Chapter Ten – Who did Jesus know Himself
to be
Read John 5 & 6
The very first
question I was asked when I set foot at Asbury Theological Seminary was asked
by Dr. Chuck Gutenson. The question was,
“Did Jesus know that he was God while he walked the earth?” It is a great
theological question that leads to lots of discussion. I remember be somewhat
awestruck at the question. He went on to tell us that he was not going to give
us an answer to the question, rather, we would have to ponder it and come up
with one of our own. In the years since I have often pondered the question from
many different avenues. Probably the right question is, “What difference does
it make?” And the answer to this question could be that it makes a significant
difference depending on your point of view.
So let’s delve
into it. So what difference does it make? As far as the teaching of Jesus, the
divinity of Jesus would give authority to all that He taught us. And yet, even
as the Son of God which we acknowledge either way, Jesus has all the authority
He needs. So we can all agree that Jesus teaching are authoritative from God
and carry the weight of God.
So now we focus on
the miracles of Jesus. If Jesus knows that He is God then Jesus can accomplish
anything He desires. Isn’t that what we see in the miracle stories of the
Gospel accounts of His life? Jesus even raises folks from the dead, something
we know that only God can do. And again, yet, we also acknowledge that God can
use any of us as instruments to do what God wants to do. So in reality, again,
the divinity or humanity of Jesus is not something that we question.
So it brings us to
the one issue that it might mean something about. The death on the cross! If
Jesus knows Himself to be God while He walked the earth, what does the death on
the cross mean? Can God be sacrificed as God? Though one can argue effectively
that God can do anything God desires, it should at least raise the question
about sacrifice. In other words, if there is no sacrifice because God cannot
truly die, then is there atonement? Can the death of God on the cross, when in
reality there is no death at all, fulfill the requirements that God intended
with atonement practices that God put into place. Many would say no. Not all
mind you, but many. Because of that we would point to the humanity of Jesus on
the cross, that Jesus knew Himself to be fully human and yet the Son of God. So
Jesus sacrifice is in fact a gift of His life for the atonement for original
sin. This carries through to the resurrection. What occurs during the period
following Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection is a mystery that
only God understands. But if Jesus, truly human, descends into Hell and
collects the keys to death and then God brings Him back into life, then
resurrection has the significance that God intended. That resurrection is
within the power of God alone and that now the promise to you and me can be
fulfilled through faith.
I have listed pertinent chapter and
verse in the Gospel of John so that you might see all sides of this argument.
Clearly indicate that Jesus sees
Himself as a Subordinate (I am not God)
John 3:16; 4:34; 5:19b-20a; 5:30;
5:36; 5:37; 6:28b-29; 6:38; 6:57; 7:16; 8:16; 12:44-45
These passages give an indication
that Jesus understands Himself to be equal to God and yet leave us thinking,
but not fully God. (I am equal to God, but….)
John 5:21; 5:26; 6:39-40; 6:44;
6:54; 10:17; 10:30; 17:2
Without question Jesus invokes the
name of God as He identifies Himself with I AM (I and God are one)
John 8:24; 8:28; 8:58; 13:19
Within the scriptures we see that:
There
is no reference to what he understood about himself in his own words
Resurrection/
crucifixion overshadows everything else
His teaching is
consistent with Old Testament – different style – same words
Therefore:
Jesus understood himself to be:
Human; devout Jew;
Pharisee – accepted a lifestyle of following God; Galilean holy man; a prophet;
a teacher; the son of man; Messiah; Suffering servant;
Son
of God
Something to ponder!
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