When the Bible is read by modern believers in the Western Hemisphere and America there is a tendency to think that our concepts are the same as those of the early Christian Church in the Middle East, Asia Minor, Asia and Old Europe nearly two-thousand years ago; but is this necessarily true? The Bible is understood through translations from Hebrew, then Greek to Anglo-Saxon English based upon millennia-old Greco-Roman cultural experience and traditions.
Acts 2: 22
You men of Israel hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by [through] Him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know.
NOTE: Why didn’t Peter simply tell the Jews assembled at the Pentecost celebration that Jesus was the Son of God? Perhaps it was because of John 5: 18; 10: 33, which reads: Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him [Jesus], because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. The Jews answered Him [Jesus] saying, “For a good work we don’t seek to stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself [equal with] God.” Also, what would Peter have meant by calling Jesus the Son of God, anyway?
Acts 3: 18
But those things, which God beforehand had shown by the mouth of all His prophets, that Christ [Mashiyach] should suffer, He hath so fulfilled.
NOTE: Psalms 22 and Isaiah 53 are the most often quoted passages in the gospels pertaining to the sufferings of Jesus of all the prophetical writings. These particular Scriptures do not necessarily refer exclusively to the Messiah or Son of God, and Isaiah 53: 11 says: He shall see the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied; by His knowledge shall My righteous Servant [not Son, necessarily] justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.
Acts 3: 22-23
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, “A PROPHET SHALL THE LORD YOUR GOD RAISE UP UNTO YOU OF YOUR BRETHREN, LIKE UNTO ME; HIM SHALL YOU HEAR N ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER HE SHALL SAY UNTO YOU. AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT EVERY SOUL WHICH SHALL NOT HEAR [OBEY] THAT PROPHET SHALL BE DESTROYED FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE.”
NOTE: Did Peter have in mind someone like a later-day prophet of old, like Moses? None of the gospel narratives or Paul’s epistles uses this quote. Peter does however, refer to Jesus as God’s Son in verse 13, though.
Acts 8: 32-35, 37b
The place of the Scripture which he read was this: HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO THE SLAUGHTER; AND LIKE A LAMB DUMB BEFORE HIS SHEARER, SO OPENED HE NOT HIS MOUTH; IN HIS HUMLIATION HIS JUDGMMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY; AND WHO SHALL DECLARE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS TAKEN FROM THE EARTH [Cp. Isaiah 53: 7b-8]. And the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom speaks the prophet this, of himself or some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And he [the eunuch] answered and said, “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”
NOTE: This passage in Isaiah, which is one of the most striking and definitive as far as connecting Jesus as the Messiah, is not mentioned anywhere else in the New Testament [that I am aware of]; and this is quite surprising.
Acts 9: 20
And immediately he [Saul/Paul] preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.
NOTE: After having the supernatural experience with the risen Jesus on the Damascus road earlier (Cp. Acts 9: 1-5) why doesn’t the narrative say that Saul proved from the Scriptures in the synagogue [Tanakh] that Jesus was the Son of God? There are some who make a distinction between the mortal Jesus and the spiritual being called the Christ. Not only that, but what Scriptural passages did he exegete [teach from]?
Acts 10: 38
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit [Ha Ruach Kodesh] and power: Who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.
NOTE: In this verse is the real meaning of the word “Christ” [Gr. Christos/Heb. Mashiyach], which simply means, “anointed” or consecrated and set apart for a particular purpose [service to God]. Isaiah 45: 1a says: Thus says the LORD to His anointed [Heb. Mashiyach], to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held up, to subdue nations before him.
Acts 13: 23
Of this man’s seed [King David-verse 22] had God according to His promise raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus.
NOTE: The Hebrew word for Savior is “Moshia” or Messiah.
Acts 13: 32-37
And we declare unto you glad tidings [Gr. Evangelion-“Good News” or the gospel], how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God has fulfilled the same unto us their children in that He had raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm: “THOU ART MY SON, THIS DAY HAVE I BEGOTTEN YOU (Cp. Psalms 2: 7b).” And as concerning that He raised Him [Jesus] up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, He [God] said on this wise, “I WILL GIVE YOU THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID (Cp. Isaiah 55: 3b).” Wherefore he said in another psalm, “THOU SHALT NOT SUFFER THY HOLY ONE TO SEE CORRUPTION (Cp. Psalms 16: 10).” For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep (died), and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: But He [Jesus], whom God raised up again, saw no corruption.
NOTE: There are a few things to comment on here. Did God the Father accept Jesus as His only-begotten Son on the “day” that He raised Him from the dead (Cp. Colossians 1: 18a), from birth out of Mary’s womb (Cp. Hebrews 1: 6) or at His baptism in the Jordan River? Also, Jesus as the “only begotten” Son of God in Acts 13: 33 is derived from the prophesy of Psalms 2: 7b, and this passage in the Psalms is not referred to in the gospels at all; in fact, the only time that the term “only begotten” Son of God is found almost exclusively in John 1: 14, 18; 3: 16, 18; 1 John 4: 9, and the author of the book of Hebrews uses the term “begotten” instead of only-begotten (Cp. 1: 5 and 5: 5). Acts 13: 35 and Paul’s use of Psalms 16: 10 is a shorter version of Peter’s longer message starting in Acts 2: 22-24. Acts 2: 25 is from Psalms 16: 8; Acts 2: 26 is from Psalms 16: 9; Acts 2: 27 is from Psalms 16: 10; and Acts 2: 28 is from Psalms 16: 11.
Acts 17: 2-3
And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbaths reasoned with them out of the Scriptures [Tanakh], opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you is the Christ.
NOTE: Did Paul use more passages like those found in Psalms 16: 9b-11; Psalms 22: 1, 6-8, 13-18 or Isaiah 53: 1-12; and just what Scriptures did he use to prove his point?
Acts 17: 10-11
And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night to Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were nobler than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
NOTE: Where in the Scriptures did they look to as reference material?
Acts 18: 24, 27-28
And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed by grace. For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly [not just in the synagogue], showing (proving) by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
NOTE: Again, like the Apostle Paul, what were his references in the Tanakh [Old Testament]?
Acts 26: 22-23a
Having therefore obtained help from God, I [the apostle Paul] continue to this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come. That Christ should suffer, and that He should [would] be the first that should [would] rise from the dead.
NOTE: Basically, the few Scriptures that mainly detail such things are again, Psalms 2: 7; Psalms 16: 9b-11; Psalms 22: 1, 6-8, 13-18; Isaiah 53: 1-12 and Zechariah 12: 10.
Colossians 1: 13, 15
God has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: Who is the firstborn of every creature.
Revelation 3: 14
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things says the A-men, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.
NOTE: These passages in Colossians and Revelation are quite controversial, in that on the surface it seems to say the Son did not co-exist eternally with God the Father but rather was the first emanation of divine will and from and through Him [the Son] all of creation was formed and brought into manifestation from beginning [afterward].
1Timothy 2: 5
For there is only one God, and one mediator between God and men; the man Jesus Christ.
NOTE: The book of Hebrews puts it a little differently, as in the following:
Hebrews 1: 1-3, 8-12
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as He had by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. But unto the Son He [God the Father] says, “YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND FOREVER: A SCEPTER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THE SCEPTER OF YOUR KINGDOM. YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED INIQUIY; THEREFORE GOD, EVEN THY GOD HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR FELLOWS (Cp. Psalms 45: 6-7). AND, YOU LORD, IN THE BEGINNING HAS LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH; AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS: THEY SHALL PERISH; BUT YOU REMAIN; AND THEY SHALL WAX OLD AS A GARMENT. AND AS VESTURE SHALL YOU FOLD THEM UP, AND THEY SHALL BE CHANGED: BUT YOU ARE THE SAME AND THE YEARS SHALL NOT FAIL (Cp. Psalms 102: 25-27).” [The context of even these passages do not definitively pertain to the Messiah or the Son of God as derived from Psalms, but are woven together to prove the anonymous writer’s point of view].
1 John 1: 3
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 3: 23a
And this is His [God the Father] commandment. That we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 4: 15
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God.
1 John 5: 5
Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
NOTE: See also verses 9b-13 and 20.
CONCLUSION: It can be observed from reading the many examples in the gospel narratives that there was varying opinions as to who Jesus was. He was called the son of David a few times and at others, the prophet from Nazareth. Some people thought He was one of the prophets of the old patriarchal days that God had resurrected, and Jesus mostly referred to Himself by the prophetical title “Son of Man,” mostly found in the books of Ezekiel and Isaiah. In fact, Jesus sternly warned people not to call Him the Christ [Mashiyach/Messiah]. The gospel of John is the only one where Jesus actually says that He is the Son of God (Cp. John 9: 35; 10: 36; and so on). Peter confesses Jesus as the Son of God (Cp. Matthew 16: 16; John 6: 40, 69). The disciples believe that Jesus is the Son of God after He rebukes the wind (Cp. Matthew 14: 33) but in the other Synoptic accounts the disciples wonder what kind of man is this that rebukes the winds and the waves (Cp. Mark 4: 41; Luke8: 24-25) and in John’s gospel the disciples are not recorded as saying anything at all about the event (Cp. John 6: 18-21).
Nathanael calls Jesus the Son of God and King of Israel (Cp. John 1: 18, 34 and 49) and Martha confesses that Jesus is the Son of God (Cp. John 11: 23-27). All the gospels mention about the high priest asking Jesus if He was the Son of God or the Blessed One just to gather incriminating evidence that might be used to condemn Him for blasphemy. The thing is though, what about the ‘Shema’ of Deuteronomy 6: 4- “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [HaShem] is one (echad) LORD?” According to numerous passages in Isaiah there is no other God (Cp. Isaiah 43: 11; 44: 6; 45: 5-6, 21; 47: 8, 10) as well as in Deuteronomy 4: 35, so it is interesting to speculate how a believing Jew in the first century could process mentally, emotionally and religiously belief in a Son of God along with God of the patriarchs as such, and yet accept or believe Jesus when He says in John 6: 38, 42-“For I came down from heaven, not to do My will but Him that sent Me.” And they said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, I came down from heaven?” Jesus also said, “I and the Father are one.” Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. (Cp. John 10: 30-31). Lastly, for further study regarding the human and divine nature of Jesus, one should read about the Ecumenical councils: The First Ecumenical Council in Nicea, Asia Minor (325 CE); The Second Ecumenical Council, Constantinople (381 CE); The Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus (431 CE); The Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451 CE); The Fifth Ecumenical Council at Constantinople (553 CE) and The Sixth Ecumenical Council at Constantinople (680-681 CE).
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
May 6, 2012
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
