Right, let's deal with the nonsense. Once more, this will be a long post. But all the same, I'd like the arguments dealt with and not skipped over before we return to Dan Brown-lite waffle.
First of all, the idea that Jesus was only put on the same footing as YHWH in the third and fourth centuries.
A careful study of the Judaism of Jesus day (Second Temple Judaism as it is known to the scholars) explains how first century Jews could confess Jesus as God, yet also view him as God the Son and not God the father, without lapsing into contradiction.
For one thing, Jews of the period, like most ancients, did not hold the same concept of individuality as moderns. We tend to think that individuals are defined as separate units, each possessing its own free-will, unique personality, and its own set of desires and abilities. We also consider it a virtue to be self sufficient, and encourage each person to find an identity of their own. The ancients viewed a person in a very different light. No human was an individual in their own right, in separation from others. A person could not define themselves, but rather was defined by the relationships they had with other human beings. Humans were defined by their family, their social connections, and who they associated with. I could not exist without those connections, so those connections were essential in creating me, in making me who I am. They were much more than just a part of me I could not exist without them.
If I am deeply and essentially connected to those closest to me, at points it will be difficult to tell where my identity ends, and theirs begin. We cannot understand a son without understanding his father, for, in 1st Century Palestine, the son will inherit the fathers way of life, his beliefs, the family name and whatever honour (or shame) that goes with that name. Neither can we understand the father without observing his relationship to his sons. How his sons behave will reflect on who he is as a parent, and as a man. Will they bring honour to his name, or will they shame him? How effective a father has he been? A fathers community would pay close attention to these questions, and judge him on the answers.
With this in mind in becomes much easier to see how the Father and the Son could both be different in important ways, and yet both be the unique God. Neither is a separate concrete individual that could exist by himself. Each is dependant on the other; neither could be who he is without the other. You cannot understand the Father without understanding the Son, and vice-versa, not because they are the same person far from it- but because they are deeply, intimately and essentially connected. The two may not be the same, but they cannot be separated. And this would have made perfect sense to the minds of Jesus disciples.
God was certainly unique, unlike any other thing. There was a huge, impassable gulf between Him and His creation. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Deut 6v4, or the Shema as it is commonly known). The faithful Jew recited this daily, promising to serve him with everything they were and had. They also recited the 10 commandments, which viewed God as the only object worthy of worship, and insisted that no human image or creation could reflect who he was. The God of Israel was different from all other gods of the time, in that he and he alone, was the sole creator and ruler of all things. (Isaiah 48 v 12 "Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last. 13 My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together is but one example of a multitude of verses that could be quoted to illustrate this.) The Lord is God and there is no one like him, is the constant refrain of the Hebrew Bible.
But God was not only unique, totally other from his creation. He was at work within it, and intimately connected with his people Israel. Judaism saw God at work in his world and people in at least five different ways, and commonly used five related terms to talk about God. They saw his Wisdom and Word at work in creation, his presence (shekinah) in their Temple, his Law guiding his people, and his Spirit watching over the world and Israel. These were five different ways of referring to the one God, of identifying him, and understanding his work.
God had to be viewed as both infinitely removed from his creation, and intimately at work within it. It was difficult to conceive exactly how God could be both, but it was certainly possible that he could be. It was not self-contradiction to affirm these twin truths. What Judaism was certain of was that this was who God was. He was both unfathomably beyond us, yet at work in this world right beside us. Fail to mention both and you dont see who God is. Abstract speculation was largely left aside, and theorising about God was abandoned as a hopeless project. Judaism just got on with the job of worshipping and preaching the God who was like no other.
While capable of highly sophisticated argument, the Judaism of Jesus day was, for the most part, not interested in abstract philosophical argument after the manner of the Greek scholars. They did not argue about essences or properties, substances or hypostases, or any other highly abstract theories. What was important was trying to discern how best to worship this unique God, and how to live as his unique people. They were more interested in who God was than what he was. The Gospel writers were convinced that we must speak of God as three whos Father, Son and Spirit precisely because the witness of Jesus Christ forced them to. They were not interested in the metaphysics that made this possible. (The Church was forced to talk about Gods essence and properties, and the all important difference between a substance and a hypostasis, only when it moved into a Greek and Roman culture). They did not set out to explain how this was possible; they just knew that it was possible.
Simply put they wanted to know how we identify God. And the answer was that if you wanted to know who God was, you must identify him as Father and Son (and Spirit, but it will take a different essay to explain and justify that claim). Take away the Father, and you are no longer talking about God as he truly is. Take away the Son, and youve stopped understanding the creator. Each is essential to making God who he is. You cannot talk about one without talking about the other. They are inextricably linked, and yet different. If it was possible for God to be at once vastly removed from his world, and yet always at work within it, then it was just as easy to believe that he was at once Father and Son. And if it was common sense to view people as deeply connected and inseparable from one another, then it was certainly possible to believe that Jesus was God, that he had a Father who was also God, (and that they sent a Spirit who also was God) for Father and Son defined each other, and could not be without each other. If the one God could work in different but compatible ways within his world (as Wisdom, as Law, as his presence in the Temple etc.) then the one God could certainly be different but complementary persons.
The Testimony of the Gospels
Read against the background of the Old Testament, it is strikingly clear that the Gospel writers thought of Jesus as God. Without a careful study of the Old Testament, it is easy to miss these claims (this is why Jehovahs Witnesses interpretation of the New Testament is so disappointing, despite their thorough knowledge of the text).
Jesus rarely comes straight out with the claim that he is God incarnate (apart from anything else, this would have led people to believe that he was identical to the Father). But we should not expect him to, as that is not how Jesus taught. He taught in parables and allusions, he made hints and gave clues about his mission. He never came straight out and said Im the Messiah, by the way but rather expected the disciples to work this out for themselves (who do people say that I am?. He never gave a point by point sermon that explained exactly what he meant by the Kingdom of God. Rather he taught in a series of parables, a performed a number of miracles that explained what he meant by the Kingdom. He expected his followers to reflect on who he was and what he was saying and doing, and if they were open to Gods guidance, they would form the correct conclusions. In short, he expected his followers to think, and think hard. He demanded effort, and humility. He that has an ear let him hear. So it is not surprising that Jesus never comes straight out with a claim to deity. He never came straight out with a claim to anything else of importance.
In the gospels how does Jesus claim to be God? First we will look at a series of miracles in which Jesus acts in a way that only God can act. It is important to notice that he does not ask God to perform these miracles on his behalf (like Elijah or Elishah, nor does God talk to him to tell him how to perform these miracles (as he did with Moses). Rather, Jesus performs his miracles on his own authority on every occasion. This alone makes him unique in the Scriptures.
Nevertheless, it is what Jesus did, rather than how he did it that demonstrates who he is. We will focus on just two examples.
Mark Chapter 4- Jesus Calms the Storm
35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
41They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
Why would the disciples be terrified after being saved from certain death? Were the Israelites described as terrified after being led through the Red Sea? The disciples were terrified as they had just seen Jesus do what the Old Testament do what only God could do. Apart from the other quotations we will look at, Jesus has just re-enacted a scenario described in Psalm 107.
Psalm 107
23 Others went out on the sea in ships;
they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the LORD,
his wonderful deeds in the deep.
25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
that lifted high the waves.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
in their peril their courage melted away.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunken men;
they were at their wits' end.
28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men.
Only God could save the sailors caught in the storm. And yet the disciples had just been saved by crying out to Jesus, and he had just calmed the storm on his own authority, without praying to God himself, or seeking Gods help ("Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!").
A few other Old Testament texts should show that Jesus was clearly demonstrating an authority that only the creator possessed. No angel or other divine being could share this authority according to the Old Testament, and the Gospels portray this authority as properly belonging to Jesus. The Father had not delegated it to him for a period.
Psalm 89
8 O LORD God Almighty, who is like you?
You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule over the surging sea;
when its waves mount up, you still them.
Psalm 65
6 who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,
7 who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
Psalm 93
3 The seas have lifted up, O LORD,
the seas have lifted up their voice;
the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
4 Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea-
the LORD on high is mighty.
Job 38
"Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt'?
It is clear from these passages that God alone has control of the sea, and the authority over the waves. This is part and parcel of Gods rights as creator of the sea. As such this authority can be shared with no other. Jesus, by calming the storm, put himself on an equal footing with the creator. Another miracle, which appears in all four Gospels, that clearly demonstrates Jesus identity with the God of Israel, is Jesus walking on the water. Compare the description in Marks gospel with the two Old Testament texts that follow.
Mark 4 - Jesus Walks on the Water
47When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50because they all saw him and were terrified.
51Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed.
Job 9
7 He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;
he seals off the light of the stars.
8 He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.
Psalm 77
18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.
19 Your path led through the sea,
your way through the mighty waters,
though your footprints were not seen.
What is impressive about the miracle of Treading the Waves is not that the miracle merely established Jesus authority over the storm and the ocean, but rather that it identifies Jesus with the God who led Israel through the Red Sea to freedom with Egypt. (Both Old Testament texts allude to this incident). In any case the quotation from Job clearly establishes that Jesus was doing as a man what only God could do as creator.
Jesus Parables not only outlined his teaching on Gods kingdom, or on Gods love, but on whom Jesus was. For example Jesus told the parable of the Lost Sheep to explain why he fellowshipped with the sinful and not the righteous. Jesus clearly plays the part of the shepherd in the parable. It is those parables that focus on Jesus as the Good Shepherd that we will now focus on. In the Old Testament God describes himself to the prophets in many occasions as Israels true Shepherd (Psalm 23 being the obvious example). In his parables Jesus not only identifies himself as a good shepherd, but the Good Shepherd. By comparing his parables with relevant Old Testament texts, we can see quite clearly that Jesus is identifying himself with Israels unique God.
Luke 15
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
1Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
3Then Jesus told them this parable: 4"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Now as we have said, Jesus is defending his own actions in welcoming sinners, so he is comparing himself to a trustworthy shepherd. Compare the actions of Jesus in this parable with Gods actions in the two texts following.
Psalm 28
8 The LORD is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
9 Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Isaiah 40
10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
Jesus tells a similar parable in Matthew 18.
Matthew 18 - The Parable of the Lost Sheep
12"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.
John 10 - The Shepherd and His Flock
1"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."
Again compare Jesus roles in these passages with the description of God as a Shepherd in the Old Testament. What becomes clear is that Jesus describes himself as a Shepherd who performs the same role as God the Shepherd, by searching for the lost sheep of Israel, bearing them in his arms, carrying them home, or leading them along the way. Especially compare Gods words in Ezekiel 34 v11, and Ezekiel 34 v 16 with Jesus words about himself in Luke 19v10, which is also quoted below.
Psalm 80
1 Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock;
you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
come and save us.
Ezekiel 34
11 " 'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
Luke 19 v 9+10
Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
The Old Testament prophets believed that God himself was coming to rescue his people, that he personally would be their shepherd, a better shepherd than the religious leaders who had led his people astray in the past. He would then establish Davids heir, the Son of David as King, a sort of sub-shepherd to keep his people safe. What seems amazing about these texts is that Jesus was not only identifying himself with the Davidic character that the prophets expected to rescue his people. Jesus was clearly identifying himself with God in his saving role as Israels shepherd. He viewed himself as the one who fulfilled the prophets promise that one day God himself would come like a shepherd and rescue his people Israel. Jesus was fulfilling Israels expectations and Gods promises in a way that no-one could have expected.
It is also instructive to compare the passage in Ezekiel reproduced below, with Jesus parable of the Sheep and the Goats. There Jesus not only compares himself to God the Shepherd, but also claims to be able to do what only God will do in the last day Judge the world. In fact Jesus uses precisely the same imagery for himself that God uses for himself.
Matthew 25The Sheep and the Goats
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Ezekiel 34
17 And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.
So finally we will examine Jesus conviction that one day he personally would return to judge the world. Of course, the Old Testament and Jewish were agreed that this was a right that God alone owned. Yet Jesus not only claimed the right to judge the world, when he described how he would do this he used language that clearly identifies himself with Israels only God. A perfect example of this is found in Jesus description of himself as Son of Man, and more specifically the Son of Man who would come on the clouds to judge the whole world.
This image is found in every Gospel and in verses unique to each gospel. It was not used by any Jewish text or teacher, nor was it an image that the Early Church referred to much outside the Gospels. (It would not have made much sense to those outside a Jewish culture.) So it is unlikely that the first Christians would invent Jesus saying this sort of thing. It can be assumed therefore that the image was found in all of the sources that the Gospel writer used, and that the image goes back to Jesus himself. Even the most critical scholar should accept some of these sayings as authentic, as they pass the most stringent of criteria for authenticity. Yet many scholars refuse to accept that Jesus said anything like this, simply because they refuse to accept that Jesus could have thought of himself as equal with God. The implications of a Jesus who believed he was identified with God would be too much for many critical scholars to cope with even when their own methods imply this belief.
It will be helpful, therefore, to compare the coming Son of Man sayings with their Old Testament counterparts. The Son of Man imagery is clearly gleaned from Daniel 7 -13 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. When that imagery is combined with the prerogative to judge the nations, and when we see what the imagery of the clouds implies, it becomes quite clear that Jesus saw his identity as being inseparable from Gods.
As the Old Testament texts that follow make clear and they are only a small sample God, and only God, in the Old Testament scriptures is pictured as dwelling among clouds, and coming on the clouds to judge the whole earth. Furthermore it is important to realise that only God can judge the Earth, for he is the only one who created it. In the texts below we see both Jesus and the God of the Old Testament described as surrounded by clouds and coming to judge the world. The conclusion seems inescapable. Jesus thought that he would fulfil these Old Testament texts as he was God the Messiah, God the King, God the Son.
Matthew 24v30
"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Mark 14
61But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"
62"I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Deuteronomy 33
26 "There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,
who rides on the heavens to help you
and on the clouds in his majesty.
2 Samuel 22
10 He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
Psalm 18
9 He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
Psalm 104
2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes winds his messengers,
flames of fire his servants.
Ezekiel 1
27 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD . When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Ezekiel 30
2 "Son of man, prophesy and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
" 'Wail and say,
"Alas for that day!"
3 For the day is near,
the day of the LORD is near-
a day of clouds,
a time of doom for the nations.
Zephaniah 1
14 "The great day of the LORD is near-
near and coming quickly.
Listen! The cry on the day of the LORD will be bitter,
the shouting of the warrior there.
15 That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of trouble and ruin,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness,
16 a day of trumpet and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the corner towers
If there is any further doubt about Jesus beliefs about himself in the Gospels, compare Ezekiel 36 8-9, Jeremiah 24 v 6-7, or Hosea 2v21-21 with the parables that compare Jesus to a sower. Compare Ezekiel 16v8-14, or Hosea 2 to the parables were Jesus describes himself as a bride groom. Compare Zephaniah 1v3 with Matthew 13v41. Read Joel 4 and then read Matthew 25. Ask why Jesus can forgive Sins in Mark 2. Ask why he never once says Thus says the Lord, or goes up a mountain like Moses to receive commandments, but rather teaches on his own authority. And then ask yourself, from a purely historical point of view if every gospel contains passages that strongly imply that Jesus is to be with God, and if every Gospel uses images both in common with others, and unique to themselves - then isnt it highly probable that in every source that was used to prepare the gospels (which would have included eyewitness accounts, remember) Jesus spoke of himself as one equal with God? And if that is the case surely Jesus did speak of himself as one equal with and identified with God? This is hardly the sort of teaching Jews would invent if they wanted to make their Rabbi popular among other Jews. And finally ask yourself, what sort of man makes this sort of claim? A mad man (for a while his own family thought so)? A charlatan and blasphemer (nearly every credible Jewish religious authority said so)? Or some one who is telling the truth.
It is plain in any case that the Gospels portray a Jesus who considers himself as owning the rights and prerogatives of God, and whose identity is an essential part of the identity of the God of Israel. And we have only scratched the surface of the evidence for example we have not looked at the teaching of Paul, or of the book of Revelation. The New Testament is clear on the identity of Jesus, so long as you are prepared to read it with knowledge of the Old Testament and this is always how it was meant to be read. How did Orthodox First Century Jews, with their firm belief in the uniqueness of God and his superiority to all creation (especially human beings) come to believe that a crucified and shamed man was not only Messiah, but equal to and identified with God? I will leave that question to the reader to decide for themselves. Those who knew Jesus, who memorised his teachings, and passed on the traditions that he had given to them were in no doubt however. That in Jesus Christ God was not only at work God had come down from heaven to be fully human, and take up his place as Israels true king.
Now that's just the Gospel evidence. Next we have to look at Paul.
GV
