LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST:
FACT OR FICTION?
A RESEARCH PAPER
SUBMITTED TO:
DR. FRED SMITH
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE
APOL 500 INTRODUCTION TO APOLOGETICS
L B T S
BY
CHARLES KOOMSON
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA
ii
NOVEMBER 30, 2012.
TABLE CONTENT
INTRODUCTION....................................................1
Relevance Of The Study..........................................2
Methodology.....................................................3
Literature Review...............................................3
BIBLICAL EVIDENCES FOR THE DEITY OF CHRIST
Evidence From His Preexistence..................................4
Evidence From His Virgin Birth..................................6
Evidence From His Sinless Life..................................9
Evidence From His Claims And The Testimonies Of Others........…11
Evidence From His Miracles.................................... 15
CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………….16
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………………….18
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INTRODUCTION
In the introductory pages of his book, the Apologetics of
Jesus, Norman Geisler provides an etymological explanation of the
term apologetics. He wrote, “Apologetics comes from the Greek
word apologia which means a defense.”1 One of the ways for the
believer to successfully defend the Christian faith is to
understand and know who the object of his faith really is. As
Henry Moris, a notable apologist of the twenty first century
observes, “it is essential that the believer understands
thoroughly the nature of Jesus Christ and the basis for his
certainty that Christ is indeed God himself.”2 Although some may
attempt to use the term apologetics in a wrong manner to mean a
1 Norman L. Geisler, The Apologetics of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group, 2007), 11.
2 Henry M.Moris, Many Infallible Proofs: Practical and Useful Evidences of Christianity (SanDiego, CA: C.L.P. Publishers, 1982), 54.
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biased and belligerent advocacy of an indefensible position, the
idea of presenting a credible apology for a legitimate position
or view point cannot be overlooked.
According to Douglas Gruthuis, “the frequent questions
people ask over the years are whether or not the Christian
beliefs are true and rational? Does the claims of Christianity
merit acceptance and worth living for? The answers to these
questions are the results of the discipline of Christian
apologetics.”3 Sometime in doing apologetics, there is the
tendency to opt for the option of half truths or even
intimidation for the purpose of winning argument. This ought not
to be so in life of Christian. Christian apologetics ought to be
a reasonable defense of the Christian worldview as impartially
true, rationally convincing and dispassionately appealing.
Among several issues that raise a huge controversy in the
second and third century Christianity was the deity of Jesus
Christ. Of the contrary explanations and objections to the
Christian beliefs, none seemed as dangerous, or near success as
was Arianism and Gnosticism. One of the cardinal Christian
3 Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011), 23.
v
beliefs that the movements sought to attack was Christ’s deity.4
A fact which almost any person will agree today is that many have
different views about the issue of Jesus’ deity. To most Jews of
his time, who hold to a monotheistic view of God (Deuteronomy 6:
4), their core problem was how can a carpenter’s son become God.
To the natural man (1Corinthians 2:14) it was difficult to accept
such a timely truth of Christ’s deity. Even Jesus’ own brothers
could not believe his divinity (John 7: 5). The Bible invites
both critics and all stakeholders to examine the truthfulness of
Jesus’ divinity and to conclude it reliability.
Despite the objections of critics, the Bible makes it clear
that Jesus is a divine person. It provides numerous evidences for
the deity of Jesus Christ. The task of this paper is to trace and
defend the deity of Jesus Christ from the biblical point of view.
Relevance Of The Study
The focus of this paper is to explicate and defend the deity
of the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to have a proper comprehension
of the subject, the paper attempts to bring out major passages of
4 Justo Gonzalez, The History of Christianity (NY: Harper One, 2010), 73, 74.
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the Bible that emphasizes the divinity of Jesus Christ. This will
lead to some shared judgment s of other seasoned biblical
scholars on the topic. This paper is significant in the sense
that it will contribute to the understanding and defending of
Christ’s divinity, so as to encourage others to investigate
further into the topic.
Methodology
For the sake of time the paper does not include field work,
such as engaging authorities on the topic for interviews. Because
of the nature of the topic, the paper has the Bible as its basic
source. It also employs the reviews scholarly books on the topic
under consideration.
Literature Review
Some of both old and recent publications which have been
found to be significant to this paper comprise:
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Norman L. Geisler, the Apologetics of Jesus. Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Baker Books, 2009. Geisler in this book takes an unshakeable
stand to defend the deity of Jesus Christ. In chapter two he
asserted “anyone who claims to be God in human flesh needs to
offer sufficient validations if he expects people to believe him.
And this is exactly what Jesus does.” Again, Erickson J. Millard,
the Word Became Flesh. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1991. He
noted that there are corroborating circumstantial evidences that
Jesus was sinless and conscious of that fact. Also, Douglas
Groothuie provides the nature of Christian apologetics. He
writes, Christian apologetics is rational defense of the
Christian worldview as objectively true, rationally compelling
and existentially or subjectively engaging. Groothuis, Douglas,
Christian Apologetics. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academics, 2011.
Another astounding book is Protestant Christian Evidences. Chicago: Moody
Press, 1967. In this book, Bernard Ramm argued, “Whereas other
miracles which the Messiah performed were for others or about
himself, the resurrection was a miracle of his person.” Many
other notable works were given much attention in this paper.
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BIBLICAL EVIDENCES FOR THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST
The Bible is not just record of religious believes. It also
provides an accurate historical record. If people believe it as
such, then its witness to the deity of Christ should also be
accorded with similar acceptance. From Genesis to Revelation, is
it full of events and issues that support Christ’s deity.
Evidence From His Preexistence
A major problem in formulating the doctrine of the Trinity
during the early church era in relation to the Old Testament
monotheistic belief was the deity of Christ.5 Like the Jews how
could the church recognize the belief that God is one and at the
same time acknowledge the deity of Christ? Christ was varyingly
depicted as the mind of God-an impersonal logos that became
personal at the incarnation. Others pictured Him as eternal with
the Father yet subordinate to the father.6 Enns noted that the
Trinitarian controversy for instance was also an Christological 5 Henry Bettenson, and Christ Maunder, Documents of the Christian Church (NY:
Oxford University Press, 2011), 95.
6 Paul Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2008), 446.
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controversy because the decision involved not only the humanity
of Christ, but also his deity.7 Despite these controversies the
deity of Christ stands out with clarity. His preexistence attests
to this fact. The Bible contains proven records on his
preexistence. No natural man has ever preexisted, except the
divine person – Jesus Christ.
The book of Genesis, just as its name reflects is placed at
the very onset of the Old Testament. It begins with the
statement, “in the beginning God ...” Like the book of Genesis,
John also in his incomparable introduction to his Gospel,
asserts, “in the beginning was the word and the word was God. He
was with God in the beginning…” (1: 1, 2). He moves back to the
beginning and begun his proposition for the eternal preexistence
of Jesus Christ as the indispensable foundation for his belief in
Christ’s divinity. Enns in his bestselling book, Moody Handbook
of Theology intimated, “The eternality and deity of Christ are
inseparably linked together. Those who deny His eternality also
deny this deity. If the deity of Christ is established, there is
no problem in accepting His eternality.”8 Enns’ assertion is very7 Ibid., 449.
8 Ibid., 228.
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relevant in that it takes the one who is eternal to preexist. In
the light of John’s statement, it is evident that it was as a
result of this that Jesus’ life did not begin at his conception
and birth. He was the living word who was eternally with the
Father. This is the reason why John designated him as the
manifester of God in the flesh, the originator of all things, and
also the light and the giver of life to the world. According to
Samuel Wheeler Pratt, what he was and said and did was divine,
and declared deity. He could not claim this without pre-existence
and eternal divine being.9
John’s assignment of preexistence to the Lord Jesus Christ has a
direct bearing on the prophecy of Micah. “ But you, Bethlehem
Ephrata, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of
you will come for me a ruler over Israel, whose origins are from
of old, from ancient times”(5:2). This witness of Micah stresses
that his origins are from of old, from the days of eternity. Even
though Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Micah’s testimony indicates
that place was not where he originated; He existed from the days
of eternity”. From a lay man’s point of view, the term
9 Wheeler S. Pratt, the Deity of Jesus Christ According to the Gospel (Philadelphia, PA: the Sunday Times School Company, 1907), 38.
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preexistence suggests Christ existed prior to his coming into the
world through normal human birth. To this Jesus could testify, in
John 8:58, “Before Abraham was, l am. This leads to the main
reason why the Jews sought to kill him. They gathered from his
statement that he was claiming deity. The apostle Paul also
affirms the proof of Christ’s pre-existence when he wrote, “He is
before all things (1 Colossians 1:17). The Bible’s term,
“eternality,” means Jesus Christ is not limited by time, but that
he has no beginning or end.10 It was in line with this reason
that the author of the book of Hebrews also testified in Chapter
13:8, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and forever.”
Furthermore, in order to make Christ eternality absolute, he
added, “…. Your years will never end (Hebrews1:12b). The author
was admitting Christ’s preexistence passionately. These unanimous
records of Christ’s preexistence validate his deity.
Evidence From His Virgin Birth
When Larry King, the seasoned CNN talk show host was once
asked who he would most want to interview if he were given the
10 Elmer Towns, Theology for Today (Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2008), 138.
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opportunity to choose any one from all the great men from
history, he answered, “Jesus Christ”. The interviewer said, “And
what would you like to ask him?” “l would like to ask him if he
was indeed virgin-born.” The answer to that question would define
history for me,”11 His answer clearly suggests he does not
believe the virgin birth. King, like other critics have doubted
the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Many believe the idea of the
virgin birth is not only a myth but also scientifically
impossible. Others also claim it cannot be verified historically.
One thing is certain, from the Scriptural point of view, the
virgin birth was a supernatural act, and it has no human
contribution. If such an important spiritual truth is to be
verified, it is the authority of the Scriptures that need to be
consulted and not man. There were witnesses at the time this
event took place. Luke in investigative account of Jesus’ life
wrote, “And the angel answered, ’the Holy Spirit will come upon
you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the
Holy one to be born will be called the Son of God‘” (Luke 1:35).
One thing is worth noting from this point, if men believe that
11 Larry King, Cited from Just Thinking, RZIM, winter 1998. by christianAnswers.net
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there is God, and that the world was created by Him, then it is
rational to believe that that same God who created the world can
cause the virgin birth. Luke took time to investigate all
accounts of Jesus and certified that they were true before
writing it down According to Unger, in Hebrew the word virgin is
denoted by two words;
(1) Bethulah, the proper meaning denotes a virgin maiden(Genesis 24:16; Leviticus 21:13; Deuteronomy 22:14, 23, 28; Judges 11:37; 1Kings 1:2). And Joel 1:8 is not an exception because here it refers to the loss of one betrothed, not married. (2) Almah (veiled); A young woman of marriageable age. This word is used in Isaiah 7:14. The Holy Spirit through Isaiah did not used Bethulah, because both the ideas of virginity and marriageable age had to be combined in one word to meet the immediate historical situation and the prophetic aspect centering in a virgin born Messiah.12
In the Greek, ‘’virgin’’ is denoted by the word parthenos; a
virgin, marriageable maiden, or young married woman, pure virgin
(Matthew 1:23; 25:1, 7, 11; Luke 1: 27; Acts 21:9; 1Corinthians
7:25, 28, 33; 2 Corinthians 11:2).13 To Towns, the idea of the
virgin birth is not a fiction or a recent invention of man.14
12 Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1987), 1159.
13 Ibid., 1159.
14 Towns, i85.
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When he was commenting on the prophecies relating to the virgin
birth (Gen.3:15), he noted. ‘’When God introduces a theological
subject in scripture, usually he speaks embrayonically (called
the Law of First reference). This means that the doctrine is
there in seed form.’’15 Towns’ assertion is very constructive in
that when God was announcing the anticipation of redemption to
Adam and Eve and the entire human race, the ramification of the
virgin birth was included. The virgin birth marks Jesus as
divine, and was a crucial part of the message of the gospel
writers.
The Gospel of Matthew positions the location of the birth of
Jesus in Bethlehem of Judea. The author writes, ‘’After Jesus was
born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod…‘’
(2:1). Matthew named his birth place and the King who was ruling
at that time. This record sets Jesus straightforwardly in
history. For this reason no honest person will ever argue that
the story of the virgin birth was concocted. Chapter 1:18-25 and
Luke 1:26-38 announced that Jesus was conceived apart from the
mediation of a human father, the Spirit of God overshadowed Mary,
15 Ibid., 186.
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his mother. Indeed, it is this divine act and the supernatural
human origin that sets Jesus apart from all others.16 The
virginal birth is an important issue of Jesus’ uniqueness that
must be conserved. Groothuis agreed with the virgin birth when he
further posited,
Jesus’ unique origin brackets him off from all other human nature. His human genesis is not primarily natural but supernatural. Not initiated by humanity, but by God. From conception, Jesus is a one-of-a-kind gift from God. Mary becomes the vessel for divine service and cries out in praise, ‘My Soul praises the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant’ (Luke1: 46-48).17
The virgin birth indicates the singularity of Jesus Christ
among all men. Another amazing event that occurred prior to the
birth of Jesus was the angelic appearance to Joseph in a dream.
The angel told him, “Do not be afraid to take Mary… because what
is conceived in her womb is from the Holy Spirit. She will give
birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save
his people from their sins’’ Mathew 1: 20-21). Also, some
shepherds who were tending sheep around Bethlehem received an
angelic visitation with the good news of the birth of Christ, the16 Douglas Groothuis, Jesus in an Age of Controversy (Ugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock
Publication, 2002), 217.
17 Ibid., 217.
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Lord. (Luke 2:10-18). This is very significant, a real proof of
the uniqueness of Christ. It has never occurred to anyone in the
history of man.
Evidence From His Sinlessness
The apologetic implications of Jesus’ sinless life are
apparent. No one has ever lived without sin. It is only Jesus who
lived without the taint of sin. Geisler writes, “No other human
has ever accomplished this in the history of mankind; even the
most holy mortals have faults.”18 Christ’s sinless character
seats him in a unique class from all others. This is a fact which
can only be said of God. When Christ met with the Jews, he
compared himself with the one who utters from his own selfish
ambition to acquire approbation, by indicating that “He who seeks
the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is
nothing false about him” (John 7:18). He then questioned them,
“can any of you prove me guilty of sin?” (John 8:46). No one was
18 Geisler, 164.
xvii
able to point even an iota of fault about him. Jesus, thus sets
the stage to altercate his sinless life to all.
Numerous passages in the New Testament witness to his
exceptional sinless life. Both his enemies and his friends made
various remarkable defense of his blameless character. In Luke
chapter 23:4, Pontius Pilate declared, “I find no basis for a
charge against this man” (Jesus). The Roman Soldier in charge of
his crucifixion gave an unflinching testimony about him. He
declared “surely this was a righteous man” (Luke 23: 47). In the
same chapter, one of the criminals who were crucified close to
Jesus exclaimed, “This man has done nothing wrong!”, and
proceeded to plead with Jesus, “remember me when you come into
your kingdom” (vs. 42). Even criminals recognize his sinless life
and kingdom. The life of Jesus was in itself a graphic
attestation to who he was, These witnesses of Jesus’
unimpeachable life demonstrates that he is divine.
John the apostle outlines a telling affirmation about Jesus’
sinless life. He identifies him as a man “full of grace and
truth” (john 1:14), “Jesus Christ, the righteous one” (John 2:1),
“one in whom there is no sin” (1 John 3:5). The apostle was so
xviii
convinced beyond any reasonable doubt when he wrote diffidently
to the early church on the deity of Jesus:
That which was from the beginning which we have heard, whichwe have seen with our eyes which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim, concerning the word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son, Jesus Christ (1John 1-4).
To the apostle John, the basis of fellowship with Jesus
stems from the acknowledgement of his uniqueness. His witness is
very crucial because he was a firsthand witness to the divine
personality of Jesus.
Wayne Grudem provides an insightful exposition of Christ’s
sinless life by noting that, “if we understand light to represent
both truthfulness and moral purity, then Jesus is here claiming
to be the source of truth and the source of moral purity and
holiness in the world – an astounding claim, and one that could
only be made by someone who was free from sin.”19 Grudem’s
analysis is important because not even one of the Jewish
religious authorities dared to challenge Jesus on his sinless
19 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 535.
xix
claim. The writer of the book of Hebrews stated categorically
that Jesus Christ was tempted but continuously stood on his
grounds and did not sin: “…one who in every respect has been
tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4: 15). In chapter
7: 26 he declared succinctly, “for it was indeed fitting that we
have such a high priest, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated
from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.” The apostle
Peter also took his stand to defend the sinlessness of Christ. He
disclosed, “He committed no sin, neither was any deceit found in
his mouth” (1 Peter 2: 22). No sincere person can say, then, that
the sinlessness of Christ is not spelt out clearly in all the
main sections of the Bible. Even Satan cannot deny it. For when
he himself attempted to persuade Jesus with full force in order
to lure him into sin, Satan could not withstand his moral
stability (Luke 4: 3-13), even though Christ had fasted for forty
days and was very hungry.
Evidence From His Claims And The Testimonies Of Others
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C. S. Lewis wrote, “this man we are talking about either was
(and is) just what he said or a lunatic, or something worse.”20
The evidence for the uniqueness and supremacy of Jesus is common
to all. “Almost everyone who has heard of Jesus has developed an
opinion about Him. That is to be expected, for He is not only the
most famous person in world history, but also the most
controversial,21 Tim Lahaye opined. There are numerous evidences
that single out Jesus from all other religious figures. One of
these is his claims. Jesus claimed he has angels, authority to
forgive sin, and authority over God’s Word. In summing up the
claims of Christ, Moris wrote, “The sinless life he lived, the
mighty miracles he performed, and the gracious words he spoke,
all providing a matchless setting for the unparalleled claims he
made.”22 Once again, the authors of scripture entreat everyone to
appraise the claims of this divine person to see if they are true
or not.
20` C. S. Lewis. Mere Christianity (New York: HarperSaintFrancisco, 2001), 53.
21 Tim Lahaye, Cited from Josh McDowell, the New Evidence that demands a Verdict (Nashville, Dallas: Thomas Nelson, 1999)138.
22 Henry, Moris, M., 64.
xxi
His claim of divinity has attracted a heated controversy
from ages. Some critics contend that Jesus never made any claim
of deity himself. Others also are of the view that all that Jesus
concern himself about in the course of his preaching was to
declare the Father and not himself. The scripture is the right
voice to face these contentions. Though specific voice such as I
am God may not have appeared directly in his vocabulary, the
Bible records much of his utterances and actions which only God
could make. One of such utterances was his promise to “send his
Angels to gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law
breakers” (Mat 13:41). A critical reading of the Bible reveals
that angels are referred to as belonging to God, or angles of God
(Luke 12: 8, 9; 15:10), yet Jesus could say “his angels.” Another
significant example was his claim to have a kingdom (John 18: 36)
which is often referred to as the kingdom of God or kingdom of
heaven. It is in this vein that Erickson noted, “We find
claims that will be inappropriate if made by someone who is less
than God.”23
23 Erickson, 701.
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Jesus also claims certain prerogatives belonging to God
only. He claims to have power to forgive sin. This was a very
serious issue to the Jews. When the four friends of the paralytic
brought him to Jesus, he said “Son your sins are forgiven” (Mark
2:5). This word brought him into dispute with the scribes and the
Pharisees. It can be deduced from their attitude the meaning they
append to Jesus’ comments. They concluded he was blaspheming and
complained, “why does this fellow talk like that,” he is
blaspheming, who can forgive sin but God alone” (Mark 2:7). The
implication of Jesus’ attitude was that he was acting in place of
God.24 Robert Stein affirms that “the reaction of the scribes was
an indication that they understood as the exercising of a divine
prerogative, the power to forgive sin.”25 It can be observed that
Jesus did not make any attempt to explain or rebuke the Scribes
for their ill perception of him, but instead responded
informatively, “Which is easier to say to the paralyzed man your
sins are forgiven, or to say get up take your mat and walk” He
then added an explicit statement, “But I want you to know that 24 Ernst, Fuchs, Cited from Millard J. Erickson, the Word Became Flesh
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1991), 439.
25 Robert H. Stein, the Method of Jesus’ Teaching (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1978), 114.
xxiii
the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sin, so he said
to the man ‘get up take your mat and go home.’ He got up took his
mat and walked in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and
they praised God saying “we have never seen anything like this”
(Mark 2:9-11). This was a direct admittance of divine prerogative
by Jesus. The people testified that this was beyond normal. It is
God alone who can demonstrate such authority.
The Bible writers wrote extensively about Jesus’ claims.
John’s Gospel is especially rich with such claims. From the
Gospel of John, Erickosn catalogs Jesus claims that accentuate
his uniqueness:
(1)I am the bread of life” (John 6:48) and “I am the living bread that came down from heaven”. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which l will give for the life of the world” (john 6:51). (2) “I am the light of the world whosoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12) (3) “I am the gate” ” (John 10:7, 9) (4) “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep “I am the gate” (John10:11). (5) “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25). (6) “I am the way the truth and the life” (John 14: 6). (7) “I am the true vine” (John 15:1,5).26
26 Erickson, 27 – 29.
xxiv
By this analysis it becomes clear that Jesus was canvassing
himself as the source of life and at the same time underlining
the importance of remaining in him. It takes one who is God to
make such affirmations. Also, from his beatitude sermon on the
mount, Matthews’s Gospel (5: 18 – 44) records eight incredible
injunctions which Jesus made to affirm his authority over matters
relating to God’s Word. “I say unto you, till heaven and earth
pass away…” (vs.18). “For I say unto you that unless your
righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and the
Pharisees…” (vs. 20). “But I say unto you that whoever is angry
with his brother…” (Vs, 22). Assuredly I say unto you…” (vs. 26).
“But I say unto you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her
has already committed adultery” (vs. 28). “But I say unto you, do
not swear at all” (vs. 34). “But I tell you not to resist an evil
person” (vs. 38). “But I say to you, love your enemies…” (vs.
44). It takes one who is God to make such authoritative
pronouncements. He handled the Scriptures as his own. That is the
God who gave the inspired Word. Ernst Kasemann noted, “the sense
of personal authority evidently felt and displayed by Jesus is
xxv
seen especially in his Ego de Logo (“but I say”) statements.”27 To
him these statements are among the most astounding words in the
Scriptures.
John accounts that when John the Baptist appeared in the
region around the Jordan preaching repentance for the remission
of sins (Matthew 3:2), he drew the attention of the crowd to one
who was coming after him (Jesus). The next day when he saw Jesus
coming toward him, straightaway he introduced him, “Look, the
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
John the Baptist was able to recognize him because the Holy
Spirit gave him the indication (vs. 32-34). Following John the
Baptist’s witness came a spectacular heavenly declaration: “And
at that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from
heaven said, “This is my son, whom l love; with him l am well
pleased” (Matthew 3:16). This heavenly witness of Jesus’
uniqueness was repeated at the mount of transfiguration (Matthew
17:1-5), this time with a command to listen to him. These divine
affirmations single him out as a deity.
27 Ernst Kasemann, the Problem of the Historical Jesus (Nashville, IL: Allenson, 1964), 37.
xxvi
Paul the apostle also emphasizes the uniqueness and the
supremacy of Jesus when he was writing to his spiritual son,
Timothy. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and
men, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all
people…” (I Timothy 2: 5, 6). In explaining the act of Kenosis to
the Philippian church, Paul noted, “Who being in the very nature
God, did not consider equally with God something to be used to
his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the
very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness”
(Philippians 2:6-8). Almost all the writers of the New Testament
gave some witness about the deity of Jesus. They were rational
men who lived and reasoned. They observed and investigated
everything about Jesus before making their conclusions. This
makes their report significant in affirming the deity of Jesus
Christ.
Evidence From His Miracles
Being a miracle himself, it would be the greatest miracle of
all miracles if he did not work a miracle,28 Horace Bushnell
28 Horace Bushnell, the character of Jesus: Forbidding His Possible Classification with Men (NY: Chautaugua, 1888), 74.
xxvii
asserted. In line with those definite attestations of Jesus’
deity in the various passages of the Bible, there are other
evidences of his life that give information of his divinity. One
of this is his demonstration of omnipotence. The term means God’s
ability to do all things.29 John was the first to record
Christ’s first miraculous work at a wedding ceremony in Cana of
Galilee. There He turned water into wine (John 2:11). Grudem
presents an astounding objection to critics who deny this miracle
by contending that it has nothing to do with Christ’s divinity.
He iterated, “But the contextual explanations of this events
often points not to what they demonstrates about the power of the
Holy Spirit, but to what they demonstrates about Jesus
himself.”30 He continues, “for instance, after Jesus turned the
water into wine, John tells us, ‘this, the first of his
miraculous signs Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his
glory and his disciples believe in him’ (John 2:11), it was not
the glory of the holy spirit that was manifested but the glory of
Jesus himself, as his divine power to change water into wine.”31
29 Ibid., 302.
30 Grudem, 547.
31 Ibid., 547.
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Grudem’s assessment is unique, in that on another occasion when
Jesus had calmed the raging storm on the Sea of Galilee, his
disciples did not recognize it as the power of the Holy Spirit
operating through Jesus. Their reaction in Matthew 8:27 reveal it
was the power of Jesus himself which was at work. This could be
no one but the power of the Most High God himself.
In John 10:38 the apostle writes as he quoted Jesus, “even
though you don’t believe me, believe the miracles, that you may
know and understand that the father is in me, and I in the
father.” According to Paul Enns, the miracles that Jesus
performed were attestations to his deity and messiahship. He
performs the works of God in their mist and when the miracle are
studied this truth become evident.32
CONCLUSION
The arguments for the deity of Jesus Christ provided in this
paper are not absolute. There are others that can be added.
Nonetheless, the few provided so far are significant. This paper
does not just use the Bible to prove the deity of Jesus Christ,
32Enns, 242.
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it also contend that the evidences given so far are all
historically traceable. For instance, the Gospel of Luke is one
of the historical documents that authenticate the various claims
and witnesses to the events and actions of Christ validating his
deity as set forth in this paper.
The entire New Testament reveals how He was accosted not
only as an extraordinary teacher, but also a miracle working man,
full of power. It is incredible how in the New Testament four
Gospel accounts tie unswervingly and report on the deity of
Christ. Jesus’ preexistence, virgin birth, sinlessness, claims,
and miracles distinguish him from all other people and validate
his deity. Groothuis made a remarkable observation of Jesus’
entry into the world: “He entered the world supernaturally,
accredited himself with unparalleled signs and wonders, possessed
an impeccable character, made claims only befitting God himself,
and died with the purpose of redeeming humanity. The best account
of the historical facts is that he was who he said he was. If
this is so, we should respond to him on his terms.”33 When the
Pharisees disputed that he was not from God, the rest of the
33 Groothuis, 503.
xxx
people said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such things?”
(John 9: 16). Except one deliberately refused to accept and
believe, there are no grounds for not accepting the truth of his
deity. His divinity was not hidden. Peter said, “Fellow
Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man
accredited by God to you by miracles, signs and wonders…as you
yourselves know” (Acts 2: 22). His entire life was God’s medium
of communicating to the world of his deity.
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