Jesus: Truly God in the Gospels

[mattrose]

This week, in preparation for a Sunday evening Bible study, I read through the 4 Gospels to freshly look at the subject of the Deity of Christ. After compiling many notes and noting many verses, I narrowed my presentation down to the top 10 areas that point in the direction of Jesus' deity (with quotations as examples). I thought some of you might like to interact with it a bit or locate areas of weakness.
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1. The Christmas Story
What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit (Matt 1:20)
So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35)
Give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people (Matt 1:21)
And they will call him immanuel – which means, “God with us” (Matt 1:23)
We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him (Matt 2:2)
His kingdom will never end (Luke 1:33)
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel… because he has come (Luke 1:68)
A Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11)

2. Divine Titles
The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mark 1:1)
This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased (Matt 3:17)
You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matt 16:16)
Let God rescue him... for he said, ‘I am the Son of God’ (Matt 27:43)
How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them (Matt 9:15)
You will see the Son of Man… with great power and glory (Mark 13:26)
Calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God (John 5:18)

3. Teaching & Acting with Authority
He gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him! (Mark 1:27)
But I tell you (Matt 5:22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44)
He called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them (Luke 6:13)
For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath (Matt 12:8)
On this rock I will build my church (Matt 16:18)
This is my body… this is my blood (Matt 26:26, 28)
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (Matt 28:18)
We saw a man driving out demons in your name (Mark 9:38)
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19)

4. Miracle Working
He thus revealed his glory (John 2:11)
What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him! (Matt 8:27)
What’s this wisdom… that he even does miracles (Mark 6:2)
Believe the miracles… that the Father is in me, and I in the Father (John 10:38)

5. Forgiveness of Sins
He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’ (Mark 2:5)
He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone (Mark 2:7)
The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins (Luke 5:24)
Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ (Luke 7:48)
Who is this who even forgives sins? (Luke 7:49)

6. The I AM Statements
I AM the bread of life… that came down from heaven (John 6:35, 41)
I AM the light of the world. Whoever follows me… will have life (John 8:12)
Before Abraham was born, I AM! (John 8:58)
At this, they picked up stones to stone him (John 8:59)
I AM the gate, whoever enters through me will be saved (John 10:7, 9)
I AM the good shepherd (10:11, 14)
I AM the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me will live (John 11:25)
I AM the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6)
I AM the true vine (John 15:1)
When Jesus said, ‘I AM He,’ they drew back and fell to the ground (John 18:6)

7. The Transfiguration
There he was transfigured before them, his face shone like the sun (Matt 17:2)
This is my Son, who I love… Listen to him! (Matt 17:5)
They saw his glory and the two men standing with him (Luke 9:32)
When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone (Luke 9:36)

8. Testimony from Witnesses in the Know
And the Word was with God and the Word was God (John 1:1)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14)
God the One and Only, has made him Known (John 1:18)
I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God (John 1:34)
What do you want with me Jesus, Son of the Most High God (Mark 5:7)
He would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was (Mark 1:34)
Surely he was the Son of God (Matt 27:54)

9. Direct Claims
Except the one who came from heaven – The Son of Man (John 3:13)
No one knows who the Father is except the Son (Luke 10:22)
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9)
I and the Father are one (John 10:30)
You, a mere man, claim to be God (John 10:33)
You are right in saying I am (Luke 22:70)
I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matt 28:20)

10. Acceptance of Worship
Then those who were in the boat worshiped him (Matt 14:33)
Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him (John 9:38)
When they saw him, they worshiped him (Matt 28:17)
Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ (John 20:28)
Then they worshiped him (Luke 24:52)

All in all, I felt like this was a very strong case for the Deity of Christ, especially considering this is only the evidence from the Gospels themselves. The previous week we discussed how the OT points in the direction of the Trinity and a high Christology. Next week we will discuss the Deity of Christ in the Epistles and early church. The second half of the series will focus on the humanity of Christ (of which I am more interested in thinking through).

[TK]

matt wrote:

The second half of the series will focus on the humanity of Christ (of which I am more interested in thinking through).

This should be a very interesting study. While I believe Jesus was certainly divine, I do not believe that he did anything on earth that "arose out of" his divinity.

TK

[Jill]

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[Paidion]

Matt, what exactly does the title of your thread "Jesus: Truly God..." mean? What does it mean for someone to be "truly God"? Do you simply mean "truly divine"? Or do you mean more than that?

It sets me back on my heels a bit when I read of someone referring to Jesus as "truly God" since He doesn't refer to Himself in those terms. Indeed, in His prayer to His Father, He addressed His Father as "the only true God" and He referred to Himself as something other than the true God:

This is lasting life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3 )

[Jill]

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[mattrose]

Matt, what exactly does the title of your thread "Jesus: Truly God..." mean? What does it mean for someone to be "truly God"? Do you simply mean "truly divine"? Or do you mean more than that?

It sets me back on my heels a bit when I read of someone referring to Jesus as "truly God" since He doesn't refer to Himself in those terms. Indeed, in His prayer to His Father, He addressed His Father as "the only true God" and He referred to Himself as something other than the true God:

This is lasting life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3 )

The title borrows from, not only the ancient creed, but also from the Wesleyan Discipline (I am teaching in a Wesleyan Church). I, myself, mean by it 'truly divine.' I'm not sure what you mean by 'more than than.' I think the list provided makes a strong case that Jesus did view himself as divine and equal to the Father. In a subsequent week we will look at verses which seem to suggest otherwise.

[darinhouston]

I see "Divine" as something different (and lesser, more broadly) from "God" though even elohim has a wider semantic context than that one we call our "Creator God/Jehovah/Yahweh"

[mattrose]

I see "Divine" as something different (and lesser, more broadly) from "God" though even elohim has a wider semantic context than that one we call our "Creator God/Jehovah/Yahweh"

Well sure, in a sense, 'divine' is a more elastic term. But I'm suggesting it in its fullest sense and defending such by the combined force of these themes/verses from the Gospels.

[Jill]

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[Jill]

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