One of the most basic tenets of the Christian faith is the proclamation of Christ's universal Kingship. Since the earliest days of the church, Christians made the profession that "Jesus is Lord."

That phrase, however, was unlikely to be uttered without a proper understanding of what it meant. This is because voicing such a bold statement could have both devastating and often deadly, consequences.

Under the Roman Empire, there was only one lord, and his name was Caesar. To the Roman authorities, this basic confession of the Christian faith was considered treason, and treason was a capital offence.

Kaiser Kurios! Caesar is lord! That was the mantra all Roman citizens were required, not only to acknowledge but religiously affirm. It was not simply an assent to earthly authority, as one might acknowledge the authority of a President or a Prime Minister. It was to acknowledge Caesar as supreme – divine even!

This was what the Empire endeavoured to imprint on the minds of the people. So much so that citizens could not buy or sell without that confession being imprinted on much of the currency exchanged.

For Rome, there was one state, one empire, and one lord. It was through this repeated confession that Roman authorities sought to maintain social harmony. It did not matter what the citizen's social differences were. At the end of the day, they were all children of the Empire, and as such, they were all subjects to the same lord.

What this meant was that anyone who refused to acknowledge Caesar as king supreme would promptly be regarded a national threat. They were considered a risk to the stability of the Empire under their sovereign unifying ruler. What's more, their rejection of Caesar as lord risked angering the gods.