After going through the Gospels and collecting the statements around the identity of our Lord Jesus, the numbers do not lie when we apply the statistics as shown in the charts I had recently posted. The chart is useful for a quick glance at mapping the statements about the identity of the Lord Jesus Christ. What can any ordinary Bible reader conclude? 1. Regarding the statements made by our Lord Jesus himself about himself, the scenes in the Bible where he said I am he and the titles he used to refer to himself, can be narrowed down on three - Son of God, Son of man, and Christ/Messiah. All three titles are inter-related around the promise that Jehovah, the God of Israel, the Father of our Lord, made to King David. This was recorded in the Psalms 2:7 Let me proclaim the decree of Jehovah; He said to me: “You are my son; today I have become your father. Yes, the kings who sit on the throne of Judah is considered a son of God in a special sense. The king is also Gods anointed one or in Hebrew Messiah and in Greek Christ. There is also a prophecy after the line of kings from David were cut off after the fall of Jerusalem in 607 BC by the Babylonians, that the kingship in Davids dynasty will return. The prophet Daniel made this prophecy in his book, Daniel 7:: 13 I kept watching in the visions of the night, and look! with the clouds of the heavens, someone like a son of man was coming; and he gained access to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him up close before that One. And to him there were given rulership, honor, and a kingdom. This is where our Lord Jesus got the title Son of man. In fact, the four gospels recorded 9x, the most number of titles that the Lord Jesus applied to himself. The Son of God came in second at 2x, and Christ/Messiah as 1x. 2. His disciples recognized him more as the Son of God in terms of confessions, total of 7x from the record, followed by Christ/Messiah 3x and Prophet 2x. The last title Prophet is pronounced from the perspective of the public, or crowds totaling 4x across the gospels. This title is a reference to a prophecy of Moses about a future prophet like him recorded in Deuteronomy 18:15 Jehovah your God will raise up for you from among your brothers a prophet like me. You must listen to him. The crowds are also aware of the prophecy around kingship which is the idea behind the titles - Son of David, Christ/Messiah, and King of Israel. None from the disciples or crowds confused Jesus with Jehovah God himself. 3. The angels and demons are an interesting comparison. The Gospels reveal that the demons are aware, of course, of who Jesus is. The demons confess that Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ. The angels contribution is their announcement of the birth of Jesus, the Son of God and the future King of Israel. 4. His enemies compelled Jesus to confess who he is before the trial of the Sanhedrin. Their questions revolved around his being Son of God and the Christ. Jesus not only confessed that he is the Son of God and the Christ. He also confessed to them that he is the Son of man that will fulfill the prophecy from Daniel. The enemies are the one imputing that Jesus is making himself equal to God. No one else did. Not because they are wiser than anyone else but because it will allow them to accuse Jesus of blasphemy with the penalty of death. But as noted on the statistics of the chart, Jesus has confessed directly only to three titles - Son of God, Son of man, and Christ. All titles revolved around the prophecy of kingship.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 05:09:55 +0000
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