More discussion of metaphors this week. We talk more about the idea of Jesus as ‘Lord’, and discuss how changes in culture, society or even technology might change our understanding of long-standing human metaphors. As culture and society changes metaphors can get left behind.
This is the issue with the idea of Jesus as ‘Lord’; it’s really whether that, as an honorific, still works in our society. It’s not that it’s not true, it’s whether the word has lost its impact. Our idea of a Lord is not the same as it was even fifty years ago.
I was thinking about it a lot this week, in the context of the idea of the ‘name’ of Jesus being higher than every other name. (Basically I was in a group of people who were singing this phrase in a worship song, and I began to wonder if anyone really knew what it meant.)
A major theme of the New Testament is that names have power. Knowing someone’s true name gave you power over them – especially in dealing with demons (e.g. Mark 5:9). Names were more than just identifiers, they were something revealing of the person’s nature. And calling on the name of Jesus has a kind of functional power. We are baptised in the name of Jesus. People are healed by his name (Acts 3:16).
The idea reaches it peak in the hymn in Philippians 2:9-11
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
The big discussion point here, it turns out, is what name are we talking about? Are we talking about the name ‘Jesus’? Or are we talking about the title ‘Lord’? It’s really the latter, but it gets confused in Christians usage.
At the name of Jesus every knee should bow because he is kyrios, he is Lord. The Father has given him that title and, because in the ancient world, the ὄνομα, the ‘name’ was also about the inner being and the true nature of any individual, this is not only a title, but an revelation of his character and status. Jesus, basically, outranks everyone because he has a divine office and authority conferred on him by God.
All this is true, but it is framed in ancient models of kingship and cosmic understanding. The question is how do we – indeed should we – reframe it for our society, where we have a different view of titles and authority?
I’m not sure there is an answer. But in the meantime, worship song writers could, at least, stop putting the phrase into their songs without giving us any reason why Jesus is the name above all others.
I would like to do some more research on the idea of names in antiquity. I suspect there are whole layers of meaning we’re missing out on. But for now I have a book to write…
Anyway the episode is out. It has some other stuff on ritual which I’ll maybe write about next week. And we also think about what we can do with outrage. (A good illustration of all the above: just because you give someone the title President, doesn’t mean they automatically deserve obedience or respect.) But there is outrage all around. What do we do with it?