Many people are surprised when they read what Jesus told his disciples, “But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32; emphasis mine). This acknowledgement has led some folks to doubt Jesus is really God in the flesh (cp. John 1:1, 14). Mark is the only Gospel writer to include Jesus with those who were ignorant of the day and hour of his return, but this ignorance is to be expected. Read the rest of this entry »
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John tells us in Revelation 1:7 that Jesus would come with the clouds, and every eye would see him. But, what does he mean by saying this? Should we expect to see Jesus riding upon a puffy, white, cumulus cloud some day? Some people may think this is exactly what the text, and others like it, means. In other words, the most apocalyptic book among the records of the New Covenant must be taken literally, and, therefore, Jesus has not yet come! I have even seen paintings that indicate Jesus would literally return to the earth riding upon a cloud and all his saints with him. This, however, is far too literal an interpretation for an apocalyptic text such as this one. Read the rest of this entry »
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Jesus had just defeated the scholarly Sadducees in a verbal battle of wits. In doing so, he had caused the Pharisees to rejoice, in that Jesus had shown how the Law points to the resurrection, something the rabbis had heretofore been unable to do. Therefore, perhaps not to appear he supported this group over that of the Sadducees, Jesus asked the disciples of the Pharisees how their teachers (the rabbis / scribes – see Mark 13:35) taught the Messiah was David’s son (Matthew 22:41; Luke 20:41). Read the rest of this entry »
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Luke tells us that the response to Jesus’ healing of the man stricken with palsy in connection with his saying that the man’s sins were forgiven was paradoxical. The scribes and Pharisees claimed that they “saw strange things today!” (Luke 5:26) The Greek word for strange things is paradoxos (G3861), from which we get our word paradox. The question is then, ‘what was the paradox that Jesus laid before the Pharisees and the doctors of the Law that they found so difficult to embrace? The healing, itself, astonished everyone—both the people and the leaders. Nevertheless, the power or authority behind the healing is what left the leaders of the people speechless and without a comfortable explanation. In fact, Mark tells us that these leaders had never seen their beliefs carried out in this fashion (Mark 2:12). Read the rest of this entry »
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. Read the rest of this entry »
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! Read the rest of this entry »
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? Read the rest of this entry »
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? Read the rest of this entry »
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. Read the rest of this entry »
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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?
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. Read the rest of this entry »
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? Read the rest of this entry »
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? Read the rest of this entry »
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. Read the rest of this entry »
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. Read the rest of this entry »
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