified." Acts 2:30-36

Not only does Peter say that God made Jesus Lord but that he also made him Christ aswell!

In order to understand Peter’s point we must first read his statements in light of theoverall Christological teaching of Luke-Acts, since the same author who penned the book

of Acts also penned Luke’s Gospel. That inspired author was Luke, a traveling

companion of the Apostle Paul who had seen many of the Lord’s disciples.

Luke in the Gospel is rather explicit in his affirmation that Jesus was already God’s Son,

Lord and Christ at his conception:

"And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his nameJesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God

will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacobfor ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ And Mary said to the angel, ‘Howshall this be, since I have no husband?’ And the angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will

come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child

to be born will be called holy, the Son of God .’" Luke 1:30-35





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know it, but supposing him to be in the company they went a day's journey, and they

sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; and when they did not find him, they

returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. After three days they found him in the temple, sittingamong the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him

were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him they were

astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, yourfather and I have been looking for you anxiously.’ And he said to them, ‘How is it that

you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in MY FATHER’S HOUSE?’ And

they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them." Luke 2:41-50

And all throughout his earthly ministry:

"Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was

praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form,

as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well

pleased .’" Luke 3:21-22

"Now it happened that as he was praying alone the disciples were with him; and he asked

them, ‘Who do the people say that I am?’ And they answered, ‘John the Baptist; but

others say, Eli'jah; and others, that one of the old prophets has risen.’ And he said to

them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ And Peter answered, ‘The Christ of God .’" Luke9:18-20

"Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James,

and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his

countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white. And behold, two men

talked with him, Moses and Eli'jah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,

which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him wereheavy with sleep, and when they wakened they saw his glory and the two men who stood

with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is wellthat we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for

Eli'jah’ -- not knowing what he said. As he said this, a cloud came and overshadowed

them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud,saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ And when the voice had spoken,

Jesus was found alone. And they kept silence and told no one in those days anything of

what they had seen. Luke 9:28-36

"The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘ LORD, even the demons are subject to us in

your name!’ And he said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I HAVE GIVEN YOU AUTHORITY to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over

all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in

this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord ofheaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and

revealed them to babes; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have





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been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father,

or who the Father is except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal

him.’" Luke 10:17-22

"Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send MY SON, WHOM I

LOVE; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they talked thematter over. ‘This is THE HEIR,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be

ours.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him." Luke 20:13-15

"Then the whole company of them arose, and brought him before Pilate. And they began

to accuse him, saying, ‘We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding us to

give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself IS Christ a king.’ And Pilate askedhim, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ And he answered him, ‘You have said so.’ Luke

23:1-3

"Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘ Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’

When he had said this, he breathed his last." Luke 23:46

From the forgoing we can plainly see that Luke absolutely believed that Jesus was

already God’s Son, Lord and Christ long before his resurrection and ascension intoheaven.

What then did Peter mean by stating that God made Jesus Christ and Lord? In the contextin which Peter made this statement it is obvious that the sense in which he believed that

God "made" Jesus Lord and Christ was by providing supernatural vindication for Jesus’

claims by resurrecting him. In other words, God supernaturally confirmed Jesus’Messianic claims by raising him from the dead, and it is in this sense that Christ was

"made" Lord. This is similar to what Paul wrote in his epistle to the Romans:

"the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh

and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his

resurrection from the dead , Jesus Christ our Lord," Romans 1:3-4

Jesus, according to Paul, was already God’s Son when he was born of the seed of David

and then was designated God’s Son with power when the Holy Spirit raised him from thedead. The resurrection was God’s miraculous declaration to the world, his Divine stamp

so to speak, that Jesus is his beloved Divine Son; the resurrection didn’t make him God’s

Son in the sense of his Deity and eternal union with the Father.

Furthermore, during his earthly ministry Jesus didn’t exercise his rights as Christ and

Lord, he didn’t perform the duties of one who was supposed to be the Christ of God. Tobe Christ and Lord meant that Jesus was God’s anointed King, the One designated to

sovereignly rule over all creation:





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"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name

Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God

will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of

Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end ." Luke 1:31-33

"You are those who have continued with me in my trials; and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my

kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Luke 22:28-30

"You know the word which he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus

Christ (he is Lord of all), And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify

that he is the one ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead…" Acts10:36, 42

This is something Jesus did not do during his earthly ministry since he came to serve

mankind by laying his life down as a ransom for many:

"For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a

ransom for many." Mark 10:45

"And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them,

saying, ‘This is my body which is given FOR YOU . Do this in remembrance of me.’

And likewise the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup which is poured out FOR YOU isthe new covenant in my blood .’" Luke 22:19-20

"Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you

overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own

Son." Acts 20:28

It wouldn’t be until after he had accomplished his Divine mission that Christ would be

able to exercise his Divine prerogatives and rule as King over all creation.

Putting it in another way, Peter was basically saying that although Jesus was already

Christ and Lord he didn’t exercise the functions that are associated with these rolesduring his earthly sojourn. Jesus started to rule over the creation of God only after his

ascension into heavenly glory, thereby discharging his duties as the Lord’s anointed

King.

24. What does it mean that Jesus was made Lord

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