Thinking Theologically

Is Jesus God?

Is Jesus God? It turns out that a lot of people aren’t sure. In this episode, we speak to this confusion and look to various references throughout the Bible to see what answer it holds.

Music:
“Kid Kodi”
Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.blue

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Episode #48 – Was Jesus God?

Introduction

  • Introduce the survey (you can find the survey here)
  • Survey results:
    • “Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.”
      • U.S. Adults: 40% Strongly Agree; 15% Somewhat Agree; 13% Not Sure
      • Evangelicals: 70% Strongly Agree; 3% Somewhat Agree; 5% Not Sure
    • “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.”
      • U.S. Adults: 31% Strongly Agree; 22% Somewhat Agree; 11% Not Sure
      • Evangelicals: 29% Strongly Agree; 15% Somewhat Agree; 3% Not Sure 

Why so much confusion? Because the Bible is a lot less clear on the issue than many Christians want to admit. 

New Testament Evidence (From Earliest to Latest)

  1. Paul – never explicitly calls Jesus God, but does come really close
    1. “Form of God” (Phil 2:6)
    2. “Image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Col 1:15) 
    3. “In him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col 2:9) 
    4. Son of God (Romans 8:3)
    5. The mind of Christ is the mind of God (1 Cor 2:16)
    6. Jesus is Lord (see especially 1 Cor 8:6)
      1. Lord (gk. κύριος) is the Greek word used for in the Septuagint for the Hebrew word Adoni (hb. אָדוֺן) which is used in the Hebrew Bible in the place of God’s self-given name Yahweh (hb. יהוה). 
      2. Possible that Paul is reworking the Hebrew Shema (Deut 6:4–5) and adding Jesus. 
  2. Synoptic Gospels (i.e., Matthew, Mark, Luke)
    1. Son of God (e.g., Matt 8:29; Mark 1:1; Luke 1:35)
    2. Son of Man (e.g., Matt 8:20; Mark 2:10; Luke 6:5) 
    3. Messiah (e.g., Matt 1:1; Mark 8:29; Luke 2:11)
    4. Established the kingdom of God/heaven (Matt 4:17; Mark 1:15; Luke 4:43) 
  3. Gospel of John – the only NT book to explicitly call Jesus God
    1. Prologue (John 1:1–18)
    2. “I Am” statements (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51; 8:12; 10:7, 9, 11, 14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1, 5) 

Why is the NT so Vague? 

  • A full understanding and appropriate language for Jesus as God seems to have developed over time in the early church. 
  • Remember, the first Christians were Jews, all of which expected a very different kind of Messiah than they got in Jesus. Therefore, it would have taken them some time to fully come to grips with and understand what God had done in Jesus.
    • God never has just dumped all possible information on people, but has always allowed our understandings and beliefs to naturally develop over time. 
  • However, it seems to me, that the belief in Jesus as God was there from the very beginning, just not yet in explicit and developed language.
    • Early Christians believed that Jesus was:
      • The Messiah 
      • The Creator of all things 
      • The one who brought the kingdom of God 
      • The Savior of the world 
      • He was remembered in worship through the Lord’s Supper 
      • Hymns about Jesus, such as the Christ Hymn (Phil 2:6–11), were sung in worship
      • Prayer was directed to and through Jesus 
  • Like the theology of the Trinity or the establishment of the Canon, there was no reason to solidify language about Jesus’ identity until Christian belief began to be challenged. 
  • The Catalyst
    • The Parting of the Ways
    • Christianity and Judaism separated because Christians believed that Jesus was God. 
    • The Gospel of John seems to be written in the midst of this major separation, which is why John has the most explicit language about Jesus’ identity.
      • Polemic against the synagogue 
      • Identification of Jesus as the temple 
    • When Christians were forced to solidify their language about Jesus’ identity, they looked back at all the things they believed about Jesus and realized that the only way those beliefs could be true is if Jesus was God. 

Thinking Theologically

  • Belief in Jesus as God rests, primarily, on our theological beliefs. 
  • When we, like the early Christians, reflect upon what we believe Jesus did, then Jesus has to be God. 
  • See episode “Was it Necessary for Jesus to be Fully God?” 

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