Romans 14:9

Rom_14:9

For to this end Christ both died and rose,… that He might be Lord both of the dead and living.

How we should improve the end of Christs death and resurrection

Christs death and resurrection are firmly believed, and often considered by us; but too little attention is paid to the end of both.

I. What is this end?

1. That He, as man, might be the lawful possessor of the dead and living. Man has, by sin, forfeited all he has and is, into the hands of justice. Christ, by His death, has satisfied justice, and purchased us for Himself: and in consequence of His resurrection He rescues us, both the living and the dead (Php_2:6-10).

2. That He might be their Deliverer, Protector, and Ruler, defending them from their enemies, and reigning in and over them.

3. That He might be their Master, that they might obey His will, and promote His glory: His sufferings and death supply the greatest inducement to this, and procure grace for us: His resurrection confers that grace, and enables us to live to Him.

4. That He might be the Head and Husband of the dead and living. Lord sometimes means husband. His death manifests His love to His spouse, the Church (Eph_5:25): His being raised, makes Him able to fulfil the part of a husband (Rom_7:4), including union (1Co_6:17), communion, maintenance, guidance, government. Hence it appears that the dead are not dead: He will not be the Husband of the dead.

5. That He might be the Judge of the dead and the living (Rom_14:10-13; Act_17:31). This honour is conferred upon Him as a fit reward of His sufferings and death: He rose to give full assurance of it: He is thereby capacitated to exercise it.

II. The use we should make of this doctrine. Did He die and rise again--

1. That He might be our Owner? Then let us give Him His own (1Co_6:19-20).

2. That He might be our Governor? Then let us be subject to Him in heart and life, and dependent on His protection.

3. That He might be our Master? Then let us live to Him (2Co_5:14-15); this is our duty, in justice and gratitude.

4. That He might be our Husband? Then how great the honour and happiness He designs for us! Let us immediately embrace it.

5. That He might be our Judge? Then let us keep the awful day in view, and prepare for it. (J. Benson.)

Christ, Lord of the dead and the living

This Lordship--

I. Provides the only solid and satisfactory assurance of the future reunion and recognition of His followers. The question that rises oftener than any other to the lips of the bereaved touches this point of reunion. You may try to construct a heaven cut clean off in all its sympathies and attachments and recognitions from this world we are in now. But you will almost certainly then have before the mind a heaven practically destitute of sympathies and attachments, too vague to awaken expectation, too unreal to inspire enthusiasm. He who rose is the Lord of the living and the dead. They are not two families, but one, because they are all in Him, in spite of the transient curtain that hangs between the departed and ourselves--a curtain that probably has its only substance in the eyes of our flesh. The resurrection of the body of Jesus signifies the literal reality of all that is promised the Christian in his future home--the actual identity of the person here and the person there, and the actual renewal of affections and their interchange; for what is the identity, or the blessing of it, if the heart has got to begin its whole history afresh? It signifies the actual restoration, too, of the society, only in more exalted forms, of those who have believed and worshipped the same Saviour here. There will be no confusion of persons, no obliteration of the lines that mark off one soul from another. We shall be just, as distinct persons: with all personal faculties, affections, sympathies, substances, yes, and appearances, as we are now. In those celestial congregations there will, no doubt, be something to be recognised by, in feature or form, inbred on earth and indestructible by dissolution. Hence the need of a glorified resurrection body, to be set free at the last change--following the analogy still of His body who died and rose the same.

II. Suggests that our resurrection life will be social as well as individual. As everything in the kingdom of heaven has its type and model in the Person of our Lord, so in the rising of His form, and the subsequent interviews with His disciples, we see a promise that, literally and for ever, those to whom He imparts His Spirit will move together in a family order and freedom about Him. Nothing less than this can be taught us by the parable of Lazarus, by the inspired images of the Apocalypse, by the company of saints made perfect; but, more than all these, by the reappearing, in the body, of the Lord of the dead and the living. Whither would the forth-going soul take its strange journey if there were no centre of spiritual attraction, no Christ receiving the believer to Himself where He is? (Bp. Huntington.)

Christs Lordship

I. Its nature.

1. Universal. He is Lord over all the dead and all the living; but in a peculiar manner over His Church, even as a husband is lord over his wife, which is a lordship with sweetness. It is indeed a lordship; but it is such as is good for His subjects. Christ accounts Himself happy in His Church, which is His fulness, and (Eph_1:23) the Church is most happy in His government.

2. Independent. Only His Father joins with Him. All human authority is derived from Him (Pro_8:15). King of kings, He is Lord Paramount over all.

3. Complete. He is a Lord of the whole man, body and soul. He sits in the throne of conscience. There He prescribes laws to it, pacifies, stablishes, and settles it against all fears. He bows the neck of the inward man, and brings it wholly to be subject to Him.

4. Eternal. Other lords have nothing to do with men when they are dead, because they are lords over the outward man only. But Christs lordship is when we are gone hence, and then more especially. For then we are more immediately with Him (Php_1:23).

5. Excellent. He hath all things that a lord should have.

(1) Authority. He purchased it, and His Father gave it Him (Psa_2:8; Mat_28:18; Joh_17:2).

(2) All graces and virtues fit for a lord and governor--righteousness, wisdom, bounty, affections, etc. (Psa_45:6).

(3) Strength. Answerable to His authority; for He is a Lord that is God.

II. Deductions from it. We see--

1. That the grounds of a Christians faith and comfort are very strong. God doth all to ends, it being a point of wisdom to prefix an end, and work to it. Here the greatest work hath the greatest end.

2. That the principal points of religion have an influence on all the particulars. For one is the cause of another, and one depends upon another. Christ is proved to be Lord of all, because He died and rose.

3. The truth of the Catholic Church, from the first man living to the end of the Church, under one head Christ (Heb_13:8; Act_4:12).

4. The blessedness of being under the sovereignty of Christ. To be Solomons servant was accounted a great happiness (1Ki_10:8). What shall we think of those that are under Christ, who is greater than Solomon (Mat_12:42). For Christs servants are so many kings (Rev_1:6), and such kings as do not rule over slaves, but over the greatest enemies of all. A Christian can think with comfort upon those enemies that make the greatest tyrants quake--death, sin, and the law. Therefore, those Christians that are afraid of death, forget their dignity. If Christ be their Lord when they die, what need they fear to die?

5. The duty we owe to our Lord--

(1) To live to Him. This we do--

(a) When we know and acknowledge Christ hath a full interest in us. Upon this issues all other obedience.

(b) When we are directed by His will, and not our own. Christ squared His life immediately according to His Fathers will (Psa_40:7). So all that are Christs must have the same spirit.

(c) When we aim at the glory of Christ in all things (1Co_10:31). The contrary to this the apostle complains of (Php_2:21).

(2) To die to Him. This we do when we know and acknowledge that Christ hath power over us when we die, and

(a) thereupon submit ourselves to Him, and not murmur when He comes to call for our life.

(b) When upon any good occasion He calls for our life in standing for a good cause--for the Church or State--we are ready to lay it down.

(c) When we carry ourselves so, when death comes, as we may express such graces as glorify God, and when we study to do all the good we can, that we may die fruitfully.

6. What we may expect from Christ, and what we ought to return to Him again. For relations are bonds.

(a) That He will make us willing and able subjects. He is such a Head as quickeneth dead members; such a Husband as makes His spouse beautiful. A king cannot alter his subjects; but He is such a King as can, and does. He takes them out of a contrary kingdom, as being not born its subjects, but born anew by the Spirit.

(b) Advancement. The meanest man that is a subject to Christ is a king, and a king over that which all others are slaves to. They rule over others, but they are in thraldom to their own lusts.

7. How to carry ourselves to men otherwise affected. Christ rules over us, both living and dying; therefore be not the servants of men, but in the Lord--i.e., so far as it may stand in the will and pleasure of Him that is the Lord of lords. For when the authority of any superior doth countermand against the will of this Lord, it ceaseth to bind. (R. Sibbes, D.D.)

Christs lordship over the dead and living

I. It is plainly a mediatorial lordship that Christ is here said to have. It is altogether apart from the supreme dominion belonging to Him as God, and from that universal lordship which has been conferred on Him as Mediator. The apostle is teaching a lesson of Christian forbearance. You differ from one another about some doubtful points. But do not judge one another. Let every man judge for himself. You are not one anothers lords. Nay, you do not belong to yourselves. You all belong to Christ, who, that He might be your Lord, both died and rose again. Thus far the argument tells for its being a restricted lordship. But why is there any mention made of the dead as distinct from the living? It is the living only who are or can be concerned about the rule. But the living, who have to do with the rule and the reason for it, are soon to be themselves the dead. You are to look at the point in dispute in the light in which it will appear to you when you are dead. You are equally amenable to the Lord now as then. Dead, you will completely own His lordship; living, own it all the same. The lordship of Christ, therefore, is a lordship over His people; and such a lordship over them living, as has its type, one may say, as well as its consummation, in His lordship over them when dead.

II. The connection between this Lordship of Christ and his death and resurrection is very close. To this end (Heb_12:2)--

1. It is the appropriate reward, the natural fruit and issue of His dying and rising again, that He is Lord. Christ died and rose again, not as an isolated private individual, transacting with the Father for Himself alone. He bore a representative character. He had gathered up in His one single person all the interests of all His people. Lordship over them is really involved in His dying and rising again. He has them as much at His disposal as He has His own body.

2. Yet there is not much of apparent lordship here. He appears rather as passive than as active. Dying and rising again, He stands forth as not Lord, but servant. But it is through this service that He reaches His lordship. And the lordship answers to the service in all respects.

(1) The persons interested are the same. He is, no doubt, Lord over all mankind; but what is here asserted is a lordship which only true believers can acknowledge--viz., a lordship founded on the Lords dying and rising again. They may not be more absolutely in His hands, as mediatorial Lord, than all creation is. And in both cases His mediatorial lordship is the fruit of his dying and rising. But--

(a) There is intelligence and consent in the one case that we cannot find in the other.

(b) There is a real distinction, as regards the dependence of Christs lordship, in His dying and rising again, between the two cases. It is indispensable to the accomplishment of the end for which He died and rose again, that He should have as part of His recompense this wide prerogative of universal lordship. But the end itself, the joy set before Him, was surely a lordship more peculiar and more precious (Joh_17:1-2).

(2) There is a correspondence between the lordship itself and that on which it rests, and from which it flows. It rests on service and flows from service--the service of sacrifice. But He died and rose not that He might be different as Lord from what He was as dying and rising. No. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. It would seem, therefore, that His lordship must be in some sense a continuation of His service. Christ, as His peoples Lord, cannot be to them different from what He was when as the Fathers servant on their behalf He died and rose.

3. Thus, carrying back the lordship into the dying and rising, we may see, even in the humiliation, the real glory of the exaltation. He is Lord, when He dies and rises and lives; Lord, in their life and in their death, of those for whom He dies and rises and lives. His dying and living again is in itself an act of lordship over them.

III. In the light of this connection, consider the Lordship of Christ in its bearing upon those over whom it is exercised.

1. As dying and rising, He is Lord of His own dead.

(1) Giving them victory, and taking from death his sting.

(2) Receiving them to Himself.

(3) Changing their mortal bodies, that they may be fashioned like unto His own glorious Body.

(4) Leading them among the many mansions of His Fathers house, and finding them, as He rules them, congenial subjects.

2. The Lord of you living; the Lord of your life--of the life which you have in Him as dying and rising. Surely it is a Blessed lordship for you now to realise and own. Is not that a source of confidence alike in life and in death? And is it not also a motive to most thorough self-surrender? (R. S.Candlish, D.D.)

The dominion of Christ over mankind

is--

I. Mediatorial.

1. As God, He reigns in His own eternal right.

2. As man, by the appointment of the Father.

II. Absolute. He has all power--

1. To determine their conditions.

2. To pardon and save them.

2. To command their service.

3. To decide their eternal lot.

III. Universal. It includes the living and the dead.

IV. Righteous. It is secured by--

1. His death.

2. His resurrection. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14:9 Paul refers to standard early Christian teaching on the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection (e.g., 2 Cor 5:15). • of the living and of the dead (literally of the dead and of the living): The original word order matches the sequence of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the redemptive events that make Jesus our Lord.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rom 14:9. Καὶ ἀπέθανε καὶ ἔζησεν, both died and revived) This agrees with what goes before and with what follows. Baumgarten reads καὶ ἀνέστη, and alleges the probability of omission on the part of the transcribers, but gives no reason for this probability. I think the addition probably is due to this, that the transcribers very easily laid hold of a very well-known expression concerning Christ, ἀπέθανε καὶ ἀνέστη, 1Th 4:14; and when this was done, some omitted καὶ ἔζησεν, others, however, also retained it, and moreover placed it either first, as in Iren. l. iii. c. 20; or in the middle, as in the Syriac version; or third in order, as in Chrysostom, who, however, in his exposition, passes over the καὶ ἀνέστη. Whitby, who, according to Baumgarten, ought to be consulted, refutes himself; for he says, that ἀπέθανεν and νεκρῶν, ἔζησεν and ζώντων correspond to each other (as also Orige[143] observes, c. Cels., p. 103, ed. Hoesch.) ἀνέστη finds nothing to which it corresponds. I have cleared away the objection from the testimonies of the fathers, adduced by him, in the Apparatus. The reading ἔζησεν is well supported; ἀνέζησεν rests on much weaker authority.[144]—ΝΕΚΞῶΝ, of the dead) The dying and the dead rejoice in the Lord Jesus, who has died and abolished death and vanquished the devil, Heb 2:14.—ζώντων, of the living) The living and those, who are made alive again, triumph with their living Redeemer, their Kinsman (Heb. Goel.) The living God is the God of the living, Mat 22:32. Christ, who lives again, is Lord of those who are brought to life again. Paul places here, Rom 14:7-8, this life before death, and, in Rom 14:9, by gradation, after death, that life, as ch. Rom 8:38, with which comp. 14:34. Christ, says he, died, that he might have dominion over the dying, Christ revived, that He might have dominion over the living. Christ has died, therefore death (the act or rather the passive suffering of dying and the state of death) will not separate us from Him. Christ has risen again, therefore the life (of the world to come) will not separate us from Him; hence the notion of[145] the insensibility of the soul during the whole night, whilst the body is in the grave, is set aside by the dominion of Christ over the dead; and against this doctrine solid arguments are derived from the appearance of Moses and Elias, Mat 17:3, as also from the resurrection of the saints, Mat 27:52-53; and from the hope of Paul, etc., Php 1:23; 2Co 5:8; Heb 12:23. To these we may add “the fifth seal,” Rev 6:9, note, and the ὄχλοι, multitudes of the blessed, Revelation 7, 14, etc. The apostles themselves declined, 1Co 5:12, to judge “those that are without.” The state of deserving [the state in which men are capable of deserts] (taking the word in a large sense on both sides [in a good and a bad sense]) is doubtless not extended beyond this present life. The condition of man for all eternity depends on [his state at] the moment of death, although without man’s co-operation, different degrees may exist. Comp. Luk 16:9; Luk 16:22; Luk 16:25; Joh 9:4 (comp. Ecc 9:10); Gal 6:10; 2Ti 4:6; 2Ti 4:8; Tit 2:12; Heb 3:13; Heb 6:11; Heb 9:27; Rev 2:10; Rom 8:23, etc.

[143] rigen (born about 186 A.D., died 253 A.D., a Greek father: two-thirds of the N. Test. are quoted in his writings). Ed. Vinc. Delarue, Paris. 1733, 1740, 1759.

[144] ABC Memph. Syr. later, read ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἔζησεν. But Gg, Vulg. and Origen, ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἀνέστη; for which last Fulgentius and the Fuld. MS. of Vulg. corrected by Victor, have ἀνέζησεν. D(Λ)f Iren. have ἔζησεν καὶ ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἀνέστη. Rec. Text, ἀπεθ. κ. ἀνέστη, κ. ἀνέζησεν.—ED.

[145] ψυχοπαννυχίαν.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_14:9. Objective historical relation, on which this subjective attitude towards Christ, Rom_14:8 (ἐάν τε οὖν κ.τ.λ.), is founded.

ἔξησε] became alive, to be understood of the resurrection life. Comp. Rev_2:8; Rev_20:4-5; Rom_5:10; 2Co_4:10. The aorist denotes the setting in of the state; Kühner, ad Xen. Mem. i. 1. 18. Wrongly Olshausen (so also Schrader) thinks that the earthly life of Jesus is meant, so that there occurs a hysteron proteron; in which view he overlooks, first, that the mutual reference of the two elements in protasis and apodosis is only formal, and secondly, that it was not Jesus life and death, but rather His death and life (resurrection), which led to His attainment of the heavenly κυριότης. Comp. Rom_8:34, Rom_6:9-10; Php_2:8-9; Luk_24:26; Mat_28:18.

ἵνα] destination in the divine counsel. This aimed, in the death and resurrection of Christ, at the establishment of His munus regium, and that over the dead (in Scheol, Php_2:10) and living; hence Christians are conscious of belonging to Him in living and dying (Rom_14:8). Unsuitably to ἔξησεν, since the raising up of the Lord is certainly, in the apostles view, the work of God (Rom_1:4, Rom_4:24, Rom_6:4, Rom_8:11, and many other passages), Hofmann sees in ἵνα Christs own purpose expressed.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 14:9 . εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ … ἵνα : cf. 2Co 2:9 . ἔζησεν refers to the resurrection, as is shown by the order of the words, the connection elsewhere in Paul of Lordship with the resurrection ( cf. Phi 2:9 ff.), and the aorist tense which describes an act, and not the continued existence of Christ on earth (Sanday and Headlam): cf. Rev 2:8 ( ὃς ἐγένετο νεκρὸς κ . ἔζησεν ), Rev 20:4 f. ἵνα denotes God’s purpose in subjecting His Son to this experience. We must not suppose that ἀπέθανεν is specially connected with νεκρῶν and ἔζησεν with ζώντων ; there is the same mannerism as in Rom 4:25 . Rather is it through Christ’s resurrection that His lordship over the realm of death is established, so that not even in that dark world do those who are His cease to stand in their old relation to Him. τοῦ κυρίου ἐσμὲν holds alike in the seen and the unseen.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_14:9

For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived,‹73› that he might be the Lord both of the dead and living. The dominion which Christ, as Mediator or Redeemer, exercises over his people, and which they gladly recognize, is therefore referred to his death and resurrection. By his death he purchased them for his own, and by his resurrection he attained to that exalted station which he no occupies as Lord over all, and received those gifts which enable him to exercise as Mediator this universal dominion. The exaltation and dominion of Christ are frequently represented in the Scriptures, as the reward of his sufferings: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, etc., Phi_2:8, Phi_2:9. This authority of Christ over his people is not confined to this world, but extends beyond the grave. He is Lord both of the dead and the living.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For to this end Christ both, &c.--The true reading here is, To this end Christ died and lived ("again").

that he might be Lord both of the dead and--"and of the"

living--The grand object of His death was to acquire this absolute Lordship over His redeemed, both in their living and in their dying, as His of right.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 9. Christ both died and rose] That we are not our own, but are the Lord's both in life and death, is evident from this-that Christ lived, and died, and rose again, that he might be the Lord of the dead and the living; for his power extends equally over both worlds: separate, as well as embodied spirits, are under his authority; and he it is who is to raise even the dead to life: and thus all throughout eternity shall live under his dominion.

The clause καιανεστη, and rose, is wanting in several reputable MSS., and certainly is not necessary to the text. Griesbach omits the words, and reads απεθανε και εζησεν, died and lived; of which Professor White says, lectio indubie genuina: "this reading is indisputably genuine."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. For to this end Christ also died, etc. This is a confirmation of the reason which has been last mentioned; for in order to prove that we ought to live and to die to the Lord, he had said, that whether we live or die we are under the power of Christ. He now shows how rightly Christ claims this power over us, since he has obtained it by so great a price; for by undergoing death for our salvation, he has acquired authority over us which cannot be destroyed by death, and by rising again, he has received our whole life as his peculiar property. He has then by his death and resurrection deserved that we should, in death as well as in life, advance the glory of his name. The words arose and lived again mean, that by resurrection he attained a new state of life; and that as the life which he now possesses is subject to no change, his dominion over us is to be eternal.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(9) And rose, and revived.—For these words the best MSS. substitute simply “and lived.” The Received text is a gloss upon this. It was through the resurrection that Christ was finally enthroned at His Father’s right hand, and that universal dominion was given to Him.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. died, and rose, and revived] Better, probably, died and came to life. The words “and rose” appear to be interpolated. The balance of the clauses is thus made precise:—He died and lived; He is Master of the dead and living.

that he might be Lord] that He might become the Master. The emphasis is on the word Lord, or Master. Here St Paul states one great intended effect of the mode of Salvation. It was Redemption, Deliverance by Purchase; and thus it made the saved the personal possession of the Saviour. It was also, specially, through Death and Revival; with a view (among other objects) to the realization by His servants that He who, to save them, had dwelt in both worlds, was their Master in both.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived,.... This last word "revived" is omitted by the Vulgate Latin, but very naturally placed by the Syriac, between Christ's dying and rising. The Alexandrian copy reads, "died and lived": and the Ethiopic version, "died and revived": the end of all which was,

that he might be the Lord both of the dead and living; that is, of believers, whether dead or alive; for though he is Lord of all, as God and Creator, yet his appearing to be Lord by his dying, rising, and living again, can only have respect to them, for whom dying he has abolished death, and destroyed Satan; whom he has redeemed from sin, and delivered from this present evil world; and so having freed them from those other lords which had the dominion over them, shows himself to be their one and only Lord: and by rising again from the dead, ascending to heaven, and sitting at the right hand of God, all creatures and things being subject to him, he is made or declared both Lord and Christ; and living again, and continuing to live for ever, he appears to have the keys of hell and death; and will open the graves, and raise from thence, and judge both quick and dead, those that will be found alive at his coming, and such as he will cause to rise from the dead then; till which time, the apostle suggests, the decision of these differences about meats and days was to be left; and in the mean time the saints were to cultivate peace and love among themselves.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

Ver. 9. That he might be Lord] He won his crown before he wore it; he fought for it, and having vanquished all enemies, he accomplished and proclaimed the victory in his glorious resurrection, triumphed in his wonderful ascension, leading captivity captive, &c., Eph 4:8.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For to this end - For this purpose or design. The apostle does not say that this was the “only” design of his death, but that it was a main purpose, or an object which he had distinctly in view. This declaration is introduced in order to confirm what he had said in the previous verse, that in all circumstances we are the Lord’s. This he shows by the fact that Jesus died “in order” that we “might” be his.

And rose - This expression is rejected by most modern critics. It is wanting in many manuscripts, and has been probably introduced in the text from the margin.

And revived - There is also a variation in the Greek in this place, but not so great as to change the sense materially. It refers to his “resurrection,” and means that he was “restored to life” in order that he might exercise dominion over the dead and the living.

That he might be Lord - Greek. That he might “rule over.” The Greek word used here implies the idea of his being “proprietor” or “owner” as well as “ruler.” It means that he might exercise entire dominion over all, as the sovereign Lawgiver and Lord.

Both of the dead - That is, of those who “are” deceased, or who have gone to another state of existence. This passage proves that those who die are not annihilated; that they do not cease to be conscious; and that they still are under the dominion of the Mediator. Though their bodies moulder in the grave, yet the spirit lives, and is under his control. And though the body dies and returns to its native dust, yet the Lord Jesus is still its Sovereign, and shall raise it up again:

“God our Redeemer lives,

And often from the skies.

Looks down and watches all our dust,

Till he shall bid it rise.”

It gives an additional sacredness to the grave when we reflect that the tomb is under the watchful care of the Redeemer. Safe in his hands, the body may sink to its native dust with the assurance that in his own time he will again call it forth, with renovated and immortal powers, to be for ever subject to his will. With this view, we can leave our friends with confidence in his hands when they die, and yield our own bodies cheerfully to the dust when he shall call our spirits hence. But it is not only over the “body” that his dominion is established. This passage proves that the departed souls of the saints are still subject to him; compare Mat 22:32; Mar 12:27. He not only has “dominion” over those spirits, but he is their protector and Lord. They are safe under his universal dominion. And it does much to alleviate the pains of separation from pious, beloved friends, to reflect that they depart still to love and serve the same Saviour in perfect purity, and unvexed by infirmity and sin. Why should we wish to recall them from his perfect love in the heavens to the poor and imperfect service which they would render if in the land of the living?

And living - To the redeemed, while they remain in this life. He died to “purchase” them to himself, that they might become his obedient subjects; and they are bound to yield obedience by all the sacredness and value of the price which he paid, even his own precious blood; compare 1Co 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s;” 1Co 7:23; Rev 14:4 (Greek, “bought”); 1Pe 2:9, (Greek, “purchased”). If it be asked how this “dominion over the dead and the living” is connected with the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, we may reply,

(1) That it is secured over Christians from the fact that they are “purchased” or “ransomed” by his precious blood; and that they are bound by this sacred consideration to live to him. This obligation every Christian feels 1Pe 1:18, and its force is continually resting on him. It was by the love of Christ that he was ever brought to love God at all; and his deepest and tenderest obligations to live to him arise from this source; 2Co 5:14-15.

(2) Jesus, by his death and resurrection, established a dominion over the grave. He destroyed him that had the power of death, Heb 2:14, and triumphed over him; Col 2:15. Satan is a humbled foe; and his sceptre over the grave is wrested from his hands. When Jesus rose, in spite of all the power of Satan and of people, he burst the bands of death, and made an invasion on the dominions of the dead, and showed that he had power to control all.

(3) This dominion of the Lord Jesus is felt by the spirits on high. They are subject to him because he redeemed them; Rev 5:9.

(4) It is often revealed in the Scriptures that “dominion” was to be given to the Lord Jesus as the reward of his sufferings and death; see the Joh 17:2, Joh 17:4-5; 5:26-29 notes; Phi 2:5-11 notes; Eph 1:20-21 notes; Heb 2:9-10; Heb 12:2 notes. The “extent” of his dominion as mediator is affirmed, in this place, only to be over the dead and the living; that is, over the human race. Other passages of the Scripture, however, seem to imply that it extends over all worlds.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

To this end Christ both died, and rose: q.d. This is the fruit that accrues to Christ, by his death and resurrection, that he might, & c.

And revived: the Vulgar Latin leaves out this word. Chrysostom left out the former word, he arose. Ambrose inverts the order of the words, and reads them thus: To this end he lived, and died, and rose again. Some think the preter tense is here put for the present tense: he revived, i.e. he still lives, to intercede for us, and to exercise dominion over us. Others think that Christ’s reviving here doth denote that new state of life which he had after his resurrection.

That he might be Lord both of the dead and living; or, that he may govern and lord it (ινα κυριευση) over all his, whether dead or alive; that he might obtain dominion, or rather the exercise of his dominion, over them. As God, he hath a universal dominion over all; but as Mediator, he hath a more special dominion over all the Father gave to him: this dominion he purchased at his death, and he had the full exercise of it when he rose again, Mat 28:18; Phi 2:9,10.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. Died… rose… revived—By the correct text this should read simply, Christ both died and lived.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For to this end Christ both died and lived (so certainly, rather than, as in the Textus Receptus, died, and rose, and revived. His living means here his entering on the heavenly life after the human death), that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. "Nam mortem pro salute nostra obeundo dominium sibi acquisivit quod nec morte solveretur; resurgendo autem totam vitam nostram in peculium accepit; morte igitur et resurrectione sua promeritus est ut tam in morte quam in vita gloriae nominis ejus serviamus" (Calvin). For the idea of this whole passage (vers. 7-9), cf. 1Co_6:20 1Co_7:23 2Co_5:15.

The apostle now returns to his immediate subject, warning (as in ver. 3) the one party against judging and the other against despising, on the ground of all alike having to abide hereafter the Divine judgment. (cf. Mat_7:1, seq.; 1Co_4:3, 1Co_4:5) The distinction in ver. 10 between the two parties, marked in the original by the initial Su de and the following h kai su , is somewhat lost in our Authorized Version.

The dominion of Christ.

It is characteristic of apostolic ethics to turn from details of conduct to the main principles which should permeate every Christian life. The central truth governing all religious behaviour is our relationship to God, as manifested and actualized in Christ Jesus. Thus the historical facts of Christ"s death and resurrection necessarily give rise to doctrine, and they cannot be separated from our belief without tending to overthrow the whole edifice of Christian living based on Christ as its Foundation. It matters comparatively little whether a man eats meat or abstains from it, observes certain days or disregards their special sanctity, provided that the scruple alleged or the freedom enjoyed is conscientious, springing out of his conception of the nature of the religion Jesus Christ has revealed. It is not for others to despise the punctilious or to blame the informal. Each will be judged by his Master. That Master is Lord of both quick and dead; he presides not only over our earthly life, but over our departure to the larger life. Christians may differ in point of intellectual attainment and particular opinion, but every face believingly turned to the Sun of Righteousness reflects some of its glory; every worshipper is brought near to every other as he gathers at the feet of the Infinite Object of adoration and praise.

I THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST.

1. Christian freedom is not unconditional liberty. "Ye are not your own" is the watchword of grateful service. The emancipation of a slave does not set him free from all law; he is released from degrading servitude to be useful to his country and king. Modern civilization teaches the compatibility of numerous statutes with true essential freedom. The rule of Christ is recognized and illustrated in the Acts of the Apostles, "Thou, Lord, show which of these two thou hast chosen;" "The Lord added to them daily." "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" is the first question of the new life. There would be no difficulty in any department of Church-fellowship if the authority of Christ were fully recognized. "One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren." Finances, activity, brotherly regard, all flourish where hearts are surrendered in entirety to the sway of Christ.

2. This Lordship means protection as well as government. As under Roman law" each noble patrician had his clients, whose wrongs he redressed and whose interests he promoted, so the Saviour throws the aegis of his love over his subjects, directing them by his wisdom, shielding them by his interposition. "Fear not; no man shall set on thee to harm thee." The very end of government is the welfare of the governed. Old ideas that the monarch has no duties and the people no rights have passed for ever; and we are warranted in seizing nobler conceptions of the sovereignty of God than prevailed when despotism reigned unquestioned. Let men beware lest they lop off limbs from the body of Christ, and by their divisions and excommunications rend his seamless garment.

3. The dominion of Christ may well console us as we think of the dead. He is the Lord of all worlds, has "all authority in heaven and earth." His voice comforts the bereaved, sounding amid the stillness of the sepulchre, "Fear not: I have the keys of death and of Hades." "He is not the Lord of the dead, but of the living." The dead pass not into a dreary unillumined state; they "depart to be with Christ." And where mournful reflections on wasted lives, sudden departures, check hopeful sorrow, and memory emits little fragrance from the past; yet we may leave all in his hands who, as the supreme Architect of humanity, rejoices in restoration rather than destruction. "Shall not the Judge... do right?

II THE MANNER IS WHICH THIS LORDSHIP WAS WON.

1. By stooping to the condition of his subjects. He is Lord by creation, but still more by virtue of his redemptive work. Well has he earned his title who entered into our humbling nature, tasted our sorrows, and drank the cup of bitterness as our Sin Offering. He himself passed through the gloomy portals of death, and in rising again revealed both the love and the might of God. Only he can be a true Master who first subordinated himself to service. For the suffering of death is he crowned with glory and honour. He can declare, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore." "Because I live, ye shall live also.

2. After this model, service to the Church becomes the stepping-stone to honor. Christ has furnished the pattern to his followers according to which office and rank are conferred. He who is most profitable to the body is to be most esteemed by the members. Empty sinecures are unknown in his kingdom. And if we would benefit our fellows, we must by real sympathy share their need and trouble. "He that will be greatest, let him be your minister." Christ rose as the Firstfruits, and in Christ shall all be made alive, but every man in his own rank. S.R.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Three things are here observable: 1. That Jesus Christ, by virtue of his meritorious passion, and glorious resurrection, was constituted Lord of all things, and has power to judge all persons. To this end Christ died, rose again, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living: that is, be the judge and rewarder of all mankind.

Observe, 2. That to this supreme and absolute Lord every one of us must give an account of our actions, and from him receive our final doom: We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.

Observe, 3. The argument which the apostle draws from hence to dissuade us from censuring and judging one another; and that is drawn from the consideration of the last and final judgment, which we are all hastening apace unto. Why dost thou judge thy brother? We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.

As if the apostle had said, "Let there be a mutual forbearance among Christians: do not rashly judge and uncharitably censure one another, because in some little things you differ from each other. What though your brother cannot in conscience comply with your opinion or practice; must you presently accuse him of stomach, and condemn him for stubbornness, calling his non-compliance obstinacy and humour, pride and singularity, which he calls conscience towards God? Remember the judge standeth at the door, and you must suddenly stand before the judgment-seat of Christ; where every one of us must give an account of himself to God."

Where note, The universality of the subjects rendering this account: Every one of us. The subject-matter of which the account must be rendered; and that is of ourselves. As also the designation and description of the person unto whom this account must be rendered; and that is, to the all-seeing and heart-searching God; to God the Creator, but especially to Christ the Lord, the Redeemer, who is such a judge as the subtilty of the wisest cannot delude; such a judge as there is no appealing from, no repealing of his sentence: Therefore judge nothing before the time, till the Lord cometh.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. “For unto this Christ died and is alive, in order that he may be the Lord both of the dead and of the living.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living . [We are here told to what lengths Christ went to obtain the important right to rule over us in both spheres of being, or as literally living and dead. A right so dearly bought is not readily abandoned, and, moreover, if Christ rules over us in the literal, his rule also, of course, governs us in all lesser or figurative realms. He became purchaser of us by death ( Act_20:28 ), and ruler by his resurrection-- Act_2:30-36 ; Act_17:31 ; Rom_1:4 ]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, etc. The life of the Christian is a new life that springs out of Christ's death (Rom. 6:4); we die with him; we rise with him; hence, since our life comes from him, and springs from his death and resurrection, these make him our Lord, whether we be living or dead.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

9. εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ κ.τ.λ. To establish this relationship was the object of Christ’s death and resurrection. Note that in dealing with these secondary matters S. Paul bases his argument on this external relation, not on the deeper vital relation ἐν Χριστῷ; cf. S. H.; cf. 1Co 6:20.

ἔζησεν. Came to life—ingressive aorist: clearly of the entrance into the Resurrection life, in which He became κύριος. S. H. Lid.

ἵνα καὶ ν. κ. ζ. Cf. Luk 20:38: the absence of the article emphasises the state of the persons.

κυριεύσῃ = to establish his lordship over—(ingressive aor.). Is there a reference here to the Descent into Hell? Lid. cf[276] Php 2:10; Eph 4:9. The order ν. κ. ζ. is remarkable, and suggests such a ref. 1Pe 3:18 f., Rom 4:6 f. may be partly dependent on this passage; cf. Rom 10:7. Swete, Ap. Creed, pp. 56 f.

[276] confert

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9.] And this lordship over all was the great end of the Death and Resurrection of Christ. By that Death and Resurrection, the crowning events of his work of Redemption, He was manifested as the righteous Head over the race of man, which now, and in consequence man’s world also, belongs by right to Him alone.

The rec. text here, ἀπέθ. κ. ἀνέστη κ. ἀνέζησεν, may have arisen by the insertion (1) of ἀνέζησεν as clearer than ἔζησεν, and (2) of ἀνέστη from the margin, where it was a gloss (1Th 4:14) explaining ἀνέζησεν or ἔζησεν. Or, on the other hand, supposing it to have been the original, ἀνέζησεν may have been altered to ἔζησεν and κ. ἀνέστη left out, to conform it to vv. 7 and 8. In such a case of doubt, the weight of early authority must decide. ἔζησεν, lived, viz. after His death; = ἀνέζησεν. The historical aorist points to a stated event as the commencement of the reviviscence, viz. the Resurrection.

κ. νεκρ. κ. ζώντων] here, for uniformity with what has gone before: in sense comprehending all created beings.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. The reason for this relation of all men to Christ as servants to their master is that by His death and resurrection Christ has established His Divine Lordship over all alike, both dead and living. Responsibility to Him therefore no one can ever escape.

εἰς τοῦτο is explained by ἵνα κυριεύσῃ.

ἀπέθανε καὶ ἔζησεν must refer to Christ’s death and resurrection. ἔζησεν cannot refer to the life of Christ on earth, (1) because of the order of words which St. Paul has purposely and deliberately varied from the order ζῶμεν καὶ ἀποθνήσκωμεν of the previous verses; (2) because the Lordship of Christ is in the theology of St. Paul always connected with His resurrection, not His life, which was a period of humiliation (Rom 8:34; 2Co 4:10, 2Co 4:11); (3) because of the tense; the aorist ἔζησεν could be used of a single definite act which was the beginning of a new life, it could not be used of the continuous life on earth.

νεκρῶν καὶ ζώντων. The inversion of the usual order is owing to the order of words in the previous part of the sentence, ἀπέθ. καὶ ἔζης. For the κυριότης of Christ (ἵνα κυριεύσῃ) see Php 2:9, Php 2:11.

For Χριστός the T. R. with later MSS., Syrr., Iren.-lat. reads καὶ Χριστός ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἔζησεν, the older and most difficult reading (א A B C, Boh., Arm. Aeth. Orig.-lat. Chrys. 1/2) has been explained in various ways; by ἀπέθ. καὶ ἀνέστη F G Vulg. Orig. and other Fathers; by ἀπέθ. καὶ ἀνέστ, καὶ ἀνέζησεν T. R. with minusc. (perhaps conflate); by ἀπέθ. καὶ ἀνέστ. καὶ ἔζησεν, LP. &c., Harkl. and some Fathers: by ἔζης. καὶ ἀπέθ. καὶ ἀνέστ. DE. Iren.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Might be Lord [κυριευση] . Lit., might Lord it over. Justifying the term Lord applied to Christ in vers. 6, 8.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vv. 9. “For to this end Christ died and revived;that He might be Lord both of the dead and living.”

With the view of securing the possession of His own, whether as living or dead, Jesus began by resolving in His own person the contrast between life and death. He did so by dying and reviving.

For what is one raised again except a dead man living? Thus it is that He reigns simultaneously over the two domains of being through which His own are called to pass, and that He can fulfil His promise to them, Joh 10:28 : “None shall pluck them out of my hand.” Comp. also Joh 11:25-26. Of the three principal readings presented by the documents, the simplest and most agreeable to the context is certainly the Alexandrine reading: “He died and revived.” These two terms correspond to the living and the dead. This very simple relation has been changed in the other readings. The word rose again, in the Byz. reading, has evidently been introduced to form the transition between these: died and revived. The reading of two Greco-Lats. and of Irenaeus: “lived, died, and rose again,” has certainly arisen from the desire to call up here the earthly life of Jesus; which was not necessary, since the domain of the living belongs now to Jesus, not in virtue of His earthly existence, but in consequence of His present life as the glorified One. To understand this saying rightly, Eph 4:10 should be compared, where the apostle, after pointing to Christ “descended into the lowest parts (the abode of the dead),” then “ascended to the highest heavens,” adds: “that He might fill all things.” Which signifies that by traversing all the domains of existence Himself, He has so won them, that in passing through them in our turn as believers, we never cease to be His, and to have Him as our Lord. Hence the inference expressed Rom 14:10.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.