The Deity of Christ Seen through the Lens of His Worshippers, Part 1

September, 2004

by: Brodie McClain

In defending the doctrine of the Deity of Christ it is the common practice of theologians to immediately quote familiar passages such as Philippians 2:6-11, Colossians 1:15-20, Hebrews 1:1-4, and John 1:1-18. After affirming these clear claims of the Godhood of Christ one might also turn to Jesus' own claims about Himself as seen in the Gospels. After all He claimed (1) to be judge of the world — Matt. 25:31- 46, (2) to forgive sins — Mark 2:5, (3) to have authority over the Sabbath — Mark 2:27-28, (4) to be preexistent — Jn 8:58, (5) to give rest to souls — Matt 11:29, (6) to be the bread of life — John 6:35, and (7) to be worthy of complete and total allegiance — Mark 8:34ff. If these claims are true, who else could fulfill them but God alone? Indeed it becomes obvious that Jesus Christ, the carpenter from Nazareth, claimed to be very God. In order to believe the deity of Christ the reader must simply take Christ at his Word and the Bible as inerrant. However, in order to further the case for Christ as God, it is both enlightening and motivating to look not only at the claims of Christ and the Bible passages which support these claims, but also at the responses of the people who were immediately related to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In our current era and culture the thought of attributing worship to some person or idol or force is fairly commonplace. Furthermore, in our present historical setting which occurs after some 2000 years of familiarity with the legend of Jesus Christ, it is difficult to catch the significance of a carpenter from Nazareth gaining the status of God, and worshiped in turn as such. Even more shocking is the exaltation of this man, Jesus, amidst a Jewish culture. Remember that the Jews around the time of Christ lived and died by their monotheistic belief. There was one God, and any pretenders could face the death penalty. It was a fundamental truth of the Old Testament Scriptures that God, and God alone, was to be worshiped (Deut. 6:4-13) and if there were one unique Jewish pillar in a polytheistic Roman culture, it was a solid monotheistic focus on One God. It is in this setting that Jesus shocked the crowds with His statement, “…so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (John 5:23).

The 21st Century Christian fails to understand the true magnitude of that statement, but even more magnanimous is that not only did Jesus echo that very claim and others, but Jews and Gentiles answered the claim by worshipping this carpenter from Nazareth. If we as 21st Century believers could somehow put aside 2000 years of religion and place ourselves back on the dirt roads surrounding Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee we would be stunned to watch men and women from all trades and walks of life falling to the ground before this carpenter, Jesus. As we witness these first century worshipers in the months to come may our hearts be renewed afresh in the wondrous doctrine of the Deity of Christ…