John’s Testimony of Astonishment!

Did you ever see something that took you by surprise and you did a “double-take”? You know, you looked once as you were walking and then it hit you, and you stopped, because you had to give it another, more lingering look. I believe this is what John is telling us when the Gospel writer records: “I knew him not…” (John 1:31). John repeats this in verse-33. He was astonished that he did not know the Messiah without seeing the Father’s sign that the Holy Spirit would descend and remain upon the One who was to come.

 

Jesus Has Shown Us What God Is Like!

Have you ever wondered what God is like? We see him portrayed exactly as he is in the face and life of Jesus (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus is the exact representation on earth of what God is in heaven. You see, no one had ever seen God (John 1:18), so no one knew what he was like. If Jesus is God through whom all things were created, and he came into this world, lived among us, but we never recognized who he actually is, then it is pretty safe to conclude that no one really knows God without knowing Jesus.

 

God WITH Us!

Some time ago, I remember seeing an animated version of Christians involved in ministry at their local church. It portrayed the ministries of three adults involved in children’s ministry. The first two appeared to be nothing more than babysitting. The children seemed to be very active and the two adults seemed a bit annoyed but bearing with it all, while the bubble above their heads showed what they really wanted to do. One saw himself involved in the choir, and the other saw herself helping the aged. The animation showed they truly wanted to help, but they really wanted to be doing something else. The third adult looked like he was really enjoying the children. He was sitting on the floor with them laughing and the bubble above his head was an exact replica of what he was already doing. In other words, he was content in his ministry and wouldn’t prefer doing anything else, no matter what that might be!

 

He Pitched his Tent with us!

John 1:14 and following simply doesn’t make sense if Jesus is a mere man. Why would it be of any importance to say: the Word (Jesus) became flesh, unless the Word is other than human to begin with? For him to be an angel doesn’t fit for several reasons. First, the angels are created beings and John 1:3 reminds us that absolutely nothing came to exist that does exist without being created through the Word. Secondly, the writer of Hebrews insists that God never told an angel: “You are my Son—Today, I have begotten you!” God simply does not refer to angels in this manner (Hebrews 1:5). So what does John 1:14 mean? If we are speaking about God, and if God is not a complex unity, what do the terms God and the Word, or Father and Son mean when the text doesn’t seem to differentiate when it comes to who God is?

 

Can God be Subject to God?

I think one of the most powerful portions of Scripture that is used by some folks in an effort to prove that Jesus is not God is found in 1Corinthians 15. Here we are told that the Father had placed all things under the authority of Jesus. Jesus reigns as the Messiah until all things are brought into subjection to the Father, as all things were in the beginning, before the rebellion of Adam. Once Jesus does this, the Scripture claims, “…then the Son himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all” (1Corinthians 15:28). So, what about this one-liner? Is there enough of a foundation here to support a teaching that Jesus is not God? Can God be subject to God?

 

Who is the Word, and is it Important?

from Google Imgages

Probably John 1:1 is the most controversial verse in the Bible. I grew up Roman Catholic and never doubted that Jesus was God. When I grew up and entered the military, I found several people who not only didn’t believe Jesus was God, but didn’t care. And, it didn’t stop there. Later, I would be visited by people who appeared very sincere in their beliefs, but they believed Jesus was either a mere man chosen by God or that Jesus was a god, but not the God. I have several blogs on the theology of the first chapter of John, but, for now, I just want to talk about what is on my heart as it pertains to this idea.

 

My God, Why Have You Forsaken me?

from Google Images

Some of today’s modern critics like to point out that Mark’s Gospel portrays Jesus as afraid and depressed just before he died. They draw this from Jesus saying in Mark 15:34, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Such folks on the discussion boards draw upon this argument to conclude that Jesus couldn’t be God if he was afraid to die. Yet, they don’t realize how subjective their interpretation is. While Jesus did, indeed, say this why would we conclude that Jesus is depressed or afraid? Isn’t it because we merely project this idea upon those words?

 

Jesus Was Afraid?

Image via Wikipedia

One of the arguments that appears from time to time on the discussion boards is that Jesus really blew it in Gethsemane, if he wanted anyone to believe he was God. How can God be afraid of anything? He cried out to God to remove his impending suffering and death, and seems at one point to be so afraid that he feared he might die of fear itself. What gives? Is this true? In a word, “No” it is not true, at least not in the manner in which the argument is formulated.

 

Jesus’ Will v/s God’s Will?

Some folks try to point out that Jesus could not be God, because he has a different will than that of God and more or less submitted to God’s will rather than do as he (Jesus) really desired. Since God is not schizophrenic, and if Jesus does have a different will than the Father, how could he be God? One of the one-liner Scriptures used to promote this thinking is found in John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” On the surface it seems to be saying that Jesus ultimately has a will opposed to that of the Father, but instead of doing what he wants to do, he submits to God. Is this what this Scripture is saying?

 

The Father is Greater than I!

In John 14:28 Jesus tells his disciples that his Father, who is God, is greater than he (Jesus). This is one of those “Duh!” occurrences in Scripture. Some folks, who hold Jesus to a low Christology, try pointing to this Scripture as a kind of one-liner to establish the doctrine that Jesus is not God. Yet, they don’t seem to realize that their understanding does not fit the context. Try to put yourself in the place of one of the disciples and Jesus comes into the room and says: “Okay, folks, I just want to tell you that God is greater than I am!” Should you be surprised? If Jesus is only a man, is this supposed to be some great revelation?

 

God’s Son ~ Jesus!

One of the most common offerings on the discussion boards from folks who hold Jesus to a low Christology is that he never claimed to be God; he said he was God’s Son! This response in itself has its own problems, but we’ll get to that below. For now we need to see the Scriptures used to show how these folks point out that Jesus is the Son of God, but not God.

 

The Man, Christ Jesus!

We’re discussing “one-liner” theology in the next few blogs, as it pertains to some folks reading one line of Scripture and developing their Christology around that single verse or part of a verse. One of the Scriptures I see often on the discussion forums that folks use in an effort to show Jesus is not God is 1Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Yet, as I hope to show below, this Scripture is taken completely out of context in an effort to prove the point.

 

One Lord ~ Jesus Christ

A lot of folks claim that they can’t find any Scriptures indicating that Jesus claimed to be God, but I have found at least four, and I’ve written a blog on each one. They can be found HERE. Of course there are many other Scriptures showing Jesus is God, and if Scripture is to be considered the word of God, they ought to be considered in one’s Christology. In this blog I would like to consider one of the arguments folks use to say Jesus never claimed to be God. I hope to address other arguments in future blogs.

 

No Man Has Ever Seen God!

Image via Wikipedia

The Prologue of John ends with verse-18 of the first chapter of his Gospel. This is his introduction to the life and ministry of Jesus our Savior. John says that no man has ever seen God, but if this is so, how can we conclude that Jesus is God, since so many in the first century CE have seen Jesus? Obviously, John is speaking in terms of God in his glorious form or spiritual essence (John 4:24). If this were not true, then how would we explain Abraham walking and speaking with God in the plain of Mamre (Genesis 18), or how would we explain Moses with God on Sinai?

 

Mercy and Truth Came to us by Jesus

What John has given us at this point is an entirely different worldview than was held either by Judaism or the pagan world. What Moses gave us was that there is a single cause for all that is. Polytheism believes there were many forces (gods) that collided and produced the world in which we live. In fact, mankind and our physical world are but a reflection of that of the gods. We don’t even belong to the real world, according to the worldview held by the great empires of the ancient world. Judaism alone taught “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” and that he is the single cause of all that is. Because he is the single cause, it is possible to have a single Lawgiver who is in control of everything, and far from being a mere emanation of the gods, we are real, part of a real world and answerable to our Creator for what we do. This was the Law that came through Moses and the God he introduced to Israel.