The
prophets foretold that the child who would be born,
the Christ who was to come, would be human, yes, but also divine. The apostles
clearly testified that Jesus Christ was God. If we stop at this point, we can
be convinced enough and sure of the deity of Jesus. But there is more.
1. His divine titles
The
names of God are, in Scripture, given to Jesus Christ. We have already
mentioned some of them like Immanuel (which means God with us), and Lord
(Kurios) and considered their significance. There are
other divine names and titles which Jesus applied to Himself.
‘I am’
Consider
the claims that Jesus made for Himself. One of the most famous is found in John
8:58. He said to the Jewish religious people, ‘Most assuredly I say to you,
before Abraham was, I AM.’ This was an incredible thing to say! Abraham
lived more than 2000 years earlier, yet Jesus stated that He existed before
Abraham lived. But that was not all that Jesus meant. The people picked up
stones and threw them at Jesus because they thought He was blaspheming. Why?
Because when God revealed Himself to Moses He said, ‘I AM WHO I AM’ (Exodus
He
clearly meant us to understand that He is God, who has come amongst us as a
Jesus
made another amazing statement about Himself. The Bible calls God “the eternal
God” (Deuteronomy 33:27) and says that God is “from everlasting to everlasting”
(Psalm 90:2), beyond and above time, and having neither beginning nor end.
‘Jehovah-God’, is referred to in the Bible as the “first’ and the ‘last’ in
Isaiah 44:6 and Isaiah 48:12. In the last book of the Bible, called Revelation,
God says, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation
21:6). Yet, in the same book Jesus says of Himself, “I am the Alpha and Omega,...Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty”
(Revelation 1:8 ). A few verses later Jesus referred to Himself saying, “I am
the First and the Last” (Revelation
‘The Son of Man’
The
title, ‘the Son of Man’, is used about 80 times in the Bible. What is striking
about the use of it? It is the title that Jesus most frequently used to
describe Himself.
Many
people when asked ‘Why does Jesus call himself the Son of Man?’ reply, ‘It is
just a reference to the Messiah’s human nature; His identification with us as
people.’ There is an element of truth in this answer, but it is incomplete.
‘Son of Man’ is also a divine title.
This
title, ‘the Son of Man’, was not invented by Jesus in the first century, for it
has its roots in Old Testament literature, particularly in the book of the
prophet Daniel written about 600 years before Christ. The book of Daniel
contains apocalyptic literature with vivid imagery.
In
the seventh chapter, the prophet Daniel describes a vision which God gave him
of the inner sanctuary in heaven. He is transported, as it were, by the Spirit.
Daniel was given the privilege of looking into the interior of heaven itself.
In writing of what he saw, he used sharp imagery to describe his experience.
First
of all, Daniel describes what he saw in the vision:
“I
watched till thrones were put in place,
and
the Ancient of Days was seated;
His garment was white as snow,
and
the hair of His head was like pure wool.
His throne was a fiery flame,
its
wheels a burning fire;
A fiery stream issued
and
came forth from before Him.
A thousand thousands ministered to Him;
ten
thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.
The court was seated,
and the books were
opened” (Daniel 7:9-10).
Do
you get the picture? Daniel, looking into the inner court of heaven, sees
someone seated on this throne of splendour who has the
title, ‘the Ancient of Days’. He is referring to God the Father, seated in
regal splendour upon the throne, surrounded and attended by tens of thousands
of angelic beings.
The
scene portrayed is that of a courtroom, where, with the Judge seated, the court
comes to order, and the books are opened. We can imagine how breath taking this
was for the prophet: to see the future when God will be seated on the throne as
our King and Judge.
But
Daniel kept looking, and this is what he saw:
“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, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him 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” (Daniel
Daniel
is saying, ‘I looked into heaven itself, and as the court sat, books opened.
Then suddenly I saw the visible and tangible manifestation of the blinding
glory of God himself displayed in the clouds. And in these clouds, being
brought in to the throne room, was One who was
identified as the Son of Man. This Son of Man was brought into the immediate
presence of the Ancient of Days, and presented to Him. The Ancient of Days then
commended that the Son of Man be given dominion and glory and an everlasting
kingdom.’ What Daniel saw was the exaltation of Jesus Christ.
The
title ‘Son of Man’ is used, not to describe a human being whose sphere of
operations is the earth, but a heavenly being. It concerns One
who left the presence of the Ancient of Days (God the Father) in heaven, became
human, and at the completion of His work returned to His place of origin,
heaven itself, where He was given dominion and glory.
So
the title ‘the Son of Man’ is a divine title applied to the pre-existant Messiah who exercises universal and eternal
dominion. When Jesus was using the title for Himself, He was saying, ‘I am that
Son of Man.’
Jesus once made this statement: “No
one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son
of Man who is in heaven” (Injil, John 3:13).
He often made reference to the fact that His place of origin was not
It is no accident that when (after
His resurrection) Jesus left this world, He ascended
in a cloud of glory which disappeared beyond the vision of the disciples
(Injil, Acts 1:9). Luke, the author of Acts, tells us of the departure of
Jesus, but he does not describe His arrival at the other end. The arrival is
described by the prophet Daniel years before it happened!
‘The Son of God’
Many times, Jesus also
called Himself ‘the Son of God’. He never once denied the title when other
people gave it to Him. He certainly would have if they had been mistaken.
One day Jesus asked His
disciples a question, “‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon
Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus
answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you Simon for flesh and blood have not
revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven’” (Injil, Matthew
16:15-17). When Jesus was arrested, the religious people who hated Him asked, “‘Are you then the Son of God?’ To this Jesus replied,
‘You are right in saying that’” (Injil, Luke 22:70). Immediately they accused
Him of blasphemy and asked for His crucifixion.
The title Son of God
does not mean that God had a wife. It does not mean that God
married Mary who gave birth to Jesus. That would truly be blasphemy. The
meaning is far deeper. The prophets like Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David and
Isaiah would have understood the true meaning of the phrase ‘the Son of
God.’ We have already seen the example
of the prophet Isaiah who said that the Son who was to be born would be called,
“Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, everlasting
Father, and Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
If you asked any Jewish
person before the birth of Jesus, ‘who can be called the Son of God?’, he or she would reply, ‘only someone who is divine -
equal to God.’ That is why, when Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, they
accused Him of blasphemy and crucified Him. The sister of the man (called
Lazarus) whom Jesus raised from the dead said, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the
world” (Injil, John
The Jews once asked
Jesus, “‘If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus replied, ‘I told you, and you do not
believe…My Father and I are one.’” What was the Jews’ reaction to that? We
read, “Then the Jews picked up stones to stone Him. But Jesus said to them, “‘Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which
of those works do you stone Me?’ ‘For good work we do
not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You,
being a Man, make Yourself God.’ Jesus
answered them, “Is it not written in your law (concerning magistrate and
religious readers), ‘I said, you are gods?’ If He called them gods, to whom
the word of God came (and the Scriptures cannot be broken), do you say of Him
(Jesus) whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are
blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (Injil, John
10:22-36).
The Jews would not have
sought to stone Jesus if He had not said something they believed to be
blasphemous, namely, that He claimed to be God.
When Jesus was arrested
and brought before the Sanhedrin (the Jews’ top political and religious
tribunal), Caiaphas, asked Him the straightforward
question: ‘I put You under oath by the living God:
Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!” Without any hesitation Jesus
replied, “Yes, it is as you said” (Injil, Matthew 26:63-64).
The next day Jesus was
hauled before the Sanhedrin again, but nothing could make Him change His mind.
When asked ‘Are you then the Son of God?’ He replied, ‘You rightly say that I
am’ (Injil, Luke 22:70). The authorities were furious and wanted to kill Him.
In both meetings they accused Him of blaspheming. “He has spoken blasphemy!
What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His
blasphemy” (Injil, Matthew 26:65). Their question to Jesus was not, “Are you
one of the children of God?”. If it was, Jesus’ answer
could not have occasioned a charge of blasphemy. The Jews clearly understood
what Jesus meant by calling Himself the Son of God. He is the eternal Son of
God - the eternal Son of the Blessed.
2. His unity with the Father
We have already seen
that in many places Jesus spoke of God as ‘My Father,’ making it clear that He
is the Son of God.
On one occasion Jesus healed a man on the
Sabbath day and because of that the Jews sought to kill Him. Jesus answered and
said to them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
(John 5:17). The Jews understood what Jesus meant. They were furious as the
next verse says, “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him (Jesus),
because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father,
making Himself equal to God” (Injil, John 5: 18).
A few days later Jesus went to
Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “Many
good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you
stone Me?” The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good
work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make
Yourself God” (Injil, John
In
John 1:18, we read, “No one has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son,
who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared
Him”. Yes, a few people like Abraham and Moses did see God (as we shall see in
a future chapter). What they saw was the Lord Jesus, the Son of God. Nobody has
ever seen the Father except the Son. And yet to see Jesus is to see God, for He
declares God perfectly. He said to His disciples,
“He
who has seen Me has seen the Father…do you not believe that I am in the Father
and the Father in Me?” (Injil, John 14:1-11). Once again
, when the Jewish people heard this, they persecuted Jesus and sought to
kill Him because by claiming His equality with the Father, Jesus was claiming
to be God.
Philip, one of Jesus’ disciples, once asked Jesus, “Lord, show us the
Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known
Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so
how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’” (Injil, John 14:9).
So, Jesus made clear
and direct claims that He was God. He claimed for Himself divine titles which
are exclusively reserved for God. He also clearly claimed His deity when He
made Himself equal with God. In each case, the Jews knew and understood that He
was claiming to be God. So, they sought to kill Him. Can anyone really still
say that Jesus never claimed to be God?!