Immanuel

"which is translated, 'God with us'" (Matt. 1:22-23)


God with us. Let us not forget the wonder of it, this Christmas season! Merry Christmas all!




Jesus. God-man. That He was man is fairly non-negotiable. You have the notable exception of the Gnostics, early "Christians" who believed He was only spirit, but in light of the historical narrative that is quite difficult to substantiate. God, however... why do we believe He is God? 3 evidences: 1) His witness, 2) others' witness of Him, 3) corroboration.


1) Jesus' testimony

"Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration [resurrection of the dead to judgment], when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Matthew 19:28

Note here: the title Son of Man does not refer to Jesus' humanity, as many assume (quite logically! :-) ) Instead it refers to Daniel 7:13-14: "I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of Heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days [God], and they brought Him [the Son of Man] before Him [God]. Then to Him [the Son of Man] was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed." Here the Son of Man is given (“is given” or a perpetual gift is a better translation*) attributes and status of deity. Corroborating passages (confirming the title Son of Man refers to His Godhood) are Matthew 25:31-32 and Revelation 1:9-18.


Matthew 26:63-65 (and Mark 14:61-64) is one of the clearest examples of Jesus claiming to be God. “The high priest said to Him, ‘I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of Heaven. Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, ‘He has spoken blasphemy!’” Blasphemy is “the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God, the act of claiming the attributes of deity, irreverence toward something considered sacred or inviolable.”** In other words, the high priest declared that Jesus dishonored God extremely by claiming to be Him… incidentally, by claiming to be the Christ, the Son of God, and the Son of Man. Those phrases together appear roughly 690 times throughout the New Testament! That’s a lot of claims of Jesus’ Godhood (both by Himself and by others).

Mark 2:1-12 appears at first to be an innocent story of a healing – but notice verse 7. This whole story hinges on the accusation of blasphemy – Jesus taking upon Himself divine prerogative. And He proves, evidently, His point that He is God and therefore can forgive sins by healing the man in question. Luke 5:17-26 is a similar passage.



John 1:1-18 is about as clear as it gets. Verses 6-8 and 15 talk about John the Baptist, a prophet who “prepared the way of the Lord” according to another Gospel, and clearly was the forerunner of Jesus. Through those verses we can be confident that the Word and the Light spoken of in the rest of the passage are indeed Jesus Christ. Therefore, “In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. Jesus was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Jesus…and Jesus became flesh [incarnated] and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten^ of the Father [God], full of grace and truth”



John 8:48-59, particularly “’Your [the Jews’] father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he was it and was glad.’ Then the Jews said to Him, ‘You are not yet 50 years old, and have You seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’” This is actually another of Jesus’ clearest claims to Godhood, hidden by the translation and by lack of cultural context. Another verse should clear things up: Exodus 3:13-15 The scene is the burning bush, when God called Moses to deliver His people from Egypt. “Then Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His Name?’ what shall I say to them?’ And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ Moreover God said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.” God’s Name is I AM. It is the Name that He chose as His memorial to all generations. Of all His Names, He chose that one as His supreme Name. The Jews did not even speak this Name, they considered it so holy! That Jesus would speak it was sacrilege, that He would claim it the height of blasphemy!!! – unless, of course, He was God.



Here is another “red-letter” passage. It doesn’t get much clearer than this: “I and My Father are one.” (the Father is clearly God) John 10:28-30

A similar passage is John 12:45 “And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.” In other words, look at Jesus, see God. (also John 14:9)

John 17:1-19. Jesus is praying. “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (v. 5) “All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.” (v. 10) “Holy Father, keep through Your Name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” (v. 11) a) Jesus existed before the world was, and was with God (see John 1, above). b) they share everything they own – it is not one’s or the other’s, but the “property” of both, c) they are One (as above).



2) Others’ testimony

“All this [Jesus’ virgin birth and Joseph’s agreement to marry Mary despite her apparent infidelity] was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son [Jesus], and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’” Matthew 1:22-23


Philippians 2:5-7 “Let this mind [of humility] be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. He, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to His prerogatives as God’s equal, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of man.” He was God. Simple :-)


“[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn^ over all creation. For by Him [Jesus] all things were created… all things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist… for in Him all the fullness of the deity was pleased to dwell [i.e. Jesus had the full nature of God]” Colossians 1:15-20


“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through Whom also He made the worlds [i.e. God made the world through Jesus]; who being the image of the invisible God and the exact imprint of His nature, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high [God].” Hebrews 1:1-3 In other words, Jesus is God’s Son, God’s heir, therefore equal in status and privilege to God Himself and possessing the same things; Jesus is the same as God. Actually, all of Hebrews 1 is a good read in this respect. Note that it was written to disprove a heretical teaching which stated Jesus was essentially supreme angel, rather than God Himself. That should explain why it keeps talking about angels. :-)

Romans 9:5... "Christ, who is over all, the eternally blessed God."


NOTE: This section is shorter not because there is insufficient witness to Jesus’ deity, but because it is less clear, or repetitive. Many (including many more in the Gospels), are ensconced in titles applied to Jesus, such as Christ, Son of God, Lord, etc. Some are also less definitive than those I mentioned. I sought to choose either the clearest or the most profound statements of Jesus’ status as God… it was long enough already! :-)


3) Corroboration.


As Romans 1 says, Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” (verse 4) In other words, if Jesus was God, did He prove it? Oh yeah! :-) Read the Gospels – healing, forgiving sins, promising paradise, and, in the beginning of Acts, sending the Holy Spirit upon Christians. Ultimately, though, the Resurrection vindicated all.


 



*Note: this does not imply that Jesus was somehow not God and then was made God. A) that’s impossible, because among the attributes of deity are self-existence and eternity, self-existence and eternity as God. B) that idea directly contradicts other statements of Scripture. Rather, I would see it as part of the perpetual sharing of love, glory, etc among the members of the Trinity which (in part) makes them One. It could also be a picture of Jesus’ return to Heaven after His ascension, at which time He received the fullness of His divine nature again.

** Note: the high priest tearing his robe was a sign of only the severest breaches of the Law possible – the high priest was forbidden to tear his robes for any other reason. This further indicates the seriousness of Jesus’ offense in the eyes of the Jews.

^Only begotten (and “Firstborn over all Creation”), and similar passages throughout the New Testament. The implication is not that Jesus was born from God, but conversely, that He is God’s “heir”, entitled to all the status and privileges of God Himself. In other words, “the glory of the only begotten of the Father” is “the glory of God”