...after Thomas had already called Jesus "my God" in verse 28? Is this a contradiction? Who is Jesus? God or God's Son?
2007-09-05 07:26:16 · 24 answers · asked by LineDancer 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Some scholars have viewed this expression as an exclamation of astonishment spoken to Jesus but actually directed to God, his Father. However, others claim the original Greek requires that the words be viewed as being directed to Jesus. Even if this is so, the expression “My Lord and my God” would still have to harmonize with the rest of the inspired Scriptures. Since the record shows that Jesus had previously sent his disciples the message, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God,” there is no reason for believing that Thomas thought Jesus was the Almighty God. (John 20:17) John himself, after recounting Thomas’ encounter with the resurrected Jesus, says of this and similar accounts: “But these have been written down that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that, because of believing, you may have life by means of his name.”—John 20:30, 31.
So, Thomas may have addressed Jesus as “my God” in the sense of Jesus’ being “a god” though not the Almighty God, not “the only true God,” to whom Thomas had often heard Jesus pray. (John 17:1-3) Or he may have addressed Jesus as “my God” in a way similar to expressions made by his forefathers, recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures, with which Thomas was familiar. On various occasions when individuals were visited or addressed by an angelic messenger of Jehovah, the individuals, or at times the Bible writer setting out the account, responded to or spoke of that angelic messenger as though he were Jehovah God. (Compare Genesis 16:7-11, 13; Judges 6:11-15; 13:20-22.) This was because the angelic messenger was acting for Jehovah as his representative, speaking in his name,
2007-09-05 16:58:16 · answer #1 · answered by babydoll 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes, Jesus is God alright. If you notice, Jesus said that if they didn't believe that He was "I AM" they would die in their sins, and they didn't realise He was speaking of the Father (John 8:24 & 27) Jesus Christ was called "I AM" and so was God of course (Exodus 3:14) that is a huge clue. Actually when human kind needed a Saviour to die on the Cross for us to be forgiven and saved, the only one perfect enough to be that perfect sacrifice, was God Himself. Well God is a Spirit (John 4:24) and a spirit cannot be crucified on a Cross, so God came to earth in the flesh form of JEsus Christ (John 1:14) and HIMSELF died on the Cross for us. Therefore, when Jesus was dying on the Cross of Calvary, it was actually GOD IN CHRIST reconciling the world unto Himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). That's why Jesus Christ's Name was to be call4ed "Emmanuel" because it means, "God with us" In addition, if you remember, Isaiah prophesied that Jesus Christ's Name would be called, "Wonderful, Counsellor, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING FATHER, the Prince of Peace. (Isa 9:6). Jesus could not be called the Mighty God or Everlasting Father, if He were not He. God is three persons in one. God is Spirit which is Father, God is soul, which is Holy Spirit and God is Body which is Jesus Christ and these three are one (1 John 5:7) Jesus and His Father are one (John 10:30) There is no doubt that JEsus Christ is God in flesh. He told the disciples, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father also because He is in Me and I am in Him etc. (John 14: 9-11 and 17: 21 & 23). In the beginning was the Word (that's Jesus Christ's Name Rev 19:13) and the Word was with God and the Word WAS GOD. We can never deny that Jesus Christ is God because if we deny the Son, WE DO NOT HAVE THE FATHER EITHER (1 John 2:23).
2016-05-17 10:24:12 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this excerpt from the trinity brochure should help clear up the verse where Thomas exclaimed "my god".
No Conflict
DOES saying that Jesus Christ is “a god” conflict with the Bible’s teaching that there is only one God? No, for at times the Bible employs that term to refer to mighty creatures. Psalm 8:5 reads: “You also proceeded to make him [man] a little less than godlike ones [Hebrew, ´elo·him´],” that is, angels. In Jesus’ defense against the charge of the Jews, that he claimed to be God, he noted that “the Law uses the word gods of those to whom the word of God was addressed,” that is, human judges. (John 10:34, 35, JB; Psalm 82:1-6) Even Satan is called “the god of this system of things” at 2 Corinthians 4:4.
Jesus has a position far higher than angels, imperfect men, or Satan. Since these are referred to as “gods,” mighty ones, surely Jesus can be and is “a god.” Because of his unique position in relation to Jehovah, Jesus is a “Mighty God.”—John 1:1; Isaiah 9:6.
But does not “Mighty God” with its capital letters indicate that Jesus is in some way equal to Jehovah God? Not at all. Isaiah merely prophesied this to be one of four names that Jesus would be called, and in the English language such names are capitalized. Still, even though Jesus was called “Mighty,” there can be only one who is “Almighty.” To call Jehovah God “Almighty” would have little significance unless there existed others who were also called gods but who occupied a lesser or inferior position.
The Bulletin of the John Rylands Library in England notes that according to Catholic theologian Karl Rahner, while the·os´ is used in scriptures such as John 1:1 in reference to Christ, “in none of these instances is ‘theos’ used in such a manner as to identify Jesus with him who elsewhere in the New Testament figures as ‘ho Theos,’ that is, the Supreme God.” And the Bulletin adds: “If the New Testament writers believed it vital that the faithful should confess Jesus as ‘God’, is the almost complete absence of just this form of confession in the New Testament explicable?”
But what about the apostle Thomas’ saying, “My Lord and my God!” to Jesus at John 20:28? To Thomas, Jesus was like “a god,” especially in the miraculous circumstances that prompted his exclamation. Some scholars suggest that Thomas may simply have made an emotional exclamation of astonishment, spoken to Jesus but directed to God. In either case, Thomas did not think that Jesus was Almighty God, for he and all the other apostles knew that Jesus never claimed to be God but taught that Jehovah alone is “the only true God.”—John 17:3.
Again, the context helps us to understand this. A few days earlier the resurrected Jesus had told Mary Magdalene to tell the disciples: “I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God.” (John 20:17) Even though Jesus was already resurrected as a mighty spirit, Jehovah was still his God. And Jesus continued to refer to Him as such even in the last book of the Bible, after he was glorified.—Revelation 1:5, 6; 3:2, 12.
Just three verses after Thomas’ exclamation, at John 20:31, the Bible further clarifies the matter by stating: “These have been written down that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God,” not that he was Almighty God. And it meant “Son” in a literal way, as with a natural father and son, not as some mysterious part of a Trinity Godhead.
2007-09-05 14:47:59 · answer #3 · answered by Tim 47 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both! God the Father & God the Son. Jesus is God.
2007-09-05 07:31:28 · answer #4 · answered by Pamela V 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
The true confession is that Jesus is the Son of God.
2007-09-06 03:07:04 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
John 20:31 (The Message) "Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it."
There were other signs and proofs of our Lord's resurrection, but these were committed to writing, that all might believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the Saviour of sinners, and the Son of God; that, by this faith, they might obtain eternal life, by his mercy, truth, and power. May we believe that Jesus is the Christ, and believing may we have life through his name.
2007-09-05 07:31:00 · answer #6 · answered by bwlobo 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Jesus is both- God Eternal, self existent from the beginning and God's Son in the flesh.
2007-09-05 07:30:46 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
BOTH.
God the Father - Creator, Lord
Jesus - God incarnate, God in the Flesh
Holy Spirit - God inside of us when saved, Comforter, Friend
God is Spirit - All three of the above entities are God - Elohim which means God in Three Persons.
2007-09-05 07:32:32 · answer #8 · answered by jworks79604 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Even as in this day...those of that time were unable to fully comprehend that Jesus The Christ was both Fully God and fully man.... even the Apostles did not comprehend all of what Christ was teaching them in the three years they were with Him... It was not until The day of Pentecost following Christ's Crucifixion that The Holy Spirit came to them and indwelt them that they began to understand Jesus The Christ... and it was on that day that Christ commissioned The Church....
Jesus The Christ, when we walked this earth, was both Fully God and fully man.
2007-09-05 07:33:54 · answer #9 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
John was being more specific...that is the relationship of Jesus to the Father God
jesus is divine like his father...just as a prince is royal like the king...just as you are human, like your father......the expression "god/divine" is a more general term , and refers to the nature more than the individual.
2007-09-05 07:31:16 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋