Jesus as God: A Biblical Case

This is a video in the Jesus as God series, if you have not already, please watch the first video, which clears the ground of objections before watching any other videos in the series. And if you have watched it, but not recently, then you might want to watch it again. Then you can come back to this one. Ok moving right along.

Here is what's at stake in this video series. If Jesus is anything less than Yahweh, the God of Israel, then any worship of him on any level is absolutely inappropriate and is avodah zara, or idolatry: a crime that in Biblical times carried the death penalty. Yet if he is God in the flesh, then any denial of his deity is blasphemy against the God of Israel and a rejection of Jesus. And as Jesus clearly said in Luke, anyone who rejects Jesus rejects the Father. John corroborates this in his first epistle: anyone who does not have the Son, Jesus, also does not have the Father. If Jesus truly is God incarnate, then no one who denies his deity can ever truly worship the God of Israel.

In this video, I present to you a Biblical case that Jesus of Nazareth is Yahweh, the God of Israel. There are several ways in which Scripture portrays Jesus as God:

1. Jesus is called God
2. Jesus is described as only God can be described
3. Jesus freely receives worship

As we examine many texts from the New Testament, always ask yourself the following question: could these words be applied to a mere creature? If Jesus of Nazareth is not the God of the universe incarnate, then he would have to be a mere creature, highly exalted perhaps, but a mere creature nonetheless, as Ebionites, Arians, and some Orthodox Jews such as Pinchas Lapide believe.

The first category of passages are those that specifically describe Jesus as God, or θεός in the Greek. We think of Thomas when he sees the resurrected Jesus in John 20:28, who says his confession of faith: My Lord and my God. If Jesus was not God, then Thomas' words were inappropriate and Jesus should have rebuked Thomas instead of accepting his confession as a confession of faith.

In Titus 2:13, Paul refers to the blessed hope we have of the appearance of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Greek bracketing the phrase God and Savior so that both God and Savior can only apply to one subject: Jesus. And Peter used the same language in 2 Peter 1:1, so it isn't just Paul who is using this title.

In Romans chapter 9 verse 5, Paul called Jesus who is over all, the eternally blessed God, amen. In Hebrews Chapter 1, the writer to the Hebrews in verse 6 talks about how all the angels of God worship Christ, and then refers to Christ as God. In this chapter it is God the Father who refers to Jesus as God, and if God the Father is willing to do so, I think we should as well.

Isaiah was given a vision of God high and lifted up and in chapter 9 refers to the one who is born (Biblical Hebrew does not have a past, present, or future tense). Isaiah refers to him as the Mighty God, that's El Gibbor in the Hebrew, a term that Isaiah uses in the next chapter to refer to God himself, and cannot be used of a mere creature, not even King Hezekiah.

In Paul's letter to the Colossians, Paul says that in Jesus, all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. The Greek term θεότητος, deity, means "that which makes God God" and it dwells in the resurrected Jesus in bodily form.

In Hebrews chapter 1 verse 8, "But of the Son he says, 'your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteouseness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions'"

But this is only one way in which the writers of Scripture teach that Jesus is God. In Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 through 7. Paul presents his theology of Jesus before he came to Earth. Before he voluntarily made himself of no repute. He did not regard the equality he had with the Father, something to be exploited or held on to but emptied himself of his glory. He existed long before his birth in Bethlehem, and had equality with the Father. What creature has equality with the Father?

In Revelation 22:13, Jesus is described as the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. These are terms that frequently describe Yahweh in the Tanakh. And they also describe the Almighty God in chapter 1 verses 7 through 8. How could one writer describe Jesus as the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end when he had already described the almighty God in those terms? Because for that writer, Jesus is the almighty God.

Another way that Jesus is described as God is when he is called the creator of all things. This means that Jesus the Messiah is your creator. In Colossians chapter 1, Jesus is described in words where Paul literally exhausts the Greek language to communicate his point. He said for by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things and in him all things hold together. This was written in response to people who would say that Jesus was a great person, even a great prophet, even the highest angel, but is not God. Paul corrected this.

In Hebrews chapter 1, Jesus is called the creator of all things who laid the foundation of the earth from the beginning. And in John chapter 1, the fact that Jesus was both God and the creator of all things is made plain. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through him and without him was not any thing made that was made. The word was indicates eternal pre-existence. And if Jesus was a mere creature, then apart from him many things were made.

Jesus also used the I am statements, that's ἐγώ εἰμι, in Greek. Jesus uses this phrase repeatedly to describe himself. In John 8:58 it says "before Abraham was, I am" in John 13:19, he specifically cites from the Septuagint Isaiah 43:10. Jesus takes a statement about Yahweh and applies it to himself. In John 18, the soldiers look to arrest Jesus. He asks them who they are looking for and they say "Jesus of Nazareth" Jesus responds "I am he" and the soldiers fall to the ground. Why did that happen? This is important because in John 8:24 Jesus says that "unless you believe that I am (that's ἐγώ εἰμι) you will die in your sins" Those are Jesus' words.

In Hebrews chapter 1 verses 10 through 12 quotes from the Tanakh, specifically Psalm 102:25-27. This is a passage about how God is uniquely the unchangeable creator of all things. All of creation will pass away, but God will remain. The writer to the Hebrews takes that passage which is uniquely about the God of Israel, and applies it to Jesus.

In John chapter 12, when Jesus is about to hide himself from the people. John is commenting that while the people has seen so many miracles from Jesus, yet they were not believing. He explains why and quotes two passages, one from Isaiah 53 and one from Isaiah 6:10. Then the author of John makes a comment that many of us miss. He says that Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus. When we look back at Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah says he sees Yahweh sitting upon a throne. He saw his glory. If you ask Isaiah "whose glory did you see?" Isaiah would say "the God of Israel" If you ask John "whose glory did Isaiah see" he would say "Jesus" You don't make that kind of application to a mere creature. It would be blasphemous.

Finally, Jesus is worshipped in a way that only God can be worshipped. Those who deny that the New Testament teaches the deity of Jesus are quick to point out that the word used for worship προσκυνώ can sometimes mean homage. If that were the extent of the argument then this would be enough to shoot it down. The question is: can it refer to full religious worship and is it used this way of Jesus. The answer is most definitely yes.

We know that Peter refused to accept προσκυνώ in Acts 10. And we know that the angel who showed John many wonders in Revelation twice refused προσκυνώ in Revelation 19 and 22. Instead, the angel instructed John to προσκυνώ God alone. When Satan tempted Jesus and showed him all these wonderful kingdoms if Jesus would only προσκυνώ him. Instead, Jesus told Satan that we are to προσκυνώ God alone. In each situation, we see that προσκυνώ in the New Testament refers to a form of worship that is only to be given to God, and is absolutely inappropriate to give to any mere creature, even the most exhalted angel. That is what makes this form of προσκυνώ different from the secular, non-religious usage.

Not only is Jesus declared worthy to receive such worship, but he also freely receives it. In Matthew 14, after Jesus fed the 5000, Jesus withdrew to a mountain, while the disciples went to the Sea of Galilee on a boat. And a storm came, and Jesus went to his disciples, walking on the water, and got into the boat. When the storm ceased, the disciples worshipped Jesus, saying "truly you are the Son of God." If the term THE Son of God, meant anything less than full deity, why did the disciples worship Jesus and why did Jesus allow them to do so? In Matthew 28, after Jesus' resurrection, he freely received worship twice: once just after his resurrection by a group of his disciples, and again on the mountain in Galilee.

In John 9, a blind man came to the pool of Siloam, and Jesus healed the man of his blindness. After the newly sighted man conversed with the Pharisees, he was kicked out of the synagogue for denying that Jesus was a sinner. Jesus then found the man and then Jesus called himself the Son of Man. The formerly blind man said "I believe" and worshipped Jesus. If the term Son of Man was a denial of deity, why did this man worship Jesus?

In Hebrews chapter 1 verse 6, the author says Let all God's angels worship him.

In Revelation chapter 4:9-11 we see a vision of the highest form of worship as it exists in heaven. God is seated upon the throne and all the holy inhabitants of heaven are involved in constant worship before that throne. "And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and whorship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne saying: Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created" Not only does John use προσκυνώ in its highest sense, but we read of worthiness, glory, power, and honor. These are terms that are commonly used of worship alone. If it is not absolutely inappropriate to give this kind of worship to any creature no matter how exalted, then we have no possible way of defining true worship from the biblical texts.

In Revelation 5 we see the same level of worship being given to Jesus. Starting verse 8 we read regarding the lamb that looked as though it had been slain: "And when the lamb had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its eals, for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on the earth. Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice:

Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. And I heard every creature in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them saying "To him who sits on the throne AND TO THE LAMB be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever" And the four living creatures said Amen. And the elders fell down and worshipped.

This is the continuation of the scene we have seen in chapter 4. But now it includes the lamb that was slain. It has the same complex of words including worthiness and power and glory and honor and blessing with their direct object being that of the lamb. Among those that worship the lamb are all creatures, including the highest and most exalted heavenly beings. If Jesus was in any sense a created being, then it would have been his absolute duty to refuse this kind of worship, and join all of creation in worshiping the one who sits on the throne. But such is not what we see because the lamb is indeed Jesus who is Yahweh.

So the next time you hear such a radical claim as "the New Testament does not teach that Jesus is God" you will know that whoever is making this claim is either ignorant of what the New Testament so plainly and repeatedly teaches about the subject, or that person is a deceiver, a con artist trying to swindle you out of your faith. Do not believe that person's lies.