Essay 28 (4/24/04)

DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE DIVINE?

It has long been the claim of "liberal" biblical scholars that Jesus himself never claimed to be divine. It was a claim made by his followers -- such as in the gospel of John, which these scholars see as a later theological interpretation. I propose in this essay to show evidence that Jesus did claim to be divine. And I believe this evidence will encourage the reader to have a renewed appreciation for the nature of Christ, especially in reference to his relationship to God.

I propose to present this evidence from the synoptic gospels -- Matthew, Mark, and Luke -- for these scholars consider these documents earlier and more reliable than John. While I do not agree with them in dismissing John as a reliable source of what Jesus actually said about himself, I will confine myself to the synoptics -- which they claim do not support the thesis that Jesus viewed himself as divine.

But first I want to look at the evidence in John, so as to compare it with the synoptics. There are two particular sections in John -- one in chapter 5 and another in chapter 14 -- where Jesus speaks in detail about his relationship to God, and about his divinity.

Notice some of the claims Jesus makes in John 5:

1. Whatever the Father does the Son does (verse 19).

2. As the Father raises the dead, the Son gives life to whom he will (verse 21).

3. The Father does not judge; all judgment is given to the Son (verse. 22).

4. The Son gives eternal life (verse 24).

5. The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God (verse 25-28).

6. The Father sent the Son and bears witness to him (verse 37).

7. The Scriptures speak of "me" as the one God sent (verse 39).

8. "I have come in the name of the Father" (verse 43).

9. "If you believed Moses, you would believe in me" (verse 46).

The claims Jesus makes in John 14 are even more assertive of his divinity:

1. "No one can come to the Father except through me (verse 6).

2. "If you know me, you will know the Father also" (verse 7).

3. "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (verse 9).

4. "I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (verse 10-11).

5. "I am going to the Father" (verse 12).

6. "Whoever loves me will be loved by the Father (verse 21).

7. "The Father will send the Holy Spirit in my name" (verse 26).

8. "The prince of this world has no power over me" (verse 30).

In John our Lord not only declares his divinity but his preexistence as well: "In all truth I tell you, before Abraham was, I am (8:58). And he repeatedly declares himself to be the Son of God, as in 10:36 and in 11:4.

These critics say that if Jesus had really made such extravagant claims, they would be recorded in the synoptic gospels. But in the synoptics Jesus calls himself "the Son of man" -- not "the Son of God" -- and makes no clear-cut claim to divinity. John, written somewhat later, reflects what his disciples eventually believed about Jesus, not what he really believed about himself, the critics claim.

It is true that in the synoptic gospels Jesus is more indirect and subtle in his claims to divinity, but this may actually make the evidence more impressive. I find one instance -- the judgment scene in Mt. 25 -- mind-boggling in its implications. Here Jesus speaks of himself in such terms as, "When the Son of man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he shall take his seat on his throne of glory" (verse 31). He goes on to refer to himself as the King: "Then the King will say to those on his right hand, 'Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take as your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world'" (verse 33).

Here is a bold assertion of divinity, even if indirect. He not only makes Son of man a supernatural figure who is to sit on a glorious throne, but gives himself the role of both judge and king. Matthew's Jewish readers would identify the judge and ruler (king) of the universe as the God of Israel.

Even if in the synoptics our Lord identifies himself as the Son of man rather than as the Son of God, he frequently gives this term divine character. When Jesus asked his disciples to identify him, the Son of man, Peter confessed, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt. 16:16), Jesus blessed him and told him that what he had confessed was a revelation from heaven.

Again, it is indirect, but nonetheless a bold assertion of divinity.

When the high priest asked Jesus in Mt. 26:63 if he were the Christ, the Son of God, he would only say, "It is you who say it." But when Jesus went on to say to the high priest that he would see the Son of man seated at the right hand of God and coming in glory, the high priest accused him of blasphemy. This means he saw Jesus as claiming to be divine.

Another remarkable passage lending evidence that Jesus claimed to be divine is Lk. 10:23: "Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." This indicates such an intimate relationship between Father and Son -- and such a shared knowledge between them -- that it is akin to some of the things said in the fourth gospel, such as John 5:18: "He spoke of God as his own Father and so made himself God's equal." So this claim is made in the synoptics as well as in John.

While still subtle and indirect, our Lord's claim to forgive sins was a claim to be divine. The scribes (scholars of the law) understood this, for when Jesus said to a paralytic in Mk. 2:5 "Your sins are forgiven," they complained, "How can this man talk like that? He is being blasphemous. Who but God can forgive sins?" The scribes had it right: Jesus was claiming to be God -- or God's Son -- when he forgave sins. Or as Jesus said it Mt. 9:6: "the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins."

Equally impressive is Lk. 12:8-9: "I tell you, if anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, the son of man will declare himself for him in the presence of God's angels. But anyone who disowns me in the presence of human beings will be disowned in the presence of God's angels."

Here Jesus speaks of how people respond to him in terms of their eternal destiny. If they accept him, God's angels will hear about it; if they reject him, they will be disowned in eternity. Jesus not only forgives sins, he is judge over human destiny.

We can see the claim for divinity in his claim for heavenly authority, and this is as clear in the synoptics as in John. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me," Jesus says in Mt. 28:18. This was evident in his teaching: "His teaching made a deep impression on them because, unlike the scribes, he taught them with authority" (Mk. 1:22). The Jewish leaders, troubled by Jesus' bold actions, asked him, "What authority have you for acting like this? And who gave you this authority" (Mt. 21:23). It was an admission that Jesus' teaching and wondrous deeds implied an authority beyond any human court. Perhaps they wanted him to commit himself -- that his authority was from God -- and thus be subject to the charge of blasphemy. Jesus, aware of their duplicity, avoided a direct answer, but the context makes it clear that he assumed heavenly authority.

The way Jesus used "Verily I say to you" in his teaching appears to be a deliberate substitution for the prophetic "Thus saith the Lord," as if to put his authority on the same level with the God of the Old Testament. And he boldly placed his own authority above that of the Mosaic law -- "You have heard that it was said . . . but I say unto you" -- over and over again. He did not hesitate to say, "He who hears these words of mine and does them . . ."

Even so, our Lord's divinity was such that he didn't have to lay claim to it. It was evident by who he was, what he did, and what he taught. It was apparent that he was like no other person. No one spoke like he did. Mark tells us that he "astonished" people. He reports them as saying, "He gives orders even to unclean spirits and they obey him" (Mk. 1:27).

This is a vital truth for those of us who live in a world where the "sovereignty of autonomous self" is the rule. We want to chart our own course; we do not want to be told what to do. Our own reason -- our own resources -- is all we need. We don't want to submit to anything -- not even to divinity itself. But such a world is hollow at the core. The so-called "liberated self" that needs neither God nor angels in the end faces a tormenting question mark about the nature of life -- a crisis of self-identity.

There is one who authentically claims to be "the way, the truth, and the light," and he has declared, "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on a rock." It is not a coercive authority, but the gift of God's grace.

It is the grace that assures us, "Anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it" (Mt. 10:39). Even the "for my sake" speaks of divinity!

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