Day 49: Savior AND Lord

Read Matthew 20:20-28

Those who are saved believe and confess: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). So what does it mean to confess “Jesus is Lord”? Lordship demands our submission. We don’t encounter “lords” and “vassals” in our era. The closest we come to these concepts is the “master” and “slave” of U.S. history, but these depict a horrific contrast to what the Bible intends when calling Jesus “Lord” and us His “slaves.”

A southern slave master and Master Jesus are entirely different. Therefore, remember what our Lord and Master did for us. Biblical lordship equals service. Jesus doesn’t “lord it over us.” Our Savior Jesus Christ only wants what is in our best interests. He didn’t come to be served. Jesus rendered the ultimate service and died to save us. Therefore, we, His servants, understand that our Lord Jesus’ commands are equally for our own good.

A traditional story tells of Abraham Lincoln buying a slave girl at an auction. She didn’t know Lincoln from any other white man. She expected to be treated like chattel. He won the bid and, as they left the chains behind, Lincoln stated, “Young girl, you are free.” She asked him what he meant. He stated, “It means you are free to go.” “I can go wherever I want?” she asked. He nodded. She pressed him again, “I can be whatever I want?” He nodded again. “Well, then,” she exclaimed with tears in her eyes, “I will go and be with you!”

Jesus ransomed us with His life. How can we respond with anything less than to live for Him? That is why believing in Jesus results in submitting to His will in all things—to confess Him as Lord.