There are four common titles
to watch for when people addressed Jesus:
1. Teacher or Rabbi – Addressing Jesus by this
title showed the person respected Jesus as a good teacher and was willing to listen
to His words.
2. Prophet – When people referred to Jesus as a
prophet they were acknowledging He was a special messenger sent from God. Many times they used this title after Jesus
had performed some type of miracle or sign.
Since there had not been any prophet in Israel for over 400 years, this
was an honored name.
3. Lord – Whenever someone referred to Jesus as
Lord it showed that they acknowledged His highly exalted position. More than just listening to His words, they
were showing that they were willing to submit to His authority. Some of those who addressed Jesus as Lord understood
that His kingdom was a heavenly, eternal kingdom. Unfortunately, many just wanted Jesus to be
lord on earth as the leader who vanquished the hated Romans.
4. Christ, Messiah, Anointed One – There were some
people who completely understood that Jesus was the Messiah, the Promised One,
sent from God to redeem His people.
These are the people who truly understood the rightful power and
authority of Jesus as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Here are some good examples:
Jesus was at the home of a
Pharisee. A woman, identified as a
sinner, came and anointed Jesus’ feet.
This led the Pharisee to label Jesus as merely a teacher and not a
prophet:
Now when the
Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet
He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him,
that she is a sinner.” And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to
say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.” (Luke 7:39–40)
The chief priests and
Pharisees wanted to seize Jesus because He condemned them with His
teaching. However, they were hesitant to
do so because the people regarded Jesus as a prophet.
When the
chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was
speaking about them. When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people,
because they considered Him to be a prophet. (Matthew 21:45–46)
Matthew 8 tells us about two
men who both referred to Jesus as Lord.
In both cases these men were in a desperate situation. However, their position in life could not
have been any different. The first man
was an outcast, a leper. The second man,
a Roman centurion, was accustom to giving orders to solders and servants.
And a leper
came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are
willing, You can make me clean.” (Matthew 8:2)
And when Jesus
entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, “Lord,
my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” (Matthew 8:5–6)
When Lazarus died Jesus came
and spoke to Martha. Her statement of
faith and declaration of His authority was absolutely correct:
She said to
Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son
of God, even He who comes into the world.” (John 11:30)
These are just a few examples. You will find many, many times in the Gospels
when people approached Jesus and referred to Him by one of these four titles. Not every time, but most of the
time, the title by which they addressed Jesus tells you something about their
situation and their understanding of Jesus’ identity.
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