Lordship - Luke 22:25

Luke the beloved physician wrote, “the hand of him that betrays me is with me on the table. And truly the Son of man goes, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed. And they began to inquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing. And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest”, and in chapter twenty-two and verse twenty-five of his book Luke shared how Jesus said, “the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors” where we read:

And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them;

and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.

The verse reads, “And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them;” Luke began with the words, “and he said unto them” or “and Jesus uttered, declared and proclaimed to His disciples”, “the kings of the Gentiles” which means “the leaders of the people, princes, commanders and lords of the land belonging to the multitude of individuals of the same nature or genus and foreign nations not worshiping the true God who are pagan” “exercise lordship over them” or “have dominion over, exercise influence upon and have power over their fellow Gentiles”. Luke shared how Jesus referred to the “power and influence” “rulers of pagan nations” have over their fellow Gentiles.

The verse continues, “and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.” Luke added the words, “and they that exercise authority upon them” or “and the people who have full and entire authority and control over their fellow Gentiles” “are called benefactors” which means “are named and saluted as workers of good or philanthropists”. Luke shared how Jesus said the people who have “control” over their fellow Gentiles are known as “philanthropists”.

When we mediate upon Luke's words in this verse, we notice how Jesus responded to His disciples' contention as to which of them was “the greatest”. He brought their attention toward how “pagan” rulers treat their people. They have “control and authority” over the people, and they demonstrate it regularly with their commands and directives. Jesus will say more about this in our next verse, but for now let it suffice us to know that Jesus has a different idea for His followers. Jesus came into the world to be a “servant” to people, and when He died for everyone's sins, He gained access for all who put their faith and trust in Him to go to Heaven. Those who are wise will carefully consider how those in authority treat others and carefully attend to Jesus' way of “serving” one another.

Next time Luke shares how Jesus says, “he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".