September 27, 2022 – Tuesday
Luke 2:29 NIV
29 Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
Luke 2:29 NET
29 Now, according to your word, Sovereign Lord, permit your servant to depart in peace.
Luke 2:29 NLT
29 Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised.
Luke 2:29 TLV
29 Now may You let Your servant go in peace, O Sovereign Master, according to Your word.
Luke 2:29 BSB
29 Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You now dismiss Your servant in peace.
Luke 2:29 WSB
29 Now, O Sovereign Lord, Thou dost send Thy servant away in peace, in fulfilment of Thy word
Comment
It was only yesterday I wrote on Acts 4:24 and the versions of the Bible that translated Greek 1203 despotes as Sovereign. The Greek despotes only occurs ten times in the New Testament and of those ten, only six apply to God, our Creator. However, only five of the six refer to God as our Sovereign Lord or Sovereign Ruler in at least three versions. The one exception, 2 Timothy 2:21 translates despotes as Master in almost all versions. In fact, where most versions do not have Sovereign Lord or Sovereign Rulerthey often have Lord Master or simply Master with the upper case M.
Why am I mentioning this and making a big deal out of it would be a natural question to ask? The answer is found in my reading of The Refiner’s Fire, Volume I where there was a discussion of Luke 2:29 and the author, David Wilkerson noted the word used for LORD by Simon was not the normal word used for LORD, but despotes, the despot. He then gave a rewrite of the verse as, Now lettest thou thy bond-slave go free, O Despot. This is what Simon was indeed saying to the LORD. His conception of himself was that of a servant and of the LORD as in the position of complete mastery over him.
Wilkerson goes on to write, We so often think of the Lord as the Lord whom we delight in, we like to call Him Lord, but we do not think of Him in the sense of a despot. That word for us has an unsavory element in it. The Lord, the Despot. Then he points out, Simon is looking upon himself as the servant of the Lord under absolute mastery. The Lord was his complete master, despot. He was a mastered, a subdued, a subjugated man. What Wilkerson does not mention is that God had made a promise to His servant Simon and Simon could speak to Him and ask Him to honor His promise. That speaks volumes about what kind of a Sovereign Lord or Sovereign Ruler we have.
Nonetheless, Wilkerson has a point to make, one we should pay close attention to, For this service of the fulness of Christ, the servant has to be on that basis, a bond-slave, on in complete subjection to the Lord. Then a bit later he summarizes with, What a conception of the servant of the Lord! It has to be like that; to serve the Lord in any fulness, we have to come here.
Bottom Line: Jesus not only paid the price for our salvation out of love for us; He remains not only our Savior, but also our LORD, our Sovereign Lord and Ruler.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Your Word shows so often Your love for us and a desire for us to have a relationship with You even though You are our Creator. I cannot pretend to understand, I can only be grateful. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek