Jesus As God

One of the common misconceptions about Jesus is that He never claimed to be God, and that the Jews never believed the Messiah would be “God”.  The reality is neither of those assumptions are true.

The part about Jesus claiming to be God is easy to demonstrate from the Scripture, since Jesus took the name of God for Himself, made Himself “equal with God” in the eyes of the Jews, accepted worship as only God was allowed, and forgave sins as only God could.  In the eyes of the people around Him, Jesus clearly made Himself out to be God, and they specifically tried to kill Him for it a few times.

However, I’ve always believed (because I heard a rabbi say this once) that the Jews never looked for the Messiah to be Divine.

Turns out that isn’t exactly accurate either. The Essenes were expecting it.  And here is a link I found describing it.  (Take note the reference to Melchizedek, corresponds to the teaching about Jesus in the New Testament book of Hebrews).

Here’s the link.  It’s a short read.  

Here’s a more detailed look with more evidence.

The wise men didn’t show up when Jesus was at the stable on the night of his birth.  Based on the time the star first appeared and the wise-men began their journey, the account says King Herod had every child 2years and younger in Bethlehem killed.  That indicates the wise men didn’t arrive until Jesus was possibly two years old, and sure enough, the account says they arrived at a “house” not a stable.

The angels didn’t sing to the shepherds. They shouted and spoke, but no mention of singing.

Mary didn’t ride a donkey.  Well, I guess it’s possible, but it doesn’t say she did.  I’m guessing she walked.  I’ve been around pregnant women at that time of the pregnancy, and by that time, they’ll do anything to get the labor started…

Jesus wasn’t born on December 25.  Of course, no one knows exactly when Jesus was born so they just picked a date to celebrate it.  It was put on December 25 because after Christianity became an official religion in the Roman empire, some leader wanted to discourage the pagan celebrations on the winter solstice and turn it into a Christian celebration.   And so presto… now it’s a Christian holiday!  Some of the pagan traditions continued as well, but they quickly lost their pagan meaning for most people.

Jesus wasn’t born in a barn like we’d picture it, and a manger wasn’t usually made of wood.  A manger was typically a hollowed out place in a rock that was used as a feed trough for the animals.  So their may have been animals around although it doesn’t mention any, but it was probably more like a small cave or structure made of rock, but not a wooden barn.

Our wrong beliefs sound good, and look good in a Nativity scene, but simply aren’t what the Bible actually said.  So does it matter?

Maybe it’s just interesting trivia to bring up every year, but I do think it points out our tendency to create a story about God, or create our own religious beliefs, out of things that sound good to us, without regard to what actually may be true.  Likewise, the rejection of Christianity by atheism has a component these days that rejects God because He doesn’t seem like a good God, but instead appears violent, vindictive, judgmental.  In other words, belief that God exists is rejected because it doesn’t sound good to us.

And I’m not proving anyone right or wrong with this small argument, I’m just pointing out one thing:

Whether something sounds good to us, is irrelevant.  The question is whether it’s true.  Truth is not dependent on me “liking” or “disliking” it.

If it’s true and I don’t like it, I have to come to grips with it.  I have to deal with it.  If the truth is I made a D on a test… I have to deal with that.  I can’t simply invent my own beliefs that I made an A on the test.  It is what it is.

So if my religion or doctrine sounds good to me, it doesn’t make it true.  That goes for any religion out there.  Reincarnation may sound good, a space ship hiding behind the moon or Saturn may sound cool, and Jesus being born in a wooden barn with 3 wise men present along with 3 shepherds and a bunch of singing angels on December 25, may sound beautiful… but it doesn’t make it true.

Likewise, believing that the God of the Bible is mean and vindictive, doesn’t mean He isn’t real.  If I had invented the universe I wouldn’t have included black holes.  It’s somewhat disconcerting to think about black holes swallowing galaxies and someday, maybe swallowing everything.  I would have left black holes out because a safe universe sounds better.  Makes me feel better.

But feelings are irrelevant to truth.  If God is real, and I believe He is, then whether He sounds good to us or not, then the issue is coming to grips with Him.

Sound crazy? Let me explain…

First, there was this dude named Simon in the area called Samaria in ancient Israel.  During that time, when the message of Jesus was first preached there, he actually became a Christian.  At least on the outside.

Simon, as it turns out, was a magician of sorts.  The Bible calls him a sorcerer, but it doesn’t say anything about demons or Satan or spiritual powers, so he was probably more of an ancient illusionist or mentalist.  He regularly amazed people, and had a great following.  The Bible says, “They were attentive to him because he had astounded them with his sorceries for a long time. ” -Acts 8:11

He must have been pretty good.

But when Phillip, and later Peter and John, came up to Samaria to preach the message of Jesus, God worked some miracles through them and it amazed Simon.  The Bible says he was “astounded as he observed the signs and great miracles that were being performed.” -Acts 8:13  This also indicates that Simon was more of what we think of as a magician these days, because here we see he was “astounded” at the real thing.

Then of course, came the part about buying God.  When Peter and John were there, laying hands on people so they would receive the Holy Spirit, Simon tried to buy that power. “When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power too, so that anyone I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.” -Acts 8:18-19

And Peter’s reply was pretty harsh, “May your silver be destroyed with you, because you thought the gift of God could be obtained with money! You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God. “-Acts 8:20-21

Simon had a heart issue between him and God.  He was excited about the power he could have, the things he could receive from God, the benefits he could experience, but… that’s looking at things all wrong.  And it still is.

Jesus followed God and it got him crucified on a cross.

Moses followed God and he wandered in the desert for 40 years.

John the Baptist followed God and he was beheaded.

Paul was beheaded.

Peter was crucified upside down.

Matthew was killed with a halberd.

Andrew? Crucified.

James? Beheaded.

Stephen? Stoned to death.

Mark? Dragged to pieces.

In fact, all but 1 of the original 12 apostles, died violent deaths because they refused to back down, or recant, the message they believed to be true. (John died in prison or shortly after release) Many of their contemporaries like Paul or Mark died similarly.  Even Luke was reportedly hanged.  Paul summed up the message he died for, by writing:

“For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.  Then He appeared to over 500 brothers at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.  Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.  Last of all, as to one abnormally born, He also appeared to me.” -I Corinthians 15:3-8

Because of this, Paul was arrested, tortured, put on trial, called insane, ridiculed, and eventually executed.  Try preaching THAT.  ”Hey everyone, God has a plan for your life, and it includes torture and death!”

Got to admit though, sitting here in modern times, I’m grateful for Paul going through that.  It’s a lot easier for me to believe because of it.

If Paul and the others had received a financial windfall for following Christ, it would be easy to believe they preached the message in order to get the money. Like Simon the sorcerer, there would have been a motive for their religion.  Since the result was quite the opposite, it’s more logical to believe they were dying for something they sincerely believed.

This isn’t just the Bible talking. The eventual death of the 12 disciples of Jesus, the hundreds more who were around Jesus at the time, and many thousands more that followed in the Roman persecutions and Dark Ages, are largely not chronicled in the Bible, but in tradition and history.  The book of Acts records the death of James, and the death of Stephen, but most of the letters and accounts were written while those people were still living.  Since the information comes to us from outside the Bible, this is not merely a case of a church constructing a Bible to say these things.  History says this.  They died.  Horribly.  All the while proclaiming that Jesus was for real.

And for me, that’s a bit reassuring.  Because in my opinion, people don’t just do that for something they know isn’t true.  I don’t think Simon the sorcerer would have died for his magic.  But I know for a fact that Paul died believing in a God who raised the dead.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  There is reserved for me in the future the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved His appearing.” -II Timothy 4:7-8