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‘Jehovah or Yahweh (YHWH) is the special name given by God for Himself in the Old Testament. It is the name revealed to Moses in Exodus (chapter)3:(verse)14 when God said, “I AM WHO I AM”. While other titles of God may be used of men (Adonai [Lord] in Genesis 18:12) or false gods (elohim [gods] in Deuteronomy 6:14), Jehovah* is only used to refer to the one true God. No other person or thing was to be worshipped or served as seen with “You shall not make for yourself a carved image … you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” (Exodus 20:4-5) and His Name and His glory were not to be given to another. Isaiah wrote, “Thus says the LORD (Jehovah), … ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.’” (Isaiah 44:6) and “I am the LORD (Jehovah), that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.” (Isaiah 42:8).
Deuteronomy 6:4 says “Hear, O Israel: The LORD (Jehovah) our God, the LORD (Jehovah) is one!” We Christians believe that and it is confirmed in John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
It is noticeable that Jesus is never called the “child of God” but only the “Son of God”. In the Bible the usage of the term “child” has to do with generation and “son” has to do with character.
1. Jesus claimed to be God, or Jehovah, on many occasions.
1.1 “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (John 17:5). But the God of the Old Testament says, “And My
glory I will not give to another.” (Isaiah 42:8).
1.2 Jesus also declares, “I am the First and the Last.” (Revelation 1:17). These are precisely the words that God uses about Himself in Isaiah 44:6. There cannot be two firsts and
two lasts.
1.3 Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11) and the Old Testament says, “The LORD (Jehovah) is my shepherd.” (Psalm 23:1).
1.4 Additionally Jesus claims to be the judge of all men “and (the Father v26) has given Him (the Son v26) authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man” (John
5:27 and following verses). “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be
gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:31-32). The Psalmist said, “He (the Lord (Jehovah)
v7) shall judge the world in righteousness” (Psalm 9:8) and Joel quotes God, “… For there I (the Lord (Jehovah) v11) will sit to judge all the surrounding nations” (Joel 3:12).
1.5 Likewise Jesus spoke of Himself as the “bridegroom” (Matthew 25:1, 13 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the
bridegroom. … ‘Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.’”) while the Old Testament identifies God in this way (“And as the
bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So shall your God rejoice over you.” (Isaiah 62:5) “And it shall be, in that day,” Says the LORD, “That you will call Me ‘My Husband’” (Hosea
2:16).
1.6 While Psalm 27:1 declares “The Lord (Jehovah) is my light”, Jesus says “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12).
1.7 Perhaps the strongest claim that Jesus made to be God is in John 8:58 where He says “Before Abraham was, I AM.” This statement claims not only existence before Abraham, but
equality with the “I AM” of Exodus 3:14 (“And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’”.) The crowd around Him clearly understood the meaning and picked up stones to kill Him for
blaspheming (comp John 8:59 “Then they took up stones to throw at Him…”; and 10:31 “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him”. See also v32-33).
1.8 The same claim is made at, “Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, ‘Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ Jesus said, ‘I am. And you will see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘What further need do we have of witnesses? You
have heard the blasphemy!’” (Mark 14:61-64). Likewise “They answered Him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I am [He].’ And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with
them. Now when. He said to them, ‘I am [He],’ they drew back and fell to the ground.” (John 18:5-6).
1.9 Jesus claimed to be equal with God in other ways. One was by claiming for Himself the prerogatives of God. He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” (Mark
2:5). The scribes correctly responded, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (2:7). Therefore, to prove that His claim was not an empty boast Jesus healed the man, and so was
offering direct proof that what He had said about forgiving sins was true as well (2:8-11).
1.10 Another prerogative that Jesus claimed was the power to raise and judge the dead: “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His
voice; and come forth–those who have done good, {i.e. practised good because of faith} to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, {i.e. practised evil because
of unbelief} to the resurrection of condemnation.” (John 5:28-29). He removed all doubt when He added, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son
gives life to whom He will” (John 5:21). But the Old Testament clearly teaches that only God is the giver of life (“The LORD kills and makes alive” 1Samuel 2:6; and Deuteronomy
32:39) and the one to raise the dead (“The LORD has said to Me, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You” Psalm 2:7) and the only judge (“Vengeance is Mine (the Lord v19), and
recompense” Deuteronomy 32:35; and Joel 3:12). Therefore Jesus boldly asserted for Himself the powers that only God has.
1.11 Jesus further claimed that He should be honoured as God. He said, “that all should honour the Son just as they honour the Father” (John 5:23). The Jews listening knew that no
one should claim to be equal with God in this and other ways, “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He … also said that God was His Father, making Himself
equal with God” (John 5:18).
2. Jesus claimed to be the Messiah and therefore God
As Muslims know the Qur’an recognizes that Jesus is the Messiah (4:171, 5:14, 75). But the Old Testament teaches that the coming Messiah would be God Himself. Consequently when Jesus claimed to be that Messiah He was also claiming to be God. Examples are:
2.1 Isaiah 9:6 calls the Messiah, “Mighty God.”
2.2 The Psalmist wrote of God, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psalm 45:6). Compare with “To the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Hebrews 1:8).
2.3 Psalm 110:1 records a conversation between the Father and the Son: “The LORD (Jehovah) said to my Lord (Adoni), “Sit at My right hand.” Jesus applied this passage to Himself in “He said to them, ‘How then does David in the Spirit call Him (Christ v42) ‘Lord,’ saying: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand’” (Matthew 22:43-44).
2.4 Jesus additionally said that He was the Messiah at His trial before the high priest, see Mark 14:61-64 above. There was no doubt that in claiming to be the Messiah (see also Matthew 26:54 and Luke 24:27), Jesus as well claimed to be God.
3. Jesus Accepted Worship
The Old Testament forbids worshipping anyone other than God (“You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, … you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” Exodus 20:1-5; and Deuteronomy 5:6-9). The New Testament agrees, showing that men refused worship (“But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this … saying, ‘Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God.’” Acts 14:14-15), as did angels (“And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that.’” Revelation 22:8-9). However, Jesus, Who knew/knows God the Father, accepted worship on numerous occasions, as follows, which showed His claim to be God.
3.1 A healer leper worshipped Him (Matthew 8:2),
3.2 A ruler knelt before Him with a request (Matthew 9:18).
3.3 After Jesus stilled a storm, “Then those who were in the boat came and worshipped Him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’” (Matthew 14:33).
3.4 A Canaanite woman, (Matthew 15:25), the mother of James and John (Matthew 20:20), the Gergesene demoniac (Mark 5:6).
All worshipped Jesus without a word of rebuke.
3.5 But Christ similarly drew out worship in some cases, as when Thomas saw the risen Christ and cried out, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). This could only be done by a person Who seriously considered himself to be God.
4. Jesus also put His words on a level with God’s
4.1 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, … but I say unto you …” (Matthew 5:21-22) is repeated over and over again.
4.2 “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations’” (Matthew 28:18).
4.3 God had given the Ten commandments to Moses but Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.” (John 13:34).
4.4 Jesus said concerning God’s law, “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18). Later Jesus said of His own words, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
4.5 Speaking of those who reject Him, Jesus said, “The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). (Linked to item 1.4).
There is no question about Jesus expecting His words to have equal authority with God’s declarations in the Old Testament. On the Mount of Transfiguration we read “… a bright cloud over shadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 17:5). This showed that God the Father approved of all that the Lord Jesus had said and done.
5. Various questions need to be asked about the circumstances of Jesus’ birth.
5.1 In Matthew c1 who named baby Jesus? It was the angel of the Lord in 1:20-21. “But while he (Joseph v19) thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, … you shall call His name JESUS”.
5.2 Why did the angel give that name to Jesus? “for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). So the angel said that Jesus Christ was to be the sacrifice for sins so that He could save those that trust in Him from the judgment of their sins.
5.3 What was Jesus’ prophetic name? Isaiah 7:14 is quoted in Matthew 1:22-23 “… Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us”. That means that the baby Jesus was God.
5.4 As previously shown many Bible verses say that “Christ” means the Messiah or the anointed of God. This includes Matthew 1:18 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ …”.
5.5 In Luke c1 who spoke to Mary? The angel Gabriel. “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God … to a virgin … The virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:26-27).
5.6 What did the angel Gabriel say? “… And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest” (Luke 1:31-32). So Gabriel said that Jesus is to be called the Son of God.
5.7 How was the conception to take place? “And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’” (Luke 1:35). This shows that the conception of the Lord Jesus Christ was not a physical act.
The author of this article was given a copy of Sahih al-Bukhari 6099. Sahih Muslim 2818, the “Hadith on Mercy: No one will enter Paradise because of his good works, but only because of Allah’s mercy.
“Aisha reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘Be deliberate in worship, draw near to Allah, and give glad tidings. Verily, none of you will enter Paradise because of his deeds alone.’ They said, ‘Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?’ The Prophet said, ‘Not even me, unless Allah grants me mercy from himself. Know that the most beloved deed to Allah is that which is done regularly even if it is small.’”
Why is that last sentence added, “Know that the most beloved deed to Allah is that which is done regularly even if it is small”? Is that not hinting that regular deeds, even if they are small, is what Allah likes and so can gain His favour? If Paradise was only available on the basis of Allah’s mercy alone then there was no need for the last sentence. The fact that it is there hints that Paradise can be gained by Allah’s mercy and our good works as other surahs say (e.g. 2:25, 112; 7:8; 18:110; 23:102-103).
The Christian Gospel says, “For by grace (i.e. undeserved favour) you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
God wants to and can bless you with “every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3), including the forgiveness of all your sins, not going to God’s judgement in hell, justification (i.e. made right before God), having a relationship with God and having a place in heaven through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour.
(*As the Bible uses the Word “Jehovah” so do we but we are not “Jehovah’s Witnesses”.)