Jesus, The Son of God (Part Three)

JESUS BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN

When Jesus was brought before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, he was asked many different questions. The purpose of these questions was not to seek the truth, but to have something whereby they might use against him. After several attempts to find useful false witnesses, and failing, the high priest went right to the core of the issue and asked Jesus a very direct question. Caiaphas asked Jesus, "Are you the Christ, the Son of God?" Jesus answered in the affirmative (Mk. 14:61-62, “I am”).

But notice the question, how Caiaphas equated being the Christ (the Messiah) with also being the Son of God. Caiaphas knew that the Messiah, the promised King from the line of David, was also known as the Son of God. Hence the terms, Messiah and Son of God are equals, pointing to the same idea, that of the Eternal King Messiah, of the Seed of David, who would rule forever over Israel. However, Caiaphas was not interested in the truth of Jesus' claim, but only to have an accusation to be able to use against him, in order to put him to death. But what is of interest to us, is the idea of Caiaphas equating the term Messiah (Christ) with also being the Son of God. Claiming the title, Son of God, would naturally mean you claimed God as your father. This issue came up earlier.

As recorded in John 5:18, we read,

Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

To claim God as your Father, is to claim to be the Son of God. Apparently in the Hebraic understanding of the Pharisees, it also meant you claimed to be equal with God, i.e., you were God in flesh.

In the verse above, where it is stated that Jesus claimed that God was “his Father,” the Greek pronoun here, for his, is not the typical possessive pronoun.

It is the Greek pronoun, idios, which means, one’s own private, unique, individual possession. So what the Pharisees were up in arms about, was that Jesus was claiming that God was His Father, in a private, unique way that no one else enjoined.

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS: HIS CORONATION AS SON OF GOD

Paul declares in Rom. 1:3-4,

Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

Here, Paul blends both the Son of David and Son of God into the One Person of Jesus. He points out that Jesus was born of the Seed of David, according to the flesh. However, He is DECLARED THE SON OF GOD, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. He was born of David, according to promise, and declared (proclaimed) the Son of God, out of the resurrection from the dead. The resurrection from the dead is the validating proclamation that He is indeed the fulfillment of the promise of an Eternal Seed to sit upon the throne of David.

The resurrection declared him to be what he already, in truth, was. Through the resurrection, He is declared the Son of God, i.e., He is declared God’s Unique Son and the rightful Heir of the Davidic Promises, and the true ruler of Israel, from the promised Davidic Seed.

In Acts, chapter 13, Paul preaches in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia, and says,

And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that, he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is written in the second psalm,"Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee". And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise,"I will give you the sure mercies of David". Wherefore, he saith also in another psalm, “Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”

Paul links the fulfillment of this second Psalm with the raising of Jesus from the dead . The 'this day I have begotten thee,’ according to Paul, is the resurrection of Jesus. The phrase, the sure mercies of David, points to the fulfillment of the promise of God, concerning the continuation of the Davidic Kingdom. At the baptism of Jesus, we see God proclaiming Jesus the true King of Israel, in saying,

'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'

It must be noticed also, that God expressed His pleasure with His Son, before Jesus had embarked upon His public ministry. This pleasure is stated before Jesus had done anything. Therefore, God expressed His pleasure and approval of Jesus, not based upon anything He had done to that point, but strictly based upon Who He is, God’s only, Unique Son, who was in His own bosom. [Jn. 1:18]

We see the acknowledgement of Jesus as the King of Israel, when He entered Jerusalem on the foal of an ass, and the crowd proclaimed, 'Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.' Then the leaders of Israel, rejected Him as the true King of Israel. It seems that Pilate wanted to rub their treachery in their face by nailing a placard to His cross, which read, This is Jesus, The King of the Jews. This made the statement that the Jews were so rebellious that they even crucified their own king. They wanted Pilate to change the placard to read, that Jesus claimed to be king, but Pilate refused, saying, “What I have written I have written.”

The resurrection is the actual coronation of the Eternal King of Israel, the Son of David, the Son of God. It is in this sense, the title "Son of God,” points to the validation of God's acceptance of Jesus as the True Davidic King, which God had promised would rule FOREVER.

The resurrection is God's validation of Jesus as the eternal Davidic King, to rule over Israel forever. This is the true meaning of the title, Son of God. It refers to Jesus as the Fulfillment of God's promise to David, an Eternal King of Israel.

And that this Son, the eternal Davidic King, is also seen as being divine, is testified to by Philo, a First Century Jewish philosopher who wrote in Greek. He says,

For those who cannot look upon the Son Himself, behold Him in His reflected light, even thus do they regard the image of G-d, Who is His Angel, the Word [Logos], as G-d Himself. -(De Plant Noe) Philo Judaeus

You can see the reflected light, or image of the Son, which is regarded as the Image of God, which is God's Angel (messenger). This Image of God is the Word and is viewed as God Himself. The Word of God, which is the Image of God, is also considered the Son of God. This is the Hebraic viewpoint from the first century AD. This is also exactly what Jesus’ apostles taught. John states that the Word of God was always being God. This Word became flesh and was called Jesus (Yeshua). Paul then refers to Jesus the Christ as the Image of God (2 Cor. 4:4 ; Col. 1:15) and the writer of Hebrews says that the SON is the express image of His person (Heb. 1:3).

It should also be noted, that whenever the NT writers refer to Christ, they are pointing to the historical Jesus, who is the Messiah/Christ.[Mt. 1:16] Contrary to what many new agers and cultists teach, Christ is not a spirit separate from the historical Jesus. As we saw earlier, Jesus was born Savior, and this Savior, this Jesus, is Christ the Lord, or Meschiah Adonai [Lk. 2:11]. I have seen many under the sway of new age or cultic doctrine, primarily only use the name of Christ.

This is done to deceive their listeners. They are actually speaking of some undefined “Christ spirit.” When the NT writers speak of Christ, it is always referring to Jesus the Christ.

To conclude this portion, this is what we have. God had made promise to David, that One of his seed, would inherit and sit on his throne, ruling Israel Forever. This Promised Seed would be a Son to God, i.e., He would hold a unique relationship to God Himself. Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 speak prophetically of this future King as God's Son. In Ps. 110, this King is acknowledged by David as LORD (YHVH), signifying that David recognized that His Seed would be none other than the LORD GOD HIMSELF, in the form of the Messiah King. The rulers of Israel knew that the King Messiah would be this Son of David, Son of God. Paul teaches us that the resurrection of Jesus is the fulfillment and validation of God’s promise to David of an Eternal King, sitting on the throne of David, ruling and judging Israel forever.

Jesus, born of the seed of David, and raised from the dead by His Father, is Proclaimed (declared, crowned) the Son of God, Israel's Eternal, Reigning King Messiah.

Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Son of God, is also, the anointed Saviour of poor sinners, is emphatically styled the “great God,” Titus 2:13; the “mighty God,” Isaiah 9:6; the “only wise God,” Jude 25; the “true God,” 1 John 5:20; and the “only Lord God,” Jude 4. (OCTAVIUS WINSLOW)