In earlier posts, I’ve given some evidence that at least Matthew has a pretty high view of Jesus, but was it unfounded? Previous posts have given pretty good reason to believe that the authors of the gospels are writing what they believe was a truthful account of the events that they witnessed. However, some scholars argue that the gospels portray Jesus in a light lesser than the Christians claim – such as Bart Ehrman, who believes that Jesus believed himself to be more akin to a “high priest”.

Although Bart Ehrman is a top-class textual critic, textual criticism is the field of restoring texts as nearly as possible to their original form – it’s not theology. This is not to say that Bart cannot have an opinion on these matters – but it is to say that one should be wary about taking his statements as fact.

Why is this question important? Well, suppose Christians have been claiming that Jesus saw and presented himself in a way that does not correspond to how he actually did. In that case, Christian theology might need some reworking regarding the Trinity, with regards to how we worship and how Christians have always worshipped. It’s actually quite important.

Matthew

Matthew is not shy to speak of Jesus’ miraculous activities (Matthew 4:23-25; 8:1-4, 5-13, 14-17, 23-27, 28-34; 9:1-8, 18-26, 27-31, 32-33; 12:9-14, 22-23; 14:13-21, 22-33; 15:21-28, 29-31, 32-39; 17:14-21; 20:29-34; 21:18-22 (thanks GPT, wasn’t generating this list myself)). However, three relevant passages stand out in particular.

1. Matthew 5:21-48

This is too long to quote here, but it comes from a section in the “Sermon on the Mount”. In verses 21-48, Jesus provides a reinterpretation of the Mosaic law, constantly using the phrase “But I say”. Matthew 7:28 confirms that the crowd were surprised by his teaching, not only for its content, but for its manner – “because he taught them like one who had authority, not like their experts in the law”. The NET comments tell us that it was common to cite a list of authorities in order to make one’s point, but “but I say” isn’t a reference to others.

Does this demonstrate that Jesus thought he was God? Not conclusively – it’s at least possible that he thought himself to be something more than the prophets before him, such as Moses (since nowhere does Moses use such similarly personally authoritative language in reference to God’s commands).

2. Matthew 11:27

Here, in prayer, Jesus claims to know the father in an intimate way:

‘ All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him. ‘

Now, take a look at this passage in light of both Bart Ehrman’s reading and the Christian reading and bear in mind the following points:

1. Jesus claims to have received ‘all things’ from his Father.
2. No one knows the Father but him (‘in some sense’)
3. The Son has express authority to decide who to and who not to reveal the Father (‘in some sense’) to.

For those that claim that Adam, Moses and Solomon are also referred to as the ‘Son of God’ and therefore that this point doesn’t carry weight, it should be known that the phrase ‘agapetos’ (Greek, meaning ‘beloved one’) is used in Matthew 3:17 to denote the relationship between Jesus and the Father. This phrase is not similarly used for the other three. I think this phrase shows that at least once, Jesus described himself to be the beloved Son of God, with some level of authority greater than Moses, and possibly equal to the Father himself.

3. Matthew 14:33; 28:9

These read:

‘ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”’

‘ But Jesus met them, saying, “Greetings!” They came to him, held on to his feet and worshiped him. ‘

Here, we have instances where Jesus is directly worshiped. In all other instances were morally upright biblical characters are directly worshiped in the Bible, they are quick to dismiss it – examples include:

1. Paul and Barnabas at Lystra (Acts 14:8-18)
2. Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10:25-26)
3. The Angel and John (Revelation 19:10; 22:8-9)
4. Moses and the Bronze Serpent (Numbers 21:4-9; 2 Kings 18:4)

One could suggest that the Angels visiting Lot (Genesis 19:1-3) suggests otherwise, considering Lot bowed down with his face toward the ground toward them and they did not directly rebuke him. In response, it should be noted that bowing in the Old Testament does not necessarily signify worship – take Joseph’s brothers’ actions in Genesis 42:6, for example.

Jesus has no negative reaction to the disciples’ actions, even though the author of Matthew is convinced that their actions are one of worship, using the word “prosekynēsan” to describe their actions.

Luke

Luke similarly details multiple miraculous event that Jesus partakes in (Luke 4:31-37, 38-39; 5:1-11, 12-16, 17-26; 7:11-17; 8:22-25, 43-48, 49-56; 17:11-19 (thanks again GPT)), but two verses that may stand out in reference to Jesus’ self-perception would be:

1. Luke 11:20

“’ But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has already overtaken you. ‘

Jesus’ casting out of demons is not something that is unique to Luke’s gospel, but it is something that only happens in the New Testament. In this verse, Jesus claims to cast out demons “by the finger of God” – which is the same phrase that is used in Exodus 8:19 by the magicians to reference God’s activity in the disasters striking Egypt. This, therefore, provides evidence that Jesus believed he was acting by the power of God.

To be fair, miraculous signs aren’t definitive proof of divine identity, considering many other non-divine characters perform miracles in the Bible, so I won’t push this one too far.

2. Luke 12:8-9

This verse, I can push a little further. It occurs in the following chapter:

‘ “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before God’s angels. But the one who denies me before men will be denied before God’s angels. ‘

Jesus, here, claims to take the position of some sort of judge – capable of and having the authority to adjudicate upon the fate of humankind. This authority is something that Jesus passes on later in this Gospel in Luke 22:28-30, where he tells the disciples that they will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel – however, it should be noted that Jesus uses similar personal language to refer to God as “[his] father”. It should be also noted that the disciples are permitted to eat and drink at “[his]” table.

One could say that since Jesus is giving at least similar authority to his disciples that therefore they must also become ‘gods’ in some way too – but I don’t think that follows. Jesus seems to affirm that this authority is his to give by using intimate familial language to refer to his relationship with God. The disciples do not share the same ‘agapetos’ (Luke 3:22) relationship with the Father that Jesus does, and therefore it does not follow that transmission of authority for them entails transmission of deity.

So to make it clear, my argument in this verse is not that ‘Jesus can judge, therefore Jesus is God’ – it’s “Due to Jesus’ claim to have a personal relationship with the Father and the language distinctly used for it, Jesus seems to have the intrinsic authority to pass judgement on mankind based on this verse, therefore it’s more probable that he sees himself in a divine light than a non-divine one.”

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Next up, we’re going to review a rather interesting discussion on Mark’s view.