The J.W`s say that nowhere in the Bible do you find any statement that Jesus is God. They are wrong. The Bible says that Jesus is God right through the Old Testament and on to the end of the New. In these next studies I intend to show that very clearly.
Let`s look at the claims of Jesus.
a) I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE. (John 10.30). That seems a very clear claim to be God! Obviously the Jews believed that He was claiming to be God , because they immediately accused Him of blasphemy. That was a very serious charge to a monotheistic Jew like Jesus. The J.W. replies that the verses that follow this claim make it clear that Jesus denied that He was making such a claim. They are wrong. What Jesus is doing in these verses is what He frequently does in the Gospels, and especially in St. John. He tells them not to take His WORDS as the validation of His claim, but to test His DEEDS to see if they prove the truth of His words.
Others have come making great claims, but their deeds never lived up to their words. He has made an astounding claim - He has stated that He is God! The Jews say, "Is that what you are really saying - that you are God? That`s blasphemy!". Jesus replies I don`t ask you to take my WORD for it, but I do ask you to accept my DEEDS". You can`t argue with a man`s deeds, although you can argue till the cows come home over words (as the J.W. knows only too well). The only true test is that Jesus` deeds substantiate His words.
b) There are other reasons why Jesus, having made great claims, does not give a direct answer to His accusers. In Mark chapter 11, for instance, we Him purging and cleansing the Temple. The Jews religious leaders challenge Him over His authority to do such a thing, hoping to put Him in a dilemma. If He says He is acting on His own authority, they might well arrest Him as a madman. On the other hand, if He says He is acting on God`s authority, they would arrest Him on the obvious charge of blasphemy, on the grounds that God would never give to a mere MAN authority to create a disturbance in God`s House. Only God could cleanse and purge His Temple. Was THAT what He was claiming to be?
Jesus saw the dilemma, and walked around it by asking them an equally loaded question of His own. When they refuse to answer out of fear, He refuses to answer their question. Why? Why did He side-step their questions? St. John`s Gospel makes it quite clear. There would be an `hour` when it was right to proclaim Himself quite openly in front of everyone, saying exactly who He was. He had been aiming for that hour through the whole of His life. Any other time would be premature. Therefore, before that `hour` came, He refused to satisfy them. It was as if He was saying, "You believe I am claiming to be God. Right then! Test it! Find out whether I am God or not. I will not answer your questions for you".
That is why, when He was faced with a questioner who said to Him, "GOOD TEACHER....." He replied, "Why do you call me `GOOD` - there is none good but God". And yet we have to acknowledge that He WAS Good, that He was PERFECTLY GOOD! Even the J.W. would say that. Was He then rebuking the man for giving Him a title which should only be given to God? Not at all! He was testing the man, just as He was testing the Pharisees. "Think what you are saying, man. If you call me GOOD you are also calling me GOD, for only God is good. Is that what you believe that I am?".
Yet He claimed to be the GOOD Shepherd (although the J.W. Bible translates that term as the `FINE` Shepherd. But what does that mean, anyway. It`s the same term as is used when Jesus speaks of bringing forth `good` fruit, in contrast to `corrupt` fruit. In either case it means `perfect!).
Time and again Jesus made people think out who He was. He asked them questions to make them see where their attitude towards Him was leading them. His whole bearing, His whole authority, all His deeds, even the claims He made, were of those of One who was more than a man - they were the claims of One who pointed to Himself as God. However, when He was pressed by His enemies to make an outright declaration that He was God, He would not - NOT because He wasn`t God, but because His `hour` had not yet come.
c) Now let`s see what happened when it DID come. When He is arrested and brought to trial, He makes no answer to all the evidence offered against Him, and in fact, whatever evidence was offered contradicted itself. Then comes the moment of truth. As a last despairing gesture, seeing the whole of his case collapsing, the High Priest challenges Jesus, "Tell us who you are. Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?". What will He say? All He has to do is to stay silent and He will go free - or He call tell them again, "Test it for yourself"!................. But NO! This time He faces them all - NOW His "HOUR" has come!
Jesus says, "I AM - and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power" (which means sharing it with the Father) "and coming in the clouds of Heaven".
He had been invited to declare Himself - So He does. He makes it absolutely clear to any Jew just WHO He was, and in doing so claims for Himself the title of I AM!, the sacred and secret Name of God, the forbidden Name, the Holy Name spoken only by the High Priest in the secret place of the Temple, behind the great curtain - the Name which God had declared to Moses in the desert ("I AM that I am. Tell them "I AM" has sent you). This was the Name that set the Israelites free from slavery in Egypt, and which was now to set free from slavery and sin, Satan and death, all who would accept their freedom. From the days of Moses onwards for a man to use this Name casually had been a sin in the eyes of the Jews. For a man to use it of himself was the ultimate, unthinkable blasphemy. That is why the High Priest cries out "He has uttered blasphemy. We don`t need any more witnesses. You have heard his blasphemy". Jesus Christ, at His trial, claimed for Himself the great Name of God. And because He called Himself God, He had to die. Yes, the Son of God had to die - and that is unbelievable, but it happened.
To the present Day Jehovah`s Witness it is likewise unbelievable that, in claiming the title `The Son of God`, Jesus was claiming to be God. But that is how the Jews of His day understood His claim. They believed that the title implied equality with God. Jesus, who was a Jew, knew what this title implied when He claimed it - He knew the seriousness of using that title of Himself. Isn`t it strange that 20 Centuries after Jesus, Jehovah`s Witness Gentiles should presume that they know better than first Century Jews what a first Century Jew meant when He claimed such a title for Himself!
(To be continued in Study 5)
