The Christology of Luke

 Here are two videos to showcase Luke's Christology from the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts.

1) 

Who is Jesus in the Book of Luke? - by Pastor Mark A. Jones

2)

What Were they Teaching in Acts Chapter 4? - Pastor Mark A. Jones

Do you know what the disciples were teaching in Acts the 4th Chapter? Among other things,
Pastor Mark Jones of Higher Ground Church in Tennessee tells us that they preached the fulfillment of Psalm 2 - an essential Messianic prophecy. They taught that resurrection is "in Jesus" (Acts 4:2), he is the stone set aside by the builders which has become the cornerstone of God's building, and that Salvation is in the name of Jesus alone (Acts 4:12). 

Seeing God in Jesus

Jesus is the fullest possible expression of God in a human being

Jesus is God’s word —
God’s mind and thought —
manifested in and

through a perfect human being.

The unique beauty of the Christian faith is that God is revealed in Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus is not just a man, if by that you mean he is merely an outstanding man. Jesus is unique. He is the head of the New Creation, the counterpart to Adam. Jesus did not commit sin, yet he was tempted as all human beings are (Heb. 4:15). Jesus was created supernaturally by the action of God’s spirit — His creative energy — working in the Virgin Mary. Jesus was “preplanned,” “pre-appointed.”

This is the belief of Peter (I Pet. 1:20), a leading spokesman for the Christian faith and one who was personally trained by Jesus and gave his life for the faith. Peter and the Apostles taught that Jesus came into existence in Mary’s womb and was thus begotten (=brought into existence) by the Father. All sons are by definition the products of their Father. Jesus is no exception. The word “Son” and the word “begotten” are completely meaningless if one thinks that Jesus is “coequal and coeternal with his Father.” In an attempt to cover up their confusion, traditional systems of belief have claimed that Jesus was “eternally begotten.” But such language has no recognizable meaning. It is much like speaking of “square circles.” To be begotten means that you have a beginning. But if you exist eternally you have no beginning. Jesus the Son of God was begotten. Therefore the Son had a beginning. His beginning was his conception miraculously brought about by God. 

Only the Father is the One God. “There is One God, the Father” (I Cor. 8:4-6). Jesus called God, His Father “the only one who is truly God” (John 17:3; 5:44). God is described by singular personal pronouns (singular pronouns define a person as one and not more) over 11,000 times.
Jesus is the Lord Messiah, the adoni (my lord) of Psalm 110:1. This Psalm is the great key to understanding, and it expressly says that Jesus is not the Lord God (adonai) but adoni the supreme human lord (adoni in all of its 195 occurrences never refers to God). ...

The best way to study the Bible is to ask: What is the broad view of a given subject across the pages of the whole Bible? It is particularly important to search the Old Testament for its view of who God is and who the Messiah is. Does the Hebrew Bible have anything to say about the Son of God being alive before his birth? The answer is positively “no.” The Hebrew prophets foresee the coming of the Son who in the future (future to the time of the prophecy) will come on to the scene of history. Thus, in the classic prophecy of the future appearance of the Son of God who is also the Son of David, God announces to David a thousand years before the birth of the Messiah “I will be his Father and he will be my Son” (2 Sam. 7:14). We note that God said nothing at all about that Son already existing with Him in heaven.

The Son of God is to be the unique agent of God who will arise from the line of David and, because of the miraculous creative conception effected by God, will be designated Son of God. The precious instruction given us by the angel Gabriel needs to be repeated constantly. It is “for that reason” — the action of God in Mary — that the Son to be begotten (brought into existence) will be the Son of God (Luke 1:35).

To maintain that “Son of God” means you are actually God Himself makes a nonsense of this simple, elementary teaching of the Bible. In a fine statement of the facts, a leading theologian in our time says: “To be called ‘Son of God’ in the Bible means that you are not God.” (This should be self-evident, but the pressure of tradition and ecclesiastical councils threatening anathemas to all who might question their dogmas, makes it very difficult for Bible readers to enter the Jewish world of the Bible.)

This world of Jesus and the New Testament is delightfully free of the complicated and mysterious doctrines about God devised some 400 years after Bible times. Our readers should learn to distinguish how much of what they have learned in church really comes from the Bible and how much has been accepted as biblical without careful examination.

The climax of God’s dealings with man arrived when God spoke “at the end of those days” in a Son (Heb. 1:1, 2). God, this letter to the Hebrews says, spoke in many different ways to the “fathers” but gave his final Message (word) in a Son. That Son, says the same author, is superior to angels, to Moses, to Joshua and to Levi. (If the author really believed that Jesus was God it is very strange that he labors to show that he is superior to God’s prominent spokesmen in Old Testament times. All he needed to do was say “Jesus is God.” But he never said this, nor did any New Testament writer.)

When challenged by hostile Jewish religious authorities that he was making a claim to be “equal with God,” Jesus gave a very interesting answer to set the record straight. He denied that he “was God.” He compared himself to the judges of Israel whom God had called “Gods.” Obviously this use of the word “God” for human judges meant that they represented the One God, not that they were actually “God.” If those important human Israelite agents of God were “God,” then, Jesus argued, he was entitled to be called “Son of God.” In no way did Jesus claim equality with God. His highest claim was to be “Son of God.” (This whole episode should be carefully studied in John 10:34-36.)

Many contemporary writers simply leave out the words of Jesus when he responded to the charge that he was making himself equal with God. Some jump to the conclusion that Jesus’ enemies precisely understood what Jesus was saying. That is not so. Jesus had to clarify his claims and he did it by comparing himself to the human judges of Israel. His position was as the supreme revealer of God’s Plan. Jesus’ teaching gives us insight into what God is doing and what He expects of us. Jesus is God’s word — God’s mind and thought — manifested in and through a perfect human being. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” means that God was carrying out His salvation purpose by using Jesus as His final missionary agent to rescue the world from the grip of Satan. Thomas was slow to realize Jesus’ uniqueness and Jesus chided him with these words: “Have I been so long with you and you do not recognize that if you have seen me you have seen God?” (John 14:5-11; 12:45). The God whom Thomas finally recognized in Jesus was the God of Jesus also. Jesus is like a perfectly clear window giving us a view of God. Jesus is as much God as can be contained and revealed in a human person.

Various passages in some Bible translations force the original to say what it does not say. Here are two examples. I Timothy 3:16 states that “God was manifested in the flesh…” Modern versions, following a better manuscript reading, read “He who was manifested in the flesh….” I John 5:7 inserts a statement which reflects times long after the completion of the writing of the Bible. This verse is found in the KJV but has been rightly dropped from all modern translations. It is universally known to be a forgery and should never be used as the basis of a doctrinal argument. It appears in no Greek manuscript until the 15th century!

The Bible comes alive for its readers in a new way when we recognize the Jewishness of Jesus and the original “faith once and for all delivered to the people of God” (Jude 3). Jesus subscribed wholeheartedly to the cardinal tenet of Judaism found in Deuteronomy 6:5: God is One Lord and there is none beside Him. This we call unitary monotheism. This is the creed of Jesus and the Bible writers. As a leading scholar at Cambridge recently wrote, “John is as undeviating a witness as any in the NT to the fundamental tenet of Judaism, of unitary monotheism (Rom. 3:30; James 2:19; John 5:44; 17:3)” (J.A.T. Robinson, 12 More NT Studies, p. 175).

In other words, John and Jesus believed that God was one Person, not three. This creed has a simple beauty, and it is likely to win the attention of Jews today and of course Moslems. The Church has a long history of erecting an unnecessary barrier between itself and the Jewish and Islamic communities by proposing the very strange and inexplicable idea that God is mysteriously three and yet one. Jews and Moslems will instinctively reject such a notion. Jews will deny — and rightly — that any idea of a three-Person God is found in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament, the Bible which nurtured Jesus). ...

What a marvelous new opportunity for evangelism! The God of Jesus is One Lord. Jews know that God is One and so do Moslems!

The above article was taken from here — Some editing has been done.

Jesus is God's Greatest Agent - Anthony Buzzard & J. Dan Gill

 

This discussion explores the Hebrew principle of agency, especially in relation to Jesus. It also examines the singular and plural uses of the Hebrew word "Elohim," clarifying that Elohim does not imply a Trinity when referring to God. Scriptures include, Genesis 1.26, John 10.30, Matthew 9.6, Mark 2.10, Exodus 23.20-21, Exodus 7.1, John 10.30-33, Psalm 82.6, Luke 2.52, 1 Timothy 2.5, Acts 17.31, John 17.3.

The Trinity - 10 Verses Considered, with Anthony Buzzard and J. Dan Gill

J. Dan Gill and Anthony Buzzard consider 10 more scriptures which are often pointed to by Trinitarians in an effort to "prove" the Doctrine of the Trinity. 

Scriptures considered are, Titus 2.13, 2 Peter 1.1, Hebrews 1.8, John 20.28, John 1.18,
1 Timothy 3.16, 1 John 5.7, John 1.1, John 3.13, 1 John 5.20.

Further details

1) Titus 2.13

KJV

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

ASV

looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

NAB

the appearance of the glory of the great God and of our savior Jesus Christ.

Indeed when our Saviour Jesus returns he will indeed return in the glory of the great God, his Father
See

• Matthew 16.27
  For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels
• Mark 8.38
  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
  
• Luke 9:26
  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

2) 2 Peter 1.1

In the very next verse Peter clearly shows that Jesus is distinct from the ONE GOD, the Father

2 Peter 1.2:
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord

As pointed out by Anthony Buzzard, 2 Thessalonians 1:12 has the very same sentence structure as 2 Peter 1:1; yet it is abundantly clear that most Trinitarian translation scholars simply do not believe Jesus is here being identified as "God."

• according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. KJV
• according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. ASV
• according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. NASB
• according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. RSV
• according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ ESV
• according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. NAB
• according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. NET Bible.

Therefore, neither was Paul nor Peter identifying Jesus as the One God!

3) Hebrews 1.8

Hebrews 1.8-9 is a quotation of Psalm 45.6-7. Psalm 45 is addressed to an Israelite king (most probably Solomon) at the king's marriage ceremony.
Just in case anyone would think that the usage of elohim in Psalm 45.6 means that this king is deity, the very next verse, verse 7, reads

You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
With the oil of gladness more than your companions.

This king has a God! Therefore, this king is not God Almighty! Similarly, although Moses is called elohim in Exodus 7.1 (compare 4.16), this does not make Moses, God Almighty, either!
This same principle applies to the judges in Psalm 82 (see verse 6). Jesus used this fact in John 10:34-36 to show that although to those to whom the word of God came could scripturally be called gods/elohim; Jesus however, was making the claim to be 'the Son of God'!

Therefore, if indeed Jesus is being referred to as elohim in Hebrews 1:8 just as the king is in Psalm 45:6; then in like manner, the very next verse, Hebrews 1:9, is identical to Psalm 45:7, therefore, 
Jesus has a God! 

Therefore, like the Israelite king, like Moses, Jesus is not God Almighty!

(I state if indeed Jesus is being referred to as elohim ...
because if the Hebrew/Greek of these verses are translated as a nominative, which is a legitimate and alternative way of translating these verses, then neither the Israelite king nor Jesus are called elohim. 
For example, the NRSV footnote for Psalm 45:6 reads,
"Your throne is a throne of God" and the Hebrews 1:8 footnote reads, "God is your throne.")

4) John 20.28

Since there is solely one God, Thomas was referring to Jesus Christ's God when he said,
"my God."
In light of John 14:7-11, Thomas finally sees and recognises the One God, the Father, in Jesus.
So, Thomas acknowledges Jesus, when he said, "my Lord" and he acknowledges the God who resurrected Jesus, when he said, "my God".

What was it that Thomas finally believed in John 20:24-27? Answer: that God had raised Jesus from the dead! Hence, more blessed are believers who have not seen the resurrected Jesus however yet believe Jesus was indeed raised from the dead!

If we needed any further proof that Thomas was not calling Jesus, Almighty God, where is verse 28 located? Answer: In between verses 17 and 31. Which read:

John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “ Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.’ ”

Jesus has a God! Who is the God of his brethren!
The One God is the Father!

John 20:30-31 - John's Mission Statement:

And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

John recorded his gospel so that readers would believe 
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God!

5) John 1.18

KJV
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

ASV
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

RSV
No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. 

6) 1 Timothy 3.16

RSV, ESV, CSB
He was manifested in the flesh, ...

NASB
He who was revealed in the flesh, ...

ASV
He who was manifested in the flesh, ...

NET
He was revealed in the flesh ...

7) 1 John 5.7

Now our bibles read for example:

ESV
7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.

NASB
7 For there are three that testify: 8  the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

NET
7 For there are three that testify,the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are in agreement.

RSV
7 And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth. 8 There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree.

8) John 1.1

Two Amazing Facts:

1. Did you know that before the KJV translation of 1611, English translations starting with Tyndale's of 1526 used it instead of him in John 1:3-4?
2. Also did you know that word was not necessarily capitalized in John 1:1 in these translations?

These two facts made the English text align with John's intent that all things came into being by God's word. He spoke the word and it was done!" 

Compare Psalm 3.6,9

6: By the word of YAHWEH the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
9: For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

Obviously, throughout scripture, especially, the Hebrew Bible, God's word is an it not a him! 
The apostle John, therefore, did not differ. The context of the prologue of the gospel of John is about God's word, which in the fullness of time, expressed itself bodily in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God.

Here are some examples of the above Two Amazing Facts:

WILLIAM TYNDALE - 1526

SOURCE 1

SOURCE 2

WILLIAM  TYNDALE BIBLE, 1534

1:1 In the beginnynge was the worde and the worde was with God: and the worde was God.
1:2 The same was in the beginnynge with God.
1:3 All thinges were made by it and with out it was made nothinge that was made.
1:4 In it was lyfe and the lyfe was ye lyght of men

SOURCE

MATTHEW'S BIBLE, 1537

1:1 In the begynnynge was the worde, and the word was with God, & the worde was God.
1:2 The same was in the begynnynge wyth God.
1:3 All thynges were made by it and without it was made nothynge that was made.
1:4 In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men,

SOURCE

THE GREAT BIBLE, 1539
1:1 In the begynnynge was the worde, and the worde was wyth God: and God was the worde.
1:2 The same was in the begynnyng wyth God.
1:3 All thinges were made by it, & wythout it, was made nothynge that was made.
1:4 In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men,

SOURCE

Then capitalizing of ‘word’ began with the Geneva Bible yet the correct pronoun it remained!

GENEVA BIBLE, 1560/1599

1:1 In the beginning was that Word, and that Word was with God, and that Word was God.
1:2 This same was in the beginning with God.
1:3 All things were made by it, and without it was made nothing that was made.
1:4 In it was life, and that life was the light of men.

SOURCE

BISHOPS' BIBLE, 1568

1:1 In the begynnyng was the worde, & the worde was with God: and that worde was God.
1:2 The same was in the begynnyng with God.
1:3 All thynges were made by it: and without it, was made nothyng that was made.
1:4 In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men,

SOURCE

"In the begynnynge was the worde, and the word was with God, and the worde was God. The same was in the begynnynge wyth God. All thynges were made by it and without it was made nothynge that was made. In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men, and the lyght shyneth in the darknes, but the darknes comprehended it not" (Matthews’ Bible, The Byble, that is to saye, all the holy Scripture: in whych are contayned the olde and new Testamente, truly and purely translated into English, and nowe lately with greate industry and diligence recognised. London: John Daye and William Seres, 1537).

"In the begynnyng was the worde, and the word was with God, and God was the worde. The same was in the begynnyng with God. All thynges were made by it, and wythoute it was made nothynge that was made. In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men, and the lyght shyneth in darkenes, and the darkenes comprehended it not" (Richard Taverner, The Epistles and Gospelles with a brief Postyl upon the same. London: Richard Bankes, 1540).

"In the beginning was the word, and the worde was with God, and that worde was God. The same was in the begynnyng with God. Althinges were made by it, and without it was made nothing that was made. In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkeness, and the darknes comprehended it not" (William Whittingham, The Newe Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Conferred Diligently with the Greke, and Best Approved Translation, Geneva: Conrad Badius, 1557).

“In the beginning was that Word, and that Word was with God, and that Word was God. This same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by it, and without it was made nothing that was made. In it was life, and that life was the light of men. And that light shineth in the darknes, and the darknesse comprehended it not” (Lawrence Tomson, The New Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Translated out of Greeke by Theod. Beza, London: Robert Barker, 1607).

SOURCE where further examples can be viewed.

9) John 3.13

The context is Deuteronomy 30:11-14,

11 For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

Please read the following article, John 3:13 and 6:62  

10) 1 John 5.20

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Using blue for the only true God, the Father (John 17.3) and red for Jesus His Son (10.36):

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

In John 17.3, Jesus the Christ tells us that eternal life is to know God the Father, the only True God (see also 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).
At 1 John 5:20, John is telling us the same thing - that the Son has come so that we might know the True God. 

When John uses the word "This" he is referring to the True God and Eternal Life that Jesus makes known to us. The only True God is the Father as Jesus declared at John 17:3 and Eternal Life is to know the Father.
The "This" refers back to what Jesus has given us understanding and knowledge of:
That the Father, the only True God.

Unfortunately, Trinitarians twist this point and state that the nearest aforementioned person is always the most likely antecedent to the word "This". (An antecedent is a noun or noun phrase to which the word "this" is referring to.) 

However, in the case of the epistles of John, this cannot necessarily be the case. The following two examples demonstrate this:

A) 

1 John 2:22:
Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

B)

2 John 1:7
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

Is anyone going to suggest that since Jesus is the nearest aforementioned person in these verses, therefore he is the antecedent to the word "This" in these two verses?

I think not! Context is king. Obviously, in both examples, the antecedent is the denier who denies either that Jesus is the Christ or that Jesus came in the flesh i.e. that Jesus was a bonafide, genuine human being.

In like manner,  the "This" in 1 John 5:20 is not referring to Jesus Christ. It is rather referring to the only true God, the Father.

Excellent discourse regarding the man Christ Jesus and his Father, the only true God by Anthony Buzzard & J. Dan Gill

Scriptures considered include, Mark 12.29, John 17.3, 1 Timothy 2.5, Matthew 17.5, Romans 5.17-19, Romans 8.17, Luke 1.35, Luke 2.11 & 26, Psalm 110.1.