In this downloadable audio by David Glass (of a talk given to “Sceptic’s Corner” in Belfast) he responds to some of the modern myths about Jesus. Six quick points follow which demonstrate that the first Christians thought of Jesus as God.
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Download Now1. Paul’s letters were written within a generation of Jesus’ Crucifixion. He uses formulae, prayers and confessions that his readers would approve of. The Old Testament texts, for example, teach us that we must call upon the name of YHWH to be saved ( Joel 2:32 ) ; Paul reminds the Roman church that they must call on Jesus’ name to be saved (Rom. 10:9–13). Isaiah makes clear that every tongue will confess and every knee will bow to YHWH and YHWH alone (Isa. 45:23–5); yet the hymn that Paul quotes in Philippians 2 is clear that every tongue will confess and every knee will bow to Jesus!
2. Central to the Jewish faith was the belief that YHWH and YHWH alone was to be worshipped. Yet study of these early Christian devotional practices shows that the first Christians worshipped Jesus. It is incredible that Jewish Christians confessed Jesus, called upon his name for Salvation, and celebrated a meal at which Jesus was the presiding Lord. And, as Larry Huratdo concludes:
…amazing devotion to Jesus appeared more like an explosion, a volcanic eruption, than an evolution. However counter-intuitive it will perhaps seem, the exalted claims and the unprecedented devotional practices that refl ect a treatment of Jesus as somehow sharing divine attributes and status began among Jewish believers and within the earliest moments of the young Christian movement. (‘Early Devotion to Jesus: A Report, Reflections and Implications.’ Expository Times 122/4 (2011): 167–76.)
3. Time and again the New Testament texts casually talk about Jesus as if he has the same authority, power and rights as YHWH. YHWH alone walks on the waves and tells the storms to cease (Job 9:8, 38:11; Jonah 1; Psalm 89:9, 107:23–32); yet the early Churches believed that Jesus calmed storms and walked upon the waves.
4. Jesus parables also teach that he was identical with the God of Israel. For example, Jesus told the parable of the Lost Sheep to explain why he fellowshipped with the sinful and not the righteous. Jesus clearly plays the part of the shepherd in the parable.In the Old Testament God describes himself to the prophets in many occasions as Israel’s true Shepherd (Psalm 23 being the obvious example). In his parables Jesus not only identifies himself as a good shepherd, but the “Good Shepherd”. Jesus describes himself as a shepherd who performs the same role as YHWH searching for the lost sheep of Israel, bearing them in his arms, carrying them home, or leading them along the way. Especially compare Gods words in Ezekiel 34 v11, and Ezekiel 34 v 16 with Jesus words about himself in Luke 19v10,
Ezekiel 34
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 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
Luke 19 v 9+10
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
5. Jews believe that God had a counsel of angels who aided him in creation and providence; yet the hymns quoted in Hebrews 2 and Colossians 1 make it clear that Jesus is superior to these angelic beings. What God does, from creation to judgement, Jesus does. What God deserves, from praise to obedience, Jesus deserves. Christians thought of Jesus as creator, judge and saviour. No angel, or any other figure in Jewish theology, shared God’s attributes so completely.
Some agents of YHWH in Jewish literature – like the Son of Man in The Similitudes of Enoch – receive extraordinary honour and even worship. But no writer ever contends that righteous Jews should worship such figures now, repent to such a figure, or immediately acknowledge anyone other than YHWH as saviour and Lord. Yet the first Christians believed that every human being had an immediate, urgent duty to confess Jesus as Lord and trust him for deliverance! Furthermore, we must all know and be known by Jesus; it is as if we must love him with all our heart, soul, mind and understanding. He is to be the goal of our lives, the source of our motivations. In Jewish thought, only God could be thought of this way.
6. Jesus certainly behaves as if he is God incarnate. He never goes up a mountain like Moses to receive commandments; he never begins his pronouncements with a “thus says the LORD” like an Old Testament prophet: Jesus teaches on his own authority. Jesus describes himself as Lord of the Sabbath, greater than Solomon and David, and more significant than YHWH’s temple in Jerusalem.
What would cause Jewish monotheists to include Jesus in their definition of God? What would lead them to worship a man as their creator? The historical Jesus Christ of Nazareth claimed to fulfil all of Israel’s hopes; he claimed authority over God’s law, God’s people and God’s Temple; he claimed the right to forgive sins and to judge the world. In short, Jesus claimed the role reserved for God himself. Then this claim was verified through his life, ministry, character and resurrection.