Does the Bible Say, That Jesus is God?

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8/6/2019 Does the Bible Say, That Jesus is God? http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/does-the-bible-say-that-jesus-is-god 1/29 Does the Bible Say, That Jesus Is God? [Part 1] Since Muslims and Christians do seemingly have a very different mind-set in how they approach their scriptures and in what way they expect to find truth conveyed, let me first address the topic on how God is speaking in his word on this specific topic and why that is reasonable in our sight. And then I will give the passages that in my eyes make abundantly clear the deity of Christ. Imagine if God did decide to come to live among His people. How should He go about making this plain to them? And given that God wants the free response of love and obedience, not a forced submission because there is no other way, how could He proceed? You say: Jesus never claimed to be God, because there is no verse where Jesus says "I am God". But imagine he had done so. Would anybody have believed him? Clearly the Jews would have reacted with the charge of blasphemy [as they did even to Jesus more "subtle" ways of claiming to be God. We will see he was actually not subtle at all and the Jews understood full well what he was saying]. And they would have demanded proof for it. One thing that God made very clear long ago through His prophets: Amos 3: 7 Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the  prophets. 8 The lion has roared-- who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken--who can but  prophesy? Isaiah 41: 21 "Present your case," says the LORD. "Set forth your arguments," says Jacob's King. 22 "Bring in [your idols] to tell us what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come, 23 tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear. 24 But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless; he who chooses you is detestable. Isaiah 42: 8 "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. 9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into  being I announce them to you." Isaiah 48: 1 "Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel - - but not in truth or righteousness -- 2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel-- the LORD Almighty is his name: 3 I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known;

Transcript of Does the Bible Say, That Jesus is God?

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Does the Bible Say, That Jesus Is God? [Part 1]

Since Muslims and Christians do seemingly have a very different mind-set in how they

approach their scriptures and in what way they expect to find truth conveyed, let me first

address the topic on how God is speaking in his word on this specific topic and why that is

reasonable in our sight. And then I will give the passages that in my eyes make abundantly

clear the deity of Christ.

Imagine if God did decide to come to live among His people. How should He go aboutmaking this plain to them? And given that God wants the free response of love and

obedience, not a forced submission because there is no other way, how could He proceed?

You say: Jesus never claimed to be God, because there is no verse where Jesus says "I amGod". But imagine he had done so. Would anybody have believed him? Clearly the Jews

would have reacted with the charge of blasphemy [as they did even to Jesus more "subtle"ways of claiming to be God. We will see he was actually not subtle at all and the Jews

understood full well what he was saying]. And they would have demanded proof for it. One

thing that God made very clear long ago through His prophets:

Amos 3:

7 Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

8 The lion has roared-- who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken--who can but prophesy?

Isaiah 41:

21 "Present your case," says the LORD. "Set forth your arguments," says Jacob's King.

22 "Bring in [your idols] to tell us what is going to happen. Tell us what the former thingswere, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the thingsto come,

23 tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.

24 But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless; he who chooses you isdetestable.

Isaiah 42:

8 "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.

9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into

 being I announce them to you."

Isaiah 48:

1 "Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come fromthe line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel -

- but not in truth or righteousness --2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel-- the LORD

Almighty is his name:3 I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known;

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then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.4 For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was

 bronze.5 Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you

so that you could not say, `My idols did them; my wooden image and metal god ordained

them.'

6 You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them? "From now on Iwill tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.

7 They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you

cannot say, `Yes, I knew of them.'

8 You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ear has not been open. Well do I

know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth.

9 For my own name's sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from

you, so as not to cut you off.

10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not

yield my glory to another.

So, time and again, God makes clear that the difference between Him and the idols is, thatHE announces beforehand what he is going to do, in contrast to the deaf and dumb idols. And

he says several times, that he does so because he is NOT willing to give HIS glory to anyother, to no idol ("god") and certainly to no human being. We will see that this is important

later when we see how Jesus receives lots of attributes/glory only properly due to God.

God says He announces his acts in advance, which is both a sign of WHO is God (since onlyGod knows in advance what He will do), and also a safeguard, since if something big

happens and God (or someone commanded by God to do so) has not announced it, it may not

 be from God.

[Side remark: That is one of my problems with Muhammad, who according to Islam is thegreatest prophet, because his message is the final one, the one for ALL mankind, while the

earlier ones were just of 'local' significance. So then, if the Messiah, Jesus, was only of 'local'and 'temporal' significance, how come, that there are over 300 fulfilled prophesies about the

Messiah in the Old Testament PLUS several hundred more prophesies about his secondcoming, but nothing clear at all about Muhammad? Did God get his plan for the correct

religion so woefully wrong and out of balance? Or did He change his plan after the Bible wasalready written? Seems to be unlikely to me. And it is one more indication for *me* that

maybe Muhammad was not being sent by the God of the Bible. And how come that all over 

the Bible, representing a 1500 year period of God talking through prophets, we have many

thousands of prophecies on historical events, many already happened and verified, and many

more to come, but somehow God suddenly chooses to speak a 'different language' and there

is basically nothing to be found in that respect in the Qur'an? Unlikely again, to my taste.Anyway, back to our main topic.]

So, God would have to 'prove' his claim by showing that he is true to his own word.

Especially as he commands us to not believe anybody who contradicts the word of God as

given in the earlier prophets. (see e.g. Deuteronomy 13. Also, if you claim to talk about the

same God but attribute very different characteristics, are you not in fact pointing to a different

god?)

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In order to prove that he is God, Jesus would have to show by his action and words, that he iswhat God claims to be/do himself as declared through the prophets he has sent before.

Well, those not really interested in religion might just have missed it, because they haven't

sought to know God as he has revealed himself. But those who really wanted to obey God,

who loved him, who searched for learning about God and his will in his word, they would

recognize him, because his ways, action and character were already "familiar" to them.

And after all, Jesus [even if you only see him as a prophet of God] says that we are supposed

to recognize true messengers of God not by their words (only) but in addition to the necessary

condition that their words are in harmony with the earlier revelation, he stresses to judge any

such men's claim also by their deeds and character, expressing it in this way (in Matthew 7):

15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they areferocious wolves.

16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn-bushes, or figsfrom thistles?

17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

And the bad tree might look just fine for most of the time, might have just as green leaves and

 promise just a good fruit, but, in time, its fruit is going to reveal the truth.

So, if that is one of the standards God sets for recognising true prophet, would he not act

himself consistent to his word? And would he not expect to be recognized by his deeds and

character and the way in which he fulfils what He Himself gave as prophecy to the earlier 

 prophets regarding himself?

We can not demand that God would perform to our 20th century Islamic or secular wishes of 

how God has to declare himself. But if we diligently search in his word on how he speaks

about himself we shall surely find. As he says:

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. -- Jeremiah 29:13

So now, let us see what such a search will bring to our attention.

Since I discovered the following example more or less myself in my own studying, I want to

 present it as the first parallel and in more detail than other passages [though I am sure othershave seen it long before me].

After God through the Prophet Ezekiel pronounces judgment on the leaders (shepherds) of 

the people (flock) of Israel, because they have not taken care of the weak but exploited them

for their own gain and have brought the people to ruin by their disobedience to God's

commands, then God goes on to give a promise through the mouth of Ezekiel, which is found

in Ezekiel chapter 34:

7 "`Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so

has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds

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did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock,9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold themaccountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds

can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no

longer be food for them.

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.

13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will

bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the

ravines and in all the settlements in the land.

14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing

land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture

on the mountains of Israel.15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD.

16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured andstrengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock 

with justice.17 "`As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says:

I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats....

20 "`Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myself will judge 

 between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns

until you have driven them away,

22 I will save my flock , and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one

sheep and another.

Hopefully everyone could see that God is promising to do something HIMSELF. "I myself 

will tend my sheep..."(verse 15) and "I will shepherd the flock..."(17) and will be the good

shepherd of the people of Israel in contrast to the evil leaders they have had. [18 times "I

will" in these verses!]

In Isaiah 40 we find these verses:

9 You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good

tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the

towns of Judah, "Here is your God!"

10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward iswith 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....

Compare to Luke 15:1-7 where Jesus uses this image to justify his own behavior.

Furthermore, this is embedded in one of the best known prayers of the Bible:

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Psalm 23 A psalm of David.1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you

are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil;my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the

house of the LORD forever.

This is one of the most often prayed prayer of the Bible (after the 'Our Father' which was

taught by Jesus to his disciples).

THE ultimate care taker of our soul and body is the LORD himself and the image used for it

was the image of the shepherd. This is a very familiar picture to the Jews who know their 

Scriptures.

Against this background then, in the Gospel according to John, Jesus says in chapter 10:

8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and

find pasture.

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and

have it to the full.

[As in Ezekiel: The others are thieves and out to destroy. As in Ps.23 Jesus promises to lead

to good pastures. Just observe how he uses these very familiar words of the Old Testament to

make his claim!] And then:

11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

[and note: As soon as he says "It is I, this good shepherd, you have all heard about", he goes

on and talks about him giving his life for the sheep - his death for the redemption of the

 people of God.]

12 The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming,

he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.

13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me --

15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too willlisten to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life -- only to take it up again. (Jesus

claims to be able to resurrect himself!)

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it

down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

19 At these words the Jews were again divided.

20 Many of them said, "He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?"

21 But others said, "These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon

open the eyes of the blind?"

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22 Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter,23 and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade.

24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you arethe Christ, tell us plainly."

25 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's

name speak for me,

26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my

hand.

29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of 

my Father's hand.

30 I and the Father are one."

31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him,

32 but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which

of these do you stone me?"

33 "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because

you, a mere man, claim to be God."

Obviously the Jews understood what he was saying. He did not literally say "I am God", but

he used the words and images that unambiguously made it it clear to the listeners (who knewtheir scriptures) what his claim was.

And apart from the Old Testament images, he claims in this passage, that he is the giver of 

(eternal) life (verse 28). Who but God could ever claim that without lying? This is a claim too big for any mere prophet. Muslims (and some others) often say: "I and the Father are one" is

no big deal. As a prophet he speaks the words of God and his intent is God's intent. They are

one "in regard to their message". But I would ask why don't you say then that "Muhammad

and Allah are one"? Doesn't sound right, does it? And the Jews' reaction was to pick up

stones to kill him for blasphemy. They didn't have the impression that this was such a

harmless expression. If he indeed was NOT saying he was partaker of deity, then he had

some majorly wrong choice of words. And he seemingly never thought he had to apologize

for it and restate his meaning in a less offensive way.

Another part of the passage in Ezekiel (34:17):

...this is what the Sovereign LORD says:

I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats.

And in Matthew chapter 25, Jesus says:

31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on histhrone in heavenly glory.

32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one fromanother as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

Here again, we have together, as in the Ezekiel image, the Shepherd, the sheep and the goat,

the judging. And the one who judges is the "Son of Man", which is the title Jesus uses for 

himself hundreds of times. And it is he, who at the end of time will be the judge over ALL

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nations and every single person. This in itself is a claim to deity again, because in Ezekiel, itis the LORD God himself who declares, that it is his business to judge.

And the passage in Matthew 25 continues, that the nations will be judged on how they treated

JESUS while in this life, and their relationship to Jesus is determining their treatment of those

around them, whether they live mercifully or egotistically. (Read it, if you are not familiar 

with the passage). Our love towards God will determine how much love we have for people.

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 1 John 2:9

(in the light = in fellowship/relationship to God, in darkness = the obvious opposite)

 Now that I have mentioned Jesus favorite title in speaking of himself, I guess I have to

explain what this title really is saying. And it is not to stress Jesus "frailness and humannature" (as some Muslims say). Quite the contrary.

In the book of the Prophet Daniel in chapter 7 we find:

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. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.

14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every

language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away,

and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.15 "I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed

me.16 I approached one of those standing there and asked him the true meaning of all this. "So he

told me and gave me the interpretation of these things:17 `The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth....

... (some explanation of the first part of the vision, concerning world history) ...

24 ... After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three

kings. (probably the Anti-Christ)

25 He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times

and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.

26 "`But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed

forever.

27 Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will

 be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting

kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.'

28 "This is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face

turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself."

 Now, who will be worshiped?

The "Son of Man" figure (verse 14),

the "Most High" (=God) (verse 27)

Who will have eternal dominion and sovereign power? (verses 14 & 27)

These are arguably only honors and characteristics of God, the only sovereign Lord of all

creation. But somehow this "son of man" is intimately related to him.

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Jesus is not calling himself ever 'a son of man', he is calling himself THE Son of Man. Anddoes so persistently hundreds of times. In the Daniel passage, this is not yet really a title, just

a term of comparison when he says 'like a' son of man. He sees a vision and describes whathe sees. And this awe inspiring figure looks like a human being but he obviously seems to be

much more. Jesus takes this 'description' and turns it into a title for himself. (Probably/maybe

 because most of the other Old Testament Messianic titles have been filled by the Jews

already with lots of wrong expectations of the Messiah to be a political figure, who wouldliberate Israel from the Roman rule etc, but Jesus' mission at his first coming was different.

And therefore he uses this title that hasn't had any preconceived notions and wrong

expectations attached to it.)

 Now that we have seen that God and some 'human' figure are very much related in Daniels

vision, let me quote the next two verses following the passage in Ezekiel 34 directly after the

earlier quote:

23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend

them and be their shepherd.

24 I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the

LORD have spoken.

After God has spoken more than a dozen times that it is HIM, who comes and will be the

shepherd over his people, he goes on in the next sentence, that it will be "David". The Jews

have always understood that (to my knowledge) as a Messianic prophecy, (together with

other passages which say that the Messiah will be a descendant of David), that it is not David

himself, resurrected from the dead, but a descendant of his and one who is "like David" in the

sense that he is a "King/man after God's own heart" which might probably be the most

important word God ever said about David.

So, in Ezekiel again, there seems to be some very close relationship between the Lord God

himself and some figure, who is human and qualifies as (descendant of) David.

 Now, back to the "Son of Man" passage in Daniel. Let me point you to some striking eventsand predictions in Jesus' life. At his trial before the High Court of the Jews (Sanhedrin),

where his life is at stake, we read in the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 14

61 ... 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."

63 The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked.

64 "You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" They all condemned him as worthy

of death.

This doesn't look either as if "the Son of the Blessed One (God)" or "the Son of Man" were

some titles of no consequence to the Jewish leaders. That is what got Jesus the death sentence

for blasphemy. And Jesus explicitly makes in this context the connection to the Daniel passage. 'Son of Man' and 'coming with clouds' and 'right hand of God' = the position of 

 power. I think there is no doubt that Jesus does NOT use 'Son of Man' to indicate that he is purely human. And the religious leaders understood that exactly. How do we dare to say, they

got it all wrong? We know better what Jesus meant than they, who heard him speak it in their mother tongue? And if he had been misunderstood, he could have explained himself better,

 but he did not.

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And the last passage I want to point to in this respect:

After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, it is exactly happening as Daniel and Jesuswere prophesying. He is ascending into heaven, and about this incident Luke reports in his

account of the Gospel, chapter 24:

50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessedthem.

51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed

continually at the temple, praising God.

And in Acts chapter 1:

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their 

sight.10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men

dressed in white stood beside them.

11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus,who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen

him go into heaven."

So, Jesus ascends to God, with the clouds of heaven (and is there given all authority and

 power as Daniel says and many more passages in the New Testament) and Jesus is

WORSHIPED by his disciples the very day of the Ascension, 40 days after the Resurrection

(Luke 24:52).

I hope you still remember in the earlier part, that the First Commandment is to worship

nobody but God. And the disciples worship Jesus. This is NOT a LATE distortion andcorruption of Christianity. These are staunchly monotheistic Jews who worship Jesus as their 

God. The very disciples of Jesus who have lived with Him for three years who heard all His

teaching.

The very calling of Peter, the leader of the disciples of Jesus was already a 'moment of 

insight' and is reported in Luke 5:1-11 (please read the context) after Jesus had done a

miracle in the presence of Peter, and Peter reacts spontaneously, not because of deep

reflection about it, but with (in my opinion) correct intuition:

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said,

"Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"

And he did not mean that he is an exceedingly sinful man in comparison to other men and

isn't worth being near the MAN Jesus who is less sinful. He calls him LORD and perceives

the huge difference between himself and this one who could fill the nets after they had

worked all night and all their professional skills and had caught NOTHING. And this event

 brings him to the realization that he, a sinner, can't really stand before the Holy One.

Probably Peter did sort of push this incident away into his 'subconsciousness' afterwards,

since, after all, this can't really be true. Not for a devout Jewish man's mind. But, the fact that

it is reported by Luke, shows that he thought this to be an important incident.

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And see what happens some time later as we now look at an event reported in the Gospelaccording to Mark. Jesus had already healed miraculously many people (chapter 1 and 2),

claimed that he is the Lord over the sabbath (one of the most important laws of the covenant between God and the people of Israel, no prophet has dared to ever talk this way, as being

Lord over any command of God - chapter 2, verse 28), and claimed that he in himself has the

authority to forgive sins (2:10) [and more things of this sort], and obviously he had expected

that by now his disciples got some clue as to his identity or at least to his authority and power, but read for yourself (Mark, chapter 4):

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."

[of the lake that is]

36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were

also other boats with him.

37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly

swamped.

38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him,

"Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves,

"Quiet! Be still!"

Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples,

"Why are you so afraid?

Do you still have no faith?"

41 They were terrified and asked each other,

"Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

The disciples had already experienced so much with Jesus, but somehow didn't get it. And

this incident made them terrified at Jesus. Yes, they were fearing to drown and die because of 

the storm. But they became even more terrified after Jesus stopped the storm just by speaking

to it. This was a terrifying silence.

Let me bring two passages from the Old Testament to make clear why they were so terrified(as if you and I would not be):

Psalm 148:

4 Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.

5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.6 He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.

7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do HIS bidding,  

Psalm 107 (A psalm/prayer of praise to the Lord for his wonderful deeds of help and

 provision):

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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.

And the situation in Ps.107 has lots of parallel aspects to the report in Mark 4, which I will let

you reflect upon yourself.

 Now, other prophets before Jesus did have some miraculous events in relationship to the

forces of nature too, but always it is God either announcing this beforehand to the prophet, or 

the prophet is first earnestly praying for God's intervention, and always is it clear that the

 power of the event is not in the person of the prophet, but solely in God who chooses to hear 

the prophet's prayer.

Examples are:

Exodus 14:13-31 on Moses and the parting of the Red Sea.

Joshua 10:12-15 on Joshua's command to the sun to stand still.

1 Kings 18:30-39 on Elijah calling down fire from heaven

Isaiah 38:8 on Isaiah giving King Hezekiah a sign from God and he chooses that the shadow

on the sun dial go backwards.

Jonah (in the book of the same name) is the "victim of a miracle" as to surviving three days in

the stomach of a huge fish.

In contrast to all those, Jesus is awoken by his disciples and just speaks to the waves and the

wind and they obey. Period. Jesus does not first have to start praying and asking God to do it.Jesus just speaks to the forces of nature and they obey.

Does the Bible Say, That Jesus Is God? [Part 2]

The passages looked at in the last part are not a rare exception, but there are dozens of divineattributes and names which are given to Jesus although God says so clearly (remember what I

quoted earlier from Isaiah 48:11):

I will NOT yield my glory to another.

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I could go in similar great detail about most of the names and attributes in the following list.But then this article would never come to an end. I will therefore provide you the references

and let you look them up for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

If the following table comes up jumbled on your web browser, I have put it in a different

format here.

 Scriptural Glossary 

of 

Names, Titles, and Attributes

Demonstrating That 

 Jesus and Yahweh Are One

"There is one God" - 1 Corinthians 8:6

Description As Used of God As Used of Jesus

YHWH (=I AM)  Exodus 3:14

Deuteronomy 32:39

Isaiah 43:10 

John 8:24

John 8:58

John 18:4-6 

God Genesis 1:1

Deuteronomy 6:4

Psalm 45:6,7 

Isaiah 7:14, 9:6

John 1:1,14

John 20:28

Romans 9:5

Titus 2:13

Hebrews 1:8

2 Peter 1:1 

Alpha and Omega

(First and Last) 

Isaiah 41:4

Isaiah 44:6

Isaiah 48:12

Revelation 1:8 

Revelation 1:17,18

Revelation 2:8

Revelation 22:12-16 

Lord  Isaiah 45:23  Matthew 12:8

Acts 7:59,60

Acts 10:36

Romans 10:12

1 Corinthians 2:8

1 Corinthians 12:3

Philippians 2:10,1 

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Savior  Isaiah 43:3

Isaiah 43:11

Isaiah 63:8

Hosea 13:4

Luke 1:471 Timothy 4:10 

Matthew 1:21

Luke 2:11

John 1:29

John 4:42

Titus 2:13Hebrews 5:9 

King  Psalm 95:3

Isaiah 43:15

1 Timothy 6:14-16 

Revelation 17:14

Revelation 19:16 

Judge  Genesis 18:25

Psalm 50:4,6Psalm 96:13

Romans 14:10 

John 5:22

2 Corinthians 5:102 Timothy 4:1 

Light  2 Samuel 22:29

Psalm 27:1

Isaiah 42:6 

John 1:4,9

John 3:19

John 8:12

John 9:5 

Rock  Deuteronomy 32:3,4

2 Samuel 22:32

Psalm 89:26 

Romans 9:33

1 Corinthians 10:3,4

1 Peter 2:4-8 

Redeemer  Psalm 130:7,8

Isaiah 48:17

Isaiah 54:5

Isaiah 63:9 

Acts 20:28

Ephesians 1:7

Hebrews 9:12 

Our Righteousness  Isaiah 45:24  Jeremiah 23:6

Romans 3:21-22 

Husband  Isaiah 54:5

Hosea 2:16 

Matthew 25:1

Mark 2:18,19

(Bridegroom)

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2 Corinthians 11:2

Ephesians 5:25-32

Revelation 21:2,9 

Shepherd  Genesis 49:24Psalm 23:1

Psalm 80:1

Isaiah 40:9-11

Ezekiel 34:11-12,22 

Luke 15:1-7John 10:11,16

Hebrews 13:20

1 Peter 2:25

1 Peter 5:4 

Creator  Genesis 1:1

Job 33:4

Psalm 95:5,6

Psalm 102:25,26

Isaiah 40:28 

John 1:2,3,10

Colossians 1:15-18

Hebrews 1:1-3,10 

Giver of Life  Genesis 2:7

Deuteronomy 32:39

1 Samuel 2:6

Psalm 36:9 

John 5:21

John 10:28

John 11:25 

Forgiver of Sin  Exodus 34:6-7

Nehemiah 9:17

Daniel 9:9

Jonah 4:2 

Mark 2:1-12

Acts 26:18

Colossians 2:13

Colossians 3:13 

Lord Our Healer  Exodus 15:26  Acts 9:34 

Omnipresent  Psalm 139:7-12

Proverbs 15:3 

Matthew 18:20

Matthew 28:20

Ephesians 3:17; 4:10 

Omniscient  1 Kings 8:39

Jeremiah 17:9,10,16 

Matthew 11:27

Luke 5:4-6

John 2:25

John 16:30

John 21:17

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Acts 1:24 

Omnipotent  Isaiah 40:10-31,18

Isaiah 45:5-13,18 

Matthew 28:18

Mark 1:29-34

John 10:18Jude 24 

Pre-Existent  Genesis 1:1  John 1:15,30

John 3:13,31,32

John 6:62

John 16:28

John 17:5 

Eternal  Psalm 102:26,27

Habakkuk 3:6 

Isaiah 9:6

Micah 5:2

John 8:58 

Immutable  Isaiah 46:9,16

Malachi 3:6

James 1:17 

Hebrews 13:8 

Receiver of Worship  Matthew 4:10

John 4:24

Revelation 5:14

Revelation 7:11

Revelation 11:16 

Matthew 14:33

Matthew 28:9

John 9:38

Philippians 2:10,11

Hebrews 1:6 

Speaker with

Divine Authority

"Thus saith the Lord ...

- used hundreds of times 

Matthew 5:21-48

Matthew 23:34-37

John 7:46

"Truly, truly,I say .... 

This chart (slightly extended by me) is taken from pages 62-64 of the book:

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Jesus - A Biblical Defense of His Deity by Josh McDowell and Bart Larson

Here's Life Publishers, (c) 1983, ISBN 0-86605-114-7

Isaiah 43:

10 You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen,so that you may

know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be

one after me.

11 I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.

Isaiah 44:

8 Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my

witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one."

But in the letter to Titus, chapter 2 we read:

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright

and godly lives in this present age,

13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus

Christ,

14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that

are his very own, eager to do what is good.

And also in 2 Peter 3:

18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory

both now and forever! Amen.

[Remember, God said: "I will not yield my glory to another!" seemingly Jesus is close enough to not

qualify as anOTHER.]

As well as in 1 Corinthians 10:

3 They all ate the same spiritual food

4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them,and that rock was Christ.

And lest anyone says, this is "just Paul" corrupting the message of Jesus, so let us see thatPeter, the leader of the disciples says:

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now

and forever! Amen. -- 2 Peter 3:18

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and even Jesus speaks of himself as a rock/cornerstone, for example in Matthew 21:33-46(read it all):

33 "Listen to another parable: ...

...

37 Last of all, he sent his SON to them. `They will respect my son,' he said.

38 "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, `This is the heir. Come, let's

kill him and take his inheritance.'

39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

...

42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:

"`The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

43 "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a

 people who will produce its fruit.

44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be

crushed."

Read the whole parable. It is very clear, that Jesus describes himself as the unique Son of 

God here, who is sent to the people to call them to account. And that he will be rejected andkilled and then will be this 'rejected stone' as prophesied in the earlier prophets who will be

the very foundation stone and whoever is against him, will be crushed in his rebellion. Andthe religious leaders knew exactly what he was talking about and wanted to arrest him

 because of it (verse 45-46) as they saw themselves exposed in their disobedience to God.

And definitely, the New Testament speaks many many times of Jesus being the Saviour. Let

us just look at a few more verses in the different Gospel accounts:

Matthew:

1:21 She (Mary) will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, [3] because he will

save his people from their sins."

[3] Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means "the LORD saves".

This is the announcement of the Angel to Joseph, Mary's fiance.

And it says "HE will save..." not, that he will tell the people about the Lord who will save...

And this is something not only said ABOUT Jesus, it is he himself who says so:

Mark 10:45

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,

but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

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Luke 19:10

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

Again: He himself came to save, not to talk about someone else who would do the saving.

Another chart I found (on the Christian newsgroup) where you can look around in the Bible a bit more on your own.

Again, for non-Netscape web browsers, you might have to look at this table in a different

format here.

JESUS AS SAVIOUR  YAHWEH AS SAVIOUR 

Luke 2:10-11.....Gal.3:13

Acts 2:21.....2 Peter 3:18

Acts 4:12.....1 John 4:14

Acts 20:28.....Jude 25Rom.10:9

Ps.106:21.....Isa.49:26

Isa.47:4.....Hosea 13:4

Isa.43:3-11.....Ps.78:34-35

Isa.45:21.....Isa.47:4

JESUS AS ROCK  YAHWEH AS ROCK 

Matt.21:33-46.....Isa.8:14

Acts 4:11-12.....Isa.28:16

1 Cor.10:4.....Ps.118:22

Eph.2:20-22...Matt.16:17-19 

Ex.17:6.....Ps.78:34-35

Deut.32:1-4.....Ps.89:26

2 Sam.22:32,47...Isa.17:10

Ps.8:12.....Isa.44:8

Yet, we read there is only ONE Rock and ONE Saviour! So what does that say about who

Jesus really is?

Also 'ego eimi' = (emphatic form in the Greek language of) "I AM" which is the very name of 

God, as he reveals Himself to Moses.

YAHWEH is the EGO EIMI 

and

JESUS is the EGO EIMI 

Exodus 3:14:

God said to Moses: "I AM WHO I AM.

This is what you are to say to the

Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

John 8:58:

Jesus said to them: Amen, Amen,

 before Abraham was (born),

I AM.

At this they picked up stones

to stone him...

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Again they want to kill him, because he uses the very name of God for himself. (Stoning isthe punishment for blasphemy.) Jesus uses this emphatic form of 'I AM' several times at

different occasions and each time the hearers are outraged.

This, even more than his use of the clear Old Testament images of God for himself (shepherd,

rock, etc), is the clearest claim by Jesus to be divine. He uses the sacred name of God for 

himself. Had Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I was", that would already be a strong claimexpressing his pre-eminence over Abraham, but Jesus goes further and deliberately violates

normal grammar, in order to leave absolutely no doubt about what he meant.

To prove this very claim is the main theme of John's Gospel.

It starts out with (the preface of the Gospel in chapter 1):

1 In the beginning

was theWord,

and theWord was with God,

and the Word was God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

18 No one has ever seen God,

 but God, the One and Only, who is at the Father's side ,

has made him known.

John starts out in his preface of the Gospel account to state what he is about to prove with hisreport: The Word of God is God Himself (and in the very first verse of the Gospel there is

already a 'duality' showing up, 'was WITH God' and 'was God') and this Word became ahuman being, and this God, who is the one and only, made God known to men.

Then as the drama unfolds He reports how this man Jesus lives and does miracles and talks

about God, revealing as He really is. And though many are offended at his claims, they do not

really completely understand his claims. But all that John reports culminates in the climax of 

his whole Gospel (chapter 20) with the confession of Thomas:

27 Then he (Jesus) said to Thomas, "Put your finger here;

see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.

Stop doubting and believe." [WHAT should he believe?]

28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

[THIS is the content of faith Jesus has been looking for all this time!]

29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have

not seen and yet have believed."

[NOW Jesus says that "Thomas is believing"]

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And with that, the Gospel account is at the point where John was leading his readers, the point John wanted them all to understand. Finally, Thomas, the one with the MOST doubts,

[so that he came down in history as Thomas, the doubter] comes out with the confession /realization of the true nature of Jesus. Jesus is the Lord and God. What follows is just a short

epilog (and a few afterthoughts on what happened later). The case is proven, there is not

much more to say.

30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in

this book.

31 But these are written SO THAT you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (=Messiah), THE Son of 

God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Having (eternal) LIFE is something that depends on this belief that Jesus is the Son of God.And in this whole Gospel, this means that He IS God the Son, God Himself, Lord and God,

the Truth, the Way and the Life and there will be no other way to God than faith in Him. NOBODY will come to (God,) the Father, except through Jesus (God, the Son) (John 14:6).

The task in _this_ article is not discussing "if the Bible tells the truth". The task before us isto establish that the Bible does teach the deity of Jesus and the Trinity. We are not judging if the Bible is right (what would be our standard to measure the Bible against anyway? Do not

say "the Qur'an", that would put us into circular reasoning immediately), but we are trying to

establish WHAT the Bible really SAYS. We want to understand the TRUE content, not judge

it on the truth OF the content. Many (Muslims and others) say that the Trinity was invented

300 years after Christ at the Council of Nicea and that Jesus says nowhere that he is God or 

nowhere does the Bible speak about the Trinity.

My intent is to show that the Bible speaks indeed in clear terms about both of these (deity of 

Christ and Trinity) and I hope you can see this by now, though we will examine a few more

 passages. Let us be honest and not lie about the true / real content of the Bible because we do

not accept the content as truth. You are 'welcome' to deny that the Bible speaks the truth [andwe can discuss its claim to speak the truth another time], but it is not intellectually honest to

deny its plain content and message in order that you can believe in your "self-invented

content of the Bible".

Does the Bible Say, That Jesus Is God? [Part 3]

One more remark that didn't fit really into my discussion on Jesus' use of the "Son of Man"

title for himself.

All through his ministry Jesus hardly ever calls himself a prophet. He does only compare

himself to the prophets in the context of rejection, i.e. just as the prophets of God have been

rejected and killed, so he is rejected by Israel and going to be killed. Just as they rejected the

 prophets of God, he seems to say, they will even reject God himself. See also, John 1:10-11.

And in Luke 1:76 it is said prophetically about John the Baptist by Zechariah, his father:

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the

LORD to prepare the way for HIM.

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And John is the forerunner of announcer of JESUS. See for this: Luke 3, John 1:23 in thecontext of all of chapter John 1 and Isaiah 40:3. Preparing the way for the LORD, is the same

as preparing the way for Jesus it seems.

Furthermore in Matthew 5-7 and many other places, Jesus does not - as all the other prophets

- speak with the phrase "Thus speaks the Lord: ..." but he instead uses "I say to you: ..." What

does that tell us about the sort of authority he assumes about himself?

There is a Christian song where it is sung about Jesus "He is all for me: Priest, King and

Prophet" (Well, the song is in German, so I don't know if it has been translated or not). And

yes, we believe that Jesus was all that, but more. And I hope from the discussion above you

could understand a bit of WHY we believe so.

When the Bible talks about Jesus being King, Priest and Prophet, then it is in the sense that heis the real, ultimate, final one [sorry, again, no place for Muhammad left in there], and the

others have only been shadows of what God intended this office to be.

God is the King - but concedes to give Israel a king and promises that the Messiah, who will

come, will be the true king.

1 Samuel 8 (read the context, where when Samuel, the prophet, judge, leader of Israel

 becomes old, the people come to him and ask him to appoint a king. Then Samuel goes with

this request to God):

4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said tohim, "... now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." ...

7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they

have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I

 brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they aredoing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king

who will reign over them will do."

(Meaning, you cannot substitute God's Kingship with a human kingship without loosing in

the end.)

But after the people had Saul, as the king after THEIR own heart and suffered for it, God

appoints a king after HIS own heart: David. And He promises that finally, the Messiah, thereal king from God will come as a descendent of David. And David in many aspects of his

life is an image of how the Messiah will come and reign. David is the shepherd king (2Samuel 7:8). He is anointed long before he will be able to publically reign. It will be many

years until Saul will finally "leave the scene" and the kingdom is given to David. So, theMessiah came, he is the anointed and rightful king, but will assume public rule only in his

second coming. David himself was never called a son of God, but in 2 Samuel 7:12-17 God

through the prophet Nathan gives a revelation to David.

11 "`The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: 12 

When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to

succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is

the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom

forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish hi m

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with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. 15 But my love will never be takenaway from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your 

house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be establishedforever.'" 16 Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.

I am not completely sure how to interpret verse 14, but it probably is a combined prophecy of 

immediate promise about David's son Solomon, who in many respects is a symbol and pre-image of the true king who is to come. And Solomon definitely did many things wrong.

But, although Jesus did no wrong, he became sin for us [2 Cor. 5:21], and was counted by

God as one who had sinned (bearing in fact the sins of the whole world). As it is also

 prophecied in Isaiah 53:12:

he... was numbered with the transgressors.For he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors.

But mainly this is a prophecy about the Messiah king for whom God will establish an eternal

kingdom. And: This future king is called by God "my Son" and "I will be his Father". Thatkings sometimes get this title of "son of God" has its origin in this prophecy of the Messiah,

who truly IS the Son of God. Others are only symbols of the Son to come. ... Back to the

description of the meaning of 'king' now.

The role of the King is both, the representative of God as the leader of the nation and the

representative of the people before God in what is going on in the nation. The King is

carrying the responsibility. But it is more a 'secular' representing in both ways. But know

also, that secular and sacred are not easily separated. It is a matter of 'spirituality' also, if you

lie or steal from your neighbor and it is the king who stands for justice in the nation.

Jesus is also the true High Priest after the model of Melchizedek. This is elaborated upon in

great detail in the letter to the Hebrews. The Priest is another representative for the people

 before God, in that he is the one to intercede for the people. He is performing the sacrifices

for sins etc. And the imagery of both priest and sacrifice are united in Jesus, who is the final

and true High Priest, and who does not sacrifice animals, but gave himself as the final

sacrifice, without blemish, so removing the sin and guilt of his people.

And Jesus is THE 'prophet' of the new covenant (Deuteronomy 18:18, Jeremiah 31:31, but

read the complete chapter 31),

The expression of the first covenant was the law given to Israel through Moses at Mount

Sinai. The expression of the new covenant is the grace of a totally new relationship of God

with his people. Against this background John 1:14 says:

For the law was given through Moses;

truth and grace came through Jesus Christ.

 Notice the difference of 'given' and 'came'. This does indicate a difference in the 'nature' of 

the mediators of the two covenants.

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In the case of Moses, the law was something that was handed to him by God and he onlytransmits it to the people. In the case of Jesus God's truth and grace come in his very person.

It is not just something he talks about, it is something he IS.

What did all these many prophecies do? The Jews have been in a dilemma. There are so

many prophecies about the Messiah to come which don't seem to fit together.

* Messiah will come as a triumphant king (Psalm 2)

* Messiah will come as a suffering servant to take away sins (Isaiah 53)

Then also, it says that

* God himself will come (Ezekiel 34: as shepherd - we looked at that already)

* God will come and a messenger will go before him (Isaiah 40, we have looked at this also

 briefly in respect to the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus and the prophecy

about the two in Luke 1)

* God will be "pierced". And this is an incredible passage in the book of the Prophet

Zechariah chapters 12 and 13:

12:1 This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who..., declares:

2 "I am going to ...

...10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of 

grace {remember "grace came through Jesus"} and supplication. They will look on me, the

one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and

grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

God speaks in the whole chapter in the first person, and says that Israel will PIERCE him and

then LOOK at him. These are very tangible words of the physical world. And what is

happening at this day when they pierce him?

13:1 "On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of 

Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

And that is the message not only of the whole New Testament, but also in the Old Testament

of Prophet Zechariah, who lived about 500 years before Christ. The message is, that God

himself will come, and that He will be rejected and even killed and that that will somehow bethe source of forgiveness and cleansing.

I do not blame the Jews for not understanding. It is confusing if you look at it before the

solution is known. Something like a puzzle. If you have only the 5000 little pieces it might be

impossible to get them all together. But if you also have the picture you are trying to make

from them, it is suddenly much easier. Knowing the picture you are aiming for, you can fit

the pieces to their right place.

In Jesus, God gave us the picture and suddenly all those concepts and prophecies in the OldTestament are united in him and fit perfectly. He is God incarnated in the flesh. He is God

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and the descendant of David. And he comes in humility to take away our sins the first timeand will come back in glory as the king in power at His return.

In Jesus now, none of the prophecies given has to 'overrule' the other. He no longer has to be

EITHER the one OR the other. He is it all. Messiah, suffering and triumphant, God and seed

of David, and each of the 'contradictions' is solved and he fulfills each of the prophecies

literally.

How do you read Zechariah 12 when you can not yet see that God really can become human?

Well, you 'allegorize' it. 'Piercing pain' about the rejection by his own people. No 'spirit being'

can be physically pierced, or can it? Now that the real picture/explanation is there, God's

word is again literally true, and there is no need to allegorize it.

And that happens to many verses in the Old Testament talking about "God himself coming".When you know the picture behind it, when you have seen the solution, then everything

suddenly makes sense.

Let me give you another illustration, from the 'fairy tale world': If a prince goes out into his

country and clothes himself as a normal man, takes no signs of his position nor much moneywith him. And then he falls in love with a poor girl. He might decide to not give her all the

details of who he is, because he wants her to love him for his person not for his position of 

wealth and power, which might bring out the greed in her instead of her love. So, he is rather 

secretive of what he says. But in one instant he can't help himself and shouts out, "I will share

all my kingdom with you!". What would the poor girl think? She would not understand it.

She would allegorize it and think: "He does not have much, but it is like a kingdom to him,

and he is willing to share all he has with me" She would not really understand, but she would

see his sincerity in it. When she thinks, this man is really serious and accepts his request of 

marriage, THEN she will find out the true meaning of his statement, and much more that

might have been 'cryptic' in their love relationship will suddenly make perfect sense.

In a similar way, many things can only be understood when I accept the offer of Jesus and

entrust my life and future to him on the basis of WHAT I already understand. That might not be all there is to it. But even if I don't understand everything, it should be amply clear from

what we read about Jesus both in the Old and New Testament, that he deserves our trust.

Many things we will only begin to understand when we take the first steps of faith based on

the trustworthiness of Jesus that we can already clearly see from the scriptures. There is NO

concept of blind faith in Christianity. We are asked to respond to the invitation of the one

who gave his life for us and has shown himself worthy of our trust, but we will not

understand all before we take this step either. We know all we need to know to give our lives

to him and follow him. Then we are promised (the followers in total on Pentecost and each

one who decides to follow Jesus):

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on

his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. -- John16:13

And talking about Israel and why they do not understand (yet) the Apostle Paul writes in 2

Cor. 3:

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14 ...for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not beenremoved, because ONLY in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a

veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

And this above verse 17 is another passage to show that the 'Spirit' IS God (the Lord).

Jesus, the Messiah is the center of the whole Bible. In the Old Testament he is the Messiah

who is GOING TO come and in the New Testament he is the Messiah who HAS come. And

yes, after Jesus there are other Apostles (=Prophets) or Messengers of God. There is no doubt

about that, but just like the old prophets talk about the Messiah to come, the new ones talk 

about the Messiah who has come. The Messiah of God is the center of all the Bible. There are

several thick volumes where Messianic prophecies are discussed (e.g. Lockeyer: 'All the

Messianic Prophecies in the Bible' has 600 pages and discusses around a thousand Messianic

 prophecies).

With this Biblical background, what do we have to say about Muhammad? IF Muhammad

had been SUCH an Apostle, called to bring God's message to the Arabs [even talking in his

own words about HIM as long as the meaning is preserved], Christians would have had no problem calling him a messenger/prophet. But for him basically to be saying: Well, Jesus was

JUST a prophet and the Messiah - and Muhammad seems not to have a clue about the real

Biblical meaning of 'Messiah' -, and to say, no big deal, Jesus was only of 'local and temporal'

significance, and now I am the prophet for all mankind and the final one, means that there is

 NO way that he is in agreement with the Biblical prophetic message. And that means by

Biblical standards, that he is not a prophet of God, because God does not contradict himself.

All true prophets confirm the earlier message and maybe extend it, but NEVER subtract from

it. God didn't make any 'mistakes' in his earlier messages.

And as we have seen, Muhammad denies the very center of the message of the earlier 

 prophets. Can his message really be thought of as originating from the same source/God?Even a little 'corruption theory' won't save it. It is not about a few verses here and there that

have to be changed, to get the Bible and Muhammad in line. The two are so far apart that youhave to throw the Bible away in total if you want to accept Muhammad.

Why, IF Muhammad was so important, did God give more than a thousand Messianic

 prophecies and none about Muhammad that would be clear?

Show me just 10 prophecies about Muhammad that do not need major 'reading into the Bible'

instead of just reading what is there in its plain meaning!

Another verse which says it is hard to fully understand the Biblical message if you ONLY

apply your mind to it and do not seek the guidance through God's Holy Sprit and let Himillumine your mind:

1 Corinthians 2:14

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that comes from the Spirit of God, for 

they are foolishness to him, an he cannot understand them, because they are (to be) spiritually

discerned.

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If you really want to understand God's truth, then you do need to use your brain andreasoning. Yes, God gave it to us to use them. But they will NOT be enough to understand

God and His will and plan. I want to implore you to pray earnestly as you search thesematters, do PRAY to God, that HE will show you His truth. That no former attitudes of yours

will veil the truth He wants to show you. Pray to Him and tell Him that you want the truth He

has for you. Even if it means that you will have to change everything you have believed so

far. If you ask God with the intention to obey what He will reveal to you, then God will honor your prayer. God says through the Prophet Jeremiah:

You will seek me and find me,

when you seek me with all your heart. -- Jeremiah 29:13

I know this is totally against all you have been taught your whole life. It is in your very nature

that God is not a trinity and that God did not become man, and that Jesus was just a prophet.

But, for the sake of the salvation of your soul, consider at least the _possibility_ thatMuhammad was mistaken, even if you then reject it. You should not risk your eternal fate by

rejecting something you have not earnestly considered.

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. -- James 5:16

If your heart is right and yearns for the truth, then your prayer to God will be effective even

against the teaching of the "falsehood of the Christian Faith", which is already so much

second nature to you, probably from earliest childhood where you have taken them in without

thinking through them yourself. Currently you might be unable to even imagine that you

might ever be able to believe something so "disgusting". But you might have seen that here is

something deeper than you ever imagined. Do not walk away from it without making sure

you know what you reject and why.

True, Jesus did not say the SENTENCE "I am God", but as we have seen, time and again, he

uses names, attributes, characteristics of God and claims them for himself. And the Jews

around him understood his language and were outraged at his claims, that he a 'mere man'

would claim to 'be God'.

But when Jesus cast out demons, who acknowledged him to be the Holy One sent by the

Most High God, he also commanded them to be quiet, as it was not yet time for his true

nature to be unequivocally revealed. This casts light on the reason why he didn't just

explicitly say "I am God".

And we have seen, that, though 'hard to understand' without the picture of the New Testament

solution, there are a number of Old Testament passages (puzzle pieces), which suggest that

God would come as a human being at some time in the future.

The Jews who rejected him knew what he was talking about. And also those who believed

him knew what he was talking about. And they believed he was God. Let me list you just a

couple of verses in the New Testament where they state this explicitly. And those were all

written by Jews, who accepted the Old Testament completely.

Jesus is God:

I already quoted and discussed John 1:1,18 and 20:28;

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Romans 9:5 reads:

... from them is traced the human ancestry of 

Christ, who is God over all, for ever praised. Amen.

Titus 2:13-14 says:

... while we wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearance of our great God and

Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to

 purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Sadly, many Christians do not seem to be so eager to do much good. But that is our 

shortcoming, and not detracting from the fact, that the Bible calls Jesus God.

Hebrews 1:8 is:

But about the Son he says,

"Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, ..."

The Apostle Peter states in the introduction to his second letter (1:1-2):

To those who through the righteousness of 

our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the

knowledge of God [the Father] and of Jesus our Lord.

The above verses are partly taken from my earlier list, and partly additional verses from the

list below.

An Outline of the New Testament Testimony to the Deity of Christ

This outline does not purport to be in any sense an exhaustive analysis of the NT witness to

Christ's deity. Rather it is a sketch of one approach - a rather traditional approach - to thistheme. Other complementary or supplementary approaches abound, such as the creative

treatment of Jesus' implicit claim to deity in his parables by P. B. Payne or R. T. France's

documentation from the Synoptic Gospels of Jesus' assumption of the role of Yahweh (Jesus

and the Old Testament p.150-59). For a brief discussion of the NT verses that seem, at first

sight, to call Jesus' divinity into question, see R. E. Brown, "Does the New Testament Call

Jesus God?" (Reflections 6-10).

A. Implicit Christology

1. Divine functions performed by Jesus

a. In relation to the universe

(1) Creator (John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2)

(2) Sustainer (1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3)

(3) Author of life (John 1:4; Acts 3:15)

(4) Ruler (Matt. 28:18; Rom. 14:9; Rev. 1:6)

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b. In relation to human beings

(1) Healing the sick (Mark 1:32 -34; Acts 3:6; 10:38)

(2) Teaching authoritatively (Mark 1:21 -22; 13:31)

(3) Forgiving sins (Mark 2:1-12; Luke 24:47; Acts 6:31;

Col. 3:13)

(4) Granting salvation or imparting eternal life (Acts 4:12;

Rom. 10:12-14)(5) Dispensing the Spirit (Matt. 3:11; Acts 2:17,33)

(6) Raising the dead (Luke 7:11 -17; John 5:21; 6:40 )

(7) Exercising judgment (Matt. 25:31 -46; John 5:19-29;

Acts 10:42; 1 Cor. 4:4 -6)

2. Divine status claimed by or accorded to Jesus

a. In relation to his Father

(1) Possessor of divine attributes (John 1:4; 10:30; 21:17;

Eph. 4:10; Col. 1:19; 2:9)

(2) Eternally existent (John 1:1; 8:58; 12:41; 17:5;

1 Cor. 10:4; Phil. 2:6; Heb. 11:26; 13:8; Jude 5)

(3) Equal in dignity (Matt. 28:19; John 5:23; 2 Cor. 13:14;

Rev. 22:13; cf. 21:6)

(4) Perfect revealer (John 1:18; 14:9; Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:1 -3)

(5) Embodiment of truth (John 1:9, 14; 6:32; 14:6; Rev. 3:7,14)

(6) Joint possessor of the kingdom (Eph. 5:5; Rev. 11:15),

churches (Rom. 16:16), Spirit (Rom. 8:9; Phil. 1:19),

temple (Rev. 21:Z), divine name (Matt 28:19; cf. Rev. 14:1),

and throne (Rev. 22:1, 3)

b. In relation to human beings

(1) Recipient of praise (Mat 21:16 -16; Eph. 6:19; 1 Tim. 1:12;

Rev. 5:8-14)

(2) Recipient of prayer (Acts 1:24; 7:59 -60; 9:10-17,21;

22:16,19; 1 Cor. 1:2; 16:22; 2 Cor. 12:8)

(3) Object of saving faith (John 14:1; Acts 10:43; 16:31;Rom. 10:8-13)

(4) Object of worship (Matt 14:33; 28:9,17; John 5:23; 20:28;

Phil 2:10-11; Heb. 1:6; Rev. 5:8 -12)

(5) Joint source of blessing (1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3;

1 Thess. 3:11; 2 Thess. 2:16)

(6) Object of doxologies (2 Tim 4:18; 2 Pet. 3:18; Rev. 1:5b -6;

5:13)

B. Explicit Christology

1. Old Testament passages refering to Yahweh applied to Jesus

a. Character of Yahweh (Exod. 3:14 and Isa 43:11 alluded to in

John 8:68; Ps. 101:27 -28 LXX 1MT 102:28 -291 quoted in

Heb. 1:11-12; Isa 44:6 alluded to in Rev. 1:17)

b. Holiness of Yahweh (Isa 8:12 -13 [cf. 29:23] quoted in

1 Pet.3:14-15)

c. Descriptions of Yahweh (Ezek. 43:2 and Dan. 10:6 -6 alluded to

in Rev. 1:13-16)

d. Worship of Yahweh (Isa 45:23 alluded to in Phil. 2:10 -11;

Deut. 32:43 LXX and Ps. 96:7 LXX [MT 97:7] quoted in Heb. 1:6)

e. Work of Yahweh in creation (Ps. 101:26 LXX [MT 102:27] quoted

in Heb. 1:10)

f. Salvation of Yahweh (Joel 2:32 [MT 3:5] quoted in Rom. 10:13;

cf. Acts 2:21; Isa 40:3 quoted in Matt. 3:3)

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g. Trustworthiness of Yawheh (Isa 28:16 quoted in Rom. 9:33;

10:11; 1 Pet. 2:6)

h. Judgment of Yahweh (Isa 6:10 alluded to in John 12:41; Isa 8:14

quoted in Rom. 9:33 and 1 Pet. 2:8)

i. Triumph of Yahweh (Ps. 68:18 [MT v. 19] quoted in Eph. 4:8)

2. Divine titles claimed by or applied to Jesus

a. Son of Man (Matt. 16:28; 24:30; Mark 8:38; 14:62 -64; Acts 7:56)

b. Son of God (Matt.11:27; Mark 15:39; John 1:18; Rom. 1:4;

Gal.4:4; Heb. 1:2)

c. Messiah (Matt. 16:16; Mark 14:61; John 20:31)

d. Lord (Mark 12:36-37; John 20:28; Rom. 10:9, 1 Cor. 8:6 -6; 12:3;

16:22; Phil. 2:11; 1 Pet. 2:3; 3:15)

e. Alpha and Omega (Rev. 22:13; cf. 1:8; 21:6, of the Lord God)

f. God (John 1:1,18; 20:28; Rom. 9:5; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8;

2 Pet. 1:1)

Taken from the appendix of 

Murray J. Harris, Jesus as God, Baker Book House, 1992, ISBN 0-8010-4370-0,

(A very scholarly book, with lots of discussion of the Greek text, it might not be much of a

 joy to read if you can not understand or at least be accustomed to read scholarly theological books and are able to read a bit of Greek)

Scholarly discussion of the Greek grammar in regard to "Jesus called God" in Titus 2:13 and

2 Pet. 1:1 is given on these pages: [1], [2], [3].

 Now, that I hope to have established to everybody's satisfaction, that the Bible teaches the

Deity of Jesus Christ, we have to turn to the remaining problem of the relationship of God,

the Father, to God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit. This will occupy us in the following

 parts.