Musing - What does it mean to say “Jesus is my Lord”?

Hebraic Musing - What does it mean to say “Jesus is my Lord”?

We have heard and been led to believe that John was called on a Sunday to write what became the book of Revelation based on Ch.1:10-11  –  “On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll…”  NIV   Could “the Lord’s Day” have meant something other than a Sunday?   Has that phrase become misused?  John is not necessarily referring to Sunday, nor is he intending to institute or confirm Sunday as the God-ordained day of worship.  What did John mean by “On the Lord’s Day”? *

What was John’s situation when he wrote the book of Revelation on the island of Patmos?  Could John have been referring to a specific day of the year in the Roman calendar?  Caesar worship was the religion that covered the entire Roman Empire.  Every emperor after Caesar was thought to have been divine, so those who didn’t worship Caesar were considered atheists.  Punishment depended on the current ruling Caesar.  During the time of John’s imprisonment on the island of Patmos, Domitian was emperor of Rome and he’s the one who exiled John after the unsuccessful attempt to boil him alive in a vat of oil.  Domitian was referred to in public documents as “Our Lord and God.”  In the year 96, he put to death his own cousin for being an atheist; it is widely believed the cousin was actually a believer in Christ so the accusation of atheism was for denying that Caesar was God.

Domitian took his perception of his deity so seriously that he mandated that all government announcements and proclamations must begin, “Our Lord and God, Domitian commands.”  They must call Domitian God—or die; the issue was clear.  Either the Lord Jesus Christ or the emperor of Rome was Lord-God.  It was Jesus or Caesar.**  Other religions were tolerated, as long as they did not conflict with Caesar worship.

This became a problem for the believers as well as for religious Jews who did not believe in Jesus. Once a year, everyone in the empire had to appear before the magistrates in order to burn a pinch of incense to the godhead Caesar and to say: “Caesar is Lord.”   To refuse to say “Caesar is Lord,” was treason.   This yearly event was known to be “The Lord’s Day.”   Was this was the day John was referring to, not Sunday?

The believers who read John’s book of Revelation understood both the reference and its implication. Many Christians were thrown to the lions, charged with atheism for refusing to sacrifice to the Emperor who claimed to be God.   Back then, to publicly confess, “Jesus is Lord” put one’s life and family in serious peril.

Romans 10:9 sometimes seems too simplistic: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  NIV   Just confess Him and believe?  However, once you understand the background of Caesar worship and the persecution risk, you realize that to do this was to say in essence, “I am willing to die for my faith in Jesus.”  Paul confronted the issue of commitment.  To confess that you are serving Jesus in those days was equivalent to confessing that Caesar is, in fact, not your Lord.  That statement could get you a lunch meeting with a hungry lion.

Final statement – Even if we do not confess Jesus as our Lord, He still is our Lord.  Like it or not!

 Points to ponder

It’s easy to say “Jesus is Lord”, but is it easy to make Jesus your Lord?

Are we willing to die for our faith in Jesus?   How does that work in daily life?

♫   He is Lord, He is Lord, He has risen from the dead and He is Lord.
Every knee shall bow.  Every tongue confess, That Jesus Christ is Lord  ♫ 

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      March 13, 2018

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Note - Inspired by and excerpted from Ron Cantor’s “The Coming End-Time Awakening” Chap.12.
*     Capitalizations are arbitrary translator inventions, not in the original texts!
**   Revelations From Revelations, Patrick M. Jones, 2008, Teach Services, Ringgold, Georgia, pg. 19