Talks

Matt begins a new series based on Mark 8, where Jesus asked his disciples “Who do people say I am?” and “Who do you say I am?”
Part 1 “Who do you say I am?” - “Jesus is Lord”
John the Baptist had come to announce the coming of the “LORD” (John 1:19-23)
When he was asked who he was, he didn’t want the attention for himself but for Jesus:  “He (Jesus) must increase… I must decrease.”
Proclaiming “Jesus is Lord!”
This way of describing God was first revealed by God Himself to Moses when God introduced himself as “I am who I am”. This word is translated in Hebrew as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”, and today in our bibles as LORD.  It was a very a personal name, used only for God. A name so sacred and holy, the people of Israel didn’t even want to say it out loud.

When John prepared the way for Jesus, he was introducing to the world the face to go with the name “Jehovah / Yahweh” whose sandals John didn’t even feel worthy to untie.

Calling Jesus ‘LORD” was radical and dangerous in the culture at the time: Only Caesar was to be called ‘LORD.’

But declaring “Jesus IS Lord” is different to saying:  ‘Jesus is MY LORD’
What does it look like for Jesus to be Lord of MY life?
Are we ready to give up control, allow Jesus to guide the decisions in our life?
If life is a car, is Jesus in your boot (comes out only on Sundays!), in the back seat (a passenger!), in the front seat (a companion) or in the driving seat?
Or even if he is in the driving seat… are you still a “backseat driver?” telling him what to do or complaining about where he takes you? (J John)
To let Jesus be Lord of my life is a decision to be made every day. We can do it only because Jesus loves us, knows what best for us and that we can trust him.
“One day all knees will have to bow and declare him Lord, but for now we can choose to!” Phil 2:9-11