Is Jesus the same in Stature as God?

What did Jesus say about God in reference to 

himself?

I will only use the 4 canonical gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) of the New Testament and the Old Testament as most of the other books in the New Testament were written by Paul. It is believed that Paul authored the following books: Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I and II Thessalonians, I and II Timothy, Titus and Philemon.

Although open to question many also have good reason to believe he also wrote Hebrews as it contains many Pauline distinctions.

The reason why I choose not to use the books authored by Paul is that they don’t contain Jesus actual spoken words.  They contain an opinion of what Jesus meant. Since Paul was not an actual eye witness of Jesus and never was with Jesus during his mission – I will refer to his ‘contribution’ in the latter part of this book.

Now let’s see what Jesus said about God and his relationship with God.  The verses of the Bible that I will be using are taken from the revised version of the Good News Bible approved by the Bible Society unless stated otherwise.

1.         Luke 18:18-19 “A ruler asked Jesus, “Good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?  Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good?  No one is good but God alone”

Jesus clearly distinguishes himself from God in terms of perfection and title.  He clearly knows who God is – he does not claim to be God – otherwise he would rightly accept this deserved title ‘good’.  As a matter of fact he clearly denies a title of divinity here.  Clearly Jesus knew who God was - and Jesus was not claiming to be the Lord of the heavens of the earth…Was Jesus misleading people by NOT claiming divinity here?  He had an opportune time to expand on the Trinity doctrine but didn’t – why? He said why do you call me good? Only God is good! I am not good! 

2.         Mark 12:29-33   “Jesus answered “The first is:  Hear, Israel! The Lord, our God, is One Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.  And after this comes another one: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no commandment greater than these two”

The teacher of the law said to him, “Well-spoken master; you are right when you say that He is one and there is no other. To love Him with all our heart, with all our understanding and with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves is more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice”

Here Jesus clearly shows that God is only One!  There is no other.  Taking into consideration Luke 18:18-19 (the previous verse) where Jesus separates himself in identity to God – this easily clarifies the context in which the term “God is One Lord” specifically means.  Jesus had a chance here to expound on the trinity doctrine yet again but he didn’t do so because there is no such thing!  He didn’t say “your God is one but three and I am one of the three” Clearly Jesus NEVER taught the trinity doctrine.  He had many opportune times to do so and didn’t do so – simply because there is no such thing!!  God is One!  If there was such a thing as the trinity – then all the Jews would have this doctrine in their religion till today.  But they don’t – because it was not taught by Moses, Noah or Abraham and the other great prophets. 

3.         Matthew 12:17-18 “In this way Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, and with whom I am pleased.  I will put my spirit upon him and he will announce my judgment to the nations”

Here the gospel of Matthew is referring to a prophecy about Jesus from the book of Isaiah.  What did God call Jesus in Isaiah?  God Almighty calls Jesus a SERVANT.  This is no trick statement with some opposite meaning etc.  God calls Jesus His servant – not His equal or co-god etc.  Jesus was God’s servant.  Let’s have a look at the whole prophecy referred to here - it is found in Isaiah 42.

4.         Isaiah 42: 1-8

Let’s look at this prophecy in stages:

    a.)    Isaiah 42: 1-4

“Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one whom I delight.  I have put my spirit upon him and he will bring justice to the nations.  He does not shout nor raise his voice on the streets.  A broken reed he will not crush, nor will he snuff out the light of the wavering wick.  He will make justice appear in truth.  He will not waver or be broken until he has established justice on earth; the islands are waiting for his law.

Verses 1-4 God is talking about His servant.  If indeed this prophecy is about Jesus as the gospel of Matthew says so – God Almighty refers to Jesus in unambiguous terms as “His servant”.

           

    b.)    Isaiah 42:5

“Thus says God, Yahweh, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread the earth and all that comes from it, who gives life and breath to those who walk on it:”

Verse 5 makes a clear distinction between God, Yahweh, Almighty creator of heaven and earth and Jesus the servant.  There is a switch of reference in verse 5.  God talks about Jesus from verses 1-4 and then distinguishes Himself from His servant by identifying who He is in verse 5.  This is no trick split personality disorder – this is God referring to Himself in clear distinction from Jesus.

    c.)    Isaiah 42: 6-7

“I, Yahweh, have called you (referring to Jesus) for the sake of justice; I will hold your hand to make you firm; I will make you as a covenant to the people and as a light to the nations, to open eyes that do not see, to free captives from prison, to bring out light to those who sit in darkness.”

Here, God Almighty creator of heaven and earth is referring to Himself as having called out to Jesus.  Jesus, the servant of God, is subordinate to God.  Not equal to Him.  Jesus gets his strength, authority and knowledge from Yahweh.  Jesus is NOT Yahweh – nor ever claimed to be.

    d.)    Isaiah 42:8

“I am Yahweh that is my name; I will not give my glory to another or my praises to graven images”

God in the same chapter about the prophecy of Jesus distinguishes Himself from His servant (Jesus) in terms of His identity, His name and His glory. He states – that He alone is Yahweh and He will NOT give His glory to another.  And it is even more affirming because He makes this distinction in the VERY SAME chapter that refers to the prophecy of Jesus whom He clearly states as His servant.

5.         Isaiah 48:11 “What I do is done for my sake.  I will not let my name be dishonored or let anyone else share my glory that should be mine and mine alone”

This scripture from Isaiah 48 – only 6 chapters after the prophecy of Jesus is powerfully clear that all Glory belongs to God ALONE.

6.         Matthew 16: 27-28 “For the son of man is about to come in the glory of his father with his angels…”

Jesus will come in the Father’s glory not his own glory.  Jesus came to glorify God, to point us to God - creator of Heaven and earth and all Glory belongs to God.  Jesus has no glory of his own except as the Father willed.

           

7.         John 14:28 “…If you loved me, you would be glad that I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I”

I rest my case.  Jesus plainly says that the Father is greater than he is. God had referred to Jesus as His servant in Isaiah and here Jesus makes it clear that God is greater than himself.  These are clear scriptural statements made by Jesus himself about his own identity in clear distinction from God.  This is no trick statement to make people confused. Why would Jesus mislead the whole world if indeed he was equal to God?  Would Jesus be a liar?  God forbid!  Was he purposely misleading the masses? He did not say he is equal to the Father or that he and God are one in absolute authority, power and knowledge.

8.         Matthew 20:23 “…but to sit at my right or my left is not for me to grant.  That will be for those whom the Father has prepared it”

Here a woman is asking Jesus to grant her sons’ seats beside him in the next life and Jesus declares that he is not the ultimate JUDGE.   God is the JUDGE and THE decider of who gets to sit where in the hereafter; another clear distinction between Jesus and God in terms of ultimate authority.

9.         Matthew 24:36  “But as for that day and that hour, no one knows when it will come, not even the angels of God nor the son, but only the Father.”

People are asking Jesus when the hour of the Day of Judgment will be and Jesus pronounces that no one including himself knows – except God Almighty.  Jesus openly states that he is NOT one and the same in knowledge as Yahweh, Lord of the heavens and earth.  This is another clear scriptural distinction between Jesus the servant and God the Almighty.  Click here to see what Jesus meant when he said "son of God":   What did Jesus mean when he said he was the son of God?

10.       Matthew 11:25 “On that occasion Jesus said, ‘Father, Lord of the heavens and the earth, I praise you because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to simple people’”

Here Jesus is praying to God, Lord of the heavens and the earth.  Jesus is not praying to himself.  And he is praising God, his creator.  

11.       John 5:30 “I can do nothing on my own authority, I only judge as God tells me…”

In this verse Jesus declares undoubtedly that he does not have absolute authority but is subordinate to God’s authority.  If Jesus was in deed one in essence with God – he would have absolute authority as the Nicene creed states “one in essence”.  One in essence is disproved as Jesus clearly says that he has no authority except as God permits him to have so.

12.       John 8:50 “I don’t care about my own glory; there is One who cares for me and He will be the Judge”

Here Jesus says that the one who cares for him (i.e. sustains him, protects him, the one who loves him, who created him) is THE JUDGE.  Not Jesus.  God is the Judge – Not Jesus.  Clearly Jesus shows this distinction.

13.       John 14:23-24  “Those who love me will obey my teaching…and the teaching you have heard is not mine but comes  from the father who has sent me.”

Here Jesus clearly shows that he is teaching what God is commanding him to teach.   Jesus was sent by God into the world to teach people about God.  Jesus glorified God and always pointed people to worship God.  That was Jesus’ job.  He was sent to spread this message.

14.       John 14:31 “But see, the world must know that I love the Father, that is why I do everything that he commands me to do”

Jesus is submissive to God’s commands/laws.  Jesus is not God or part of the God head.  He does what God commands and not of his own.  Jesus is a created being and not the creator. 

15.       Luke 4:8 “Jesus answered, ‘The scripture says “Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him!”’”

Here Satan is tempting Jesus to bow down and worship him.  Jesus gives satan the above scripture.  Satan a created being is bargaining with Jesus (a created being as well) to worship him in exchange for created things.  

Worshipping the creation of God is Idol worship.  

God is not created.  There was not a time when He did not exist.  He always was. He is not limited to time or space or anything. 

Everything created had a beginning – there was a time when they were not.  To God is due all worship – as Jesus himself says!

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CONCLUSION:

Through scripture as per Jesus own words and not what other disciples taught we can see that:

Jesus does not say I am God worship me.  

Jesus himself says that he does NOT have ultimate authority, 

Jesus himself sayd that he does NOT know everything, 

Jesus himself says that he is NOT the judge, 

Jesus glorifies God,

 Jesus prays to God,

 Jesus worshiped God and not himself.  

Jesus pointed us to the One and Only same God of Abraham, Moses, Jacob and every other prophet.   God does not NEED Jesus in order to exist.  

Jesus NEEDS God in order to exist.  

Jesus is a created being - made by God, the Creator.