The New Testament’s contribution to our understanding of the Person of Christ can fill (and fill) entire volumes of works; has been the source of rich and profound theological meditation for centuries; here we can simply touch the surface. In this short article, we will examine the answers to two questions: who claims to be Jesus and who do his disciples say he is?
There is no doubt that Jesus understood himself as the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. Are you using the title? (Who is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word?Messiah?) himself (e. g. John 4. 25-26; 17. 3), and agrees that others use this title to refer to it (e. g. Mt 16. 16; Jn 11:25 -27) What the Old Testament promised, Jesus claimed to accomplish.
- Even though Jesus used the title? To himself.
- His favorite self-demining was the title “Son of Man”.
- This title appears about 69 times in the synoptic gospels and 13 times more in the Gospel of John.
- Almost every time the title appears.
- Jesus uses it in reference to himself.
- ?Son of man? is in itself a mesianic title.
- The full meaning of which can only be appreciated if we examine its background in Daniel 7.
- Where he describes a figure who rises to the Ancient Times and receives dominion over all things.
- The “Son of Man.
- ” Jesus actually said.
- “I am the one Daniel spoke of.
- “.
Jesus not only understood himself as the promised Messiah, but also said and did things throughout the Gospels that clearly showed that he understood himself as the God incarnate In many places, Jesus makes statements that involve his divine eternal existence before his incarnation (for example, John 3. 13; 6. 62; 8. 42). His statement in Matthew 11:27 implies the mutual sovereignty he shares with the Father. Many of the well-known statements in the Gospel of John affirm or involve divinity (John 8. 58; 13. 19); his teachings and works also indicate that he is God incarnate; He taught the law how only God could do it (Mt 5:22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44); forgave sins (Mt 9:6; Mc 2. 10; Lk 5:24), an act that only God can do, hear, and answer prayer (Jn 14:13-14) and receive worship and praise (Mt 21:16), it is simply not possible to read the Gospels sincerely without recognizing that Jesus understands himself as the Messiah, the Son of God incarnate.
Jesus understands himself as the divine Son of God and Messiah, but who do the disciples say He is?Although it takes a while for the disciples to fully understand who Jesus is, when they recognize the truth, they do not hesitate to declare it courageously. Nathaniel calls Jesus the Son of God and the King of Israel (John 1:49) Is Peter calling Him?Sir? (Lk 5. 8) and him? Holy of God?(Jo 6. 69). Later, Peter declares that Jesus is?Christ, the Son of the living God? (Mt 16:16). Paul also proclaims that Jesus is Christ (Acts 17:2-3) and Lord (1C 1. 2-3) and confesses the divinity of Christ (Col 1. 15-20; 2. 9; Fil 2. 6-11) . When we remember the fundamental confession of Old Testament Jews that the Lord is one, these statements about Jesus, coming from the mouths of the Jews, are even more surprising.
Several passages in the New Testament explicitly refer to Jesus as God. The Gospel of John, for example, begins with a declaration of Christ’s divinity: “In the beginning it was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, initially it was with God, everything was done by him, and without him, nothing was done, life was in him and life was the light of men , the light shines in darkness and darkness did not prevail. who were not born of blood, nor of will of flesh, nor of will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelted among us, full of grace and truth, and we have seen his glory, his glory as that of the father’s besath?(Jn 1. 1-5, 12-14) Here, the Word, who identifies with Jesus (v. 14), is said to be “God?”(v. 1). Despite the exe hypothetical contortions of Jehovah’s Witnesses, this passage is unmistakable in its declaration of Christ’s divinity.
The Apostle Paul also explicitly calls Jesus God in several places. In Romans 9:5, he writes: “Of them [the Jews] are the patriarchs, and Christ also descends from them, according to the flesh, who is above all God blessed forever. “Jesus Christ, he says, is God above all. In Titus 2:13, Paul speaks of “the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. “The words? God? And?Salvador? In other words, Jesus Christ is God and Savior. In addition, Peter confesses that Jesus is God and Savior in the first verse of his second epistle. To think about the implications of these statements, even for a moment, is impressive.
The Old Testament has made it clear that the Lord our God is unique (Dt 6. 4). The New Testament continues to emphasize that God is one (Mark 12. 29). However, at the same time, the New Testament also declares that Jesus is God. Does the New Testament contradict the Old Testament?How could the Church confess that God is one?And at the same time confess that Jesus Christ is God? The church spent several centuries working on these topics to explain the teaching of the New Testament in a way that took into account all the evidence. In our next article, we will begin to examine the teaching of the early church about the person of Christ.