This title often means more than “sir’ or ‘my lord.’ It can mean the LORD in the Old Testament. A table of references in the Old Testament and New Testament is included.
If you would like to see the following verses in many translations and in their contexts, please go to biblegateway.com.
In the Four Gospels, this title ‘Lord’ is used nearly 140 times in a context that clearly refers to Jesus. (Passages that quote from the Old Testament, for example, were not counted here.) We can list only a fraction of them. In Greek, “Lord” (kyrios) may mean “sir,” “lord,” (e.g. a human lord) or “Lord” (e.g. a deity, as in Lord God), depending on the context.
But in the New Testament the latter divine meaning occurs in the vast majority of times and refers to Jesus. We zero in on the fullest meaning that Jesus gives the title or accepts from others.
The tetragrammaton means the four-letter name, YHWH, Yahweh, Jehovah. It is often translated into English in all capitals: LORD.
Here is a table that illustrates the original (Old Testament) and their quotations and application to Jesus. He also applied this exalted title or name to himself.
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THE LORD JESUS SHARES SAME ESSENCE AS GOD |
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Old Testament |
New Testament |
| Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God (Ex. 20:9-10a). | The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. (Mark 2:28) |
| 9 He [THE LORD] said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” (Is. 6:9-10) | 37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. (John 12:37-41; cf. Matt. 13:14-15) |
| The Lord says to my lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” (Ps. 110:1) | “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ 45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” (Matt. 22:44-45) |
| “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. (Mal. 3:1) | And you, my child [John the Baptist], will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him (Luke 1:76) |
| The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not lack (Ps. 23:1) | “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11) |
| The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. 14 He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. (Is. 8:13-14) | Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.” (Rom. 9:32-33) |
| And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls. (Joel 2:32) | 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9-13) |
| “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. (Is. 45:23) | It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” (Rom. 14:11)
At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:10-11) |
| “But let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. (Jer. 9:24) | It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:30-31) |
| Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor? (Is. 40:13) | 16 “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:16) |
| When you ascended on high, you took many captives; you received gifts from people, even from the rebellious—that you, Lord God, might dwell there. (Ps. 68:18) | This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” 9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) (Eph. 4:8-10) |
| People will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from the fearful presence of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth. (Is. 2:19 see vv. 2, 21) | This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might (2 Thess. 1:7-9) |
| See, the Lord is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. (Is. 66:15) | 2 Thess. 1:7-9 (see above) |
| He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. (Ps. 130:8) | While we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:13-14) |
| In the beginning you [God] laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. 27 But you remain the same, and your years will never end. (Ps. 102:25-27) | He also says, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 11 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. 12 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” (Heb. 1:10-12) |
| Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail. (Is. 51:6) | Heb. 1:11, see above |
| Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. (Ps. 34:8) | Now … you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Pet. 2:3) |
| The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. (Is. 8:13) | But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. (1 Pet. 3:15) |
| “And I [the LORD] will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. (Zech. 12:10) | “Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen. (Rev. 1:7) |
| “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jer. 17:10) | Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. (Rev. 2:23) |
| “And with you, Lord, is unfailing love”; and, “You reward everyone according to what they have done.” (Ps. 62:12) |
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” (Rev. 22:12) |
| See the Sovereign LORD comes power, and he rules with his mighty arm. See his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. (Is. 40:10) | Rev. 22:12, see above |
| “This is what the Lord says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. (Is. 40:10) | I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last (Rev. 22:13) |
| Source: Frame, Systematic, p. 452, significantly revised here. | |
As noted, in Mark 2:28, Jesus said he was the Lord of the Sabbath. Now consider Ex. 20:9-10a, which says the Sabbath belongs to Yahweh. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God” (Ex. 20:9-10a). It is holy to him (Ex. 20:8, 11). Now Jesus owns the Sabbath and is Lord over it.
So how do I come to know Jesus more intimately?
If we wish to remain faithful to the teaching of the New Testament, then we have to accept the full deity of Yeshua ha-Mesiach, Jesus the Messiah. He is God and LORD, come in human form and flesh, like us in every way, except sin. Now he can relate to us, and not remain in the highest heaven, in a sound-proof booth, stuck in a vault. He comes down to us, he being full deity, though hidden in our humanity, human flesh.
Do we have the eyes of faith to see him as he truly is?
ARTICLES IN THE “TITLES OF JESUS” SERIES
1. Titles of Jesus: Rabbi and Teacher
2. Titles of Jesus: The Prophet
3. Titles of Jesus: The Son of David and the Messiah
4. Titles of Jesus: The Son of Man
5. Titles of Jesus: The Lord
6. Titles of Jesus: The Son of God
8. Titles of Jesus: The ‘I Am’
SOURCES
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 