It is interesting to me that a moment of doubt gave enlightenment and revelation. Following the resurrection of Christ, all the disciples had seen Jesus, except for one—Thomas. When the disciples told Thomas that Jesus had been in their midst, he did not believe them and expressed his doubt. “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in His hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe!” [John 20:25 HCSB]
A long eight days later, Jesus once again appeared and invited Thomas to see and touch Him in exactly the way Thomas said he must do in order to believe. Thomas simply said, “My LORD and my God.” [John 20:28 HCSB]
Up until that acknowledgement, the title lord described someone with authority or control over others. It meant a master or ruler of some kind and in Jesus’ day the title lord was often used simply as a title of respect toward earthly authorities.
After Thomas’ declaration following the resurrection, Lord became much more than a title of honor and respect. It became a way of declaring Jesus’ deity. The Jews anticipated a Messiah sent by God, but they never expected that Messiah or Christ to be God.
From the moment Thomas uttered, “My LORD and my God!” the apostles’ carried the message that Jesus is God. A few weeks later on the Day of Pentecost, Peter declared “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!” [Acts 2:36 HCSB]
CHRIST/MESSIAH (SAVIOR). LORD (GOD). If we acknowledge Jesus as our Savior, we acknowledge Jesus as our LORD (GOD). You can’t have one without the other! And that has deep implications for how we walk this Christian walk.
