JESUS, THE SON OF GOD
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allegiance to christ
christianity today is commonly regarded as nothing more than a nominal title : on this view a man is or is not a Christian by the accident of birth according to which he may or may not be born in a Christian country or of Christian parents. Alternatively it is regarded as a system of ethics or morals about which there are two opinions : some wish it were universally recognized and practised so that the Kingdom of God might be established, while others regard it as having been tried by application to the practical affairs of everyday life and found wanting so that it should now be discarded in favour of some other system. In fact Christianity is none of these things. It is essentially belief in and allegiance to the person from whom the name Christianity is derived, who lived and taught in Palestine nearly two thousand years ago, was crucified under Pontius Pilate at the instigation of his own people and was, according to the tradition commonly believed among his followers, raised from the dead and exalted to the right hand of God whence he will come again to judge the living and the dead and to set up the Kingdom of God on earth.
Thus to be a Christian is not just to accept a particular body of ideas. It is that, of course, but the ideas all centre round the person, so that the distinctive characteristic of his followers is belief in and allegiance to him. The New Testament records make this abundantly clear. Two episodes recorded in the gospels demonstrate how the faith of the disciples was first and foremost faith in Jesus Christ the person. No doubt they were impelled to follow him because of his teaching and his works but, in the end, it was something more than these which held them : it was the man himself. So, when he had uttered a saying particularly hard to be understood and consequently many had ceased to follow him, Jesus asked the disciples whethej they too were going to leave him.1 It was Simon Peter, as so often, who was the spokesman for them all on this occasion, when he replied, "Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." It was Peter too who made the same affirmation at ijohn 6 : 60-69.
Caesarea Philippi1 when Jesus had asked the disciples who men were saying that he was and had then confronted them with the question, "But whom say ye that I am ?" Peter answered, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God", and Jesus commended him for his answer, saying that this truth had been revealed to him by the Father in heaven. Words like these reveal the personal faith that held the disciples to their Master.
In the teaching of the apostles, both in their speeches as recorded in the Acts and also in their letters, there is the same emphasis. They believed on and preached Jesus Christ. Peter began his speech to the Jews at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost2 by proclaiming to them, "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 ..." In similar vein all the preaching recorded in the Acts of the Apostles centres round Jesus Christ. So Paul writes, "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord ; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake."3 For Paul the gospel, the gospel of Christ, and the Word, are all one and the same and to preach them is, quite simply, to preach Christ. Failure to appreciate this equation in the apostle's mind has caused unnecessary difficulty in interpreting some of his thoughts.
The attitude of the early believers is also shown clearly by their recognition of the Lordship of Jesus. They called him "Lord" and that involved that they should surrender themselves to him as servants or slaves. Paul, writing to the Romans,4 calls himself a servant or bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and to the Corinthians,6 referring to the whole body of those who call upon the name of Jesus Christ, he says that he is "their Lord and ours". The words with which Christians close their prayers, "through Jesus Christ our Lord", are therefore no empty formula. They are the acknowledgment that, as with the Christians of the first century, so with those of the twentieth, allegiance to Christ is the dominating influence in their lives. If it is not, they claim the title Christian in vain.
A dominating influence, however, does not spring from a mere sentimental attachment or from vague and unformed conceptions. Christians must recognize and accept the authority by which Christ can lay claim to the title "Lord". The early church very quickly
iMatt. 16 : 16. ,
"Acts 2:22., . , . ,
32 Cor. 4:5. , '.'.,.
*Rom. 1:1.
61 Cor. 1 :2 (R.V.).
found that it had to explain the Lordship of Jesus, both to satisfy the curiosity and sometimes rebut the animosity of the many philosophies and superstitions without and also to allay doubts and disputations within provoked by those who could not "endure sound doctrine". The prevailing shortcoming today is not that of curiosity or animosity but of indifference : a little curiosity or even animosity might well be of benefit in stimulating Christians to clarify their own minds, to grasp essentials and to discard non-essentials.
In the hope of clarifying some of the essential teaching of the New Testament concerning the person of Jesus Christ it is proposed to re-examine the picture of him which we have in the synoptic gospels, in the writings of John and Paul and in the remainder of the New Testament. In this way allegiance to him may perhaps be strengthened, for let it be clear from the outset that this is not just an intellectual exercise. As the knowledge of God should bring men and women to worship Him and so shape their lives after the pattern of His holiness, so the knowledge of Christ should kindle within each disciple the flame of personal allegiance and devotion which will mean the fashioning of life after the image of him who himself is "the express image of God's person". There is a solemn warning in the epistle of Peter1 when he makes it clear that it is possible for men and women to be barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. There is no greater tragedy than that of the man who is quite at home amid all the intricate philosophical arguments concerning the person of Christ or who is armed with a battery of scriptural texts but whose way of life bears no shadow of resemblance to that of Christ himself.
the synoptic gospels
Every student of the New Testament is alive to the differences between the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Some of these are apparent only to scholars scrutinizing the writings in the original language, while others are obvious to any careful reader of the English Authorized Version. An example of the latter is the emphasis which Matthew and Luke, as compared with Mark, give to the teaching of Jesus. But all have one object in common, to show that Jesus is the Son of God. So Matthew and Luke both begin their gospels with an account of the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus.2 Mark does not give this account but he entitles his gospel,
12 Pet. 1 : 8.
2Matt. 1 : 18—2 : 12 ; Luke 1 : 26-38, 2 : 1-20.
"the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God".1 All three writers record that twice, at the baptism of Jesus2 and at his transfiguration, a voice from heaven proclaimed his divine sonship : "Thou art my beloved Son ; in whom I am well pleased" and "This is my beloved Son, hear ye him".3 Matthew and Luke both record Jesus' temptation as the temptation of the Son of God, thus : "If thou be the Son of God . . ."* Matthew, Mark and Luke all record an instance of tormented minds recognizing Jesus as the Son of God : "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God?"6 Finally, Matthew and Mark report the centurion's confession, "Truly, this man was the Son of God."6
None of the gospel writers, however, is content to record these claims and leave the matter there. Their whole picture of the life of Jesus is so framed as to show that the claims were implemented by his words and works. So they record his miracles : miracles of control over the powers of nature as in the stilling of the storm ;7 miracles of physical healing as in the cleansing of the lepers ;8 and miracles of spiritual healing such as the forgiveness of sins.9 These were not the conventional actions of a mere wonder-worker. The people suggested that, and Jesus refuted it by asserting that his power was of God and that his miracles were the evidence of the activity of God.10 So, when John asks whether Jesus is "He that should come", his messengers are bidden to tell John "what they saw and heard".11 Similarly, a cleansed leper is sent to show himself to the priests "as a testimony to them",12 and Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth claims that, in the words of Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me".13 Few indeed could watch his miracles without seeing in them a manifestation of the powers of the age to come of which the prophets had spoken, or see the storm stilled on the lake without recalling the words of the Psalmist concerning the Almighty who "stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves and the tumult of the people".14 But the significance of the miracles went deeper. Physical and spiritual evil are interwoven and Jesus, who can overcome the one, can overcome the other and so "has power on earth to forgive sin"9 and to free men from sin's bondage. In the works of Jesus the gospel writers saw a manifestation of the power of God and experienced a foretaste of the kingdom of God when that
*Mark 1:1."Luke 17 : 11-14.
*Matt. 3 : 13-17 ; Mark 1 : 9-11 ;Luke 3 : 21-22. "Luke 5 : 17-26.
"Matt. 17 : 1-8 ; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9 : 28-36. "John 5 : 36.
*Matt. 4:1-7; Luke 4 : 1-12."Luke 7 : 19-22.
»Matt. 8 : 28-34 ; Mark 5 : 1-21 ;Luke 8 : 26-40. 12Matt. 8 : 2-4.
«Matt. 27 : 54 ; Mark 15 : 39."Luke 4 : 16-21.
'Luke 8 : 22-25."Psa. 65 : 7.
power will be supreme. When it was suggested that Jesus cast out devils because of authority derived from the prince of the devils, he denied it by pointing to the divine source of his power : "But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you."1
Again, the words of Jesus are words of power. Matthew and Luke record that he taught the people as one having authority when compared with his contemporaries.2 He himself claims to expound the mysteries of the kingdom of God and sets them before his disciples in parables.3 He claims for his teaching the authority of the ancient Law : "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time . . . but I say unto you".4 He claims to pronounce the final judgment on the lives of men. "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name ? and in thy name have cast out devils ? and in thy name have done many wonderful works ? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you : depart from me, ye that work iniquity."6 He displays penetrating insight into the hearts and minds of men when he denounces the scribes and Pharisees because their righteousness is an outward appearance only, concealing all manner of vice within.8 Conscious of his mission and steadfast in his determination to fulfil it, he prefixes his declaration with the purposeful words "I am come to ..."or "I came not to ..." and, when his disciples seek to deter him, he rebukes them,7 Throughout he displays unity of mind and purpose with God : "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work''.8 In short, the Jesus of the gospels in all that he does and says and is, testifies to the truth of the claim that he was the Son of God.
At the same time it cannot escape notice that Jesus does not call himself Son of God. There is no ostentatious parading of this title. Rather with quietness, and even modesty, Jesus seeks to impress his authority upon those who hear : "I say unto you", with now and then a reference to the Father and the Son or my Father and I. The title which Jesus takes for himself when he does not speak to his audience in the first person singular is that of Son of Man, with which he associates particularly two thoughts, that of his suffering and death and that of his coming again in glory. The episode at Caesarea Philippi when Peter made his confession of the divine sonship was a turning point in the ministry of Jesus. Mark records that "he began to teach them that the Son of Man must
iMatt. 12 : 22-28.6Matt. 7 : 22-23.
*Matt. 7 : 29 ; Mark 1 : 22."Matt. 23.
3Matt. 13 : 10-11 ; Mark 4 : 10-12 ;Luke 8 : 9-10. 'Mark 8 : 31-33.
*Matt. 5, 21 it.sjohn 4 : 34.
suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again".1 Similarly at the last supper2 and in the garden afterwards3 Jesus speaks of the betrayal of the Son of Man. Later before the high priest, faced with the challenge "Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed ?" Jesus replies, "I am ; and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."* Earlier on the Mount of Olives he had spoken in similar language to his disciples of the days when men should "see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory".5
Much has been written about the origin and background of the title Son of Man. Be that as it may, its association with his suffering is a reminder that Jesus is presented in the gospels as one who, while he was Son of God, was yet made as we are, struggling against the same difficulties and temptations as we do. The gospel writers never forget this, and they picture him wrestling in the wilderness with temptation,6 weary and asleep,7 hungry,8 moved by compassion towards the sick and the unshepherded multitudes,9 angry with his critics,1" showing tender love to Martha and Mary,11 weeping at the tomb of Lazarus,12 sharing the common joys and sorrows of mankind. Never does Jesus appear as a demi-god, an angel or a being of some other race ; always he is a man among men, the master among his disciples. So the Son of God is also a son of man. This is the mystery of the "word made flesh" and the source of much contention and bitterness in later ages.
john's gospel and epistles
If a study of the synoptic gospels left any doubts as to the divine sonship of Jesus Christ, John's gospel must sweep them away. The theme of his message is indicated at the outset, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Word of God incarnate : "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."13 No statement in the whole of the Bible has been discussed more than this. It has been suggested in the past that it represents an
iMark 8 : 31-33. "Mark 14 : 17-21. "Mark 14 : 41-42. *Mark 14 : 62. 'Mark 13 : 26.
8Mark 11 : 12.
"Matt. 9 : 36 ; 14 : 14 ; Mark 1 : 41 ;
6 : 34 ; Luke 7 : 13. "Mark 3 : 5. "John U-.5.
•Matt. 4:1-11; Mark 1 : 12-13 ; ^John 11 : 35.
Luke 4 : 1-13."John 1 : 1, 14 (R.V.).
'Mark 4 : 38 ; John 4 : 6.
accommodation of the Christian faith with Greek philosophy, but recent scholarship has emphasized that, while the style in which John writes may be that of the Greek philosophers, the basic ideas which he is expounding are rooted in the thought of the Old Testament. The opening phrase "In the beginning was the word" goes right back to the opening words of the Bible "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth".1 The beginning was something more than a beginning in time, it was a beginning also in principle, the fundamental reason underlying all things. In that beginning it is recorded that "God said, Let there be light : and there was light".2 The Psalmist echoes these words when he writes :
"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made ; And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth . . . For he spake, and it was done ; He commanded, and it stood fast."3
The word of God went forth in the beginning with creative power. It expressed the mind and purpose of God, as words express the mind and purpose of those who utter them. All through the Old Testament there is the record of the word of God going forth to men with its revelation of what God is like. Adam, hearing the Word, recognized the obligation of God's moral law and, when that law had been broken, he heard the word of judgment promulgated.4 Abram, hearing the Word, left his country and kindred and sought a land which God would show him.5 Through the Word Moses received the divine commandments in Sinai and the people, hearing the voice of the Lord afar off, trembled and besought Moses to receive the law for them.6 The prophets, in later years, heard the Word of God and pronounced it to the people with a "Thus saith the Lord".7