Dave M
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THE APOSTLES TESTIFY TO JESUS’ DEITY
Continuing our examination of Jesus’ claim to deity, we now want to consider what others said about Jesus. Those who knew Jesus best were His apostles and disciples, and they wrote a lot about Jesus. They were the authors of the New Testament, which gives us more evidence of Jesus’ deity.
John 1 says of Jesus,
“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being…. 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
This is a clear and direct statement of Jesus’ deity. Moreover, the word “dwelt” means “tabernacled”, which is the reality of the picture of Christ when God resided in the tabernacle with the Israelites in the wilderness. When He was born, He “tabernacled”, or dwelt, with men in the flesh.
John goes on in v. 18:
“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” In v. 14, John says Jesus is the only begotten from the Father; here, he makes clear that Jesus is God by calling Him the “only begotten God.”
The apostle Thomas declared plainly of the risen Christ,
“Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”” (John 20:28)
While all of Jesus’ apostles were Jewish, consider the unique case of Paul. Unlike the other apostles, Paul was a formally trained Pharisee, and likely knew the Old Testament far better than the other apostles. In the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6 makes clear that God is one, and Paul would have known this particular verse well:
“4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” Yet, Paul tells the Colossians, “9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” (Colossians 2) In 1 Timothy 3, Paul says, “16 By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.”
It would be unconceivable for a monotheistic Jew, especially a Pharisee like Paul, to view God as some polytheistic being. Rather, Paul effectively states that Jesus is God. Furthermore, Gentile Christians clearly viewed Jesus as God as well. If they saw Jesus as “another” God, they would not have been persecuted, especially by the Roman emperor. Pagan Gentiles had many gods, and if Jesus were simply one more, Christians would have been accepted. Instead, they saw Jesus as the one true and living God, and for that they were persecuted.
(Of course, Scripture has a triune view of God, which we refer to as the Trinity (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). You can read more about the Trinity in this article.)
Speaking of God, Acts 20:28 says,
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Hebrews 9 similarly says of Jesus, “11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
Thus the apostles equate Jesus with God. And Paul says in Titus 2:
“11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
Here again, Jesus is equated with God. Romans 9 states:
“…5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”
Hebrews 1, quoting Psalm 45, says,
“8 But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. 9 “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.””
Paul and John aren’t the only ones claiming Jesus is God. In 2 Peter 1, we read,
“Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Peter also equates Jesus with the Holy Spirit in 1 Peter 1:
“10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.”
Confirming the triune nature of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), Peter says in 2 Peter 1:
“20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” The Holy Spirit is equated with God, and Jesus is equated with the Holy Spirit, making Him equal to God. In Romans 8, Paul similarly equates Jesus with God the Holy Spirit: “9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
So, we have more evidence from those who knew Him best that Jesus is God.
Continuing our examination of Jesus’ claim to deity, we now want to consider what others said about Jesus. Those who knew Jesus best were His apostles and disciples, and they wrote a lot about Jesus. They were the authors of the New Testament, which gives us more evidence of Jesus’ deity.
John 1 says of Jesus,
“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being…. 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
This is a clear and direct statement of Jesus’ deity. Moreover, the word “dwelt” means “tabernacled”, which is the reality of the picture of Christ when God resided in the tabernacle with the Israelites in the wilderness. When He was born, He “tabernacled”, or dwelt, with men in the flesh.
John goes on in v. 18:
“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” In v. 14, John says Jesus is the only begotten from the Father; here, he makes clear that Jesus is God by calling Him the “only begotten God.”
The apostle Thomas declared plainly of the risen Christ,
“Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”” (John 20:28)
While all of Jesus’ apostles were Jewish, consider the unique case of Paul. Unlike the other apostles, Paul was a formally trained Pharisee, and likely knew the Old Testament far better than the other apostles. In the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6 makes clear that God is one, and Paul would have known this particular verse well:
“4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” Yet, Paul tells the Colossians, “9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” (Colossians 2) In 1 Timothy 3, Paul says, “16 By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.”
It would be unconceivable for a monotheistic Jew, especially a Pharisee like Paul, to view God as some polytheistic being. Rather, Paul effectively states that Jesus is God. Furthermore, Gentile Christians clearly viewed Jesus as God as well. If they saw Jesus as “another” God, they would not have been persecuted, especially by the Roman emperor. Pagan Gentiles had many gods, and if Jesus were simply one more, Christians would have been accepted. Instead, they saw Jesus as the one true and living God, and for that they were persecuted.
(Of course, Scripture has a triune view of God, which we refer to as the Trinity (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). You can read more about the Trinity in this article.)
Speaking of God, Acts 20:28 says,
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Hebrews 9 similarly says of Jesus, “11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
Thus the apostles equate Jesus with God. And Paul says in Titus 2:
“11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
Here again, Jesus is equated with God. Romans 9 states:
“…5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”
Hebrews 1, quoting Psalm 45, says,
“8 But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. 9 “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.””
Paul and John aren’t the only ones claiming Jesus is God. In 2 Peter 1, we read,
“Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Peter also equates Jesus with the Holy Spirit in 1 Peter 1:
“10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.”
Confirming the triune nature of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), Peter says in 2 Peter 1:
“20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” The Holy Spirit is equated with God, and Jesus is equated with the Holy Spirit, making Him equal to God. In Romans 8, Paul similarly equates Jesus with God the Holy Spirit: “9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
So, we have more evidence from those who knew Him best that Jesus is God.
