Sunday Sermons

The Word was God

Mark Dunagan
07/16/06 - Sunday Morning

The Word was God

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”

(John 1:1)

There are several lines of evidence that prove that Jesus did claim to be God, not a god, but rather an equality with the God who spoke in the Old Testament.

Jesus’ claim to be Jehovah

Some of the most forthright claims of Jesus to be God are revealed in His identification with the Jehovah of the Old Testament. The title Jehovah or Yahweh is the spelling given to the designation for God (YHWH) IN THE Old Testament. This word for God is spelled with all capital letters in the English Old Testament of the King James and Revised Standard versions, namely LORD. The American Standard Version (1901) transliterated it as “Jehovah”. In every case this term applies to God, unlike the wordadonai (usually translated “Lord”) which in some instances applies to men. Isaiah noted, “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images” (42:8). Yet what is said of Jehovah in the Old Testament is often said of Jesus in the New Testament:

Jehovah Jesus

“I am the first and the last” (Isaiah 44:6) “I am the first and last” (Revelation 1:17)

“The Lord is my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1) “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11)

“The Lord is my light” (Psalm 27:1) “I am the light” (John 8:12)

As noted previously above, “In the Book of Revelation Jesus is quoted by John as saying, “I am the first and the last’ (1:17), which are precisely the words Jehovah used to declare that there was no other God besides Himself (Isaiah 42:8). In view of the fact that the Jehovah of the Jewish Old Testament would not give His name, honor, or glory to another, it is little wonder that the words and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth drew stones and cries of ‘blasphemy’ from first-century Jews” (Christian Apologetics, Norman Geisler p. 331).

To be Equal with God

After Jesus said to the paralyzed man in Mark chapter 2, “My son, your sins are forgiven” (2:5), the Jewish scribes were outraged and said, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” (2:7). It is significant that Jesus did not correct their claim that only God could forgive sins, rather Jesus proceeded to back up the claim to be able to forgive sins (having power and authority equal with the Father) by healing the man (2:10). Thus Jesus claimed to have a power that only God possesses. Jesus also made a number of similar claims that places Him on an equality with the Father:

· “In order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father” (John 5:23). This is a very significant verse, because in the Old Testament Jehovah claimed that He would not share His glory (the honor that is due Him) with another (Isaiah 42:8). Added to this, Jesus also claimed that such honor or glory had existed with the Father before the world was, “And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was” (John 17:5).

· “In this same category, Jesus exhorted His disciples, ‘believe in God, believe also in Me’ (John 14:1). The pretensions of this claim to a monotheistic people were evident. The Jews knew well that no man should claim honor and belief (equal with honor and belief) in God. They reacted with stones (John 5:18)” (Geisler p. 332).

His acceptance of Worship

The Old Testament had clearly forbidden worship of anyone but God (Exodus 20:1-4; Deuteronomy 5:6-9). This not only included false gods and idols, but men and angels as well. Peter made it very clear to Cornelius that worship is reserved for God (Acts 10:25-26). Paul and Barnabas were horrified when the inhabitants of Lystra were prepared to worship them (Acts 14:13-15). Even angels rejected worship, “I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. And he said to me, ‘Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God” (Revelation 22:8-9). Yet Jesus accepted worship without any rebuke to those doing so:

· Matthew 14:32 “And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘You are certainly God’s Son!’”

· Matthew 28:17 “And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him”

His enemies understood His claims

Lest anyone try to argue that Jesus really did not claim to be God, the text is clear that those who heard Him speak in the first-century were not left wondering what He was claiming, rather, “For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18). It is noteworthy that while Jesus makes it clear that He is not breaking the Sabbath by doing good deeds (Matthew 12:12), He does not correct their conclusion that He was claiming equality with God, instead He only reinforces such a view by pointing out that He was equal with the Father:

· Whatever the Father does Jesus can do the same thing in like manner (5:19)

· Jesus can raise the dead and give even as the Father (5:21)

· The Father is a Judge and Jesus is the Judge at the last day (5:22)

· Equality of honor, respect and glory with the Father (5:23)

· Jesus’ words are just as powerful as the Father’s (5:24). On this point compare what Jesus said about the Old Testament(Matthew 5:18-19) to what He would say about His own teachings (Matthew 24:35).

· Like the Father, Jesus is self-existent (5:26)

Some Alleged Counterclaims of Christ

It is at times claimed that Jesus denied being equal with the Father on the basis of the following verses:

· “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28):

Yet we have already read passages in which Jesus claimed equality with God and especially equality in honor. The Father is greater than Jesus in office but not in nature. Jesus claimed equality with God in essence; it was only in His function as the Son and the Suffering Servant that He was less than the Father. On this point the Hebrew writer notes, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3). This chapter then further says of the Son, “Thy Throne, O God, is forever and forever” (Hebrews 1:8). Paul says of Jesus, “He existed in the form of God” (Philippians 2:6). This phrasethe form of God obviously means the essence of God, paralleling the phrase form of a servant (2:7).

· Jesus prayed on the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34).

Yet such a prayer does not imply that He is not God. There are many other examples of God talking to God, or one member of the Godhead speaking to another person of the Godhead. It is interesting that a couple of these examples clearly proclaim Jesus to be “God”, while at the same time speaking to “God” or being spoken to:

“The Lord says to my Lord” (Psalm 110:1)

“Therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy companions” (Hebrews 1:9). Yet in the previous verse (1:8), Jesus is called “God”. So when Jesus speaks of the Father as “My God”, this was never meant to mean that Jesus is an inferior or created being. In fact, Isaiah described the Messiah in the terms, “Mighty God, Eternal Father” (Isaiah 9:6), and Micah said of the Messiah, “His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (Micah 5:2).

· Jesus said that neither He nor anyone else is “good” except God (Mark 10:18):

“Upon careful examination Jesus did not deny that He was good or that He was God to the rich young ruler. Rather, Jesus said to him in essence, ‘Do you realize what you are saying? Are you calling me God?’” (Geisler p. 335).

· Colossians 1:15 “The first-born of all creation”: This means Jesus is a created-being, the first one God made.

There are a number of problems with the above interpretation. First, the expression “first-born” when applied to Jesus does not mean “a created being”. The same expression is found in Hebrews 1:6 “And when He again brings the first-born into the world, He says, ‘And let all the angels of God worship Him’”. The first-born Son in this passage is to be worshipped, yet worshipping a created being would be a sin, “And worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). Secondly, Jesus is always placed in the Creator category, the verse that follows Colossians 1:15 says, “For by Him all things were created, both in heavens and one the earth” (Colossians 1:16). John (John 1:3) and the Hebrew writer (Hebrews 1:2) equally place Jesus in the category of Creator of all things. Thus the term “first-born” as it often means, means the preeminent one, and in this passage, the preeminent one over all creation. Added to all this, the rest of the book of Colossians makes it clear that Jesus is God, especially the statement, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9). Geisler writes, “There is no doubt that the Old Testament presents God alone as Creator of the universe (Genesis 1:1). And when the disciples of Christ declare Jesus to be the One through whom all things were created, the conclusion that they were thereby attributing deity to Him is unavoidable. Since Christ could not be both the Creator of everything and at the same time a creature Himself, it is necessary to conclude that He is Himself the uncreated Creator of all creation. Thus Christ is first over creation, not first in it” (p. 338).

· “Jesus claimed ignorance of certain topics” (Mark 13:32):

Yet at the same time, He could read people’s minds (Luke 7:40), and could not be stumped by His opponents (Matthew 22:46). People tend to forget that Jesus voluntarily left heavenly glory and assumed human form, and in doing so, He placed Himself under the Father’s authority, and accepted certain limitations. In heaven, Jesus never slept or hungered, but He needed slept and food as a man (Psalm 121:4). Thus his “ignorance” of a certain event, was not due to His nature, but was rather self-chosen.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017