ON THE UNIQUENESS OF JESUS CHRIST
As I visit Christian chatrooms, I see many people trying to argue that Jesus was less than He claimed to be. Some reject Christianity altogether because they misunderstand Him and the message of His ministry. In portraying Jesus as less than He really was, they make Him someone less threatening to their belief system; then they accept Him, perhaps as a prophet, a law-giver, a teacher, or one in a series of embodiments of the divine nature. Others, who sincerely believe themselves to be Christians, accept Jesus as a more-than-human being, but stop short of recognizing in Him the same divine nature God the Father possesses. It is time to take a look at who Jesus Himself said He was, and at what was said about Him by others who wrote under divine inspiration. Once our understanding of His nature is clear, we can more easily see who is telling the truth about Him. We can then lovingly correct those who err. If they reject our unique Savior after knowing the truth about Him, we must both love them as God loves them and reject their doctrine wherever we encounter it.
The very fact that there are prophecies of Jesus' life sets Him apart from almost everyone else who has ever lived. Examination of prophetic passages that proclaim Messiah's first coming indicates that Jesus was the only One Who could have fulfilled them all. The space limitations of this paper prevent thorough examination of all relevant Scriptures; but I will cite relevant prophecies that combine to show that Jesus was the Messiah, and that no one else could have been.
Isaiah 7:14 states that a virgin will give birth to a son. Virgin births have been attributed after the fact to various political and religious leaders of ancient times; but no other birth to a virgin was declared as fact over seven hundred years in advance, and no other virgin birth is recorded in a document as scrupulously copied and preserved as the Old Testament. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy (see Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; 2:6-7).
Micah 5:2 foretells Messiah's birth in Bethlehem. II Samuel 7:16 and Isaiah 11:1-2 say that He will be descended from David. In Luke 2:4-7, we learn that Jesus' parents were in Bethlehem when He was born because Joseph was a descendant of David. Matthew 1:1-16 traces the family line from Abraham to Jesus. Again, centuries-old prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus' birth. Even if we stop at this point, there is no other person born to David's line from a virgin in Bethlehem. If the same Man Who fulfills these prophecies is the Christ, Jesus already stands alone in that role.
There are other prophecies that Jesus' childhood fulfilled. Jeremiah 31:15 tells of mass killing of Jewish children, which Herod the Great ordered, as recorded in Matthew 2:16-18. Jesus escaped, because an angel warned Joseph to go to Egypt (Matt. 2:13-14). This fulfilled another prophecy, that the Son of God would be called out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1; Matt. 2:15, 19-21). No one but Jesus fulfilled these prophecies pertaining to the Messiah's early life. In fact, neither the infant Jesus nor His earthly parents had control over the events that fulfilled the six prophecies already cited. Mary and Joseph were simply obeying orders from their superiors in Heaven and on Earth.
The Messiah had a forerunner, who was to prepare the Jews to meet their Anointed One. This prophet would be a man comparable to Elijah, according to Malachi 4:5. John the Baptist dressed as Elijah had (II Kings 1:8; Mark 1:6). He compared his ministry to that of the forerunner (Mark 1:7-8; John 1:23; see Isaiah 40:3). He announced that Jesus was sent as a sacrifice to atone for all sin (John 1:29). He went on to say that Jesus existed before he did (John 1:30), although John had been born six months before Jesus (Luke 1:31-36). John's ministry was both a fulfillment of prophecy and a prophecy in itself. He clearly announced that Jesus was Messiah and was God.
The first twenty-one verses of Psalm 22 describe a crucifixion. This form of execution was unknown in Israel a thousand years before Jesus' time (about the time David wrote the psalm). Details from v.1 (an anguished cry uttered by Jesus in Matt. 27:46) and v. 18 (gambling for garments, as reported in Matt. 27:35, was usually not necessary) indicate that the crucifixion of Jesus is the specific subject of this psalm. Anyone who believes Jesus staged His own execution to fulfill prophecy should compare Psalm 22:7-8 with Matthew 27:39-43. God did know in advance what Jesus' enemies would say as He died, and He did reveal this to David in this prophetic psalm. But why would Jesus conspire with those who wanted Him killed to have these words spoken at His execution? And why would those who denied His messiahship and hated Him enough to kill Him knowingly fulfill prophecy by their taunts?
There are clues, hints, and images of a substitutionary death to pay for sin in several Old Testament passages, but Isaiah 53 states plainly that this will be the mission of the Messiah. This chapter's twelve verses speak fourteen times of the Righteous One dying on behalf of the unrighteous. In John 3:14-15, Jesus says that He will be "lifted up" in order to give eternal life to those who believe in Him. In Mark 10:45, He speaks of dying as "a ransom for many." The word in John 19:30 that is translated It is finished! is actually an accounting term, best translated Paid in full! The ransom, the price of eternal life, was paid at Jesus' death.
In Psalm 22:22-24, the speaker is quite alive and praising God among His people, despite having died earlier in the psalm. This hints at resurrection. Isaiah 25:8 says that God "will swallow up death for all time." Hosea 13:14 taunts death as a defeated foe. Isaiah 53:10-12 speaks three times of Messiah accomplishing good deeds after His death. Jesus' resurrection is foretold here, up to a thousand years in advance. Jesus Himself told His disciples that He would rise from the dead (Matt. 20:17-19; Mark 10:32-34; Luke 9:21-22; John 16:16). All four gospels tell of His resurrection. Acts 1:3 tells us that Jesus spent forty days on Earth after rising from the dead. Paul states that over five hundred people saw Jesus alive after He arose from the dead (I Cor. 15:3-8).
The prophecies and the testimonies of Jesus' death and resurrection combine to single Him out as the only Person Who ever accomplished such a victory over human mortality. When added to the other prophecies of His life, these Scriptures give a picture of Jesus as Someone as human as any of us, yet also divine in both His nature (as God's Son) and His mission (as God's substitute to be punished for our sins). Did Jesus recognize Himself as both man and God? Or were the claims of His divinity added later by others? Let's see.
In John 8, Jesus confronted the Jews who were seeking to discredit Him. The dialog grew more pointed as it continued. Jesus told the Jewish leaders, especially the Pharisees, that they were not Abraham's spiritual descendants, because they failed to recognize His divinity (vv. 37, 39-40, 56). When they questioned His claim to have known Abraham personally (v. 57), Jesus responded, "Before Abraham was, I AM" (v. 58). Although the Book of John was written in Greek, Jesus spoke these words in either Aramaic (the local language) or possibly Hebrew (the language of Jewish Torah scholars, such as the men He was addressing). You cannot read God's Personal Name (see Ex. 3:14) in the Greek text; but that is clearly what Jesus said in v. 58. If Jesus had not said The Name, the Jewish leaders would not have tried to kill Him on the spot (v. 59). If He had not been divinely protected, they would not have failed.
In John 10:22-39, Jesus again dealt with doubts of His divinity. In v. 25, he told the Jews that He had already declared His divinity and proven it by His works. In v. 30, He said He was one with the Father. In v. 33, the Jews said that this statement was the reason they were going to stone Him. In v. 39, Jesus walked away untouched, just as He had done before. Would God have twice protected a blasphemer from the penalty He had prescribed for such a deed (Lev. 24:16)? If Jesus is less than God, are these two incidents not sufficient to give Him a reputation as both a blasphemer and a liar? How can anyone who studies these two events deny Jesus' divinity and still call Him a great teacher or a good man?
Jesus said that He came to Earth to save sinners from eternal damnation. He declared this mission in His conversation with Zaccheus (Luke 19:10). He elaborated on it in the Parable of the Good Shepherd (John 10:9-11), where He added that He would voluntarily die to fulfill His mission (v. 11). In John 14:6-7, He declared Himself the only way to approach God and reasserted His equality with the Father. Who else ever declared with certainty that he could be personally responsible for the eternal well-being of his followers? Who else voluntarily died to seal such a promise? Who else declared all approaches to God other than himself null and void? If anyone but Jesus is left standing at this point, what was written about him six hundred, or eight hundred, or a thousand years in advance?
If Jesus really fulfilled all those prophecies, really believed He was God, really died on behalf of all of us, and really came back from the dead, you would expect Him to ascend into Heaven when His mission was accomplished, wouldn't you? Read Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50-51; and Acts 1:9-11.
By His own declaration, Jesus was God. He came here to call us to believe this. He proved His Deity by fulfilling specific prophecies. He died to take the punishment we earned by our sin. He rose from the dead, both innocent on His own account and having paid for all sin (the cause of death). He ascended into Heaven forty days later, after commanding His followers to declare the news of His payment for sin to all mankind. No one else did what He did. No version of His life that omits any of His claims of Deity is complete. No version that denies His Deity is true. It is time for those who would claim to be intellectually honest in their assessment of Jesus to admit that He is God. Those who say otherwise should call Him a liar and reject Him outright. He left us no middle ground.