Part 1: Like No One Else | Part 2: Deity 1 | Part 3: Deity 2 | Part 4: Deity 3
We have 3 more names or titles of Jesus that are appropriate only for God.
- Son of Man (Da 7.13)
This doesn’t sound like a divine title, does it? In fact, it doesn’t need to be; the term appears often applied to ordinary humans, even as a reminder that they are merely human (Nu 23.19; Job 25.6; Ps 8.4). It’s used a host of times in Ezekiel; God calls him “son of man” repeatedly, I think to remind him of both his weakness and his calling as a prophet, to bear God’s message to his fellow humans.
It’s also Jesus’ favorite name for himself (e.g. Mt 8.20; Mk 2.10; Lk 6.5; Jn 3.14). Is Jesus using it to say that he’s merely human? We wouldn’t know the answer to that question without a brief episode during his trial, recorded in both Matthew and Mark:
the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven (Mt 26.63-64).
Here Jesus is quoting not Ezekiel, but Daniel. We read there (Da 7.13) of “one like the Son of Man” appearing before the throne of “the Ancient of Days” and being given an eternal kingdom. What is Daniel saying with this title? I thinking he’s expressing astonishment:
“So we’re in the very throne room of God, and here comes this … guy! Just an ordinary-looking guy! And God gives him a kingdom—an eternal one!”
And that is how Jesus is identifying himself before the high priest. He’s not just a prophet like Ezekiel; he may look ordinary, but he is the Eternal King.
The high priest understands him perfectly:
Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy (Mt 26.65).
The high priest knows a claim to deity when he hears it.
- Yahweh
Jesus is in fact identified as Yahweh, or Jehovah, multiple times in the Scripture. I’ve written a lengthy series on those passages here.
- Jesus
I suspect this one surprises you. “Jesus” is the Savior’s human name, like Bob or John or Ralph. It’s the equivalent of the name “Joshua,” and there are other Joshuas in Scripture, including two famous ones (Jos 1.1; Hag 1.1), neither of which is God. So how is that a divine title?
It wouldn’t be, without a specific word from God. That word arrives through an angel, in a dream of Jesus’ stepfather, Joseph (Mt 1.20-23). The angel instructs him,
she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins (Mt 1.21).
We read that sentence in English without having any idea what it means.
Have you noticed the little conjunction “for”? That connecting word indicates a causal link: Joseph must name the child “Joshua” because he will save his people from their sins.
What does the name have to do with his role as Savior?
I think Joseph, and anyone else who knew Hebrew, would recognize immediately what the angel was saying. It has to do with the meaning of the Hebrew name.
“Joshua,” you see, means “Jehovah saves.”
“Name him ‘Jehovah saves,’ ” says the angel, because he will save his people from their sins.”
And Joseph pauses, swallows hard, and thinks, “The baby—the fetus—is Jehovah?!”
There’s not a chance in the world that he could get his brain around that concept.
But he believes. And he obeys.
And all of us, my believing friends, are better for it.
So we have 6 titles or names of Jesus that are appropriate only for deity.
Next time we’ll explore a third category of evidence.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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