My response to "Is Jesus God?"

Last month, a gentleman wrote a blog titled "Is Jesus God?"
(This blog was removed shortly after I responded.)

The gentleman presented a trinitarian point of view in an attempt to present Jesus as Almighty GOD. My responses are in this color.

There are many interesting paradoxes in the Christian faith. For instance, does anyone REALLY know how what many refer to as the Trinity works? ... Can one God be all three? ... Today however, my own inquiry is narrowed to just trying to determine through scripture, if Jesus is God.

Let us begin our search for an answer to this question with an opening statement found in the book of John:
"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him." Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?" John 14:7-9

... In Jesus' time, both claims and accusations had to be fortified with 2-3 witnesses. This is not unlike things are today. Think of any court case you are aware of and it will most likely call to mind witnesses. Scripturally, the need is borne out in Deut 17:6 and Matt 18:16.

Christ uses this law to establish his own identity. " If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me..."And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form." John 5:31-33, 36,37

One is able to distill from this passage that based on the testimony of witnesses, it can be proved that Jesus is God. These are no idle witnesses to be sure. According to the Scripture, Christ's witnesses include God the Father, John the Baptist (which we will extend to "man"), Jesus' own miraculous works and that of His own witness about himself.

Is Jesus [Almighty] God?
This question has the same answer as to whether the one God be all three?

NO!!

In Jesus' time, as you put it; to GOD's people Israel, there was solely ONE GOD who was definitely NOT in any description, three!
This ONE GOD associated Himself with the verses in Deut 6:4ff, known as the Shema.
This was the creed of Israel; also, this was and is the creed of Jesus the Messiah. Their GOD is ONE Being, ONE Person, ONE Entity!
(This fact hasn't changed)

Jesus affirmed this creed in Mark 12:28ff.
Note the scribe's response:
(Mark 12:32) And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:

Obviously then, neither Jesus nor the scribe were trinitarian! And it ought to be equally obvious that the scribe did not believe that the man before him was actually Almighty GOD! And remember, Jesus commended the scribe. [v. 34]

Did the witness John the Baptist testify that Jesus was indeed Almighty GOD? NO! Rather, (John 1:34) And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. (Remember, John was a Jew (like Jesus). Jews are monotheists believing in ONE GOD as ONE Person!)
So, John testified that Jesus was the Son of the ONE GOD.

What of the witness of GOD Himself?
(Mat 17:5) While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

GOD Almighty testified that Jesus was indeed His Son. GOD said nothing about His Son being also Almighty GOD!?!
GOD said "hear ye him." In other words, listen to His Son.
Did Jesus, GOD's Son, ever testify that he was GOD?
NEVER, NO NOT ONCE!

Therefore, on this subject, I recommend this video:
The Human Jesus

There is also another witness, that of scripture. Let us examine what thus saith the Lord through His Divine word.
The Witness of God
Isa 9:6-Jesus is called God in prophecy delivered by God through Isaiah.

Isa 9.6

Jesus is indeed el gibbor. But do you know what that means? It is not in actuality a title of deity. It means a mighty warrior and is used in ref. to a group of them i.e. plural in Ezek 32.21.

It is indeed a fitting title for our Lord since when he returns he will not be "gentle Jesus meek & mild"; but rather, he will be the conquering king and sovereign, who will be enthroned on the throne of David [Isa 9.7, Luke 1.32-33] as promised by GOD his Father.

For more info, on Isa 9.6, please see Concerning Isaiah 9:6

The aforementioned video also deals with Isa 9.6.

Heb 1:8-9-Note how God is quoted as referring to Jesus as God.

Heb 1:8-9

Yes, Jesus is called 'God' in verse 8. Does that however, make him, Almighty GOD?
Well I ask you?
Did not Almighty GOD specifically call Moses God in Exo 7.1??
In fact, He made him so.
(Exo 7:1) And YAHWEH said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. (See also Exo 4.16)
(The same Hebrew word elohim as used in Psa 45.6 (quoted in Heb 1.8) is referred to!)
So, does this make Moses, Almighty GOD?

Now we both know the answer to that one!
And did you know that the judges of Israel who judged on GOD's behalf, were also called god/elohim/theos??
See Exo 21.6, 22.8,9,28; Psa 82.6 (used by Jesus in this regard)

So seeing that Jesus the Messiah is both GOD's sanctified, ordained Judge [John 10.36, 5.22, Acts 17.31, etc];
and the Prophet like unto Moses [Deut 18.15,18-19];
one can see in what sense Jesus Christ is indeed rightly called God!
In a representational, judicial, royal, Messianic sense!
Hence John 20.28!

Remember Heb 1.8-9 is taken from Psa 45.6-7 which was used in regards to the human kings of Israel. The king was called elohim.
However, in both the OT & NT refs. to this passage, there is indeed a clear safeguard that should shield all readers from any misunderstanding.

(Heb 1:9) Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

The one addressed as God/elohim/theos (in Heb 1.8, Psa 45.6) has a God/elohim/theos ABOVE him!! [Heb 1.9, Psa 45.7]
The very fact that he has a God above him, should inform the reader that he is not GOD Almighty; but rather, he is God in the sense that Moses & the judges were so called, by GOD Almighty. In fact, GOD Almighty anointed Jesus of Nazareth above all these fellows; hence he is the Messiah; therefore, Jesus Christ is supreme over them all however he is under & second to his GOD, the ONE GOD, the Father.
(cp. 1 Cor 15.27-28)

Heb 1:9 ought to act as a safeguard against any misunderstanding.
Even as John 20:28 being placed between Jesus' words:

John 20.17 [I ascend unto my Father, and your Father;
and to my God, and your God.]

and John's intent for writing his gospel:

John 20.31 [But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God];

ought to have safeguarded any misunderstanding of Thomas's messianic declaration of the resurrected Jesus.

Both Heb 1.8-9 & John 20.28 are addressed in the video.

The Witness of Men
John 1:1-3, 14-This is the best known scriptural proof of Jesus’ deity.

John 20:25-28-Thomas understood him to be God.

John 1:1-3, 14

Jesus is not mentioned in John 1:1-3 at all. Verse 14 therefore informs us that Jesus is GOD's word made flesh.
Jesus of Nazareth is therefore, what the word of GOD became.
There is nothing in these verses that speaks of Jesus' deity
To quote Colin Brown:

"It is a common but patent misreading of the opening of John's Gospel to read it as if it said: 'In the beginning was the Son, and the Son was with God and the Son was God' (John 1:1).
What has happened here is the substitution of Son for Word (Greek logos), and thereby the Son is made a member of the Godhead which existed from the beginning."

The video goes into more detail concerning these verses.

John 20:25-28 is also addressed in the video.

Col 1:15-18-Paul knew him to be God.

Col 1:15-18

Paul never ever refers to Jesus as GOD Almighty.

These verses are about the new creation, the future kingdom (v. 13). The all things are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: GOD created all these things for and with His Son in view.
See also COLOSSIANS 1:15-20 - PREEXISTENCE OR PREEMINENCE?

Acts 20:28-Paul knew him to be God, referring to His own blood.

Acts 20:28

There are translational issues with this verse. The rendering "God, which he hath purchased with his own blood" is suspect.

Besides, Paul never knew Jesus to be GOD! These are Paul's words:
(1 Cor 8:4) ... that there is none other God but one.
(1 Cor 8:6) But to us there is but one God, the Father, ...
Paul followed the doctrine of his Lord & Master, Jesus; in referring to the Father as the only true GOD. John 17.3
Again, see the video in regards to this issue.

The Witness of Works
John 14:10-11-There is nothing like the demonstration of a statement to prove the statement.Christ’s resume: sight to the blind, healed the sick, made the lame walk, cleanliness to leprous, fed the hungry, raised up the humble, brought down the haughty, brought life to the dead and gave salvation to us. No mere man could do these things. Only through the power of Almighty God. ...

John 14:10-11 What does this verse actually say?
(John 14:10-11) Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.

You see? The Son can do and did do NOTHING of himself!! The Father did the works

(Acts 2:22) Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

GOD performed the works through His Son.
His Son did nothing of himself! [John 5.19]

Think about it. How can Almighty GOD do nothing of himself?
Yet another indicator that Jesus is NOT Almighty GOD!

The Witness of Christ
Rev 1:7-8-He testifies of Himself as the Almighty.

Rev 1:7-8
Don't be duped by red letter bibles. Verse 8 are not the words of Jesus.
Reference to Jesus ends with the Amen in verse 7.
Verse 8 are the words of the LORD GOD e.g.
ASV: I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
NASB: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Besides in Rev 1.18 Jesus clearly testified:
(Rev 1:18) I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; ...

GOD Almighty alone has immortality innately. [1 Tim 6.16]
Immortality means "One Cannot Die"
GOD ALMIGHTY CANNOT DIE!!
However, Jesus, GOD's Son, died for our sins.
(And of course, GOD Almighty raised him from the dead)
Hence, the Lord Jesus, is NOT Almighty GOD!

Makarios: Jesus never claimed to be God???

This is my response to:

Makarios: Jesus never claimed to be God???

Greetings Makarios

You stated:
"As far as I can see, there can be only two reasons for making a statement like, “Jesus never claimed to be God.”
First, the writer suffers from profound ignorance regarding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Second, the writer is a liar.

There may be other reasons that I’m not aware of but the conclusion is the same, the writer is wrong at every level."

Makarios, it appears that you're not aware of the myriad of reasons why someone reading the Bible would say that
“Jesus never claimed to be God.”

Hmmm! Where does one begin?
The easiest one being, that there isn't any verse in Scripture, where you will find Jesus the Messiah claiming to be Almighty GOD! No Not One!!

In all the verses that you listed you did not show one. Why? Because there isn't one? Why? Because Jesus never claimed to be Almighty GOD!!

Now let's go through some of your points:

a) Jesus the Messiah, the Son of man, is GOD's ultimate representative. As such, GOD hath committed all judgment unto the Son: [John 5.22]
(John 5:27) And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Hence, Jesus is the Judge of all men, because Almighty GOD ...
(Acts 17:31) ... hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Almighty GOD raised him from the dead!
Which leads me to my next point.

The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
GOD Almighty alone is immortal. [1 Tim 6.16]
Immortality means one cannot die & ALMIGHTY GOD CANNOT DIE!! Immortality is His alone to grant.

So, although both the Father & the Son share titles such as "Shepherd, First & Last", etc; this alone shows a clear distinction.
ALMIGHTY GOD CANNOT DIE.
Jesus, the ONE GOD's Son, died for our sins, hence, Jesus is NOT Almighty GOD!

b) Look at the context of Isaiah's verses concerning GOD not giving His glory.
And then compare (John 17:22) And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

Does that then make the disciples, GOD!!
Note, that they may be ONE even as the Father and the Son are ONE!
(See also John 17.11,21; cp. John 10.30) Again, does that then make the disciples, GOD!!
Also, (Mat 5:14) Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Yet, Jesus is the light of the world!!
Does that then, make his disciples, Jesus or GOD?

NO! Of course not. Sharing titles as representatives (i.e. the disciples represent Christ, Christ represents GOD; cp. John 17.18) does not make one GOD!! The same goes for Jesus Christ!

c) Concerning "I AM", see Is Jesus the "I AM?"

d) The religious leaders accused Jesus falsely many times. They did not have his word in them [John 8.37], they neither knew him nor his Father [8,19], etc. It is not a good idea to build one's theology on Jesus' accusers; who did NOT believe him to be their Messiah!! John records their false accusations for our edification; you weren't meant to side with them!!

Concerning Mark 2:5ff ... read (Mark 2:12) And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
(Mat 9:8) But when the multitude saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

Get it? The people glorified the ONE GOD for giving such authority (in this case, to forgive sins on GOD's behalf) to men i.e. the man Jesus of Nazareth. They recognized that Jesus possessed GOD-given authority, to do what he did; and therefore glorified his GOD & their GOD, in this regard.
The people weren't thinking that Jesus himself was GOD!?!?
See also Jesus Forgave Sins

When accused of making himself equal to GOD; what did Jesus say? He retorted by saying:
(John 5:19) Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. ... etc
"Can do nothing of himself" are not the words of equality!

e) Jesus indeed claimed to be the Messiah. Do you know what that means?
It means you are "The Anointed One OF GOD"
[Luke 2.26, 9.20; Acts 4.26, Rev 11.15]
Every Jew knows that. Therefore, the Anointed One isn't himself GOD!!
Rather, he is YAHWEH's Anointed One, GOD's Christ!! GOD's Appointed King [John 1.49]
Therefore, claiming Messiahship, isn't claiming to be Almighty GOD!?!
Look again, at the same question: "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?"

Get it? Are you the Messiah, the Son of the ONE GOD?? Every Jew of Christ's era, knew that to claim to be the Messiah, is to claim to be GOD's Son, GOD's Appointed, Foreordained King of Psalm Chapter 2; who will be seated at the ONE GOD's right hand according to Psalm 110.1; and be the Son of man who will come in the clouds of heaven according to Dan 7.13-14.
These terms are synonymous. And that is exactly who Jesus claimed to be!! That Son of GOD. That Son of man!
Now, because the High Priest & Co., didn't believe on him, they accused Jesus of blasphemy i.e. being a false claimant, a false messiah, a false prophet.
[Yet another false accusation. Compare: (John 10:36) Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?]

Read the verses concerning Jesus before the Sanhedrin again. Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of the ONE GOD [i.e. the Blessed, Power];

and the Son of man, who will be at GOD's right hand. [Matt 26.63-64, Mark 14:61-62, Luke 22.67-70]
All synonyms meaning the very same thing ... the promised Messiah.

Jesus never claimed to be himself, GOD!!

Stop reading into verses, things which are not there!!
(Also in regards to Isaiah 9.6, see for example, Concerning Isaiah 9:6)

f) Jesus was indeed worshiped.
However, one needs to understand what "worship" in that context meant in the times of Jesus.
Today, we see the word "worship" and think one thing: GOD Almighty alone is worshiped! Not so, in Jesus' time.
The word "worship" [Heb. shachah; Grk. proskuneo] had an alternative meaning when used in regards to men, such as prophets, kings & men of GOD.
(All these terms apply to Jesus of Nazareth!)
To find out what I mean, please read these articles:

The Worship of Christ

Defining the Term "Worship"

g) As concerning the authority in which Jesus spoke:

(John 7:16-18) Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. 18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

(John 12:48-50) He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

(John 8:26-27) I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. 27 They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.

(John 14:10) Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

h) Concerning prayer ...

(John 16:23) And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

Look again at the prayers of the apostles. They always prayed to the ONE GOD, yes, in the name of Jesus!
That doesn't make Jesus' GOD!?! Rather, that makes Jesus, GOD's vindicated, glorified, servant who through his total obedience & sacrifice; has brought about mankind's redemption; therefore, whatsoever you ask the Father in His Son's name, the Father will do it i.e. for Christ' sake; hence:

Acts of the Apostles 4 [NASB]

24. And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said,
"O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM,
25. who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said,
`WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE, AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS ?

26. `THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND,
AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER
AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.'

27. "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
28. to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.
29. "And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence,
30. while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus."

Now come on, be honest? Is this a prayer to Jesus? And is Jesus referred to in this prayer as if he is himself, GOD???
No! Jesus (like David) is GOD's servant!! (cp. Isa 42.1, Matt 12.18)
Even in his glorified, immortalized position.

So prayers ought to be offered to the ONE GOD in the name of His Son and holy Servant, Jesus the Messiah our Lord.

This is the apostolic practice throughout the NT.

Jesus Forgave Sins by Sean Finnegan

Jesus Forgave Sins

September 10th, 2008 by Sean

 

In discussing the biblical doctrine of unitarianism (or simply put, that Yahweh alone is God), often people bring up, as evidence for Jesus’ deity, the fact that he forgave sins. No one, to my knowledge, has better expressed this argument than C.S. Lewis in his classic, Mere Christianity. Here is what he said:

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (NY: HarperCollins, 2001; originally published by The MacMillan Company in 1952), pp. 51-52.

One part of the claim tends to slip past us unnoticed because we have heard it so often that we no longer see what it amounts to. I mean the claim to forgive sins: any sins. Now unless the speaker is God, this is really so preposterous as to be comic. We can all understand how a man forgives offences against himself. You tread on my toe and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announced that he forgave you for treading on other men’s toes and stealing other men’s money? Asinine fatuity is the kindest description we should give of his conduct. Yet this is what Jesus did. He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if He was the party chiefly concerned; the person chiefly offended in all offences. This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. In the mouth of any speaker who is not God, these words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness and conceit unrivalled by any other character in history.

 

It sounds pretty reasonable. Fred cheats Bob and so if Fred wants forgiveness he must seek it from Bob. But, even if Bob were to forgive Fred for cheating him out of his money, there is still the vertical aspect of the sin–Fred has not only sinned against Bob but also against God who says to be honest at all times. Though, in the moment, it may seem more important to Fred that Bob forgive him, ultimately the chief concern of Fred should be whether or not his God will forgive him. So, the first point to be made in response to C.S. Lewis’ elegant prose is that there really are two offenses found in every sin (at least those committed against other people). The first offense is against God and the second is against the person. Thus, Jesus is not forgiving Fred for Bob but rather on God’s behalf. But, before we go any further, let’s first refresh our minds concerning the actual account we are speaking about: the healing of the paralytic.

Jesus had just gotten back to his home in Capernaum several days earlier and already there were so many people wanting to see him that there was no room for a certain paralyzed man who desperately wanted to be healed. Those carrying him took it upon themselves to climb up the outer stairs to the roof and dig their way through it and let down the pallet on which the paralyzed man was lying.

Upon seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic something that nobody expected:

Mark 2.5-7
5 And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?”

The scribes were shocked that anyone would dare presume the authority which is God’s alone to forgive sins. Who did this Rabbi think he was? Only God can forgive this man’s sins! Jesus, never in a hurry to put his interlocutors at ease, answered them by saying,

Mark 2.9-12
9 “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk ‘? 10 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” 12 And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

Both statements are just as easy to say, yet one can easily pronounce people’s sins forgiven but who would know if they really were forgiven. However, if a paralyzed man is healed then there is no question that the words have power behind them. It is important to catch the point Jesus was getting across to these scribes by healing the paralytic: it was so that they would know that the Son of Man had authority on earth to forgive sins. This is the punch line, the core of what Jesus wanted to get across to his accusers. Note the response of the Jewish crowd to this event:

Matthew 9.8 But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

The people got the point and glorified the God who “had given such authority” to Jesus. Please note that they did not glorify Jesus as God. In fact, no one interpreted this event in terms of Jesus proving his deity whatsoever. Typically when Jewish people saw a healing or miracle they would conclude that God was at work through the human prophet or holy man. This contrasts with the typical mentality of the non-Jewish observes (for example in Acts [14.7-18]) who would interpret the event as gods coming down in the likeness of human flesh.

 

Be that as it may, we might benefit by asking if there is another place in which the Bible talks about authority being conferred to the Son of Man. Fortunately, a good portion of John chapter five addresses this very topic. At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus had just healed another man who had been lame for thirty-eight years. He was lying next to the pool called Bethesda hopelessly waiting to be healed. Jesus asked him if he would like to be made well.

The man replied in the affirmative so Jesus healed him. The wrinkle in the story comes in when we are told that it was the Sabbath on which Jesus told the man to “pick up his pallet and walk.” As usually happened, there were a number of people who were upset that Jesus healed on the Sabbath (not to mention that he told the guy to carry his pallet on the Sabbath). This is where we will pick up the story in the Gospel of John:

John 5.16-18
16 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But he answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I myself am working.” 18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

They were upset with Jesus because he healed this man on the Sabbath. I’m not sure that what Jesus did should really be considered as work. After all, how much effort does it take to say, “get up, take your bed, and walk?” Even so, Jesus decided rather to take refuge in the fact that his Father was working (apparently in and through Jesus). This infuriated the Jews who found murderous thoughts boiling up within them. In their minds he was breaking the Sabbath and making himself equal with God (by saying that he had a right to break the Sabbath because God still worked on Saturdays).

I can’t tell you how frustrating it is when those seeking to establish the deity of Christ stop at John 5.18, close their Bibles, and say, “Well, obviously Jesus claimed to be God. After all, that is what the Jews understood him to mean.” First of all, this line of thought overlooks the fact that Jesus’ opponents regularly misunderstood him. In fact, this is one of the major themes throughout the Gospel of John. If Jesus and his enemies are found to be arguing in the Gospel of John, there is probably a misunderstanding somewhere lurking in the background–a misunderstanding that we as readers can detect pretty easily. The second reason why John 5.18 makes a lousy proof-text for the notion that Jesus claimed to be God, is that Jesus himself clarifies the situation in the next verse–the verse many do not like to read.

John 5.19-23
19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself, unless it is something he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. 20 “For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. 21 “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he wishes. 22 “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Firstly, it is important to note the phrase, “The son can do nothing of himself.” Jesus is not the source of power and healing, he is the conduit, the agent, the human through whom God does the remarkable. Secondly, Jesus, like any son, imitates the Father with regard to the things his Father shows him (remember the context is about “working” on the Sabbath). In fact, if they thought healing a lame man on the Sabbath was something, they should just wait to see what the Father will have Jesus do in the future! Then, Jesus goes into an explanation of just what the Father will confer upon him to do in the future. Two actions are listed: (1) God has given his son the power to raise the dead and (2) God has given all judgment to the son. In respect to these two we should honor the son even as we honor the Father who has conferred these immense responsibilities on the son. But, it’s this next section that really drives home the point and makes the connection to the healing of the paralytic.

John 5.24-27
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word, and believes Him who sent me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. 25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 “For just as the Father has life in himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in himself; 27 and He gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

Those who hear Jesus’ words and believe have life in the age to come and will not be judged. In fact, right now, in the present, one could even say the person has already passed out of (spiritual) death into (spiritual) life, which means that on the last day, when the resurrection occurs, the same person will pass from (physical) death into (physical) life forever. The [spiritual] dead are now already hearing the voice of the son of God and those who hear (i.e. listen and believe) will live (now and in the last day). Now for the punch line: the Father (who has life in himself) has given the son the power of resurrection and the authority execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Since Jesus is the Son of Man, he has the authority, to resurrect and judge on the last day. Since he has that authority on the last day, in his own day, during his ministry, he brought forward that authority when he forgave sins. In other words, since God had conferred upon Jesus the role of Son of Man, Jesus was fully authorized to forgive sins on God’s behalf or to pronounce judgment on people.
(For more on the end-time role of the Son of Man, see Daniel 7.13-14).

Thus, when Jesus forgave sins, he was not, as C.S. Lewis suggested, either crazy or divine, rather, he was the one who had been divinely appointed to function in this role. Perhaps in light of this knowledge we can again read the account of the paralytic with fresh eyes:

Matthew 9.2-8
2 And they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5 “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk ‘? 6 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins “– then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he got up and went home. 8 But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

The point is so simple and yet so profound.

God has authorized Jesus
to forgive sins on God’s behalf
because he is the Son of Man.

The above article was taken from KingdomReady.org's Blog

Is Jesus the “I AM?” by Sean Finnegan

Is Jesus the “I AM?”

October 3rd, 2007 by Sean

 

I recently received an email from a gentleman in the Philippines who was delighted to hear about the gospel of the kingdom for the first time but really struggled with our understanding of Christ. He asked, “Can you explain to me when Jesus used the title I am, Which I am is God's title.(Ex.3;14 John 18;5-8)?” This is a good question that needs to be asked and answered. Many times in modern translations John 8.58 will look like this.

John 8:58 (NAB)
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.”

Notice the capitalization of the words “I AM” which immediately bring the informed reader to recall that just the same thing was said by God in Exodus 3.14.

Exodus 3:14 (NAB)
God replied, “I am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you.”

But is this impression the correct one for the reader? I believe that John 8.58 does not say that Jesus is the “I AM” of Exodus 3.14. The phrase translated “I am” in John 8.58 is ego eimi. This same exact phrase is translated as “I am he” (John 8.18, 24, 28) or “I am the one” (John 9.9). Of course, the words ego eimi may also be translated “I am” or “it’s me” etc. This simple phrase is common and it is certainly not some special divine terminology that only God uses. For example, the blind man uses the same words in reference to himself just 10 verses later.

John 9:8-10 (NASB)
8 Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?” 9 Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the one.” 10 So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?”

The words translated “I am the one” are ego eimi, exactly the same words Jesus used. So maybe Jesus is not trying to make us think of the I AM of Exodus 3.14 when he answered the Pharisees.
Maybe he is just saying, “I am the one” (i.e. I am the promised Messiah, cf. John 4.26). But, there’s more…

We have a Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint (LXX), which we can use to see exactly how these two verses line up with each other.

John 8.58

ειπεν αυτοις ιησους αμην αμην λεγω υμιν
said he Jesus amen amen I say to you

πριν αβρααμ γενεσθαι εγω ειμι
before Abraham became I am (he)

Exodus 3.14

και ειπεν ο θεος προς Μωυσην εγω ειμι ο ων
and said the God to Moses I am the being

και ειπεν ουτως ερεις τοις υιοις Ισραηλ
and said he thus speak to sons of Israel

ο ων απεσταλκεν με προς υμας
the being sent me to you

So, in the Greek translation of Exodus 3.14 ego eimi is used but not the way one would expect.
In fact God says ego eimi o on (εγω ειμι ο ων) which means “I am the being” or “I am the existing one.”
Of course on (ων) is closely related to eimi (ειμι) being that it is the verb participle BUT my point is that if John 8.58 wanted us to connect Jesus with the “I AM” of Exodus 3.14, then the text should read

ego eimi o on (εγω ειμι ο ων) or simply o on (ο ων)

but the text instead says ego eimi (εγω ειμι).

Simply put, the Gospel of John is not trying to connect Jesus in 8.58 with God in Exodus 3.14 and to translate it so that there is such an obvious connection is at best careless and at worst deceitful.

The following comments by Jason David BeDuhn are instructive:

Truth in Translation pgs 107-108

Actually, “I am” is a very uncertain rendering of the Hebrew expression in Exodus. But those who promote the significance of the parallel between Exodus 3:14 and the expression “I am” in John say that the correspondence between the two is proven by the exact match in how Exodus 3.14 is translated in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (called the Septuagint) that was known to the New Testament authors and the wording used by John. A quick look at the Septuagint, however show this claim to be in error.

The Septuagint of Exodus 3:14 has God say ego eimi ho on, “I am the being,” or “I am the one that exists.”…
God does not say “I am I AM,” he says “I am the being.” “I am” sets up the title or identification God uses of himself, it is not itself a title. Separating “I am” off as if it were meant to stand alone is an interpretive sleight-of-hand, totally distorting the role the phrase plays in the whole sentence, either in the Greek Septuagint version of Exodus 3:14 or in John 8:58. There is absolutely nothing in the original Greek of John 8:58 to suggest he is quoting the Old Testament here…”

The above article was taken from KingdomReady.org's Blog

Jesus Is God by Sean Finnegan

Jesus is God

May 2nd, 2007 by Sean

If Jesus is right and the Father is the only true God (John 17.3) then why is Jesus called God twice in the New Testament (John 20.28; Hebrews 1.8)? For those of us unsatisfied with the "orthodox" solution to this problem, may I offer a few remarks regarding a thoroughly unitarian alternative?

The word "god" (Hebrew: elohim, Greek: theos) is not limited to the true God–Yahweh. False gods, angels, and even humans are called "god" in a secondary or derivative sense. Here are some examples below.

• e.g.

Genesis 23.6 Abraham is called a god prince

Exodus 4.16 Yahweh tells Moses that he will be as god to Aaron

Exodus 7.1 Yahweh tells Moses that he is god to Pharaoh

Exodus 21.6 judges called gods when master brings slave to him

Exodus 22.8-9 judges called gods when deciding cases of theft

1 Samuel 2.25 judge is god when mediating between two parties

Psalm 82.1,6 wicked rulers called gods by God (See Also Psalm 45.1, 6; 58.1; cp. Psalm 8.5 to Hebrews 2.7; cp. Psalm 97.7 to Hebrews 1.6)

How is it possible to call humans god without compromising the belief that Yahweh is God, and there is no other (Isaiah 45.22)? The first definition in a Hebrew Lexicon under elohim says "rulers, judges, either as divine representatives at sacred places or as reflecting divine majesty and power" (The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, F. Brown, S. Driver, and C. Briggs. ©2000, page 43).

Therefore, the people mentioned above were not infringing on Yahweh’s deity rather they were representing Him to the people. The judges were to act as God’s appointed decision makers on earth; they received the word of God and delivered it to the people (John 10.34-36). They were directly accountable to God and when they made poor judgments, they were punished by Him (Psalm 82). They were not independent gods but extensions of the great God.

Although the overwhelming majority of uses of the word "god" in the NT are in reference to either the Father or false gods, there are several texts in which "god" is used in the secondary, representative sense:

• e.g.

2 Corinthians 4.4 Satan is referred to as the god of this age

John 10.34 he called them gods who received the word of God

Hebrews 1.8 of the Son He says, your throne, O god, is forever and ever… therefore God, your God, has anointed you…

John 20.28 Thomas said to him [Jesus], "My lord and my god!"

Satan can be referred to as god because he functions in the role of god—he has dominion over the nations of this age (Luke 4.5-6; Revelation 11.15). The judges were called gods because they had represented God’s authority to the people. In the case of Hebrews 1.8, this is a quotation from Psalm 45.6 in which these words were originally adressed to the king of Israel. The king was God’s representative so he is called "god" but even as god the king still has a God. The writer of Hebrews sees in this Psalm 45.6 a fulfillment in Jesus who is THE king. Jesus is called god because he (as God’s representative) has been elevated "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come" (Ephesians 1.20).

Thus, Jesus is god (theos/elohim) but he is not God (i.e. Yahweh). He is God’s supreme representative to humanity and the one invested with all authority (Matthew 28.18). "Christ is the very ‘exegesis’ [or explanation] of the Father, and indeed himself theos, because as a man he is utterly transparent to another, who is greater than himself and indeed than all" (The Human Face of God, John A.T. Robinson. ©1973, pages 189-190).

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God is immortal (im = not; mortal = can die)

God is eternal (he has always existed)

God is omniscient (he knows everything that can be known)

God cannot be tempted

Yet in each of these attributes Jesus fails to meet the test. For example, Jesus died, Jesus was begotten (Ps 2.7; Heb 1.5), Jesus did not know when he was coming back (Mark 13.32), Jesus was tempted in all points like us (Heb 4.15).

One may typically respond, well…in his humanity he was limited but in his divinity he was unlimited. Yet, this very doctrine of the dual natures of God is distinctly unbiblical and was not even developed until the Council at Chalcedon in 451AD! Anyhow, it is simple fact that if Jesus said he didn’t know when he is coming back, then there is something he doesn’t know, which means he is NOT omniscient, and therefore, NOT God.

Rather, Jesus is the human Messiah, the promised descendant of the woman (Gen 3.15), the son of Abraham (Mat 1.1), the son of David (Luke 1.31-33), the demonstration of what it means to be truly human. As the second Adam, Jesus was perfectly submissive to his Father (John 5.19) and rather than grasping for equality, humbled himself to the point of death (real death) on the cross. What a love story!

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The above article was taken from KingdomReady.org's Blog