Studying God's Word

In previous blogs we have documented the evidence that proves the gospels of Christ were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We have looked at the proof the gospel writers thought Jesus was God even though they may not have come out and said so openly. We identified the actions in each of the Synoptic gospels that prove Jesus also said he was God, but in a Jewish way.  Satan has for centuries propagated the lies that the gospels were anonymous, that the gospels don’t say Jesus is God and that Jesus himself never claimed to be God. Now you know the truth. If the uninformed bring up these false allegations to you please set them straight, but with gentleness.

Jesus not only acted like God in the gospels he said said he was God. Let’s look at three stories from the Synoptic gospels that shed more light on the divinity of Jesus. The first story I want to mention is the paralytic man who was lowered down to Jesus from a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was teaching. When Jesus saw the faith of the paralytic man and his friends he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”  Scribes sitting around Jesus accused him of blasphemy because “only God” can forgive sin. Jesus told the scribes that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Having said that, Jesus healed the paralytic in their presence and sent him home to prove to all present that the Son of God has authority to forgive sins.  Jesus was telling everyone he was God but leaving it to them to figure out what he said.

The Son of Man was the favorite moniker of Jesus. Why is that? God never does anything on a whim. God always has a purpose for any action he takes. For understanding we need to refer back to the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. In chapter seven, verses 13 & 14 Daniel prophesied about a divine being coming to earth riding the Shekinah glory cloud of God and looking like a son of man (i.e. he looked like a human being). This person looked like a man but was also the equal to God. He was both man and God.  To the Jewish mind someone saying they are the Son of Man is making direct reference to the book of Daniel and they are, in effect, saying they are the Messiah and God but in an indirect, Jewish way. Jesus used this title often to remind the Jews that while he is a man, he is also God.  Christians will recognize this prophecy as the second coming of Christ at the end of the great tribulation referenced in the book of Revelation.

The third miracle from the gospels that identified Jesus as God to the Jews was the Transfiguration of Jesus which appeared in all three of the Synoptic gospels. This account took place on a high mountain in the presence of Peter, James and John. The appearance of Jesus changed to show him in his heavenly glory.  Appearing with Jesus was Moses and Elijah who represented the Law and the Prophets. In the Old Testament God (Yahweh) had appeared to both men by their request and spoke to them. God did not allow either one of them to see his face.  Elijah is still alive in heaven but Moses was long since dead when he met with Jesus in the spirit. Jesus was conversing with them so it was obvious they knew each other already. It would be obvious to any Jew that God was now honoring their request to see his face, his human face.

To any Jew Jesus was saying I am the God who in times past spoke with my servants Moses and Elijah. This amazing miracle is contained in all four gospels and declares to all that Jesus is God come to earth in the flesh.  

You must understand the times in which Jesus lived. A person couldn’t claim to be God without being stoned to death for blasphemy. Instead, Jesus taught in parables, spoke in riddles and often referred to Old Testament Scriptures in his sermons. The goal of Jesus was to fulfill Bible prophecies concerning the Messiah and let the people make up their own mind who he was. The fact the Synoptic gospels do not declare Jesus is God perfectly reflects first century Jewish culture and actually corroborates their authenticity in my mind.

Jesus came into this world with a ministry that was choreographed for three and a half years from his baptism to his crucifixion. Jesus had to reveal his identity as God slowly so as to have time to fulfill prophecy and teach about the kingdom of God. Notice in each of the gospels Jesus performed some miracles and then told the recipient not to tell anyone. This was because the time to reveal himself as God had not yet come. It was only toward the end of his ministry that Jesus openly admitted to the Jewish leaders and the Romans that he was God. Predictably, Jesus was sentenced to die for the blasphemy of claiming to be God. Jesus came so that he could die on the cross for our sins and that is why with his last breath Jesus said “It is finished”.

Detractors have long voiced the opinion the, “Synoptic gospels” of Matthew, Mark and Luke do not claim that Jesus is God nor does Jesus himself say he is God. They say only in the gospel of John does Jesus say he is God and act like God. Are we then to believe Jesus is God on the testimony of one man? This attempt to obscure the gospel message of a divine Christ is more of Satan’s lies.  It’s true the writers of the Synoptic gospels do not come out and say Jesus is God. Jesus does not go around beating his chest declaring, “I am God”. Nevertheless, in each gospel Jesus does declare he is God, but in a Jewish way and in the context that any Jew living in the first century would immediately recognize based on Old Testament descriptions of God (Yahweh). In the Old Testament God was portrayed as the creator of the universe and the God who could still the wind and calm the raging sea. God could and did part the Red Sea.

Let’s look at three miracles of Jesus from the gospels that effectively told the Jews that Jesus was declaring himself to be the God of the Old Testament. The first miracle was when Jesus and his disciples were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was sleeping and there arose a great storm of wind and high waves that threatened to swamp the boat.  The disciples were afraid and awakened Jesus. Jesus rebuked the wind and it ceased. Jesus calmed the sea with a word. To the Jewish mind this immediately told the disciples that Jesus was claiming to be the divine God of the Old Testament who stilled the wind and calmed the sea. This account is in all three of the Synoptic gospels.

The second miracle that confirmed to the Jews that Jesus was claiming to be God was the account of Jesus walking on the waters of the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a bad storm. The disciples saw Jesus walking on the water coming toward them. As Jesus came near the boat he told his disciples, “take heart, I AM; do not be afraid.”  As Jesus stepped into the boat the wind immediately stilled. Not only does the wind obey Jesus a second time like in the Old Testament, Jesus openly declared he was God in the flesh. All Jews know from the story of Moses that God spoke from the burning bush on Mount Sanai and declared his name to be, “I AM”. The Jews immediately understood Jesus was saying he was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  This story is in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and John.

Since the four gospels of Christ were written Satan has attempted to lead mankind away from the saving grace of God. Failing that, Satan has tried to convince man that the authorship of the gospels is in question. For 2000 years critics have tried to discredit the Bible and failed.  The evidence is rock solid that the gospels of Matthew and John were written by the Apostles John and Matthew.  

The authorship of the gospel of Luke is the best documented gospel because in it the writer identifies himself as Luke, a Gentile physician and disciple of the Apostle Paul. Luke makes clear he did not know Jesus personally but is truthfully reporting eyewitness testimony of the Apostle Paul and his investigation into the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Early church fathers like Origen, Irenaeus and Tertullian all confirmed Luke penned the gospel of Luke in Greek to the Gentiles after Mark and Matthew were written but sometime before the death of Paul in Rome making it prior to 66 AD.

The Apostle John wrote the gospel bearing his name last and had read the other gospels before he wrote his gospel. The Apostle John was illiterate so he dictated his gospel. The Apostle John was an eyewitness to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and, as the beloved disciple of Jesus, was part of his inner circle and witness to things not widely known by the other gospel writers. The Apostle John attempted to fill in the information missing from the other gospels and to stress the divinity of Jesus. Early church fathers from all over the world such as Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement and Tertullian all wrote confirming the Apostle John wrote his gospel. There has never been any disputing who authored the four gospels of Christ, only the order in which they were written. The gospel of John was written last according to historical records.

Satan is responsible for a widespread myth accepted by much of academia that the four gospels of Christ, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, were anonymous manuscripts for a couple of hundred years before the church got around to naming them for the sake of validity. That is not true. Historical data reveals there were no anonymous gospels.  There are numerous old gospel manuscripts, some dating back to the second century, and all of them are attributed to either Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Gospel manuscripts were copied over and over and used to preach the gospel of Christ in churches. Anonymous manuscripts would have been worthless for this purpose and, if there were any, would have caused numerous errors when copied and that was not found to be the case.

Most of the noted church fathers of the second and third century either knew the Apostles themselves or those who did. Papias, Martyr, Irenaeus and Clement all wrote that the gospel of Matthew bears his name and was written by the Apostle Matthew based on reliable sources, usually first or secondhand knowledge.  The consensus was that Matthew was written in Hebrew for the Jewish Christians to preserve a written record of the teachings of Jesus from an eyewitness for posterity . Matthew was written while Peter and Paul were still in Rome, which had to be before 66 AD. Matthew was thought to be the second gospel written.

The gospel of Mark was thought to be the first gospel written, by a well known Jew from Jerusalem named John Mark. Mark was a disciple, follower, interpreter and translator for the Apostle Peter, who was illiterate. Peter preached the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles in Rome and Mark wrote down all he said.  The Christians in Rome convinced Mark to make a written record of the teachings of Peter on the life of Jesus while an eyewitness yet lived. This was corroborated in the writings of early church fathers like Papias, Irenaeus and Clement and based primarily on first and secondhand knowledge. Mark did not know Jesus personally. The gospel of Mark was written in Greek and sometime prior to 66 AD.

Modern science is the Christian’s best friend because new discoveries have verified information God placed in the Bible many hundreds of years before this information was proven by the scientific method.  Around 1500 BC it was believed the world rested on the back of a giant turtle. In the book of Job, written around 2100 BC, God tells us the earth hangs on nothing. We now know the earth is floating in space while orbiting the sun.

Job 26:7 – He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.

The consensus until after the time of Columbus was that the world was flat yet the prophet Isaiah writing in the eighth century BC recorded that the earth was a sphere.

Isaiah 40:22 – It is He who sits above the circle of the earth.

In Genesis 6, God gave Noah precise dimensions for the ark that were later used in shipbuilding. By 1900 every large shipbuilder on the high seas used the proportions of the ark as verified by Lloyd’s Register of Shipping in the World Almanac.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the energy in the universe is decreasing over time. Three Scriptures in the Bible confirmed this thousands of years before science proved it.

Isaiah 51:6 – For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, the earth will grow old like a garment.

Psalm 102:25-26; Hebrews 1:11 – And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish but You will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed.

When God made man in His image He created us with a fundamental sense of right and wrong. God wrote His moral code in our hearts. This is evidenced by the fact that all peoples of the earth have a similar recognition of good and evil; right and wrong. If we accept the premise there is a written moral law in the fiber of our being it had to come from somewhere. There would have to be a supreme moral lawgiver. I posit that would be our Creator, God Almighty.

Genesis 2:7 – The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Zechariah 12:1 – The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 – He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Most scientists accept the Big Bang theory, which tells us the universe had a beginning. This is consistent with the biblical account of creation. If the universe had a starting point it’s not eternal. Athiests believe the universe came from nothing on its own which is not possible. Christians believe there was a “beginner” to the universe, namely God. Scripture confirms God made the universe from nothing.

Psalm 19:1 – The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.

Psalm 8:3-4 – When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him.

If you look at the heavens and the diversity of life on earth it’s obvious the universe has a highly complex design that cannot possibly have resulted from any random processes and chance. The universe isn’t old enough for that to be possible. Therefore, the universe had a Designer, who we Christians know as Jehovah.

Isaiah 44:24 – This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by Myself.

Psalm 102:25-27 – In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands, they will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like clothing You will change them and they will be discarded. But You remain the same, and Your years will never end.

Satan has ushered into our postmodern culture a new line of attack to fool the masses. If Satan can convince you absolute truth is a moving target, that truth is whatever you say it is, then he has won. Satan wants to convince you we are all free to do anything, there is no such thing as accountability and your personal pleasure is paramount.  When everyone has their own personal truth they will not believe in the absolute truth of God’s Word, which is what Satan has in mind.  A recent poll showed only 28% of respondents believed there was such a thing as absolute truth.   God’s Word is the “absolute truth” and it is essential to the Christian worldview. We cannot allow Satan to successfully attack our concept of truth.

John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us….full of grace and truth.

John 8:32 – And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 14:6 – I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Satan is the god of this world and humanism has taken over our school system from kindergarden to post graduate education. God has been stripped from all public education. Even if parents teach their children about God at home by the time they leave college the system will have turned them into perfect little liberal atheists by design. This is part of the problem we see in society today.

Romans 3:4 – Let God be true but every man a liar.

Ephesians 6:14 – Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness.

Ephesians 1:13 – In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy spirit of promise.

Science and reason no longer rule the day.  Subjective truth becomes a mere political tool by which the powerful control the powerless.   Scripture tells us to beware in the latter days when people call good evil and evil good.  I see that happening today and others have said as much.

Isaiah 5:20 – Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

If you’ve read the book of Revelation you knew this was coming.  What can we do?  Don’t be spoon-fed what to believe by me or anyone else.  Read, study and pray over God’s Word to make up your own mind what is truth and then follow the conviction of your heart.  The Holy Spirit has been given to you by God to assist you in this.

Some believe in God but can’t accept that Jesus actually lived and if Jesus did live that he was the Son of God. Christian and Jewish historical records confirm the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This was also noted in Greek and Roman histories as fact.  Those who deny Jesus is God need to review the 36 fulfilled prophecies in the Bible that I’ve previously blogged concerning Christ.  The entire Bible is about the coming of Jesus Christ to redeem fallen mankind. There are many more prophecies concerning Jesus than the ones I reference.

Some people assert history disproves the Bible but again they are wrong. Archeological records confirm time after time the people and places of the Bible are correct. For example, the Hittites are mentioned over fifty times in the Bible but critics thought they never existed.  Around 1900 excavations in central Turkey uncovered their civilization. Naysayers said King David was a myth. In 1993 an excavation at Tel Dan in northern Israel confirmed the, “House of David.”  Another common criticism I hear is the Bible’s creation account was borrowed from an earlier myth from Mesopotamia called the Epic of Gilgamesh. These two accounts of creation are totally opposite.

In the Bible account of creation God loves His creation but indicates man needs God. The Bible records that man’s fallen moral state was the reason for the flood. In Gilgamesh it was just the opposite and so bears no resemblance to the Bible’s creation story.  Satan has blinded unbelievers to the truth of the gospel message of Christ. When challenged we must explain our reasons for what we believe with kindness and gentleness of spirit. Know what you believe and why you believe it.  Your passion will shine through.