 | Rev. Patrick Notley is the Associate Pastor of First Presbyterian Church located at 525 N. Broadway in downtown Wichita. Reverend Notley received an MA in Divinity at San Francisco Theological Seminary and a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, VA. Born in Denver, CO and raised on the East Coast, Reverend Notley along with his wife, relocated to Wichita in 1997 to join the church, where he is responsible for Evangelism Educational programs. You can reach Reverend Notley at (316) 263-0248 ext. 22 or by email at pwnotley@firstpresbywichita.org |
Religion
2004-01-01 13:00:00
Where in the Bible does Jesus say He is God?
ANSWER: The Gospel of John is one of my most favored books of the Bible. I enjoy both the way in which it was written and the theology that is shared. To me it is this Gospel that comes the closest to having Jesus actually say that He is God. John begins the Gospel with the theological statement of who Jesus is instead of a narrative about His birth. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and without Him not one thing came into being." (John 1:1-4) While these are not words claimed to come from Jesus, they are, never the less, the foundation for John's understanding of who he is writing about. Later on in the Gospel, Jesus speaks, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life." (John 8:12) It is interesting to note that the Pharisees immediately challenged Him stating that any statements He would make about Himself were suspect and not to be believed. Therefore the issue, for me is not what Jesus said or did not say about Himself, rather it is about what others believe and understand about Jesus. Through the eyes of the Gospel writers, the Apostle Paul, and the writers of the Epistles we can gain a clear understanding of the one called Messiah who was God incarnate in human flesh. The question Jesus asked of his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" is far more important for each of us to answer than the question of what did Jesus say about Himself. So why doesn't the Old Testament mention Jesus? I believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God. This does not mean that God wrote every word. Human beings attempting to tell the story of God's interaction with humanity wrote the various books of the Bible. Those writers of the Old Testament, being human, could only write about what they knew. There are many allusions in the Old Testament to one who would come as Messiah. But, given the limited ability of the human person to know future events it is no surprise that Jesus is not mentioned by name in books that were written hundreds of years before His birth.
