When the angels announced the birth of Jesus, they made it clear that the Savior who was lying in a manger in the town of Bethlehem was “Christ the Lord!” So many of the Christmas carols include those very words…“Oh, come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!”

This has been the theme of the Bible studies in December. It’s not difficult to get excited talking about Christ the Lord!...the Creator, the Prince of Peace, King of kings and Lord of lords, the healer, the teacher, and on and on! And in the present world state of affairs, it’s wonderful to be reminded that He truly is THE LORD! And “though the wrong is oft so strong, God is the ruler yet!”

So…the birth announcement made it clear…it was Christ the Lord who came to earth that day. That is the way His earthly life began.

I got to thinking that it is also the way His life ended. The last person to speak to Him, it seems, was the thief on the cross when he said, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

Now, I know that many versions of the Bible today do not indicate that the thief addressed Jesus as Lord. Young’s Literal Translation shows it, and I came upon this, too: “The word recognizing Jesus as LORD is found in the Majority of all Greek manuscripts including A, C correction, E, F, G, H, K, M2, R, S, U, V, W, X, Y, Omega, Gamma, Delta, Theta, Lamba, Pi, and Psi. It is also the reading found in the Old Latin copies b, e, f, ff2, l, q, the Latin Vulgate 382 A.D., the Syriac Peshitta, Sinaitic, Harkelian, Armenian and Ethiopian ancient versions.”

Do I know exactly what that means? Not really, but I assume it means that there’s good reason to believe that the word Lord should not be excluded from this text!

We are told in Romans that if we “confess with our mouth that 'Jesus is Lord', and truly “believe that God has raised Him from the dead,” we will be saved! It is the only way! He is the only Way! Jesus was Lord as He lay in that manger; He was Lord, when that thief spoke to Him on Calvary; and HE IS LORD TODAY.