He is Lord of All

“…preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all)…” (Acts 10:36)

Throughout the book of Acts, the gospel is proclaimed to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences. While both audiences receive the same gospel, there is a definite stress on different emphases. For Jews, the main thrust is that Jesus is the Christ – meaning, that the historical man, Jesus of Nazareth, is the anointed king and divinely-promised Savior that the Jewish people have been waiting for.

For non-Jewish peoples, the thrust is somewhat different. Most of these peoples had no expectation of a Messiah, for they did not know the Old Testament Scriptures. Instead, gentiles were steeped in paganism. For them, the gospel message has this as its key thrust: Jesus is Lord of all.

For Jesus to be ‘Lord of all’ implies his spiritual position: he is over all things. No other deity or sovereign can eclipse him or be a higher authority than he. His word is ultimate. Nothing else is so important as Jesus, or his commands. And there is no place that is outside of his control, or unaccountable to his authority.

To acknowledge Jesus as ‘Lord of all’ is to be a disciple – one who is committed to learning from him, and then living out his words. This implies a complete renunciation of one’s own life. If Jesus is Lord of all, then nothing else is so important as obeying his word. The old life and its habits and desires must be discarded, for a new Lord has taken possession of the temple.

The implications of Jesus being ‘Lord of all’ are admirably summed up by A. B. Bruce: “A master is pleased when a pupil understands his lesson, but a lord is pleased only when his servants do his bidding.”

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