Defense of Jesus' Divinity
Scripture provides us with two descriptions of Jesus each showing either his divine nature or his human nature. Some groups, wishing to demonstrate that Jesus was merely a man, focus exclusively on texts that emphasize Christ’s humanity. Such a focus is only half the story. Jesus is also divine or as the Council of Nicene said, "one in substance with the Father."
(The hyper-linked references will open an online NASB to the chapter cited).
- Scripture
Old Testament Prophesy
Isaiah 9:6-7– "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of {His} government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."
Baruch 3:36– "This is our God, and there shall no other be accounted of in comparison of him. He found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to
New Testament
John 1:1– "… and the Word was God."
Revelation 1:17 and Revelation 22:13 - Alpha and Omega (First and Last) (Compare Isaiah 44:6).
Philippians 2:10 – "so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Compare Isaiah 45:23).
Philippians 2:6-7 "…who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men."
Colossians 1:15– "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation."
Colossians 2:9– "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form…"
Titus 2:13– "…looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus…"
1 John 5:20– "And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life."
John 8:58-59 (Compare Exodus 3:14) – "Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple."
John 10:30- Jesus says, "I and the Father are one."
John 10:38; 14:10- "the Father is in me and I am in the Father"
John 12:45- Jesus says, "He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me."
Minor Texts:
Compare 1 Cor. 15:28 and Colossians 3:11
Titus 1-3 - Interchanges "God our savior" and "Jesus Christ our savior"
Matthew 5 – Jesus changes the Law, which is something only God can do.
Luke 8:39- Luke reports that Jesus said "tell how much God has done for you." And the man declared how much Jesus did
Hebrews 1:6– "Let all the angels worship Him"
- Tradition / History
"We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin." (Ignatius of Antioch, To the Ephesians, 7 written ca AD. 110).
"For if you had understood what has been written by the prophets, you would not have denied that He was God, Son of the only, unbegotten, unutterable God."(Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 121 written in AD 155).
"God was in the beginning; but the beginning, we have been taught, is the power of the Logos. For the Lord of the universe, who is Himself the necessary ground of all being, inasmuch as no creature was yet in existence, was alone; but inasmuch as He was all power, Himself the necessary ground of things visible and invisible, with Him were all things; with Him, by Logos-power, the Logos Himself also, who was in Him, subsists. And by His simple will the Logos springs forth; and the Logos, not coming forth in vain, becomes the first-begotten work of the Father. Him (the Logos) we know to be the beginning of the world. But He came into being by participation, not by abscission; for what is cut off is separated from the original substance, but that which comes by participation, making its choice of function, does not render him deficient from whom it is taken. For just as from one torch many fires are lighted, but the light of the first torch is not lessened by the kindling of many torches, so the Logos, coming forth from the Logos-power of the Father, has not divested of the Logos-power Him who begat Him." (Tatian, Oration Against the Greeks, 5 wrottem ca.. AD 175).
"We do not act as fools, O Greeks, nor utter idle tales, when we announce that God was born in the form of a man." (Tatian, Oration Against the Greeks, 21 written ca. AD 175).
"But the Son of God is the Logos of the Father, in idea and in operation; for after the pattern of Him and by Him were all things made, the Father and the Son being one. And, the Son being in the Father and the Father in the Son, in oneness and power of spirit, the understanding and reason of the Father is the Son of God. But if, in your surpassing intelligence, it occurs to you to inquire what is meant by the Son, I will state briefly that He is the first product of the Father, not as having been brought into existence (for from the beginning, God, who is the eternal mind, had the Logos in Himself, being from eternity instinct with Logos." (Athenagoras, Plea for Christians, 10 written in AD 177).
"We have already asserted that God made the world, and all which it contains, by His Word, and Reason, and Power. It is abundantly plain that your philosophers, too, regard the Logos--that is, the Word and Reason--as the Creator of the universe...And we, in like manner, hold that the Word, and Reason, and Power, by which we have said God made all, have spirit as their proper and essential substratum, in which the Word has inbeing to give forth utterances, and reason abides to dispose and arrange, and power is over all to execute. We have been taught that He proceeds forth from God, and in that procession He is generated; so that He is the Son of God, and is called God from unity of substance with God. For God, too, is a Spirit. Even when the ray is shot from the sun, it is still part of the parent mass; the sun will still be in the ray, because it is a ray of the sun--there is no division of substance, but merely an extension. Thus Christ is Spirit of Spirit, and God of God, as light of light is kindled. The material matrix remains entire and unimpaired, though you derive from it any number of shoots possessed of its qualities; so, too, that which has come forth out of God is at once God and the Son of God, and the two are one. In this way also, as He is Spirit of Spirit and God of God, He is made a second in manner of existence--in position, not in nature; and He did not withdraw from the original source, but went forth. This ray of God, then, as it was always foretold in ancient times, descending into a certain virgin, and made flesh in her womb, is in His birth God and man united." (Tertullian, Apology, 21 written in AD 197).
"And thus there appeared another beside Himself. But when I say another, I do not mean that there are two Gods, but that it is only as light of light, or as water from a fountain, or as a ray from the sun. For there is but one power, which is from the All; and the Father is the All, from whom cometh this Power, the Word. And this is the mind which came forth into the world, and was manifested as the Son of God." (Hippolytus, Against Noetus, 11 written from AD 210).
"Secondly, That Jesus Christ Himself, who came (into the world), was born of the Father before all creatures; that, after He had been the servant of the Father in the creation of all things--'For by Him were all things made'--He in the last times, divesting Himself (of His glory), became a man, and was incarnate although God, and while made a man remained the God which He was; that He assumed a body like to our own, differing in this respect only, that it was born of a virgin and of the Holy Spirit: that this Jesus Christ was truly born, and did truly suffer, and did not endure this death common (to man) in appearance only, but did truly die; that He did truly rise from the dead; and that after His resurrection He conversed with His disciples, and was taken up into heaven." (Origen, First Principles, Preface 4 written AD 230
Summary
Who is Jesus? Jesus is a divine person. He is the Second Person of the Trinity, the Logos (Word). What is Jesus? Jesus has a completely human nature (one in substance with us) and completely divine nature (one in substance with the Father) (For a great exposition read CCC 456-483). Christ’s divinity can be seen in prophecy. The Old Testament prophesied that God would be seen on earth and converse with men and that Immanuel would be "Mighty God." Christ claimed for himself divinity when he referred to himself with the Divine name (I AM) and made himself equal with the Father. It’s clear that this is the meaning of Christ’s words since he was threatened with being stoned for making himself equal to God. Christ also performed actions that is proper for God alone. Finally, history or Tradition bares this fact out. From the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament, Christians affirmed that Christ is God and they were willing to die for this belief.