Did Jesus Ever Say That He Was God?
I am still reading and hearing so many people, from secular and religious theologians to people I have spoken with, tell me that Jesus never claimed to be God, that I wonder how they could miss it. There are of course the two incidents in John 8 and 10 where, because Jesus showed Himself equal with God, that the Jews were wanting to kill Him with rocks. Then of course, there is the account in each of the Synoptic Gospels where Jesus talks about His identity with His disciples.
He first asks them who the people are saying that He is and receives varying answers. The people were missing it completely, even though His coming had been prophesied. Next, He asked His closest followers who they thought that He was, and as it was revealed to him by God, Peter answered, "You are the Christ of God." Jesus confirmed this fact.When asked by the leaders of the Jews if He was the Son of God, He affirmed it there too. When Pontius Pilate asked Him if He was the King of the Jews, (not necessarily knowing the divine inclusion to the reference) Jesus told him, "It is as you say."
I also took a quick count using my Bible program, and from Matthew 4:3 to Revelation 2:18 there are forty-six instances in the NKJ Version where the term "Son of God" is used in reference to Jesus. Every one of these usages should be read in its context by anyone who is doubting the plainness of His deity as stated in Scripture.
Even Satan confirms that Jesus is God. When he tempted Jesus in the desert he said, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." Where Satan used the word, "If," it wasn't a challenge to Jesus' deity. Instead, it must be read in the sense of, "Seeing that You are the Son of God...." I believe equally valid translations of the Greek word "Ei" for 'If" would be "Since," or "Considering that..." I really believe that that is what the sense of the passage is; "Since You are the Son of God..." I don't believe that Satan had doubts about who Jesus was. I believe he was trying to get Him to abuse His power and His authority as the only begotten Son of God. He was trying to force Jesus' hand to do something to dishonor God.
In Luke 4:41, the demons cried out to Jesus saying: ..............."You are the Christ, the Son of God!" And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ." It is plain to read there that the term, "Son of God" and "the Christ" or God's anointed One, mean the same thing. In just about every use of the term, "Son of God" in the New Testament we can rest assured that Jesus was being referred to as "the Christ, the Son of the living God."
I believe that probably every Jew in Jesus' day who heard Him referred to as the "Son of God," or who heard Him affirm that identity for Himself, clearly understood it to mean Jesus was not only claiming to be the Messiah, but the only begotten Son of God, Himself.
3 comments:
Good thoughts. It is interesting to note that the Son of Man title, the predominant title of self-reference used by Jesus, was a title of divinity. There is pervasive internal evidence in the texts of the four evangelists which point toward Jesus' divine self-referents, not only in terms of the Hebrew Bible, but also in terms of his clear application of the messianic texts to his own identity.
May be I am missing something obvious here ... because, every example that you have shown states that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Son of GOD!
Every example!
So yes, Jesus said he was the Son of God! The devil & demons stated this about Jesus of Nazareth as well!
None of the verses you quoted had Jesus, satan or the demons stating that Jesus of Nazareth was Almighty GOD!
Maybe there is some trick, some sleight of hand that turns the statement "Son of GOD" to mean something different ... to suddenly mean "Almighty GOD!"
Nope! I blinked ... I wiped my eyes & looked again!
Nope! It reads the same.
Jesus of Nazareth is the ONE GOD's Son! That is what "Messiah" means! The two terms are synonymous.
As John so rightly said ...
(John 20:31) But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
If you had 46+ instances in any version of the Bible where the term "God" is used in reference to Jesus; then maybe you may have had a point.
But for sure there are only two instances (John 20.28 & Heb 1.8 which quotes Psa 45.6 which speaks of the Israelite human king)
And these instances can be scripturally explained when you see Jesus' own usage concerning Psa 82 and John 10:33f.
Psa 82 explains in what sense the Messiah, the Son of the Living GOD; can be called 'god/elohim/theos' just as Moses & the judges before him!
[Exo 7.1, 21.6, 22.8-9,28; Psa 82.6]
Hello Adam Pastor,
I'm not completely certain where your contention is with what I have written here. At one point, you seem to agree with me that Jesus claims His deity, but at the end of your comment, you seem to be heading in another exegetical direction.
It might help for me to clarify what I believe. The Bible's pretty clear that there is only one God (Deut. 6:4; Isaiah 44:6; I Corinthians 8:6). The God of the Old Testament is called Jehovah (Yahweh) or Elohim. The concept of the Triune God comes from the fact that three different Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, claim to be Jehovah God. We are left with only two alternatives: 1: The Bible is incorrect, or 2: God is a plural personality consisting of three persons in one Being.
I believe the Bible is correct.
Elohim is a plural word, but it's applied to the one God. At times the word Elohim is used to describe the pagan deities and it is translated "gods" (Ex. 12:12). But when it's applied to Jehovah, the same word is translated "God" (Gen. 1:1).
Anyway, thank you for your comments.
peace,
David
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