Just Who Then is Jesus?

 

If Jesus isn’t God, who is he?  He is an agent of God, certainly a prophet, messiah, and perhaps more.  The Scriptures are not too clear on the subject.  He did not fulfill many of the messianic prophecies. A ‘messiah’ is one that is anointed, Jesus was anointed, but so were the OT prophets and some kings.  In Luke 4 Jesus says that he was “anoint” to bring ‘Good News’.  One that is anointed to bring God’s word is a Prophet.

 

Matthew 16:27-28,  27"For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. 28"Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

 

Mark 9:1, And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.”

 

Luke 9:27, But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”

 

There is a major problem with this prophecy found in the synoptic gospels – it didn’t happen.  These verses are all in the context of the Second Coming. True prophets don’t make false claims – failed prophecies.  Either Jesus failed in his prophecy, or Matthew, Mark and Luke accredited to him something he really didn’t say.  (Or perhaps Mark errantly recorded Jesus’ prophecy and then Luke and Matthew copied it.)  If the first is true, ( i.e., Jesus made a false prophecy), then there is an issue with Jesus status as a prophet-much less his divinity, and it the second is true, (i.e., corrupted scriptures) there is a creditability issue with the New Testament.  Either way we have a problem.  How do we solve it?  We go to the Old Testament which Jesus endorsed as God’s Word, and accept as much of the New Testament that doesn’t violate the Old Testament.

 

I tend to believe that Jesus was a Prophet, and the New Testament has some creditability issues.  We know there was editing and additions to the text.  Changes were made, such as to 1John 5:7, which supports the Trinity.  We know that it is an late addition because the phrase is not found in the original text or any Greek text dated prior to the 14th Century.  And there were many such changes made over the centuries.

 

Also Matthew 24:36, "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”  As a prophet, Jesus didn’t necessary know everything, prophets only know what God reveals to them.  Knowing everything isn’t expected of a prophet.  But he would be expected to know if he was God.

 

Jesus is a Prophet of God According to the Bible.  A prophet in the Bible is one that is anointed by God to speak for Him.  Luke 4 says Jesus was anointed to preach and teach.  A prophet so identifies himself with God that he will often speak as if he is God.  Saying, “I say this… or I say that”.  A prophet may even say, “I am the LORD”, but indeed he doesn’t at all mean that he is LORD, but it is LORD saying that through him.  Jesus said all the Words he spoke came from the Father.

 

Jesus did many miracles.  However, so did the Prophets.  Jesus raised people from the dead, so did some of the prophets.  All the Prophets, including Jesus, tells us that the miracles were not by their power, but God working through them.
 

John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do: for what things so ever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

John 10:32, Jesus Answered them, Many good works have I shown you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?

John 14:10 Believes thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he doeth the works.

 

Here is a verse from the Torah that says a prophet will come, God will put His words in the Prophets mouth, and you must listen to him.  Deuteronomy 18:18,  I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

 

Twice in the Book of Acts, this verse from Deuteronomy 18:18 is quoted as referring to Jesus, Acts 3:22, Acts 7:37….Identifying Jesus as a prophet from among the brethren.

Who did the early church believe Jesus to be?  Who did the early church believe Jesus to be?  Acts 2:22 , “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—“

Not God, but a man, a Prophet of God.  How did Jesus refer to himself?  Never as God, but as a prophet. Note; Jesus identified himself as a prophet….

Matthew 13:57, And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household."

Matthew 21:10-11, When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” 

Matthew 13:57, -And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”

Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

 Mark 6:4, But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.”

Luke 1:76, 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,

Luke 4: 18-19, And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me. To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 

19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

(A prophet is one who speaks God’s Words to the people, words of love, hope, repentance and judgment.)

Luke 7:16 Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited His people!"

Luke 7:39, When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is--that she is a sinner."

Luke 13:33, In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day–for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

Luke 24:19 And He said to them, "What things?" And they said to Him, "The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people,

John 4:44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country

John 5:30, By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. 

John 6:14, Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

John 7:16, “Jesus answered them and said, ‘My doctrine is not mine, but His who sent me.’”

John 7:40 Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, "This certainly is the Prophet."

John 12:49, “For I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.”

John 14:24, Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

Acts 2:22, “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know.”

Acts 3:22 , For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.

Acts 7:37,  “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’

Rev 22:9 (NKJV), Then he (Jesus) said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

 

Jesus the Man?

The Apostles, the early disciples and the early church did not consider Jesus to be God.  They considered Him to be a man, prophet, and anointed messiah.  Not one place will you find in the Bible where Jesus claimed to be God, or the Apostles called Him God.

 

1 Timothy 2:5 , For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

Romans 5:15 , But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

Acts 2:22 , “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—

Acts 13:23 , From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus—Jesus Christ is called "the Son of Man" more than 80 times in the Bible. It was the term he most commonly used in referring to Himself. Whether in Aramaic (which Jesus spoke), Greek or Hebrew, the expression means an ordinary man.

Deuteronomy 18:18 - I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.

Acts 3:22 , For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.

Acts 7:37,  “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.’

Jesus was a prophet and Jesus was a man.  Was he more than that?  Was he divine?  The study continues.

 

Is Jesus God? Jesus never claimed to be God.  No one in the Bible ever called him God.  Jesus said he was not God when he rejected the title of God, and told us to Worship the Father who is the only true God.  So why does Christendom insist that he is God?  I suspect most do because it is in their church doctrine.  The ‘church’ says that if you reject that doctrine, you are a condemned heretic – fuel for the fires of hell.  Jesus is a god, but he is not YHWH, God Almighty.

 

Is Jesus the Messiah?  There are scriptures which makes it sound like he is the messiah, but there are also scriptures which makes it sound like he is not.  Jesus did not fulfill all the messianic prophecies, but his followers say that he will do it on his next coming.   So was Jesus the messiah? 

If you want to believe in Jesus as the messiah, as I do, that is fine.  Whether or not his is truly the messiah is maybe questionable to some, but no matters.  By believing Jesus as the messiah, even if you are wrong, will not cause you to miss out on being in God’s kingdom.  However if you believe that he is God and he is not, and you worship him as God and he is not God, that is idolatry – and you will miss God’s kingdom.  Or if you believe that somehow you are saved, or forgiven, apart from repentance, because you ‘plead the blood’ or trust in the atoning blood of Jesus, you are in trouble.

Christians claim that Jesus died for their sins, well maybe he did, but you still must repent to be forgiven and saved.

 

Who did the early church believe Jesus to be?  Acts 2:22 , “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—

 

         The Early church saw Jesus as a man anointed by God as a prophet, but not God.  A man whom God was raised from the dead and was exulted to the right hand of God to execute judgment in the future as our Messianic King.