Jesus Christ has never stated overtly that He is God, and this has to do with some reasons. First of all, Christ’s mission has to be attentively and considerately focused. He empties himself and humbly comes, showing his subordination to the Father and obeying what the Father sends him to do. Jesus was sent to this earth for the salvic work, and it is clearly not a part of his message that He has to announce it.
For the prophetic fulfillment’s sake, Christ does not explicitly declare his divinity. There are many prophecies found in the Old Testament prophesying about Christ’s advent and his works on earth as a human. Jesus Christ was fulfilling what had scripturally been said about Him. If He is to publicize his divinity, he will be doing what is contradictory to the biblical truths, and void the creditability of the whole bible. Jesus was born under the laws-abiding period that people were so concerned and cautious of the usage of the term “God”. God was seen as high and exalted, holy and divine that one could not just go near or just simply and freely refer to because doing so was regarded as blasphemy, and consequently stoning to death was the punishment. They would reject whatever man did as ascribing to God.
Furthermore, Christian faith is not based on what is explicitly stated or seen only. Often, Jesus talks about faith. Hence since faith is so vitally important for Christian, it does not sound good for Christ to overtly state his divinity. It will be so easy, then, if everything is plainly revealed that people do not have to spiritually exercise faith in following Him. He is a mysterious God that we will never be able to completely understand. It is still faith that works along the way as we continue to live on earth, waiting for his second glorious coming.
Hi Sophin....
ReplyDeleteI don't quite see how it would be contradictory of scripture if Jesus was to state his divinity overtly. Just because the old testament prophesied about Christ's advent and his works earth as a human, that don't mean it is wrong to further illuminate scripture by stating his divinity. i don't see how that would make void the credibility of the whole bible? unless there is prophesy in the old testament that says He is not to reveal His divinity.
what do you think?
Dear Sophin,
ReplyDeleteI have two questions as below:
1. You said “Jesus was sent to this earth for the salvic work, and it is clearly not a part of his message that He has to announce it.” I cannot see clearly from here that it is not part of Jesus’ salvic work to proclaim His divinity overtly. Can you elaborate a bit more on how does it relate to Christ’s humility and focus in mission? To the perception of some, in humility Christ still can proclaim that He is God incarnated into human form, but why He didn’t do so?
2. Jesus did not overtly state his divinity was due to the fact He had to “fulfill what had scripturally been said about Him” so that He would not “void the creditability of the whole bible,” or the OT prophecy was inspired by God to reveal that Jesus had to suffered as a silent lamb at the first place? I am in the opinion that since God already had the redemption plan in mind when He inspired the OT writers, fulfilling the OT prophecy would not be the reason for Him not to reveal His divinity. Rather, it should be the reversal, to which OT prophecy was to reveal that it is the divine plan of God for Jesus to suffer silently.
Please correct me if you think I am wrong in making above opinion. Thank you :>!
Hi Sophin. I’m Andrew. Got play football lately? I miss football lah.. I have your read your blog and a kind of thinking that Jesus Christ did stated clearly that He is God, and not never. There are times when He prohibited His identity to be declared openly, and at other times He revealed it openly. For example, He prohibited the demons from shouting about Him being the Son of God. At another time when it was revealed to Peter by the Father that Jesus is the Son of God, Peter confessed it and Jesus affirmed it openly, though He told the disciples to keep the matter at hand from the public because of timing factor (the public may want to make Him king right away perhaps). At another instance, Jesus emphatically asked Philip why after all these years they had been together he still didn’t recognize that He and the Father is one, and that seeing Him is equivalent to seeing the Father, citing at least he believes in the evidence of miracles (which testify to the power and love of the divine). So it is a question of to whom His divinity is revealed, and when.
ReplyDeleteJesus used to speak in parables publicly, but explanations were given only when He was with the disciples. Why? There is responsibility on our part to press in deeper or seek to know more. In His teaching Jesus told us to be careful how we hear. He who has faith, or rather willing and teachable, will be given more understanding. This is a governing principle of hearing and seeing. Revelation is used to be termed as ‘divine disclosure.’ Or we can be stubborn in our hearing -- keep on hearing and hearing and not perceiving. I think revelation is partly dependent upon God, who reveals Himself, according to His timing, and partly on the condition of our heart to receive it. God gives grace to the humble, and they shall perceive more, and more. Even to believe we need grace. We human are frail. Also the idea of spiritual perception is that it is gradual. Hence ‘He who has will be given more,’ and we grow from ‘faith to faith,’ and from ‘glory to glory,’ as we conform to His image more and more.
What you share about faith is interesting. Will we bend our will to conform to God’s will when not everything is all too clear initially? But there is this valid idea of progressive vision and understanding of who God is. Hence ‘faith seeks understanding.’ In order to please God, he who comes to Him must first believe that He exists… with understanding and rewards come later. I think so… We don’t wake up one day and had a quantum leap of understanding concerning ways of God and His nature suddenly. We are to seek His face continually. The glory of God is to conceal a matter; the glory of kings is to search out a matter. God is arousing our hunger to know more and more of Him… Moses is attracted to the great and mysterious sight of a burning bush that burns and burns and burns but not consumed! Why? The supernatural presence of God is there. There is more and more and more of the great mysteries of God yet to be explored and known, of the great I AM who first reveal His own self. To search Him with all our hearts then is a life-long quest… and an exciting one.
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteFor sure there is not even one single verse in the Old Testament Scripture showing that Christ is not to overtly state his divinity. It is not wrong if Christ were to further illuminate Scripture by announcing that He is God.
But let me talk about the divinity proclamation of Jesus. If he were to announce it, what would have happened? The prophecy that He was to come to save His people from their sins (suffered, died on the cross and resurrected) would happen or not if he declared that He is God? If He died in a different way from what was meant on the cross like what the prophecy was, would this fulfill the prophecy in the OT Scripture? If Christ was to die in the hands of people that way, will the whole bible be credible?
If I am not wrong, the Jewish religious leaders were so rigid with their monotheism teaching and laws that they would not even dare to use the word “God” directly, and stoning one to death if he was to blaspheme God in whatever way that might be was their practice, how much more for them that they would surely and furiously stone Jesus to death if He declared overtly that He is God. I think if it was allowed to happen this way, Jesus would not have been mocked, and would die in a way that was different from the OT Scripture. There are many verses stating about the prophecies that we can find in the Scripture regarding Jesus’ sufferings, being judged, mocked, made fun of, and many other things and events happening along the way to the cross and how He will die as the ransom once and for all. These happened as the fulfillments.
Therefore, I would say it void the credibility of the whole bible if He declared His divinity overtly. Just a thought, there is no contradiction found in the bible and it has the inviolate authority that we boldly claim it to be the word of truth, God’s word, and I believe every believer would not even put their faith in Jesus if there is a contradiction, especially regarding His divinity, within the whole bible. If you were to find any contradictions or any errors in the Scripture, will you continue to give credit to the Bible? Will this shake your faith?
I hope this thought will be helpful for you. Should you have any more comments, I would appreciate.
Hi Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your contribution to my article. We are learning and seeking to know more about Him, hence we are to get the truth of God from one another, right? I do not think you are wrong or I am right, hehehe. Here we go:
Jesus did not proclaim He is God for some reasons that I can give. I think I would like to refer to this article once again to get to understand my reason why his didn’t declare his divinity publicly. Anyway, I just want to give you the points that I wrote in this article: His mission and humility (set an example as a human), prophecy fulfillment, and faith required.
Scripturally, we are opened to see many passages in the Bible that talks about Jesus Christ who is to come to do what the Father asked him to do in His salvic work on earth when He humbly and corporeally came. He was to bring the good news to the poor, the brokenhearted, the bound, the blind...(Isaiah 61:1, 2). This good news, as what the OT prophecy says, is surely not the message that He was to pronounce that He is God, but the message of hope, freedom, peace and eternity.
Talking about His mission, Jesus was sent to do what the Father asked Him to do, the Father’s will, that is to set an example for the follower, to bring hope to people, to suffer, to die, and to resurrect, and this has to do with his position as a God-man position, not God-God one. This mission is to do his salvic work in His position as a human flesh. Thus, I believe the Father did not tell Him to proclaim that He is God, and this God is to suffer, die and rise again as God to save the people from their sins.
Regarding His humility, I want to bring you to the point to the fact that He is a human. We know that His divinity is so important, and so is His humanity. Jesus’ life on earth was seen as the example for every Christian to follow. When He was bodily here, He showed forth the characters that we all should obtain, and one of them is His humility. He is a Sovereign God who, in an agreement, decided to come down to human level as a human in a way that we can see throughout the Four Gospels as the fulfillment to what the OT prophets prophesied, and doctrinally taught in the Epistles. He did many miracles, healings, but after each of these, He usually told them not to tell anyone about the fact that He is God. I truly think that Jesus wants to teach his followers to be humble and submissive, not to be proud or boastful of whatever work or success. Another thing I would like to say is that His humility shows that He came to reveal God, not to corporeally reveal that He is God. The honor and the glory are to the Father, not Himself.
I appreciate your thought sated in the 2nd comment. It is well said that it is the divine plan of God for Jesus to suffer quietly. Focusing on the fact that we, as human, always desire to seek the proof, though faith does not require in somehow and sometimes, we do need to point this out. What God already had in mind, if am not wrong in understanding what you said about this, do you think it needs not to be proved or brought to the sight or mind of people? Even though Jesus did not proclaim his divinity explicitly, He did it implicitly. Among those implicit proofs, the pronoun He used for Himself, for in stance, “I AM” only one who is from above that can use, His sinlessness, His oneness with the Father (John 10:30), His relation to the Father (John 14:9; Matthew 11:27), Thomas’ confession (John 20:28), do show the importance of His divinity, which means we can firmly say that Jesus did referred to Himself as God. And through these I am convinced to say that it is not God’s plan for Christ to suffer silently. In His suffering, He did show that He is God.
I hope you get what I meant and this will be served as the answer to what you are seeking to know about my article. I would love to hear your feedback.