DID JESUS CALL HIMSELF GOD?
This question is
heard every now and then, from certain marginal Christian groups and Muslims,
who claim each on their own accord, that Jesus of Nazareth never called Himself
‘God’, and that this appellative was given to Him by a distorted Christianity three
centuries later.
In fact, the
first time we tried to be settle this issue, was during the First Council of
Nicaea in the year 325 CE; which also proved how widespread and older than
Arius and his immediate followers was this question; and the topic is so strong
that it has survived until these days, especially among unitarian groups.
This proves two
important facts:
1 – That
regardless of how old an idea is, how convincing or how widely held, it is not
prove that is correct.
2 – That
Scripture contains all the information necessary over all vital topics of the
Christian faith, without the need to wonder or guessing over them. All basic
points are clear and direct, the non-clear are open to debate, and the
forbidden issues, condemned unanimously.
A CREDIBLE
SOURCE
Christianity has
only four authoritative records of the life, work and words of Jesus of
Nazareth, which are recognized as true containers of Jesus’s message while He
was on earth.
These four are
considered to have been written by the Apostles of Jesus, or under their direct
approval. It is this conviction from the first century which has given
authority to these records.
The last document
of these four records, openly claims to have been written or narrated by a
direct disciple of Jesus, who was present at the last supper, and most probably
was Apostle John, son of Zebedee (John 13:23; 19:26; 21:20-24; Mark 10:35; John
21:1-2).
WHAT THE
GOSPEL OF JOHN SAYS
Whoever wrote
the called Gospel according to John, the internal claim is that it was written
by someone who knew Jesus deeply, more than any other disciple, to the point of
developing a close relationship with Him, that awarded him the nickname of the
‘Beloved Disciple’.
The document
that this disciple of the Lord wrote, contains the most developed theological
document about the nature and mission of Jesus of Nazareth than any other.
In this record
the author openly declares Jesus to be the Logos or ‘Word’ of God, and being
God (John 1:1, 14-15). Also declares this Word to be ‘the only Son of the
Father’ to have existed in ‘the beginning’ next to the Father (John 1:2), which
in this context implies eternity, since for God there is no ‘beginning’ of any
kind.
Furthermore, the
word used is ἐν (in), and not ἀπὸ (from), discarding all reference to a
personal beginning of the Word, but a permanent existence together with the
Father from eternity.
Jesus Himself declared his divinity by calling God
YHWH and Himself, ‘One’; and by calling this God, ‘Father’; which was
understood as a personal identification with the Supreme God of the Jews in
nature (John 10:30-33). John leaves no mistake that this was the way the Jews
understood these declarations of Jesus (John 5:18).
Finally, Jesus Himself confirmed this meaning when He
said to Phillip:
“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not
know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say,
‘Show us the Father’?”
John 14:9
CONCLUSION
Jesus Himself never said explicitly ‘I am God’, but
indirectly He implied it constantly, and this was the sense in which everyone
understood his declarations, so much his own disciples as did the Temple
officials who condemned Him for blasphemy.
Jesus never said openly He was God because He did not
want to obscure the reality and person of God YHWH.
Jesus was a different person from YHWH, and He also
made that perfectly clear, but He also implied his divine nature by putting
Himself on equal status as the Father by a pre-existing nature (John 17:5),
which could not be understood in any other way, save that He was ‘equal to
God’.
Furthermore, as the gospel of John was written after
the fulness of the revelation was completed, the author could express this
directly and clearly; a revealed truth that was fully known 300 years prior to
any Christological council or synod.
“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the
Father’s side, he has made him known.”
John 1:18
Omar Flores.
Comments
Post a Comment