JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD

Continued

In the days of King Herod, some said, this is “the Christ; but others said, “What, doth the Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ cometh of the seed of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was? (Jn. 7:41,42) Those who were attending the feast really didn’t know that Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem, but they did remember hearing and reading what the prophecies had said, so they concluded that anyone who would ultimately be accepted as “the Christ” must fulfill precisely those things contained in the prophecy about Him. Some were in a quandary about the subject, which meant, what shall I make of it. Others took the position of an eccentric, which meant that it was off center, out of balance.

After Jesus died, was buried and arose from the dead, he joined two disciples who were walking on the road to Emmaus (Lk. 24:13). They were dejectedly discussing the recent events of Jesus’ crucifixion in Jerusalem. Jesus reminded them that the prophets had foretold of these events. “Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory (24:25,26)? Then beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (24:27). The point is clear. They were upset about Jesus’ death. He was saying they ought to have understood that he must die to fulfill the Scriptures. Besides, it was his death, burial and resurrection that proved his deity. They had not understood that before his death, during the many miracles he performed, and now they were still in the dark on the subject.

His disciples had also missed the point of Jesus’ claim to be David’s Lord as well as his son. How could they believe him to be “the Christ”, the divine Son of God and miss this point. Neither could they be effective as preachers if they could not prove his deity to others. He knew his enemies would ask for proof. Jesus did not refuse to produce such proof. “When the Pharisees gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? “The son of David,” they replied. He said to them, “How is it then that David speaking by the Spirit, calls him Lord? For he says, ‘The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’ If then David calls him Lord, how can he be his son? No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions” (Matt. 22:41-46). Obviously, the Jewish enemies were looking for a loophole, a way of escape from this dilemma.

This is the line of demarcation between the position of Jesus and the Jews. They had missed or willingly rejected the idea that Jesus was the Son of God. They did not reject him because he did not fulfill the Scriptures describing his human nature, but they rejected his claim of deity – that he was God’s son—equal with God. They rejected his power to forgive sins—a divine privilege. To reject this claim is to reject Jesus as “the Christ.” They might have been willing to accept him as “the Christ” were it not for the fact that that includes his deity. The fact that they could not answer his question was an admission of the truth of his claim. Since they could not get rid of the argument, they begin to lay plans to get rid of the One who made the argument. This is politically “quid-pro-quo—a willingness to give up something to get something.” This destroyed both their integrity and their credibility.

This argument, although sufficient to prove his claim for being “the Christ,” could be amplified by many other proofs which exhibit the Christ as divine as well as human. It could have included the prophecy of Isaiah which predicts that “a child was to be born, a Son to be given, whose name should be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (9:5-7). Only the Son of God could fulfill such a prophecy. The Christ was both the Root and the Offspring of David.”

-Gene A. Ellmore-