A previous blog post dealt with some moral issues Jesus didn’t mention directly. This one looks at a theological issue – why didn’t He say, “I am God”?
This
is a question raised by people who deny the deity of Christ. They say, “If
Jesus was God, then why not just say it?” But this objection has a couple of
problems.
It
misses how His hearers would have understood that claim
If
Jesus said, “I am God”, He would have been completely misunderstood. His
hearers would have thought that He was saying that God was actually a man – the
divine nature was a human nature. They would have taken Him to be saying that
God is not the transcendent being whose throne is in heaven, who fills the
universe, but rather He is like the pagan deities who have human-like limitations.
This, then, would have prevented any Jew from giving Him a hearing.
So,
the biblical truth of the Trinity would have been missed by Jesus simply
saying, “I am God”, and the biblical truth of the incarnation would likewise
have been misunderstood by such a statement. The reality of the Trinity and the
incarnation can’t be communicated accurately or adequately in a soundbite.
It
misses how His hearers did understand the claims He made
The
Lord Jesus said and did things that left people in no doubt that He was
claiming deity, and yet not claiming to be the Father. He said and did things
that only God could say and do, and yet He spoke about Himself as a real man
and the Father (and the Holy Spirit) as a distinct person. This resulted in
Christians examining the Old Testament Scriptures and seeing that God is
revealed there in a way that demands the doctrine of the Trinity (e.g. Gen.
1:26-27), and the Messiah is presented there in a way that demands the doctrine
of the incarnation (e.g. Isa. 9:6).
The
Jewish leaders recognised Jesus claimed to be God – that’s why they condemned
Him to death. It’s not blasphemy to claim to be the Messiah. It’s not even
blasphemy to claim to be a pre-existent person. But it would be blasphemy for a
creature to claim to have the nature, name and prerogatives of the God of
Israel, and that’s what Jesus claimed.
Not
only did the Jewish leaders recognise Jesus claimed to be God, but His Jewish
followers saw it too. The last people who would have believed that a man was
God were the first people who did. Jesus’ disciples were God-fearing Jews, and
yet they identified Jesus as God (e.g. John 1:1), Yahweh (e.g. 1 Peter 2:3 with
Ps. 34:8), the Author of life (Acts 3:15) and the Lord of glory (e.g. Jas.
2:1). There’s no way they could have believed such a thing unless He claimed
it, and rose from the dead in vindication of those claims.
Jesus
knew what He was doing when He revealed the truth of His identity. It led to
Thomas calling Him, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28), and anyone looking at
the evidence honestly will be led to the same conclusion and the same
confession.
