Theological Lessons #3
Statement: True or False: Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.
Less than half of the survey respondents disagreed with this statement. A greater number agreed with it.
What does the Bible say?
The Old Testament
The Old Testament does not reveal as much as the New Testament, but does indicate to us that Christ Jesus is God.
Psalm 45:6,8 applies the name of God (Elohim) to Jesus. It says:
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of righteousness;
you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions…
The Psalmist refers to a person as God (Elohim) saying that God (Elohim) anointed him. There are two persons referred to as God. The New Testament gives us a clear explanation. The author of Hebrews explains it to us, saying this is God the Father speaking of God the Son. (“But of the son he says…”) (Hebrews 1:8-9)
Isaiah prophesied that Christ would take on human nature (A child is born\a son is given), but that he is God (“Mighty God”). (Isaiah 9:6)
He also said that Christ is eternal: “from this time forth and forevermore”. (Isaiah 9:7) As we know, only God is eternal. When the attributes of God are applied to Christ, it means he is God.
God also gave Isaiah a message for King Ahaz: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) Immanuel means “God with us”, as the apostle Matthew points our for his non-Hebrew readers. (Matthew 1:23)
In Jeremiah 33:15-17, Jesus is referred to as the Branch, as a descendant of David, fulfilling God’s covenant with David that his descendant would be a permanent king over God’s people. The Branch is called the LORD (YHWH), our righteousness.
Malachi 3:1, the messenger of the covenant is called Lord. The messenger is Jesus.. (Mark1:2; Luke 1:76)
Malachi 4:5 says Christ’s coming is called the Day of the LORD (YHWH).
The New Testament
What Jesus Said: Jesus In His Own Words
Jesus claimed to have existed with the Father before the creation of the world (John 17:5, 24). One of the attributes of God is that he is eternal. Jesus applies this attribute to himself just as Isaiah had.
Luke recorded the apostle Thomas, upon seeing the resurrected Christ, saying :“My Lord and my God!”. (Acts 20:24-29)
Jesus claimed authority to forgive sins (Matt. 9:6).
He encouraged His disciples to pray to Him (John 14:13–14). “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
He taught that He is to be the object of men’s faith (John14:1).
He claimed sovereign authority to judge all mankind. (John 5:22–27)
He claimed authority over all of heaven and earth. (Matt. 28:18).
Jesus used the Old Testament name of God in reference to Himself (8:58). In the Old Testament, God revealed His name to Moses: “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14). Thus, in Judaism, “I AM” is unquestionably understood as a name for God. Whenever Jesus made an “I am” statement in which He claimed attributes of deity, He was identifying Himself as God.
The “I Am” Statements of Jesus in the gospel of John
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Absolute “I am” statements |
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Metaphorical “I am” statements |
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1. I am the bread of life |
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2. I am the light of the world |
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3. I am the door of the sheep |
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4. I am the good shepherd |
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5. I am the resurrection and the life |
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6. I am the way, the truth, and the life |
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7. I am the true vine |
Jesus said” “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (John 8:56–59)
This was a very clear statement of deity by Jesus. He not only claimed to have been around before Abraham, who had lived about 2,000 before Jesus said this, he claimed the same eternal existence God the Father has. He used the term “I am”. This is the same term God used to identify himself to Moses. In Greek, it is the “Egō eimi” statement used by God. (Exodus 3:14)
Jesus effectively said I am the God who appeared to Moses in the burning bush. The Jews clearly understood Jesus’ message. They picked up stones with which to stone him. They did this because they believed claiming to be God was blasphemy.
Many people will say they believe Jesus was a great teacher or even a prophet. Anyone who is not God and says all these things is not a great teacher or prophet, however.
C. L. Lewis wrote:
"Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a lunatic — or else he was a devil."
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who is merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.”*Mere Christianity, Book 2, Chapter 3, titled "What Are We to Make of Jesus?"
What Jesus Did
Jesus performed miracles.
Why did Jesus perform miracles? He did them to show he is God. A miracle is something that happens that is outside the norm, outside of what we as humans can achieve. God is the only one who can act outside the rules and forces of the universe.
Here is a list of the miracles of Jesus along with their New Testament scripture references:
- Turning water into wine
- John 2:1-11
- Healing the nobleman's son
- John 4:46-54
- Healing a man with an unclean spirit (in Capernaum)
- Mark 1:23-26; Luke 4:33-36
- Healing Simon Peter’s mother-in-law
- Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38-39
- Healing many sick and oppressed in Capernaum
- Matthew 8:16-17; Mark 1:32-34; Luke 4:40-41
- Calming the storm
- Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25
- Healing the demon-possessed man in the synagogue
- Mark 1:23-28; Luke 4:33-36
- Healing a leper
- Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-15
- Healing a centurion's servant (faith healing)
- Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10
- Healing a paralyzed man
- Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26
- Healing a woman with bleeding
- Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48
- Raising Jairus’ daughter
- Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56
- Healing two blind men
- Matthew 9:27-31
- Healing a mute demoniac
- Matthew 9:32-34
- Feeding the 5,000
- Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14
- Walking on water
- Matthew 14:22-33; Mark 6:45-52; John 6:16-21
- Healing a man born blind
- John 9:1-12
- Raising Lazarus from the dead
- John 11:1-44
- Healing a severed ear (Malchus’ ear)
- Luke 22:50-51
- The miraculous catch of fish
- Luke 5:1-11; John 21:1-14
John understood this when Jesus turned water to wine at the wedding at Cana. He said Jesus did these things to show his disciples his glory. Only God has glory within himself. (John 21:1-12) As a result, his disciples believed in him.
What Some Of The New Testament Authors Said
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. (John 1:1) Christ is eternal, an attribute of God.
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him”. (Colossians 1:16) Christ is eternal and Christ created, both attributes of God.
“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily…” (Colossians 2:9)
Hebrews 1:3 describes Jesus as the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, by whom also the universe was created.
The Creeds And Confessions
The creeds and confessions of the Church throughout history show that the deity of Christ is an essential belief of Christianity.
The Council Of Nicea, convened in 325 A.D. to deal with Arius, who denied the deity of Christ. It Issued the Nicene Creed upholding the deity of Christ.
The Creed refers to Christ as “true God from true God” and “of the same essence as the Father”.
The Chalcedonian Creed of 451 A.D. gives a more detailed description of Christ. It says Christ is:
“at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead…”.
The Belgic Confession of 1561 says Jesus had a divine nature, that He is one in essence with the Father; coeternal; the exact image of the person of the Father and the “reflection of God’s glory,”, being like the Father in all things. (Article 10)
The Heidleberg Confession of 1563 refers to Jesus as “That the eternal Son of God, who is and remains true and eternal God…” (Q. 35)
The Westminster Confession (1648) states about Jesus that “The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father…”. (Section 8.2)
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 2, Paragraph 3, states:
“In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word or Son, and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided…”
