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Who Was Jesus? Was He God?

He who does not know all things is not God

     According to the writer of the 1 John, “... God … knows all things.” (1 John 3:20 KJV) He who knows all things does not ask questions to obtain information. Jesus asked questions to obtain information: “He said, ‘Where have you laid him {Lazarus}?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ ” (John 11:34 NRSV) Jesus did not know where they laid Lazarus' lifeless body. He also asked the following questions: “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28 NIV) “Have you understood all these things?” (Matthew 13:51 NIV) “What is it you want?” (Matthew 20:21 NIV) He asked questions because he did not know: “And he {Jesus} asked them, How many loaves {of bread} have you? And they said, Seven.” (Matthew 15:34 KJV) In one instance, when two disciples followed him, Jesus wanted to know what they wanted: “...When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ ” (John 1:38 NRSV) In the following verse Jesus admitted that he did not know "that day and that hour." He said, “But of that day and that hour no man knows, no, not the angels who are in heaven, neither the Son {Jesus}, but the Father.” (Mark 13:32 KJV) Only the Father knows "that day and that hour," because only the Father is God. In the following example, Jesus did not know if the blind man "saw anything": “... when he {Jesus} had spit on his eyes, and put his hand upon him, he asked him if he saw anything.” (Mark 8:23 KJV) In another instance Jesus did not know what the teachers of the Law were arguing about: “... the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they ... ran to greet him. ‘What are you arguing with them about?’ he {Jesus} asked.” (Mark 9:14-16 NIV) Here is another instance where Jesus asked a question to obtain information: “Jesus asked the boy’s father, ‘How long has he {the boy} been like this?’ From childhood he {the father} answered.” (Mark 9:21 NIV) According to the Bible, only God knows all things. The rest ask questions to find out.

    Did Jesus pretend not to know? Did he live thirty-some years with his family, his relatives, his disciples, and fellow Jews, asking them questions, whose answers he pretended not to know? (click for more) Had Jesus known the answers to his questions and pretended not to know, he would have given a false impression of sincerity. In other words, he would have been a deceiver. Jesus, certainly, could not have pretended to God, who "knows all things," that he did not know the answer to the following question:  “{Jesus said on the cross} My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34 KJV)  He asked questions, simply, because he did not know "all things."

(This is the "tip of the iceberg";  the beginning of exploring the historical Jesus. Roll up your sleeves and let's get into the details! Cause "the Devil is in the details!")

He who is not omnipotent is not God

      According to Matthew, God is omnipotent: “... but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26 KJV) God has no limitations, but Jesus, according to the Gospel of Mark, had limited jurisdiction: “{Jesus said,} But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give.” (Mark 10:40 KJV) Jesus could not make himself inconspicuous: “He {Jesus} entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice.” (Mark 7:24 NRSV) The expressions “he ... did not want … Yet he could not” reveal that Jesus had limited power: he  wanted to make himself inconspicuous, but he could not. He was not omnipotent. Mark would not have written this verse, had he believed that Jesus was omnipotent. Likewise for the following verse: “He {Jesus} could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.” (Mark 6:5 NIV) Jesus could not always perform miracles because he used the power of God to perform them. He performed miracles, whenever the power of God was "present to him": “And the power of the Lord was present for him {for Jesus} to heal the sick.” (Luke 5:17 NIV) The phrase "the power of the Lord was present for him" means that Jesus healed people, not though his own power, by through the power of the Lord. In some instances, such as in the instance of Mark 6:5, the power of God was not available for Jesus to use. In some instances Jesus was able to read people's minds: "He {Jesus} knew what they were thinking and said to them ..." (Matthew 12:25 NRSV) Matthew believed that "the power of the Lord" enabled Jesus to read minds.

    Paul believed that God empowered Jesus. He wrote that God made Jesus who he is: “… the strength of His might which He {God} brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places ... And He {God} put all things in subjection under His {Jesus'} feet, and gave Him {made him} as head over all things …” (Ephesians 1:19-22 NRSV) God subjected all things to Jesus and made him the head over all things. God is  “the power that enables” Jesus: “He {Jesus} will transform the body of our humiliation {our humble body} that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21 NRSV) Jesus has limited abilities. But God's power enables him. (There is more to follow about Paul's view of Jesus.)

    God, being omnipotent, has unlimited will. But, according to Matthew, Jesus' will was limited. Sometime before his crucifixion, Jesus' will became weak, and reached its breaking point: “And he {Jesus} went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup {the crucifixion} pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39 KJV) The expression "if" indicates ambiguity. "If it be possible" indicates that Jesus did not know what was possible. “... but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26 KJV) Jesus was not God. Matthew 26:39 indicates that Jesus' will was subordinate to the will of God. The phrase “not as I will, but as you will” indicates that there were two wills: the will of God and the will of Jesus. Jesus' will differed from the will of God. This verse, “... nevertheless not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39 KJV) nullifies the following verse “{Jesus said:} I and my Father are one {Gr. en}.” (John 10:30 KJV) (It also nullifies the Trinitarian belief that Jesus and the Father are part of the Trinity: an eternally unchanging entity, with one will.) Where there are two wills and one will is subordinate to the other, one will is inferior. “… God's will is … pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2 NIV) Since God’s will is perfect, and Jesus' will is inferior to the will of God, then Jesus’ will is less than perfect: it is imperfect. (Perfection does not allow for variation.) Two wills indicate two minds. And God cannot be double-minded because the Bible condemns double-mindedness: “I {God} hate the double-minded ...” (Psalm 119:113 NRSV) “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8 KJV) According to Matthew, just before his crucifixion Jesus became double-minded (unstable): “… O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup {crucifixion} pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39 KJV) He asked for something, and then he changed his mind: he withdrew his request. This verse reveals the human nature of Jesus. God cannot be double-minded.

    The common Christian belief is: God is infinite, never diminishing, eternally perfect, that is, never changing. Therefore, God does not "become" anything, because "to become" signifies change. The idea that God became a man (God took on the nature of a man- God added another nature to his nature) signifies that God changed his nature. Justin Martyr, the 2^nd century Christian Church Father and leading theologian (ca. 150 CE) wrote, “ ‘But what do you call God?’ said he. ‘That which always maintains the same nature, and in the same manner, and is the cause of all other things--that, indeed, is God.’ So I answered him.’ ” Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, cha. 56. God does not change his nature or mix his nature with human nature. The nature of God is perfect and infinite. The nature of man is imperfect and finite. When perfection mixes with imperfection it becomes less; it becomes imperfect. God's nature does not mix with human nature. God does not incarnate into a man. Millions and millions of Muslims, Jews, and Jehovah’s Witnesses understand this concept; for this reason (and for more reasons) they do not believe that Jesus is God.

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