Is Jesus Really G-d?

Christian theology holds that Jesus was more than just the Messiah. They hold that Jesus is G-d Himself. First, let’s explore a couple of New Testament verses which make it perfectly clear that Jesus was subordinate to G-d, and not equal to Him:

Mark 13:32 But of that day and [that] hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. (KJV)

Ezekiel 37:23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their G-d. [24] And David My servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. (KJV)

Christians and Jews agree that chapter 37 of Ezekiel is messianic. The object of verse 24 of Ezekiel 37 is the Messiah, and it is clear that the Messiah is G-d’s servant, and not G-d Himself.

Of all chapters in the Bible, chapter 13 of Deuteronomy has always pulled at me. Let us examine this chapter in greater detail.

Deuteronomy 13:1 The entire word that I command you, that shall you observe to do; you shall not add to it and you shall not subtract from it. [2] If there should stand up in your midst a prophet or a dreamer of a dream, and he will produce to you a sign or a wonder, [3] and the sign or the wonder comes about, of which he spoke to you, saying "Let us follow gods of others that you did not know and we shall worship them!" [4] do not hearken to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of a dream, for HASHEM, your G-d, is testing you to know whether you love HASHEM, your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul. [5] HASHEM, your G-d, shall you follow and Him shall you fear; His commandments shall you observe and to His voice shall you hearken; Him shall you serve and to Him shall you cleave. [6] And that prophet and that dreamer of a dream shall be put to death, for he had spoken perversion against HASHEM, your G-d Who takes you out of the land of Egypt, and Who redeems you from the house of slavery to make you stray from the path on which HASHEM, you G-d, has commanded you to go; and you shall destroy the evil from your midst. (Artscroll)

So, what are the lessons gleaned here? First off, we are to never alter the precepts of the Torah, we are never to add to it nor subtract from it. Secondly, we are not to follow gods that we did not know. Did my ancestors from 2,500 years ago or earlier know Jesus as G-d? Did they pray to Jesus as Lord and Messiah? Of course, not. Jesus had not been born yet. The point is that we did not know a G-d in the form of man and since it was something we did not know, as verses 3 and 4 show, we are not to listen to these teachings. Chapter 13 of Deuteronomy is not the only chapter of the Torah that deals with false prophecy. Moses gave another warning in this regard:

Deuteronomy 18:15 A prophet from your midst, from your brethren, like me, shall HASHEM, your G-d, establish for you to him shall you hearken. [16] According to all that you asked of HASHEM, your G-d, in Horeb on the day of the congregation, saying, "I can no longer hear the voice of HASHEM, my G-d, and this great fire I can no longer see, so that I shall not die." [17] Then HASHEM said to me: They have done well in what they have said. [18] I will establish a prophet for them from among their brethren, like you, and I will place My words in his mouth; He shall speak to them everything that I will command him. [19] And it shall be that the man who will not hearken to My words that he shall speak in My name, I will exact from him, [20] But the prophet who willfully shall speak a word in My name, that which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of the gods of others that prophet shall die. [21] When you say in your heart, ":How can we know the word that HASHEM has not spoken?" [22] If the prophet will speak in the Name of HASHEM and that thing will not occur and not come about that is the word that HASHEM has not spoken; with willfulness has the prophet spoken it, you should not fear him. (Artscroll)

Didn’t Apostles such as Paul believe and preach that the return of Jesus would occur within their lifetimes? It didn’t happen. What can we learn from this? That these teachings were foreign to the core of Judaism, that it was not the word of the Lord and that we should neither fear nor trust those who spoke it. To further magnify this point, let us look at the beginning of the Ten Commandments:

Exodus 20:2 I [am] the LORD thy G-d, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. [3] Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (KJV)

Contemplate the importance of this commandment for a moment. "No other gods before Him." Christians will contend that Jesus IS G-d, claiming they don't have any other gods before Him, but as noted in the verses from the New Testament quoted above, it is plain to see that not only was Jesus separate from G-d, but he was NOT G-d. What do we have if we pray to Jesus? We have polytheism.

From Deuteronomy 34:10-12, we learn that Moses was the greatest prophet of all time, whom G-d knew "face to face." He taught us everything there is to know about the nature of G-d.

Numbers 23:19 G-d [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? (KJV)

Psalms 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, [nor] in the son of man, in whom [there is] no help. (KJV)

From this, we learn that G-d is NOT a man. When G-d appeared before Moses prior to the delivering of the Ten Commandments, G-d made His presence known amidst a cloud of smoke. If He were a man, why didn’t the Holy One, Blessed be He, take on physical form and appear as a man? The answer is amazingly simple: G-d is infinite, and incorporeal. To take on physical form would limit the limitless, and He would not take on physical form because that might have led the Israelites to idolatry.

On a slightly different note, didn’t Jesus refer to himself quite often as the Son of Man? Aren’t we to learn from Psalm 146 that there is no help to be had from the Son of Man? There’s a reason why Jesus called himself this. Jesus was a Jew, and as such, there are things that Christians who deify him will miss. It is quite likely that Jesus was trying to prevent his followers from deifying him.

What reason is there to think that Jesus is G-d? What reason is there to think that ANY man is G-d? So a man shows you signs and wonders, and a couple of people claim he rose from the dead. How do you test a man to know that he’s G-d? What could Jesus possibly have done to prove He was G-d, especially given the text of the New Testament, which makes it plainly clear that he was subordinate to G-d? That which is subordinate to G-d must be SEPARATE from G-d.

In an occasion that keeps Christian apologists fumbling, we have the following passage, from Matthew and Mark:

Matthew 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? [17] And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], G-d: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. (KJV)

Mark 10:17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? [18] And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], G-d. (KJV)

These verses present a back-breaking problem to a Christian who believes in Jesus as G-d, because Jesus states emphatically that he wasn't. The translators of NIV were quick to recognize the problem, and adjust their text accordingly:

Matthew 19:16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" [17] "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." (NIV)

It's very slick, it's very sneaky. And it's also very sloppy. See the same scene below from Mark in NIV:

Mark 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" [18] "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except G-d alone." (NIV)

NIV's rendering of this passage from Mark's Gospel makes the point even more clearly than King James did.

Jesus makes it clear that he is the son of G-d, which for no reason should be taken literally. All Jews can be considered sons of G-d. See Hosea 11:1. Even others can be under that terrific label.

Matthew 5:9 Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of G-d.

Christians will object, saying that of course this isn’t to be taken literally. Well, neither is it to be taken literally with Jesus! Gentiles come to the New Testament with a clean slate, without a true understanding of what came before. Well, the Jews can view the New Testament from a different perspective, the proper perspective.

Jesus wasn’t G-d. The worship of Jesus is precisely what G-d warned us against.

The plain fact is that there is not a single verse in the entire New Testament that makes the claim that Jesus is G-d. If such verses did indeed exist, then Christianity wouldn’t be splintered into so many hundreds, if not thousands, of sects, and the councils of Nicea and Constantinople would not have taken place to determine Jesus’ divinity.

Hebrews 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; (KJV)

G-d Almighty needed to learn obedience? Isn’t G-d all knowing? Does He not know everything?

John 14:28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come [again] unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. (KJV)

Jesus clearly states that he is less than G-d. That which is less than G-d cannot be the same as G-d.

Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with G-d and man. (KJV)

Would G-d grow in wisdom and stature? Would G-d grow in His own favor? It is noteworthy that this verse from Luke’s Gospel bears a remarkable resemblance to another Biblical verse:

1 Samuel 2:26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men. (KJV)

The fact remains. Nowhere even in the New Testament is it taught that Jesus is part of a triune godhead. Nowhere does he make the claim that he was G-d. Nowhere in the New Testament is there the reason to believe that he is G-d.