Did Yeshua (Jesus) ever clearly say that He was God, or the fullness of the one true God bodily? My reply: Firstly, lets remember that to the Jews of Jesus day, that is anyone called themselves the personal name of God (Ex. 3:14 - I AM THAT I AM), they were committing blasphemy. With this understood, lets move on to your challenge: #1 - Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”4 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM [ego eimi].” (John 8:56-58) Jesus says he is I AM which directly goes back to Gods personal name told to Moses in Ex. 3:14. Some skeptics say that Jesus is only saying that He existed BEFORE Abraham, but this is not what the verse is saying. The phrase I AM is used to contrast between Abrahams beginning with His own LACK of a beginning. This goes right along with the words of Jesus in John 17:5, which says: And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with You BEFORE THE WORLD EXISTED. In others words, Jesus was NOT like Abraham, who was brought into existence, where as Christ is, and has always been. Jesus is saying that his existence transcends time. The Greek language here shows this in the words used for was after Abraha, and the Greek words for I AM. This is why the Jews wanted to stone him in the next verses. Lets look a few verses before in this same chapter of the Gospel of John: #2 - ..for if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins... (John 8:24) #3 - ..when it comes to pass, you may believe that I AM... (John 13:19) #4 - ..Now when he said to them: I AM.. (John 18:6) #5 - But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying: Be of good cheer! I AM. Do not be afraid... (Matt. 14:27, Mark 6:50, John 6:20) #6 - Referring to the divine son of man figure in Dan. 7 that receives an everlasting dominion and kingdom, Jesus says the following: But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:61-62) The act of riding on the clouds is EXCLUSIVELY to God only. [See:Isaiah 19:1, Ps. 68:4, 68:33, 104:3, Deut. 33:26] Jesus is claiming HE will doing something ONLY RESERVED for GOD. Conclusion: So is Yeshua (Jesus) THE FATHER is ALL His Unveiled Unapproachable GLORY, ESSENCE, and POWER (Ex. 33:20)? No. Yeshua (Jesus) is NOT THE FATHER, but He IS the FULLNESS of the Father God revealed bodily. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Fathers side, He has made Him known. (John 1:18)
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 16:13:52 +0000