Was Jesus Made Divine By Humans - Part 5 Did Jesus Ever Claim to be Divine?

The question under consideration for this article, is whether the Messiah was ever promised to be Divine, and if Jesus is the Messiah, whether He ever claimed to be Divine?  Psalm 110 spoke initially to this as we have seen in the previous post. It was God Himself, that said that the Messiah would "Sit at His Right Hand." Yet, there is another prophesy that speaks to this and introduces one called the "Son of Man" coming to the Ancient of Days (God) and being given an eternal Kingdom made up of all nations. Of course, this is the prophesy of Dan.7:13,14.

This also reflects visions of David in Psa.2:6,7 "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee."  Here the Messiah is:

• Set by God upon the throne of His Kingdom
• Declared by God to be His  "Son"
• Is described as the "begotten" of  God.

We have seen that Jesus was not made Divine by Humans, but now the question arises as to whether Jesus ever claimed to be Divine? The Psalms and Daniel very definitely state that the Messiah is one instilled by God and one whom God calls "His Son." Daniel's "Son of Man" is recognized by scholars Jewish and otherwise, to be the Messiah. Even the Samaritan in John 4 said that this was taught to her by her circles (John 4). Notice her statement, "The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias comes, which is called  Christ: when he is come, he  will tell us all things.(Jn.4:25)." What you specifically want to notice here is Jesus' response in vs.26, "Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he."(vs.26)  Jesus DEFINITELY stated here, that He is the Messiah that was to come. That was the way that SHE understood it.

Messiah is one thing, but Divine?

Yet, to many, it is one thing to claim to be the Messiah, and another to claim to be divine. The next article will focus Messiahs, and what set Jesus apart in a world that had them then, and even has them now. But for this article, the question is whether Jesus ever claimed to be Divine? 

The first question to ask ourselves here, is what does it mean to claim to be divine? One can be sent by God and called an Angel, Messenger, Prophet, Evangelist. Yet, to refer to oneself as Divine, means to place oneself in God's realm, to say that you are God. A statement that threw the Jewish leadership into a violent tizzy in Jesus' day is in Jn 8:56-58. Jesus here made the statement, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad."  They then wondered how Jesus who hadn't even turned 50 years old, could have seen Abraham who had died some 2500 years before Jesus was even born. Jesus then makes a very remarkable statement, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." There are a couple of of interesting things in this statement that we need to observe:

• "Before Abraham Was" - is an obvious statement that before Abraham existed. Before 2500 years ago.  That is a statement!
• "I Am" - in Greek is "ego emi" It is a simple statement, yet for the audience familiar with the Old Testament it is the same statement found in Ex.3:14. The Jewish audience understood it this way to. I AM is "I Exist" - it is the name of God.
• What is interesting, is the audience's hostile reaction to the statement that Jesus makes. They regarded Jesus' statement as blasphemous. What is blasphemy? To speak profanely about God (i.e., curse God), or to claim to be God. 

The Healed Blind Man

Now the question, is there any other evidence that Jesus claimed to be divine outside of this verse? It is clear that the apostles themselves understood him to be or thought that he was. Yet, there is another instance in John 9:33-37. Jesus healed a blind man who was chided by the Jewish authority for stating simply that Jesus was From God. After they cast him out of the hearing, Jesus found him. He asked a simple question, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" This is definitely an allusion to the Psalms and Daniel that we had seen previously. The man answered, "Who is he, Lord,  that I might believe on him?"  Jesus answers, "You  have both seen him, and it is he that talks with you."

Thomas' Explicative

After the Resurrection, Thomas (called doubting Thomas by history) says that he will not believe that Jesus is risen until he can touch him, touch the wounds and prove that it is him. When he does, his statement is explication! John 20:28 "My Lord and My God."  Thomas states that he no longer doubted, Jesus was the Son of God!

The Father and The Holy Spirit

The Father and the Spirit state such in Mt.3:17, Lk.2:10; 3:21. 

Yet, Jesus Himself stated it best,  'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead (Lk.16:31).'  You either believe based upon the evidence or you don't. What does the evidence say to you?  If Jesus is Divine as He claims and you give your life to Him, then eternal life is what He promises you in turn, and the only thing you have to lose is not living a worldly sinful life. If you choose not to believe? Well, that is up to you. Are you willing to live with the consequences if your choice is wrong?

Jim

Was Jesus Made Divine By Humans - Part 4

Considering Psalm 110 is a crucial matter in our discussion, as it predates all the prophets and the New Testament. It is referred to by many as THE Messianic Psalm, and is alluded to in the New Testament by Jesus as well as the other New Testament writers in that context.  Regardless of what the New Testament says, does this Psalm proclaim anything about the Messiah being a divine being? 

This will require us to get technical in this article, but, I assure you it will be worth the investigation. 

There are two sections of the Psalm as a whole that we will hone in on in this article. First is Psa 110:1  A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."  The verse speaks of a time in the future, when the subject (my Lord)  will be sitting to the right of God (the Lord) and waiting till his enemies are subdued. 

There is no mistaking who the first Lord is here if you look to the original language, and scholars on both sides of the fence agree that this is YHWH - God that is speaking.  So, we can set that aside as settled and accepted. The question arises, as to who this second "Lord" mentioned in the sentence is. The other word translated “Lord" is ADONAI. In general without context, it can mean one who has rule or authority; one of high rank; one who has dominion; one who is the owner or possessor, etc. This word is applied frequently to a creature. It is applied to kings, princes, rulers, masters. What gives the word its ultimate meaning, is the context in which it occurs and used.  In this verse, it is a significant thing that ADONAI is spoken to by YHWH and invited to "sit at my right hand." So, God invites David's Lord or Master to sit at His right hand.  The fact that David himself (the King of Israel) refers to this one as "Lord" indicates that David clearly sees this individual as being above him. So, there is no problem this one is greater than he is. The question is, is this being divine or made divine in the context of this statement. It cannot be David, therefore, who is this?   The simple answer from the text is that the one whom David considered greater than himself was God.

It is interesting, that even the Jewish scholars of the time of Jesus, recognized this statement in the Psalm as referring to the Messiah or Mashiach. 

• It was also understood that this mashiach will be a great political leader descended from King David (Jer.23:5). 
• The mashiach is often referred to as "mashiach ben David" (mashiach, son of David). 
• He will be well-versed in Jewish law, and observant of its commandments (Isa.11:2-5), a charismatic leader, inspiring others to follow his example. 
• He will be a great judge, who makes righteous decisions (Jer.33:15), will bring about the political and spiritual redemption of the people (Isa.11:11-12; Jer.23:8; 30:3; Hos.3:4-5). 
• He will establish a government in Israel that will be the center of all world government, both for Jews and gentiles (Isa. 2:2-4; 11:10; 42:1). 

It is in Psalm 110 that the context of the Psalm states that the "Lord" or Messiah is invited by God to sit at His right hand.  Even in ancient times more than today, to sit at the right hand of the ruler, was to be considered to be equal with the ruler. This is seen with Joseph in Egypt, who serves the Pharaoh, yet, bears in anything he does the signet power of the Pharaoh himself. In Psalm 110, to be invited to sit at God's right hand, is  to be considered equal with God and bearing the power of God.  This is borne out by Psa.110:5 where David states, "the Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath." What does this mean? Contextually, it means that the one whom God Himself has invited to sit at His right hand, is one who is equal to and bearing the power of God Himself.  Another interesting thing to notice in the Psalm is that vs. 1 is stated as "having happened!" even in David's time. Meaning that God determined this even at that time.

So, what does the Psalm state that we should look for, if we are to find one whom God would invite to sit at His right hand?

1. Someone GREATER than David, whom God considered in the Psalm to be a model for this statement in Psalms
2. That this one in Psa.110:1 is going to have the authority and power of God
3. This one in Psa.110:1 is also going to also be the Spiritual Leader as well as the King or ruler of the People of the world, Jew and Gentile.
4. The one whom David considered greater than himself. 
5. The one whom in the Psalm would be a Ruler or King FOREVER and the one who would be a Priest appointed by God FOREVER. 

We find that one, we have found the Messiah and we have found what God has appointed to be the one who would Sit at HIS right hand. 

And if that is whom God has chosen, then who are we to say no?

Jim