Jesus Christ is God

                Last month, I saw a non-Catholic program on TV that used the Bible in proving that Christ is not God. And tragically, there were even ex-Catholics that were giving their testimonies. It is true that there are many verses in Scriptures that tell of the humanity of Jesus but this does not mean that he is mere human. There are so many verses that tell of his divinity and today’s Gospel is a good example:

(Luke 9:20) Peter said in reply, “The Messiah of God.”

Some other passages include (Matthew 16:13-20, 2:11, 25:31-46, 28:9, 12:38-40) “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said…“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” (Acts 7:55-56, 1:3-6, 13:33, 26:23) “…filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up…to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened…the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

(Hebrews 1:5-12, 5:5) “You are my son; this day I have begotten you.”…“I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.”…“Let all the angels of God worship him.”… “He makes his angels winds and his ministers a fiery flame.”…“Your throne, O God, stands forever and ever; and a righteous sceptre is the sceptre of your kingdom.”

In other verses it is Jesus himself who admits that he is God: (Mark 14:61-62, 2:3-12, 8:34-38) “…the high priest asked, “Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed One?” Then Jesus answered, “I am; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.’” (Revelation 22:12-13, 1:17-18, 2:8, 1:7-8, 21:5-7) “Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

The apostles recognized his divinity and worshipped him: (Luke 24:50-53, 24:36-43) “Then he led them [out] as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They worshipped him and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy…” (John 20:26-29, 1:1-5, 5:18, 9:38, 10:33, 17:5, 21:1-14) ““Peace be with you…do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “…Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

It is a mystery why God chose to be man but these passages will give us some enlightenment: (John 3:16-18) “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life…whoever does not believe has already been condemned.”

(Philippians 2:5-8) “…Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped…he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness…found human in appearance, he humbled himself… (Colossians 1:15-20 & 2 Corinthians 4:4, 8:9) “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible…all things were created through him and for him…”

Nothing is impossible with God; he can take any form that He wants: 1.An Object – Fire (Exodus 3:1-6) “...the bush was on fire, it was not being consumed…God called out to him from the bush: Moses!” (Exodus 19:18 & Acts 2:3); 2.An Animal – Dove (Luke 3:21-22) “…heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.” (Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10 & John 1:32); and 3.A Human – Jesus (Genesis 1:26-27) “Then God said: let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness…male and female he created them.” (Matthew 1:23 - Emmanuel!)

One of the reasons why Jesus was rejected and crucified is because he claimed to be God. And if we are not going to recognize that Christ is God, then, we are no different from the people who had him killed. Jesus Christ is God. The Bible says it, God the Father announced it and the apostles recognized it. Then who are we not to accept it?

(Luke 9:22) “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected...”

(John 5:1-18) “the Jews tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.” (John 10:22-42) “The Jews answered him. We are not stoning you for good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.” (Mark 14:61 & Luke 22:67) and (John 19:1-16) “The Jews answered, ‘We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God’.” (Matthew 4:3, 16:16, 26:63)