WHAT CLAIMS DID jESUS OF NAZARETH
Did Jesus of Nazareth
claim to be Israel
Jesus of Nazareth, in addition to the Messianic
ministry He pursued, vocalised a Messianic claim in different ways, at
different times. The first was when He was about thirty years of age. In His
home synagogue, He identified Himself as Messiah by reading a Messianic passage
from Isaiah 61: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon
Me, Because He has anointed Me to
preach the gospel to the
poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty those who are
oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord.” This quote is at the heart of any definition
of a Mashiac (Messiah). A Messiah is ‘an anointed one’. Jesus, in saying, “today this Scripture is
fulfilled in your hearing,”[1]
claimed, ‘the Spirit of the Lord is upon
Me’ and ‘He has anointed Me’.
This essential Messianic qualification had been effected at Jordan
when Jesus was baptised, for on that occasion the Spirit of God descended and remained
on Him.[2]
Then, in a continuing defence of His Messianic
claim over a long period, He spoke repeatedly of “the Father who sent me”.[3]
John 5.22-30
records His declaration that He had been sent as God’s co-equal to be the
Messiah. Therefore, He should be
honoured with the same honour that is afforded to God. Furthermore, He has the
same power to impart life, as does the Father.
Those that honour Jesus with the same honour as they give to the Father
will be recipients of the life of God.
This is the true ministry of the Messiah.
Verses 36,37 of the same chapter records Jesus’
appeal to His confirming miracles, as evidence that He was their Messiah; “for
the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear
witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me”.
In His teaching to the crowd that had enjoyed the
miraculous provision of bread and fish, He repeated the essence of the truth that
there is an unbreakable, invisible, symbiotic connection between Him and His
co-equal Father that is incorporated into His mission as the commissioned
Messiah from heaven: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will,
but the will of Him who sent Me.” “This
is the will of the Father who sent Me,
that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at
the last day”. “And this is the will of Him
who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have
everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” “No one can come to
Me unless the Father who sent Me
draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day”. “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he
who feeds on Me will live because of Me”. (John 6.38,39,40,44,57)
After His rejection, He referred
to His disciples as those who knew that God had sent him[4]and
asked that their testimony might confirm the same truth.[5]
When speaking to individuals He made clear
references to His mission. The woman at
Jacob’s well said: “I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell
us all things”; to which Jesus replied: “I who speak to you am He.”[6]
This truth was communicated to, and believed by, the people of Samaria, for they said; “Now
we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed
the Messiah, the Saviour of the world.”[7]
He asked a newly healed blind man,[8] “Do you
believe in the Son of God?” and received the response: “Who is He, Lord, that I
may believe in Him?” Jesus said to him: “You have both seen Him and it is He who
is talking with you.”
When John was in prison and needed some assurance
that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, he sent some of his disciples to obtain a
helpful response from his cousin to ease his troubled mind. Jesus returned
John’s messengers with instructions to tell him that the Messianic prophecies
of Isaiah were being fulfilled: “the
blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to
them”.[9]
In respect of His own disciples, Jesus spent no
little time educating them until they were clear about His person and
mission. When Peter said: “You are the Messiah,
the Son of the living God”,[10] Jesus
commended him in the most fulsome terms.
When His opponents challenged Him: “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ (Messiah), tell us plainly”, He responded: “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.”[11]
Did Jesus of Nazareth claim to be God incarnate?
Certainly! He implied as much when He said, “I
and My Father are one”.[12]
Those who heard Him make this statement understood it as such. They accused Him
of blasphemy. The language of the Messiah is the language of the incarnate God,
revealed on earth as Son of the Father. Jesus said: “My Father has been working
until now, and I have been working”.[13] The Bible describes the reaction of the
people: “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not
only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself
equal with God”.[14]
In the ‘Good Shepherd’ discourse, He added some
detail to the assertion that He was equal to the Father. Jesus said He could
give His sheep eternal life, and that He guaranteed their eternal safety because
He, together with His co-equal Father, had the power to keep them secure. “And I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who
has given them to Me, is
greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”[15]
The eternal keeping power of Jesus is here asserted to be the same as that of
the Father. The reaction of the people again confirmed their understanding that
Jesus was claiming deity. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus
challenged this demonstration of anger and hatred. “Many good works I have
shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” His
opponents answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for
blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”[16]
In more amenable surroundings Jesus also
confirmed to His disciples that, “He
who has seen Me has seen the Father”.[17]
When Jesus stood before members of the Sanhedrin,
Caiaphas, the High Priest put Him under oath and demanded a direct answer to a
direct question. “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are
the Messiah, the Son of God!”[18] This
precise question brought into focus the two main elements in the dilemma that
they faced: what was the nature of the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth? In respect of the mission of Jesus, he asked, “Are
you the Messiah?” In respect of Christ’s personal essence, he asked “Are you the
Son of God?” Jesus gave a clear, affirmative
answer to both halves of the question, “It
is as you said”[19]. Furthermore,
He increased their consternation by quoting a Messianic prophecy from Daniel
that supported both the issues under consideration. The Rabbinic interpretation
of Daniel 7.13,14 was that the Son of Man named there was both Messiah and
divine. Jesus therefore said,
“…hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and
coming on the clouds of heaven.”[20] Jesus claimed that, at a future time, He
would return, and according to Daniel 7.14, the Ancient of Days would give Him
an everlasting dominion, with glory, and an eternal kingdom. Furthermore, all nations would serve and
worship Him. Caiaphas understood the
implication of Jesus’ words. The High
Priest tore his clothes, and declared: “He has spoken blasphemy! What further
need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!”[21] There can be no doubt that Jesus understood
Himself to be Son of God in its fullest sense.
When the opponents of Jesus had difficulty in supplying evidence to
Pilate to support the political charges laid against Him they fell back on, “We
have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself
the Son of God.”[22] The law to which they referred was the law of
blasphemy.[23]
‘Son of God’ is, as the High Priest understood it, and John
used it, a title of deity. It is also the most appropriate when we consider the
miraculous circumstances of His birth, for He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. [24]
Here are some other key references, to Jesus, the ‘Son of
God’:
After the amazing episode when Jesus had
walked on water, saved Peter from the deep and calmed the storm, the disciples coupled
the use of the title with worship,
which for a Jew is reserved solely for God.
The disciples, convinced of the deity of their Master, said: “Truly You
are the Son of God”.[25]
In the great crowd of sick people, those
possessed by unclean spirits fell down
before Him and acknowledged His deity, saying: “You are the Son of God”.[26]
The Gadarene demoniac, ‘Legion’, recognised
His divine nature and authority when he used the title: “Jesus, Son of the Most
High God”. The demons that possessed the demented man, begged the incarnate
God, “not (to) command them to go out into the abyss”,[27] a
power only possessed by God.
The
identifying sign given to the fore-runner of the Messiah included the
intelligence that the one on whom the Spirit of God rested was the One who
would immerse His followers in the Holy Spirit, surely an act only available to
God, as Isaiah indicated by his rhetorical question, “who has directed the
Spirit of the YHWH”[28];
a question that demands the answer, ‘only YHWH’. John the Baptizer recognised the sign and
identified Jesus as ‘the Son of God’.[29]
Nathanael, impressed by the
omniscience displayed by Jesus, declared, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You
are the King of Israel”.[30]
The healing of the man born
blind was sufficient to attest that Jesus was the Messiah. After the blind man had returned from the
pool of Siloam, and been interrogated by the Pharisees, the Messiah met with him
again, and asked, “Do you believe on the Son of God?” The newly healed man asked his interrogator
to identify the Son of God. Jesus
replied, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.”[31]
With the words, “I believe”, he worshipped.
The raising of Lazarus
contains two references to Jesus as the Son of God. The first is the prophecy that the sickness
and death of Lazarus will be used to the glory of the Son of God.[32] The second comes in the confession of Martha,
“I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God”.[33]
Only in the episode with the man born blind does the Messiah claim to be the Son of God, but in none of the episodes does He deny it, and in all of the incidents he accepts the title.
Jesus the Great I AM.
Then there is the use of ‘egw
eimi’, ‘I AM’. John’s liberal use of this phrase
in the narrative of the Messiah’s life is designed to indicate that Jesus was
the incarnation of the God of Israel. The strongest example is in
chapter 8: “Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before
Abraham was born, I AM.”[34] The double ‘amen’ (translated
‘truly, truly’), at the beginning of the declaration emphasizes its
importance. The use of the phrase, ‘I AM’, points back to the theophany at
the burning bush, where YHWH gave Moses a revelation of His eternal, yet ever
in the present, nature: “I AM WHO I AM”.[35] This is further concentrated and used as
a personal name of God. YHWH instructed
Moses to use the name ‘I AM’ to identify
to Israel
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: “And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I
AM. And He said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. Moreover God said to Moses, Thus you shall say
to the children of Israel:
The Lord God of your fathers, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.
This is My name forever, and
this is My memorial to all
generations.”[36] Jesus’
assimilation of this great name of God to Himself was a claim to deity: “therefore
(the Jews) picked up stones to throw at Him”.
The
Apostle John opens his gospel with a series of statements that declare that
Jesus is the source, giver and sustainer of all life, natural and spiritual,
temporal and eternal[37]. With this truth always uppermost in his mind,
John included the ‘I AM’ sayings of
Jesus, together with the discourses that were their context, to demonstrate how
dependent we are on Jesus as the fountainhead of our spiritual life.
“I AM the bread of life” (6.35); (6.48);
(6.51) is set in the context of the INCARNATION[38] “I am the living bread which came down from heaven”.
“I AM the light of the world:” (8.12);
(9.5); 12.46) is set in the context of the then current MINISTRY of the Messiah.[39]
“As long as I am in the world,
I am the light of the world.”
“I AM the door of the sheep” (10.7)
(10.9) and “I AM the good shepherd:”(10.11);
(10.14) are set in the context of the DEATH
of Christ.[40]
““I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”
“I AM the resurrection and the life”
(11.25) is set in the context of RESURRECTION[41]. “Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again.”
“I AM the way, the truth, and the life”
(14.6) is set in the context of the ASCENSION
of Christ.[42] “Let
not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s
house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you”.
“I AM the vine” (15.1); (15.5) is set in
the context of a promised PENTECOST. “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall
testify of me”[43];
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for
if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
This
set of self-revelatory statements of the incarnate God encompasses elements
from the whole cycle of the earthly life of the Messiah (from heaven to earth
to heaven) - the incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension, return
to the Father and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Individually the I AMs are impressive, but as a group of interlocking truths they
are compelling.
For each of
these statements to begin with the name of God that indicates His eternal
nature must mean that they are completely in harmony with the character and essence
of the eternal God. They were not offices that the Son of God simply embraced
in His incarnate state. For example, He was the Good Shepherd before ever He
was born in a stable and visited by under-shepherds. In the ‘Good Shepherd’ discourse,
He stated that He would give His life for the sheep. Peter said it was in
fulfilment of a plan devised before the creation of the world. He wrote, “… knowing
that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold … but with the precious blood of Christ, as
of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but
was manifest in these last times for you”.[44] Furthermore, the gospel writer John indicated
that it is eternally a part of His person and work. In the throne-room of heaven, he saw the “Lion
of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David” as a newly slain lamb, at the heart of
the government of God.[45]
And when Jesus said ‘I AM the light of the world’ He implied that He was, is and always
would be the light of the world. John
expressed it in His prologue when He said Jesus was the true Light who ‘gives
light to every man coming into the world’.[46]
Jesus Christ is the I AM. He is God, eternally the same, yesterday, today and forever.
The next strongest,
and most obvious connection (after John 8.58) between the Messiah of the New
Testament and the ‘I AM’ of the Old Testament is given in the statement, “I AM the resurrection and the
life”. The Sadducees, in their conflict
with Jesus, challenged Him regarding the truth of the resurrection. He
responded by stating that in the Pentateuch, the resurrection is seen most
clearly in the statement, “I am
the God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob”,[47] Jesus
adding the words, ‘He is not the God of the dead, but of the living’.
This interpretation of Exodus 3.6
came fresh to those that heard Him that day.
Whether it was already the teaching of the Rabbis is uncertain. We know that it was their position at a much
later date because of the commentary of R. Abin on Exodus 32.13, in which he
narrates that Moses enquired of God, “O Eternal God, do those live who are
dead?” “Yes”, saith God. Then saith Moses, “If those that are dead do live,
remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”[48]
The ‘I AM’ who called Moses is the God of the
resurrection. The executive arm of the
Godhead who will raise the dead is Jesus the Messiah. In the passage in which He stated “I AM the
bread of life” He dealt with the matter of eternal life and declared, “For this
is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him
will have eternal life, and I Myself
will raise him up on the last day.”[49] This truth was further emphasised.[50] He said at another time: “… an hour is
coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His (the Son of man’s) voice, and will come forth; those who did the
good deeds to a resurrection of
life, those who committed the evil deeds
to a resurrection of judgment”.[51] His power to raise all the dead is a
demonstration of His omnipotence. His
power to separate those that did good deeds from those that did evil deeds is a
demonstration of His omniscience.
There
are several further texts in John’s gospel which include the absolute use
of ‘egw eimi’ (I AM): they are : 4.26; 6.20; 8.24; 8.58; 13.19; 18.5; 18.6;
18.8. Each of these is illuminating.
In
response to the woman at the well in John 4 when she said, “I know that
Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all
things. Jesus said to her, “Ἐγώ εἰμι,
ὁ λαλῶν σοι”[52]
(I AM (he) who am speaking unto thee)
(Young’s literal translation).
To the distressed disciples when
they saw Jesus walking over the sea to them in the night, He said, “Ἐγώ εἰμι· μὴ φοβεῖσθε”[53](I AM (he) be not afraid).
In a warning to the Jews He said, “ye shall die in
your sins: for if ye believe not that I AM
(ἐγώ
εἰμι) (he), ye shall die in your sins.”[54]
The 8.58 reference is the
cornerstone text, “πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ
γενέσθαι ἐγὼ εἰμί” (Before
Abraham was I AM).
At the last
supper He offered to His disciples advance notice of the fulfilment of prophecy
as evidence of His deity. “Now I tell you before it comes, that when it
does come to pass, you may believe that I
AM (He)” (ἐγώ εἰμι)[55].
In the garden when they came to arrest Him with more
than 500 combat troops at their disposal, John records the use of the absolute ἐγώ εἰμι
(I AM) as His identifying response.[56] His use of the Name caused Judas and the front
ranks of Jews to draw back and fall to the ground.
Jesus was identified as the great I AM to Samaritans and Jews, friends
and enemies, an identifier that was a comfort to His friends but a terror to
His enemies.
When the nation’s leaders investigated His Messianic
credentials, Jesus claimed a particular prerogative of deity, namely, the ability
to forgive sins. He said to an obdurate sinner, “Your sins are forgiven you”[57]. The
Sanhedrists correctly asserted that none could forgive sins but God only. Jesus
forgave the sins of the paralytic; therefore, Jesus claimed deity.
Furthermore, in the upper room
discourse He said He would send the Holy Spirit.[58] Impossible
if He were not God.
[1] Luke
4.18-21
[2]
Matt.3.16; Mark 1.10; Luke 3.22; John 1.32
[3] John
5.23,30,36,37; 6.39,44,57; 8.16,18,29,42; 10.36; 12.49; 14.24;
[4] John
17.25
[5] John
17.21
[6] John
4.25,26
[7]John 4.42
[8]John 9.35 ff
[9]Matt.11.5 cf.Isaiah 32.3;
42.7
[10]
Matt.16.16
[11] John
10.24,25
[12] John
10.30; 5.18ff
[13] John
5.17
[14] John
5.18
[15]John 10.28,29
[16]John 10.31-33
[17] John
14.9
[18]
Matt.26.63
[19]
Matt.26.64
[20] Matt.
26:64
[21]Matt.26.65
[22] John
19.7
[23]
Sanhedrin 7.4 A & D (Mishnah)
[24] Luke
1.35
[25]
Matt.14.33
[26] Mark
3.11. cf Luke 4.41
[27] Luke
8.28 ff.
[28] Isaiah
40.13
[29] John
1.34
[30] John
1.49
[31] John
9.37
[32] John
11.4
[33] John
11.27
[34] John
8.58
[35]
Exod.3.14
[36]
Exod.3.14,15
[37] John
1.1-14
[38] John
6.33,35,38,41,42,51
[39] John
9.5
[40] John
10.11,14,15
[41] John
11.24
[42] John
14.1,2
[43] John
15.26; 16.7
[44]1 Pet.1.18-20
[45]
Rev.4.5,6
[46] John
1.9
[47]
Matt.22.32; Mark 12.26; Luke 20.37;
[48]Info. on Luke 20.37 - The
treasury of scripture knowledge.
[49]
John 6.40
[50] John
6.39, 44,54
[51] John
5.28,29
[52] John
4.26
[53] John
6.20
[54] John
8.24
[55] John
13.19
[56] John
18.5,6,8
[57]
Matt.8.2
[58] John
15.26
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