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Matthew 1:18 - Incarnation Initial
Jesus
Christ’s Divinity
Quick
Verse
Matthew
1:23
“ ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and his name shall be called Emmanuel’
(which means,
God with
us). ”
Matthew
14:33
-
“And those in the boat
worshiped him, (Jesus)”
Matthew 28:9
-
“Jesus ... And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped
him.”
Matthew 28:19
- “baptizing them in the
name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
Mark 1:24
“I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”
Mark 2:5-12-“He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
Mark 5:6
“[The demon] saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped him”
Mark 8:38
“Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory”
Mark 14:36 Jesus calls God
“Abba,” which is Aramaic for Daddy, as His passion begins. This
demonstrates Jesus’ unique intimacy with the Father.
Mark 14:61-“[H]igh
priest asked...‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’…
Jesus said,
‘I
am’”
Luke
3:22
- “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.”
Cf.
Luke 9:35; Psalm
2:7;
Matthew
17:5;
Mark 9:7;
John 1:32; 2 Peter
1:17.
John 1:1
- “the Word
was with God, and the
Word was God.”
John 5:18
- “called
God his Father, making himself
equal with God.”
John 5:23
-
“honor the Son just as they honor the Father”
John 8:19
- “if you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
Exodus
3:14
- “God replied … ‘I AM.’ ”
John
8:24 -
“For if you do not believe that
I AM, you will die in your sins.”
John 8:58
- “Jesus said … before Abraham was,
I am.’
” RSV
John 10:30
- “I and the Father are one.”
John 10:33
- “you,
being a man, make yourself God.”
John 10:38
- “...the
Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
John 14:8-9
- “He who
has seen me has seen the Father.”
John 14:10-11 - “I am in the Father and the Father in me”
John 17:5
- “the glory
which I had with thee before the world was made.”
John 20:28
- “Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and
my God!’
”
Acts 20:28
- “ … tend
the church of
God
that he acquired with
his own
blood.” NAB See
Greek
Romans 9:5
-
“ … is the Christ, who is God over all”
Philippians 2:6 - “he (Jesus) was in the form (Grk: morphḗ) of God, did not
regard equality with God something to be grasped.”
Philippians 2:10
-
“…
at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth ...”
Colossians 1:15
“He
is the image of the invisible God”
Colossians
1:19
“For
in him all the
fulness of
God
was pleased to dwell”
Colossians 2:8-9-“in
him [Christ] dwells the whole
fullness of the deity”
Titus 2:13
- “the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ”
Hebrews 1:8
-“but
of the Son: ‘Your throne, O God,
stands forever’ ”
2
Peter 1:1-“… the righteousness of our God and savior Jesus Christ”
Jude 4
- “ ... our
only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Additional
Verses in Context
Some will
quote the following verses attempting to dispute the
Divinity of Jesus.
Colossians
1:13-15
“[H]is beloved Son … 15 He is the image of the invisible God,
the
firstborn
of
all creation.”
Therefore, it is argued that if Jesus was created He is not fully equal
with God, the Father. This heresy, if it were true, undermines Jesus’
role as Savior.
See
The God-Man and the Anti-Christ
See explanation how this is not what Paul meant in Colossians.
See
Arianism
Mark 15:39
“And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus
breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” Cf.
Matthew 27:54
John 14:28
“If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for
the Father is greater than I.”
Mark 13:32
“But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven,
nor the Son, but only the Father.”
However,
looking at the full context of what the Bible says elsewhere we can see
that Jesus is fully Divine, God.
Jesus has two natures, one Divine
and one Human. Above, He is simply speaking from his human nature.
There are
many ways to prove that Jesus is God. We can look to the experts in
first century Judaism and Aramaic, the Pharisees. It was frighteningly
clear to them that Jesus was claiming to be God.
John
10:30, 33
“ ‘I
and the Father are one.’ … The Jews answered him, ‘It is not for a
good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because
you, being a
man, make yourself God.’ ”
Jesus knew
the hearts and minds of the Scribes and Pharisees. And they clearly
understood Jesus to be claiming to be God. As a good teacher He would
have had to correct that if it was a misunderstanding on their part.
However, Jesus does not “correct” their understanding. Therefore, their
understanding must be correct, He is God. And Jesus goes on to restate
that in various ways.
John
10:37-38
“If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the
works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I
am in the Father.”
John
5:18
“This
was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only
broke the sabbath but also called God his Father, making himself equal with God.”
RSV
Luke
1:13 – 35
“[T]he angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer
is heard, and your wife Elizabeth
will bear
you a son,
and you shall call his name John.’ … (16) And
he will
turn
many
of the sons of Israel
to the
Lord their God
… (30) And the
angel said
to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall
call his name Jesus.
He will be
great, and will be called the Son of the Most High
… (35)
‘The Holy
Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore
the
child to be born will be
called
holy, the Son of
God.’
”
Cf.
Luke
3:22 above
Luke
20:9-19
“And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a
vineyard, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country for a
long while.
10
When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, that they should
give him some of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him,
and sent him away empty-handed. ... Then the owner of the vineyard said,
‘What shall I do?
I will send my beloved son;
it may be they will respect him.’
14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is
the heir; let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’
15
And they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the
owner of the vineyard do to them? ... is written:
‘The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the
corner’?
... The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on him at that
very hour, but they feared the people; for they perceived that he had
told this parable against them.” Cf. Matthew 21:33 -41
John the Baptist’s Testimony to Jesus.
John
1:29 - 34
The next day he saw
Jesus coming toward him and said,
“Behold,
the Lamb of God,* who
takes away
the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who
ranks ahead of me because
he existed
before me.’ I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with
water was that he might be made known to Israel.” John testified
further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky
and remain upon him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to
baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down
and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’ Now
I have seen and testified that
he is the
Son of God.”
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that
he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John
10:35-39
“ ‘If he called them gods to whom the word of God came (and scripture
cannot be broken),
do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world,
“You are blaspheming,” because I said, “I am the Son of God”? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
but if I do them, even though you do not believe me,
believe the
works,
that you may know and understand that the
Father is in me and I am in the Father.’
Again they tried to arrest him …”
John
14:8-11
“Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be
satisfied.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do
not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you
say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The
words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the
Father who dwells in me does his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else
believe me for the sake of the works themselves.”
Mark
8:34-38
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross,
and follow me.
35 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. …
38 Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful
generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his
Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
If we were to imagine anyone else other than God saying these words
above, we would have to say that he is crazy. For Jesus to come in his
Father’s glory he must be equal to God the Father.
Jesus Knew He
Was (and Is) God
Saint Pope
John Paul II says that it is evident that Jesus knew that He was Divine
in His response to Mary at the Temple at the age of 12 years old.
Luke 2:48-49
“Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been
looking for you anxiously.” And he said to them, “How is it that you
sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” RSV
Mary is speaking about Joseph,, but Jesus is speaking about God.
See
St. John Paul II audience Wednesday, 15
January 1997.
CCC –
Catechism of the Catholic Church
649
As for the Son, he effects his own Resurrection by virtue of his divine
power. Jesus announces that the Son of man will have to suffer much,
die, and then rise. Elsewhere he affirms explicitly: “I lay down my
life, that I may take it again. . . I have power to lay it down, and I
have power to take it again.” …
John
10:17-18
“For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life,
that I may take it again.
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I
have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this
charge I have received from my Father.”
653
The truth of Jesus' divinity is confirmed by his Resurrection. He had
said: “When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I
am he.” (John
8:28)
The Resurrection of the crucified one shows that he was truly “I AM”,
the Son of God and God himself. … Christ’s Resurrection is closely
linked to the Incarnation of God’s Son, and is its fulfillment in
accordance with God’s eternal plan.
If we accept
that the Bible is the Inspired Word of God, then we know that all that
it teaches is true. And John the Evangelist, inspired by the Holy
Spirit, clearly states that Jesus was “making himself equal with God.”
So, clearly Jesus was claiming equality with God. There are only three
possibilities. Jesus is either a lunatic, a liar, or He is telling the
truth and He is truly God and equal to the Father.
Jesus could not be a
lunatic because no lunatic speaks or teaches with the wisdom that he
espouses. No good man would falsely claim to be God.
Yet, Jesus was
clearly a good man as can be deduced by His teachings and His many
miracles and most importantly His resurrection from the dead.
Therefore, He is good and He is God.
Read more
Peter Kreeft
Name
In Matthew’s
Gospel we find a very unusual use of the word “name.” Notice below,
that Three Persons are mentioned, yet “name” is singular.
Matthew 28:19
“Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
From dictionary:
NAME
“Scripture places great emphasis on a person's name, as well as
the naming or renaming of individuals and places (Gen 2:23; 4:1, 25; 5:29; 11:9; 17:5; Matt 16:18). …
“The name of God was one of power and majesty, a source of hope
and assurance of salvation (cf. Ps 54:3; 72:19; 124:8; 148:13).
Tο know thy name of the Lord, Yahweh, is to encounter the Lord
himself and to know him as he is….
“What is new, however, is the idea that the name of Jesus Christ
is equal in holiness and power to the name of God. Since Jesus
is divine, his name is divine, for he is Lord and Savior. Only
in Jesus's name may salvation be found (Acts
4:12).
“The use of the name of Jesus gives power to heal and perform
miracles
(Mark 16:17; Acts 3:6),
to forgive sins
(Luke 24:47; Acts 10:43),
to exorcise
(Luke 10:17),
and to baptize
(Acts 2:38; 1 Cor 6:11).
Jesus's name is above every other name: "Therefore God has
highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father"
(Phil 2:9—I1; cf. Eph 1:21).
To proclaim the Gospel is to preach the name of Jesus
(Acts 5:40; 8:12; 9:15).
Ultimately, the entire activity of the Church is undertaken in
Jesus's name, because his name brings life to all who call upon
it iii faith
(John 20:31; 1 John 5:13).
'The believer is thus called upon to do all things in Christ's
name
(Col 3:17),
even if doing so provokes the opposition and persecution of the
world
(Mark 13:13; Acts 5:41; 1 Pet 4:14-16).”
[Catholic
Bible Dictionary, by Scott Hahn, Doubleday Press,
page 638-639, entry “Name”]
Name is
singular because the essence in One. There is One God, yet each Person,
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all partake in that
One Divine Essence, the One Divine Nature.
See “I
AM.”
Divine
Attributes of the Son of God
Omnipresent-Jesus is present everywhere at the same time.
Matthew
28:20
“I (Jesus) am with you always, to the close of the age.”
Jesus is
Eternal. He precedes creation. He is begotten not made.
John 1:1
– “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into
being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has
come into being … And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we
saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of
grace and truth.” NAS
Greek
Colossians
1:15-17
“He
is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation;
16
for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
[Please not that the term “first-born” is a title with its own
specialized meaning. It is not primarily a chronological counter. See
Firstborn.]
John 17:5
“and
now, Father, glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I
had with thee before the world was made.”
Hebrews
1:2
“a
son … through whom he created the universe”
The theme
of God as Creator in the Old Testament below is redirected to God the
Son in the New Testament
Isaiah 44:24
“Thus
says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the
Lord, who made all things, who stretched out the heavens alone, who
spread out the earth—Who was with me?”
1
Corinthians 8:6
“yet
for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for
whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things
and through whom we exist.”
A passage
in Psalm 102 that is directed to God in the Old Testament, is redirected
to God the Son.
Psalm
102:24-26
“O
my God
… Of old you
laid the earth’s foundations; the heavens are the work of your hands.”
Hebrews
1:8-10
– “But
of the Son
He says, ‘Your throne,
O God, is forever and ever’ … ‘You, Lord, in the
beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
works of your hands’ ” NAS
Titles of
God Applied to Jesus
Savior
Isaiah
43:11
“I, I
am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.”
Acts
4:10-12
“ …
be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by
the name
of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom you crucified …
12 And there is
salvation in
no one else,
for there is
no other
name
under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Alpha and
the Omega
Isaiah
41:4, 10
“Who
has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, the
first, and with the last; I am He…
10 fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God”
Catholic Answers states :
Also significant are passages that apply the title
“the First and the Last”
to
Jesus. This is one of the Old Testament titles of Yahweh: “Thus
says Yahweh, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, Yahweh of
armies:
‘I
am the First and I am the Last; besides me there is no god’ ”
(Is. 44:6; cf. 41:4, 48:12).
This title is directly applied to Jesus three times in the book of
Revelation: “When I saw him [Christ], I fell at his feet as though dead.
But he laid his right hand upon me, saying,
‘Fear not, I am the First and the Last’”
(Rev.
1:17).
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The
words of the First and the Last, who died and came
to life’ ”
(Rev. 2:8).
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay
every one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the
Last,
the beginning and the end”
(Rev. 22:12–13).
This last quote is especially significant since it applies to Jesus the
parallel
title “the
Alpha and the Omega,” which Revelation earlier applied to the Lord God:
“ ‘I am
the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the
Almighty”
(Rev. 1:8).
Worthy of
Adoration, or Worship
John 5:23
” …
so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.”
They only
way Jesus would deserve to be honored just as the Father is honored, is
for Him to be God.
Luke
19:38-40
“
‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ … ‘if these
were silent, the very stones would cry out.’ ”
Isaiah 45:23-24
“By
myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a
word that shall not return: ‘To me
every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear.’
24 “Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and
strength”
The honor
and adoration that is due God the Father, is now applied to God the Son
in Philippians below:
Philippians 2:9-11
“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which
is above every name,
that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.”
Jesus
Accepts Worshipped
We read in
Matthew and John how the Apostles worshipped Jesus. The Greek word that
is used for worship is “Proskynéō.” The meaning of this word is
illustrated when that same Greek word is used in Acts and Revelation.
We are told that God alone is to be worshipped (Greek “Proskynéō”.)
Matthew
14:28-33
“And
Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the
water.’
He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the
water and came to Jesus;
but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried
out, ‘Lord, save me.’
31
Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him,
‘O man of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the
boat, the wind ceased.
And those in the boat
worshiped
him,
saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.’ ”
John 9:35-39
“Jesus heard that they had cast him (the man born blind, and now cured)
out, and having found him he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of man?’
He answered, ‘And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?’
Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to
you.’
He said, ‘Lord, I believe’; and he
worshiped
him.
Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who
do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.’ ”
Acts 10:25-26
“When
Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and
worshiped
him.
But Peter lifted him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I too am a man.’ ”
Revelation 19:9 -10
“And
the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to
the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are true
words of God.’ Then I fell down at his feet to
worship
him,
but he said to me,
‘You must
not do that!
I am a
fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of
Jesus. Worship God.’ For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy.”
Revelation
22:8-9
“I
John am he who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw
them, I fell down to
worship at the feet of the angel
who showed
them to me;
but he said to me,
‘You must not do that!’
”
Therefore,
Jesus accepts worship because He is Divine, The same Greek word, “Proskynéō,”
is used for worship in each passage above.
See passages in Greek :
Matthew 14:33,
John
9:38,
Acts
10:25,
Revelation 19:10,
Revelation 22:8
Authority
Jesus’
miracles point to His Divinity. Besides that, we also see explicit
claims to Jesus’ authority.
Jude 4
“ ...
our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Our
only Master and Lord is God Himself.
Matthew
12:8
“For
the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”
Only God commanded the Sabbath regulations and therefore only He has
authority over it.
Matthew
5:21-47
“You
have heard that it was said … But I say to you…”
Jesus takes it upon Himself to change God’s Law.
Power
Miracles,
Calms Storm, Power Over Demons, Forgives Sins and Commissions that
Authority
Miracles:
Mark 6:56
“Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the
sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the
tassel on his cloak; and
as many as
touched it were healed.”
Where do the
Gospels say that Jesus is God?
When we see
the deeper meaning of what we are reading we see that Jesus is saying
with His actions that He is God on just about every page of the
Gospels. Every miracle is a testimony to His Divinity.
Miracles by
definition are beyond scientific explanation. Only God can perform
miracles. Because He performs His miracles, and plethora of them, under
His own power, and authority, and in His own Name He must be God.
This is
unlike the Apostles who perform miracles not in their own name, but in
the Name of Jesus.
Acts
4:9-10
“ …
if we are being examined
today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what
means this man has been healed,
be
it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that
by the name of Jesus Christ
of
Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
by him this man is standing before you well.”
The miracles
are too numerous to list here, but the following examples are of special
interest.
The greatest
miracle is the
Resurrection
which is recorded in each of the Gospels.
Matthew
28:9
Mark 16:9-16
Luke 24:1-34
John 20:14-29
Acts 2:23-24
Romans 6:4
Jesus calms
the storm. Even the wind and sea obey Him.
Mark 4:37-41
“And a
great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so
that the boat was already filling.
38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and
they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care if we
perish?”
39
And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace!
Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid?
Have you no faith?”
41
And they were filled with awe, and said to one another,
“Who then is this, that even wind and
sea obey him?” Cf. Matthew 8:24-27, Luke 8:24-25
Matthew, Mark and Luke
knew that their telling of this miracle would bring to the mind of the
good Jew the following Psalm.
Psalm 107:23-31
“Some went
off to sea in ships, plied their trade on the deep waters. They saw the works of
the LORD, the
wonders of God
in the deep. He spoke and
roused
a storm wind;
it tossed the waves on high. They rose up to the heavens, sank
to the depths; their hearts trembled at the danger. They
reeled, staggered like drunkards; their skill was of no avail.
In their distress they cried to the LORD,
who brought them out of their peril,
Hushed the storm to a murmur;
the
waves
of the sea were stilled.
They
rejoiced
that the sea grew calm,
that God brought them to the harbor they longed for.
Let them thank the LORD for such kindness” NAB
Can you imagine Jesus
preaching on this Psalm the night before the miracle ? Maybe?! This
miracle above clearly points to Jesus being divine. On another occasion
when Jesus calmed the wind and the sea He actually uses the Divine Name
“I am” in Mark 6:50
Mark 6:47-51
“And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on
the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the
wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came
to them, walking on the sea. ... (50) for they all saw him, and were
terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart,
it is I;
have no fear.” And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased.
And they were utterly astounded …”
In verse 50
above, the words “it
is I”
are literally translated as “I am” from the Greek. See section below on
“I
am.”
Jesus has
power over demons.
Matthew
8:28-34
“And when he came
to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs met
him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.
29
And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God?
Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
30 Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance
from them.
31 And the demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send
us away into the herd of swine.”
32
And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the swine; and
behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and
perished in the waters.
33
The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, and
what had happened to the demoniacs.
34
And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him (Jesus), they begged him to leave their
neighborhood.”
Cf. Mark 5:1-13;
Luke 4:35,41;
8:26-39; 9:38-43; 11:14
To accept
Jesus means to put Him first in our lives. If we are unwilling to
sacrifice living a life of sin, we will not be able to accept Him.
The demons
know Jesus is God the Father's Son.
Mark
1:22-27
“And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who
had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was in
their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; 24 and he cried out,
“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to
destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of
him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud
voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, so that they
questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching!
With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
Mark 5:2-7
“And when he had come out of the boat, there met him out of the tombs a
man with an unclean spirit, 3 who lived among the tombs; and no one
could bind him any more, even with a chain; … 6 And
when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and
worshiped him; 7 and crying out with a loud voice, he said,
“What have
you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God,
do not torment me.”
Luke 4:41
“And demons also came out of many, crying,
“You are
the Son of God!”
But he rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they
knew that he was the Christ.”
Matthew 8:28-29
“ … two demoniacs met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no
one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out,
“What have
you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before
the time?”
Jesus
forgives Sins
The
Pharisees are outraged when Jesus claims to forgive a man’s sins. They
equate that with blasphemy because only God can forgive sins. Notice
that Jesus does not dispute that only God has the power to forgive
sins.
Rather, He performs a miracle. This proves He is God.
Therefore, He has the power to forgive sins. If He had not proved He is
God, His logic would fail.
Mark
2:5-12
When
Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are
forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking
themselves,
“Why does this man speak that way?
He is blaspheming.
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
Jesus
immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so
he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? ... But that
you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on
earth”— he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your
mat, and go home.” He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in
the sight of everyone.”
Cf.
Matthew 9:2; Luke 5:20; 7:48.
Just as it
is Jesus working the miracle through Apostles, it is also Jesus working
through the validly ordained priest the effects of the Sacraments. And
so, in the Sacrament of Confession the priest says,
“I absolve (forgive) you.”
It is not to
be understood as …
“I (priest Peter) absolve you”
as that
would not bring forgiveness. Rather, it is
“I (persona Christi, in the person, and in the
power, and in the name of Jesus Christ) absolve you.”
What’s
happening on earth is also happening in heaven. Or as I prefer to think
of the Mass, what is happening in heaven is also happening on earth.
(Sacrament of Penance,
John 20:21-23.)
Demands of
Faith
Mark 8:38
“For
whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in
the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
John
5:23-24
“ …
that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does
not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him
who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has
passed from death to life.”
Cf.
John 14:1
Only God has
the right to demand this type of absolute faith. Therefore, Jesus must
be God.
Demands of
Absolute love
Matthew
10:37-39
“He
who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who
loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of
me.
He who finds his life will lose it, and he who
loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Luke 14:25
“Now
great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them,
“If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and
mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his
own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
Only God has
the right to demand this type of love. See
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
“ ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord;
and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with
all your soul, and with all your might.’ ”
Therefore,
Jesus must be God We have Three Persons in One God, One Divine Nature.
Knowledge
Jesus demonstrates that he is omniscient, and that he knows the future.
Jesus foresaw the future, and he knew people’s thoughts. Jesus has
Divine knowledge.
Colossians
2:2-3
“… the knowledge of God’s mystery, of Christ, in whom are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Luke 10:22
“All things have been delivered to me by my
Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who
the Father is except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to
reveal him.”
Jesus knows people’s
thoughts deep in their hearts - Matthew 9:4.
Mark 2:8. Luke 6:8. Luke 9:47
Jesus had
extra ordinary wisdom
Matthew
13:54
“[H]e (Jesus) taught them in their synagogue, so that they were
astonished, and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these
mighty works?’ ” Cf.
Luke 2:46-47
Jesus
knows the future
Jesus
foretells Peter’s denial
Mark
14:29-30
“Peter said to him, ‘Even though they all fall away, I will not.’ And
Jesus said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the
cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.’ ”
Jesus
foretells his Passion in detail as well as His Resurrection
Matthew 20:18-19
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be
delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to
death, and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and
crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” Cf.
Mark 8:31
Jesus foretold that a
colt would be available for Him. Matthew
21:2, Mark 11:2-6, Luke 19:30-34
Jesus predicts the fall
of Jerusalem which occurred 40 years later in 70 A.D.
Matthew 24:1-2, Mark 13:2, Luke 21:5, 20-24,
32
Jesus
states in John below how he is judge, and yet Psalm 50 below makes it
clear that God himself is judge.
Psalm 50:4-6
“The heavens
declare his righteousness, for God himself is
judge!”
John
5:22-23
“The Father
judges no one, but has given all judgment
to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as
they honor the Father.”
Matthew
7:21-23
“Not every one
who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven ... And
then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you
evildoers.’”
Matthew
25:31-46
“When the
Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then
he will sit on
his glorious throne.
32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate
them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,
33 and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the
left. 34 Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world … 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand,
‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the
devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food … 46
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into
eternal life.”
2
Corinthians 5:10
“For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ,
so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done
in the body.”
Therefore, again
we see how Jesus must also be God. And, the only way Jesus can be a
good judge is because He knows all things.
Again, therefore He is God.
When Jesus
says that he doesn’t know the day or hour of the end of the world, this
is because he is speaking in his human nature, not his divine nature.
That He has a divine nature is evident from the above.
Claims :
Greater than
Temple
Matthew
12:6
“I
tell you, something greater than the temple is here.”
Scott Hahn,
Ph.D., writes that to Jesus’ contemporary Jewish audience the only thing
that could be greater than the Temple would be God Himself.
The claim to
be the “Son of Man.”
The Jews
recognized Jesus’ claim to be the “Son of Man” (Daniel 7:13) was a claim
to be God. This is demonstrated by both the context of Daniel 7
and by the Jews’ claim that Jesus had blasphemed in doing so.
Matthew
26:63-66
“Then the high priest said to him, “I order you to tell us under oath
before the living God whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
64
Jesus said to him in reply, “You have said so. But I tell you:
From now on
you will see ‘the
Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power’
and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’”
65
Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What
further need have we of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy; 66
what is your opinion?” They said in reply, “He deserves to die!”
Mark
14:61-64
“Again the high priest asked him and said to him, “Are you the Messiah,
the son of the Blessed One?”
62
Then Jesus answered, “I am;
and ‘you
will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power
and coming with the clouds of heaven.’”
63
At that the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further need
have we of witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy.” Cf
Luke
22:66-71
Only God
comes on the clouds of heaven, therefore Jesus is claiming to be God.
He is I AM
“I Am”
The Name for God
God is the
Creator of everyone else. Our existence is completely dependent upon
Him, whereas God’s existence is completely independent of all else.
He is
Existence. Therefore, He revealed His Name to Moses as
“I Am.”
Exodus
3:13-14
“But,” said Moses to God, “when I go to the Israelites and say to them,
‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is
his name?’ what am I to tell them?”
God replied,
“I am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the
Israelites: I AM sent me to you.”
To misuse
the holy Name of God,
I AM, was deserving of death.
Leviticus
24:16
“He
who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death; all the
congregation shall stone him”
Jesus
revealed that He too is God from all eternity, the Second Person of the
Trinity, God the Son, with the proclamation that He too is
“I Am.”
Mark
14:61-64
“Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the
Blessed?’ And Jesus said,
‘I am; and you will see the Son of man seated at the
right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’ And the high priest tore his garments, and said, ‘Why do we still
need witnesses?
You
have heard his blasphemy.’”
John 8:58
“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was,
I am.’
So they took up stones to throw at him … ” RSV
Jesus is
claiming to be God before the creation of Abraham, by His use of God’s
Name
“I Am.”
While modern American’s might miss this, it was
obvious to the first century Jew that Jesus was claiming to be God.
That is why they wanted to stone him to death.
John 8:28
“So
Jesus said (to them), ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will
realize that I AM’ ” NAB
Mark 6:50
“They
had all seen him and were terrified. But at once he spoke with them,
‘Take courage,
it is I, do not be afraid!’ ”
[ Literally the “it is I” is “I am” in the Greek.]
John 8:24
“That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you
do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.” NAB
John
18:4-6
“Then Jesus, knowing all that was to befall him, came forward and said
to them, ‘Whom do you seek?’ They answered him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’
Jesus said to them, ‘I am he.’ … When he said to them, ‘I
am
he,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.”
The “I am”
in the above four verses is a translation from the
Greek “εγω ειμι” which can be Transliterated into the Latin (and
English) alphabet as
“Ego eimí”
This
quotation is from the divine revelatory formula
“I AM”
of
Exodus
3:14
above; Cf.
Isaiah
41:4, 10
“Who
has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, the
first, and with the last; I am He…
10 fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God”
Cf. Isaiah 43:1–3,10,13
See the
verses in Greek to verify the divine formula
“I am”
= Greek
“εγω ειμι” =
“Ego eimí”
[Transliterated]
Here below
is an Interlinear Gospel text showing the Greek. Scroll down and put the
cursor on the English word to highlight the corresponding Greek word in
these links : (Caution: The following links are to a Protestant Bible
site, but they do show the Greek text and serve that purpose.)
Mark 14:62,
John 8:58,
John 8:28,
John 8:24,
Mark 6:50,
John 18:5
See
chart for transliteration
from Greek letters to the Latin (or English) alphabet.
In addition,
it is also important to recognize that Jesus states that it is necessary
to believe that He is God or we will die in our sins.
John 8:24
“That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you
do not believe that
I AM,
you will die in your sins.” NAB
And no good
man or prophet would claim that to be if it wasn’t so. Once we accept
that Jesus is good it is obvious that He is telling the truth and
misleading no one. Therefore, Jesus must be God.
By Reason
Reason itself shows that only the God-Man Jesus could save us. In the
natural realm, it is more serious to kill the president of country than
to kill a street sweeper because the first affects the whole country and
it carries a stiffer penalty.
In the spiritual realm, the evil of a
particular sin is not only measured by the degree of the offense but
also by the degree of importance or holiness of the one who has been
offended.
For example, if a person insults the name of his boss that
would be wrong, but if he insults the Holy Name of God that would be an
extremely worse sin because the One who is offended is infinitely more
holy.
Because God
is infinitely Good a sin against Him is so bad it requires a
recompense, a redemption that can only be performed by God.
No mere creature
could redeem the price of his sins committed against God. Even if a
human, angel, or some other created being lived a perfect life without
sinning and offered that up to God, that offering could never give to
God something He did not already have.
And so, that offering would not be capable of redeeming a single sin against an
infinite God.
1 John 1:7
“ … the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
It is only
because the Person Jesus, who is both God and Man, sacrificed His most
precious blood that the gap between God and Man has been bridged.
That
is why those heresies that denied that the One Person Jesus was (and IS)
both truly God and truly Man were so dangerous. They were a denial of
this central mystery by which we are saved.
Therefore, the declaration
that Mary is Theotokos, the Mother of God, which clearly points to Jesus
being both God and Man, is a decisive blow against the errors of the
Anti-Christ.
Read more on
this subject at
The God-Man and the Anti-Christ
Simply
stated, because God is infinitely good sins against Him cannot be
redeemed by any creature. And only because Jesus is Divine, and therefore infinitely good,
can His sacrifice redeem our sins which are not infinite, but worse than
we can comprehend.
(Just
because we can imagine a concept we call infinite, that does not mean we
can fully and truly comprehend anything that is truly infinite. We
are not great enough to do anything that is infinite, good or bad, or to
fully know that which is infinite.)
By Faith
There are
plenty of scriptural reasons for accepting the divinity of Jesus.
However, a purely logical acceptance of that fact will not save us.
Satan knows it and He is still in hell.
We need to accept it in our
hearts and believe and hope in Him as our Divine Savior. Maybe, that
is why Jesus would silence the demons when he met them.
Perhaps He
wanted to gradually lead the Jews to faith in their hearts. Another
reason is that perhaps he did not want to hasten his Crucifixion by
Romans, to give him more time in reaching peoples hearts.
Historical
Testimony
See the
links at
Catholic Answers
Corunum Catholic Apologetic Web Page
Prophecy of Old Testament Fulfilled in Jesus
Christ
Jesus De-Coded
Scientific
Arguments for the Existence of God
By Fr. Georges Lemaitre, and Robert J.
Spitzer, S.J. Ph.D
Logical Arguments for the Existence of God -
offsite
article by
Peter Kreeft & Fr. Ronald Tacelli, SJ.
Conclusion
By taking
the divine title of
“I AM” Jesus claims to be God.
John 8:58 The spiritual leaders
of his day clearly understood Him to be claiming to be God.
John 10:30, 33
The New
Testament Evangelist Saint John clearly states that He is God.
John 5:18 Jesus would have
to be God to have the qualities he claimed and demonstrated that He had
Attributes
and He accepts
worship that is due God alone.
Our sin
committed against an infinitely Good God results in our need of a redemption
that only God can give. And if Jesus was not God, He could not have
paid the debt due because of our sins.
Reason.
And He states that if we
do not accept His Divinity,
“I AM,” then we die in our sins.
John 8:24
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