XI - The Christological Confession (verse 11b–c)

Summary

ὅτι Κύρος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς

εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ πατρός

(verse 11 b, c)

INTRODUCTION

The Christ-hymn reaches its climax in the utterance of the whole cosmos: ‘Jesus Christ is Lord.’ The accent falls on the last word which is placed first in the Greek phrase, and thereby given special force. The term Κύριος is, as P. Henry says, the culminating point of the entire passage. Here particularly, the revelation of the name as Kyrios completes the sense of the second half of the hymn.

At the new sentence of verse 9 a decisive turn in Christ's fortunes has been registered. God has exalted Him and bestowed upon Him the supreme name. But the reader is left in suspense as to what this name is and what it signifies. The lines which follow build up the suspense by reporting that the name which Jesus has been given is one which evokes a cosmic submission and a universal acclaim. Finally, in the formula which all creation takes upon its lips, this name is at length made manifest; it is the name of Kyrios. With artistic skill and by careful design, the author of the hymn has held back the most important term in the composition; and introduces it in a heavily-accented line as the finale and climax of the entire psalm.

The line, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’, serves a number of purposes. It reveals the identity of the name, adumbrated in the earlier verses.