There are 6 ideas that go to make up the understanding that was central to those believers in Acts 2, and which was the undercurrent of all that they did and said: Jesus is Lord. Jesus is seen to be the head of the church, the apostle who plants the church, the leader who builds the church, the chief shepherd who rules the church, the one who is with the church, and finally the judge of the church.
Jesus is: the Head of the Church
(Ephesians 1:22) “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” First of all there is the idea of headship, as Christ is the one with whom all responsibility for the church rests, just as a head of state or the head of a family bore the responsibility for his family. In either situation, this head had to be balanced and fair, otherwise the kings citizens would revolt, otherwise the wife and children would have no respect for their family head. This is Jesus burden to bear, not ours. In this image there is also the idea of the interconnectivity of the body and the head. Biologically speaking, the head controls the functions of every other part of the body and they only function usefully when they submit to the heads authority. It is also a picture of the head as the source of all things, as Ephesians 4:15-16 also shows: “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
If Christ is the head of the church, and Christ is God and the bible is the Word of God, that would point to the need to submit to the word of Christ in order to grow, in order to become more like Him and to work properly as we have been created to (Ephesians 2:10). In fact, example of the relationship between a husband and wife is used as an earthly example of how this is supposed to operate. This should be dealt with carefully, because again, its not about one lording it over the other, its about fair and balanced use of responsibility.
“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Saviour.” (Ephesians 5:22)
Jesus is: the Apostle Who Plants The Church
This one seems to come out of left field, because our understanding of Jesus and the apostles is steeped in so much traditional understanding, or no understanding at all. The original word ἀπόστολος (apóstolos) means one who is sent away and carries with it the idea of a messenger or an ambassador with a specific mission. Jesus specific mission is church planting. “Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” (Hebrews 3:1-6)
Here we see Jesus the church planter, as explained in terms of things that Jewish people would understand. Moses was the bees-knees as far as Israel’s interactions with God go, he brought from God not only the 10 commandments, but the law and tabernacle worship along with pretty much everything that the Hebrew people lived by. As is the way with Hebrews, Jesus is presented as being better than Moses at housebuilding, and as much glory as the whole worship structure of Moses deserved, Jesus church deserved more, and as much glory as Moses the man deserved, Jesus surpassed that in worth-ship.
There is another aspect to this though, which harks back to the previous point. The house speaks of family. A church planter is not a ring-in who plants and leaves, he is one who builds. That is Jesus’ job and not ours. There is no church without the finished work of Jesus (Philippians 1:6) in and though the believer. We can be a part of it, but we can never be the primary initiator.
Jesus Is: The Leader Who Builds The Church
We have established that Jesus begins and plants the body of believers, but these verses should be a great encouragement to us.“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19)
Notice the relationship between who is building and how they are building. We as believers are an integral part of the building of the church, but there is a seriously powerful promise: Jesus promises that all the forces of hell will never overpower you if he is the builder. That should give every member of the body of Christ boldness to “speak the truth in love” knowing that there is nothing standing against us that will not fall if it gets in the way of Christs building project. In saying that, notice the responsibility given to the church as being the body of Jesus who is the Door (John 10:9). The only way a key functions correctly to open a door is if it is in the door…The only way the church functions correctly to lead others to Christ is if it submits to Him as head and source of all things.
Jesus Is: The Chief Shepherd Who Rules The Church
“So as your fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings and as one who shares in the glory that will be revealed, I urge the elders among you: Give a shepherd’s care to God’s flock among you, exercising oversight not merely as a duty but willingly under God’s direction, not for shameful profit but eagerly. And do not lord it over those entrusted to you, but be examples to the flock. Then when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that never fades away.” (1 Peter 5:1-4)
There are two things to be gains from this passage. The first is to understand who Jesus is as the Chief Shepherd. A shepherd is not someone who drives his sheep hard, but seeks out the best places for them to feed. He is not someone who leaves a sheep in distress, but comes to rescue them and heal their wounds. David refers to the shepherds rod and staff as both being a comfort; the rod was used to protect the sheep from predators (symbolising Christs protection of His own) and the staff was used to guide the sheep in the right direction, often to the dismay of the sheep (more modern shepherds had a crook for grabbing the head of the sheep and redirection it to point the right way). In this way, Christ as the head rules over his church, protecting and redirecting (which can be very painful at times).
The second thing to be drawn out of this is an example for church leaders (v1-3). The idea of headship comes back again in the way in which they are an example to their flock, as they look to the chief shepherd for guidance. Basically the source of all direction and correction should be Christ and the moment that is not the source, you have problems.
Jesus Is: With The Church
“He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:30)
There is so much to boast in as part of Christs body: for a start, we have a relationship with God, the creator of the universe. We get to talk with Him night and day (something that the people of Israel could never even dream of with their once-a-year interaction with God via a high priest), and he calls us not just friends but His brother /sister (Hebrews 2:12, Romans 8:17). We get everything that Jesus gets because we are in Him. I am often reminded of the analogy my theology lecturer Ivan Bowden would give of being “In Christ”, to hammer home the idea. He would put a bookmark in a book and put the book on his head, then he would ask “where is the bookmark?” “On your head” would come the reply. He would put the book under his arm. “Where is the bookmark?” “Under your arm”… and he would go on ad nauseam. Wherever the book was, the bookmark was to be found. Just so, being in Christ means we have access to everything Christ does.
There is a second aspect to Christ being with the church.“…And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) He is always with us. He is with you right now, while you read this. He is with you while you look after your kids, or procrastinate at University, or click that next link that lands you in hot water now or later on. That is both an encouragement and a warning. Jesus is watching and knows everything about His church, when they fall down, when they rise up, when they forge on in their own strength and when they humbly seek Him. But the encouragement is that in all circumstances He is there ready to be to us all we need, help in times of need (Hebrews 4:16), a way of escape when we feel like we are too far into something (1 Corinthians 10:13) and joy when we can’t even imagine the idea (Romans 15:13).
Jesus Is: The Judge of The Church
This is perhaps the least popular idea about Jesus as Lord: He is the churches only real judge.“But I have this against you: You have departed from your first love! Therefore, remember from what high state you have fallen and repent! Do the deeds you did at the first; if not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place—that is, if you do not repent.” (Revelation 2:4-5)
Let’s look at what is going on here. Jesus is speaking to the church of Ephesus and condemns them for no longer loving Him, despite doing everything right on the outside. Only Jesus can actually make such a judgement, not any leader or any fellow member of the church. This again is a two-fold idea. It means that the root of the problem can only be seen by God, so we feel better and tell people not to judge us… But, if you look further down at the consequences of not turning around and looking at Jesus again, they are dire. Jesus threatens to shut the church down because of their lack of faith leading to fruit.
Why would He do that?? Doesn’t He love everyone?The answer is pretty clear from the passage: they are doing more harm than good by not being filled by Jesus their head, their source and their shepherd.
Final Thought
John 15:1-8 gives a neat summary of much of this study:“I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He takes away every branch that does not bear fruit in me. He prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit. You are clean already because of the word that I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and are burned up. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples.”
There is no life apart from Christ in the church (the body)There are lots of branches (denominations), that we may not always agree with at times. They are all part of the vine, even if one says that the rest are not. It is Christ's place to judge such a thing, and not ours (but of course God has given us a mind to discern the things in His word).
If all are to be grounded and flourish, they must be rooted in Christ. You can’t staple lemons on a lemon tree and expect them to get bigger.