14/8/2015 Jesus Is God | Catholic Answers

    
My Accounts

Browse Blog Library Video Radio Speakers Forums Shop Donate About

Catholic Answers Magazine

Jesus Is God
By: Tim Staples

Like 509 people like this. Be the first of your friends.

The divinity of Christ is an essential teaching of

the Catholic faith. Indeed, any community of faith
that would deny Christ’s deity ceases to be
Christian at all. Yet, not a few quasi­Christian
sects do just that—vehemently reject this central
teaching. So how can Catholics present a cogent
defense steeped in Scripture and faithful to
magisterial teaching?

Greater Than and Equal To

In John 14:28, Jesus says, "The Father is greater

than I." For many, this statement seems obvious:
Jesus is not God. But is this really what our Lord
was saying?

In Catholic theology, this text can be understood

in two ways. First, being "greater" than another
does not have to mean one is essentially different
from the other, as when we say a man is
essentially distinct from an animal. Greatness can
refer to one person functioning in a greater way
quantitatively, qualitatively, or even relationally in
comparison to another without there being an
essential distinction. For example, Matthew 11:11
tells us there has never "risen among [men] a
greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is least
in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
John is not something other than human because
he is said to be greater than certain other people.
All human beings share the same nature;
therefore, they are absolutely equal in dignity.

Similarly, the Father can be said to be greater

than the Son pertaining to their relation within the
inner life of God, but not with respect to their
shared nature as being fully and equally God. The
Father alone is the first principle of life in the
http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/jesus­is­god 1/7
14/8/2015 Jesus Is God | Catholic Answers

Father alone is the first principle of life in the

Godhead; thus, the Catechism of the Catholic
Church can say, in paragraph 246: "Everything
that belongs to the Father, except being Father,
the Son has also eternally from the Father, from
whom he is eternally born . . ." (emphasis added).
In this sense, the Father can be said to be greater
than the Son relationally, while they are
absolutely equal with regard to their essence as
God.

Another—and perhaps simpler—way one can

legitimately interpret this text is to point out that
John 14:28 seems to be emphasizing the
humanity of Christ. Thus, because Jesus is fully
man, it would be appropriate to say the Father
would be greater than the Son. The entire verse
reads: "You heard me say to you, ‘I go away, and
I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would
have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the
Father is greater than I."

Jesus was emphasizing here and in previous

verses his impending death, resurrection, and
departure from the apostles. This would apply to
his humanity most particularly. Thus, the same
Jesus who can say, "I and the Father are one" in
John 10:30—as God—can say, "The Father is
greater than I" in John 14:28—as man.

Was Jesus Created?

Revelation 3:14 declares: "And to the angel of the

church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen,
the faithful and true witness, the beginning of
God’s creation.’" Using these words, Jehovah’s
Witnesses claim Jesus to be the first creation of
Almighty God and therefore, not God. The only
problem here is the actual text. The word
translated "beginning" (Gk. arche) here actually
means "source." In other words, it means
"beginning" as in the first cause, not in the sense
of being the "first effect." Arche is used as such
elsewhere in the book of Revelation. In chapter
21, verse 6, Almighty God says: "I am the Alpha
and the Omega, the beginning and the end . . ."
Do we want to say God was created because
arche is used to describe him? By no means!
Understood properly, Revelation 3:14 reveals
Jesus to be the source of God’s creation—God
himself. This fits perfectly with John’s
christological declaration in John 1:1­3: the Word
created "all things . . . and without him was made
nothing that was made." If the Word was created,
http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/jesus­is­god 2/7
14/8/2015 Jesus Is God | Catholic Answers

nothing that was made." If the Word was created,

he would have had to create himself, which is
absurd.

Colossians 1:15­17 reveals Jesus as the "first­

born of every creature. For in him were all things
created . . . he is before all and by him all things
consist." Many make the mistake of concluding
Jesus was created because he is called "first­born
of every creature." One obvious problem here is
born and created have very different definitions.
Even when considering natural childbirth, we
know a child does not come into being when he is
born, but nine months earlier. Neither would
Christ have "come into being" when he was
begotten of the Father. Indeed, when Jesus is
called first­born in Colossians, he is referred to as
such before creation and time even existed. He
was begotten from all eternity. As such, he would
have never "come into being." Thus, we say in the
Creed, Jesus was "begotten, not made, one in
being with the Father." A second, related problem
arises when one considers the title first­born.
Even in its Old Testament usage, this title was not
restricted to a sense of time. The emphasis was
on a place of pre­eminence given by a father to
his son. Isaac, Jacob, and Ephraim received the
blessing of the first­born though they were not
first­born in time.

But perhaps most important of all is the fact that

the text simply does not say Jesus was created. If
St. Paul were teaching Christ to have been
created, he would have then had to refer to Christ

as creator of all other things in verse 16, but he

did not. (Jehovah’s Witnesses did add the word
"other" here in Colossians 1:16 in their New World
Translation—to make the text fit their doctrine.)
Paul calls Jesus Creator of all things. Jesus is God.

A Positive Outlook

Some biblical texts positively demonstrate Christ’s

divinity. John 1:1­3, mentioned above, first comes
to mind: "In the beginning was the Word, the
Word was with God, and the Word was God . . .
All things were made by him: and without him
was made nothing that was made."

Jesus (the Word before his Incarnation) is

revealed to be "God" and the Creator of all things
that were created. Genesis 1:1 tells us, "In the
beginning God created . . ." The conclusion is
http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/jesus­is­god 3/7
14/8/2015 Jesus Is God | Catholic Answers
beginning God created . . ." The conclusion is
inescapable: Jesus is God!

Jehovah’s Witnesses respond by claiming the

Greek text actually says ". . . the Word was a
god." They maintain Jesus is here revealed to be
a god, not the God because the definite article
(Gk. Ho, the) is not used before god (Gk. theos),
when referring to Jesus. This line of reasoning has
three main problems:

1. The predicate nominative in Greek normally

does not take the definite article. In this
verse, then, the lack of the definite article is
grammatically consistent. According to the
Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament, we see another example of this
convention in John 8:54, where the
predicate nominative is "Father"—again
without the definite article preceding
(3:105).
2. The JW’s are inconsistent. They translate
the word theos as "Jehovah," or the God
numerous times in their New World
Translation of the Bible when it does not
have the article preceding it (see NWT:
Matt. 5:9, 6:24; Luke 1:35, 2:40; John
1:6,12,13,18; Rom. 1:7,17,18; and Titus
1:1, just to name a few).
3. Jesus is referred to as theos with the
definite article multiple times elsewhere in
Scripture. For example: "But of the Son he
says, ‘Thy throne, O God (ho theos, the
definite article plus theos), is for ever and
ever, the righteous scepter is the scepter of
thy kingdom’" (Heb. 1:8). Jesus is not a god
here. He is the God: "Awaiting our blessed
hope, the appearing of the glory of our
great God and Savior Jesus Christ " (Titus
2:13, emphasis added—definite article
appears in apposition to "great God"). Not
only do we see the definite article before
theos, but we see the article plus the
adjective great. Jesus is not only the God,
he is the great God and our Savior. The
Bible is very clear that only Yahweh is both
the great God and our Savior. (See Isaiah
41:4, 43:3,11, 44:6,8, 45:21; Hos. 13:4;
and Luke 1:47.) Consider too: Thomas
answered, and said to [Jesus]: "My Lord
and My God" (John 20:28). The Greek text
reads "the Lord of me and the God of me."
The definite article before Lord and God
leaves no doubt that Thomas—directly
http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/jesus­is­god 4/7
14/8/2015 Jesus Is God | Catholic Answers

leaves no doubt that Thomas—directly

addressing our Lord—calls Jesus both the
Lord and the God.

What Only God Can Do

"And the Lord God (Gk. ho kurios ho theos, the

Lord the God) of the spirits of the prophets sent
his angel to show his servants the things which
must be done shortly" (Rev. 22:6). Who is the
Lord God who sent "his angel" in this verse? Some
attempt to say this text is referring to the Father
rather than Jesus. However, Revelation 22:16,
just 10 verses later, reveals to us who "the Lord
God" is who has "sent his angel:" " I Jesus have
sent my angel, to testify to you these things in
the churches." Jesus is clearly "the Lord God of
the spirits of the prophets!"

In Luke 12:8­9, angels are called "angels of God";

in Matthew 13:41, angels are called "[Jesus’]
angels." Jesus and God are synonymous. Jesus

does what only God can do. He forgives sins by

his own authority (see Is. 43:25; Mark 2:5­9). He
judges the world in Matthew 25:31­46. This is
God’s prerogative according to Genesis 18:25 and
Joel 3:12.

Jesus refers to himself with the divine name—I

am —in several places. This "I am" formula is a
reference back to the Divine Name revealed to
Moses in Ex. 3:14. Not only does Jesus refer to
himself as "I am" four times in John’s Gospel (see
John 8:24; 58; 13:19 and 18:5­6), but when he
does so in John 8:58, the Jews to whom he was
speaking understood his meaning because they
immediately wanted to stone him for blasphemy!

Jesus places his word on the same level as the

word of God—the Old Testament. "You have heard
it said . . . but I say to you . . ." (see Matt. 5:21­
28). This is in sharp contrast to the prophets of
old who always made clear the word they were
speaking was not their own: "The word of the
Lord came unto me, saying . . . " (cf. Jer. 1:11;
Ezek. 1:3, etc.). Only God possesses this kind of
authority.

Jesus is referred to as "equal" with God by both

John and Paul. In John 5:18, the author
comments on why the Jews wanted to kill Jesus:
"Because he called God his Father, making himself
equal with God." Paul refers to Jesus when he was
http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/jesus­is­god 5/7
14/8/2015 Jesus Is God | Catholic Answers
equal with God." Paul refers to Jesus when he was
"in the form (Gk. morphe; in Greek usage this
word means the set of characteristics that makes
a thing what it is) of God" thinking "his equality
with God" not something to be g.asped onto, but
emptying himself and becoming man (cf. Phil.
2:6­10). Paul assumes his readers already knew
Jesus to be equal with God, the Father.

Jesus is referred to in the New Testament with the

title Lord as it is uniquely applied to Yahweh in the
Old Testament. Jesus calls himself "the Lord of
the Sabbath" in Mark 2:28. The Sabbath is
referred to as the "Sabbath of Yahweh" in the Old
Testament (cf. Ex. 20:10; see also Is. 8:13,
referred to in 1 Peter 3:15; and Joel 2:31­32,

quoted both in Acts 2:20­21 and in Rom. 10:13).

The First and Last Point

The final proof of Jesus’ divinity we will consider

can be found in the last two chapters of the book
of Revelation. According to Revelation 21:6­7,
Almighty God reveals himself to us in plain terms:
"And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha
and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To
the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the
water of life without payment. He who conquers
shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and
he shall be my son.’"

But then, in Revelation 22:6, 13, 16, we find

Jesus revealing himself to be "the Alpha and the
Omega . . . the beginning and the end":

And he said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true.

And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent
his angel to show his servants what must soon take place . . . I
am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the
beginning and the end . . . I Jesus have sent my angel to you
with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the
offspring of David, the bright morning star."

Jesus is God.

Tim Staples is Director of Apologetics

and Evangelization here at Catholic
Answers, but he was not always
Catholic. Tim was raised a Southern
Baptist. Although he fell away from the
http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/jesus­is­god 6/7
14/8/2015 Jesus Is God | Catholic Answers
Baptist. Although he fell away from the
faith of his childhood, Tim came back to
faith in Christ during his late teen years through
the witness of...

more...

This article appeared in Volume 19 Number 9.

http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/jesus­is­god 7/7