The Scriptures teach that Jesus is God. When I have taught that online before, one of the most common questions asked was, “If Jesus is God, who was Jesus praying to?” This question can be asked honestly, but it’s usually thrown around as a “gotcha.” The questioners are not really looking for an answer; they’re just trying to walk in, drop a mic, and walk out. But for those who stick around to discover the answer, as we will see, Jesus is fully God, and the only way we can comprehend the fact that Jesus prayed is through the concept of the Trinity. There is only one God (who is called Yahweh), and He exists in three distinct persons, who interact in personal ways, like talking to each other.
Let me admit that there have been times I’ve been uncomfortable with using the word Trinity, primarily because it’s not expressly found in Scripture. But the concept certainly is there. The concept of the Trinity has been accused of being contradictory. For example, many Muslims try to dismantle the entire doctrine by saying Christians believe 1+1+1=1. But anyone who makes this accusation is not paying attention. It would be a contradiction if the addends and sum were referencing the same notion. For example, one dollar, plus one dollar, plus one dollar does not equal one dollar. When the doctrine of the Trinity claims that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all equal, yet distinct, the claim is that their being is equal, but their personhood is distinct. There is one being (God), and three persons (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit).
Being is a question of what (nature, essence). Practically everything has being. Rocks, ducks, stars, and video games all exist. They all have being. But only some beings are also persons. For example, you! While being is a question of what, person is a question of who. “What are you?” and “Who are you?” are two different questions. So it is with God. There is only one God, and He exists in three distinct persons.
So, when Jesus, the Son of God, prayed, He was speaking to the Father. Jesus took on flesh and became a man, and as a perfect man and example, He prayed to and worshiped the Father. We discussed that further in another article, asking the question, “If Jesus is God, then how could God die?”
Just as we did with the lesson on the deity of the Father, in this article, we will explore the biblical foundation of the deity of the Son, the role of the Son in the Trinity, and the role of the Son for the disciple.
1. Biblical Foundation
We can know Jesus is God by five evidences provided in Scripture:
- The Father ascribes deity to Him.
- Jesus fits the description of deity.
- Jesus claims He is God.
- Jesus accepts worship.
- Other inspired writers say He is God.
We will spend the majority of our time on these five points, but afterward, we will discuss Jesus’ role in the Trinity and in our lives as the Son of God.
The Father ascribes deity to Jesus
There are several passages we could consider, but we’ll only take the time to study Hebrews 1 in this section. The theme of the book of Hebrews is “Christ is better.” The author makes a case that Jesus is better than angels, He is better than Moses, He is better than the Levitical Priesthood, and He provides a better covenant.
For to which of the angels did He [God the Father] ever say:
Hebrews 1:5–6
“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You”?
And again:
“I will be to Him a Father,
And He shall be to Me a Son”?
But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says:
“Let all the angels of God worship Him.”
Although the Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that Jesus is a created angel, specifically Michael the Archangel, the author of Hebrews emphatically claims Jesus is higher than all the angels—not as some archangel, but as the Son of God. And because of that, the God who says you shall worship Yahweh only says to all creation, “Worship Jesus.”
And of the angels He says:
Hebrews 1:7–8
“Who makes His angels spirits
And His ministers a flame of fire.”
But to the Son He says:
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
Just as Jesus on many occasions calls the Father “God,” so does the Father call the Son “God”—not just a god, but the God. While on earth, Jesus’ favorite subject was the kingdom of God. Yet, the Father has no issue referring to the kingdom of God as the kingdom of His Son. Why? Jesus is God.
And:
Hebrews 1:10–13
“You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
They will perish, but You remain;
And they will all grow old like a garment;
Like a cloak You will fold them up,
And they will be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will not fail.”
But to which of the angels has He ever said:
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?
Again, did you catch it? The Father refers to Jesus as Creator, as “LORD.” This is a quotation from Psalm 102, where the psalmist is speaking to the LORD, Yahweh. Jesus is Yahweh. Additionally,
Jesus fits the description of deity.
As we have seen in our series on the Trinity so far, all members of the godhead have at least these five attributes ascribed to them in Scripture: eternality, omnipotence, infinitude, omnipresence, and omniscience.
Prior to His coming to earth as Messiah, Micah said about Jesus, that His “goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2). Similarly, Isaiah said the Son would be known as the Father of eternity (see Isaiah 9:6). The night before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed:
And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
John 17:5
To express the omnipotence of Christ, before teaching that in Him the fullness of deity dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9), Paul said:
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Colossians 1:16–18
Although Christians often speak of God’s amazing grace, wonderful mercy, and great love, in reality, who can measure such qualities? His grace, mercy, and love are boundless, limitless, and perfect. Christ Jesus is infinite.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35–39
Certain claims of Jesus and the apostles could not work out if Jesus were not omnipresent, like Jesus’ promise in Matthew 28, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” and Paul’s claim that Jesus “fills all in all” in Ephesians 1.
Finally, to address Jesus’ omniscience, this is actually a sticking point for many people, as there was one fact Jesus claimed He did not know: when His coming would be (see Mark 13:32). If Jesus is God, how could He lack knowledge, even in one area? This question is discussed further in our other study. However, for now, consider that in Jesus contains “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). After spending three years with Jesus, and even after hearing Him express His words in Mark 13:32, the disciples came to this conclusion:
Now we are sure that You [Jesus] know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.
John 16:30
Which is similar to what the woman of Samaria said after speaking with Jesus.
Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.
John 4:29
Truly, Jesus is God and is eternal, omnipotent, infinite, omnipresent, and omniscient.
Jesus claims He is God.
He claims it now, and He claimed it while on earth. Of course, those who didn’t believe Him took offense and tried to kill Him.
Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” [To the Jews who knew their Old Testament Scriptures, they would have known this was Jesus claiming to be Yahweh.] Then they took up stones to throw at Him.
John 8:58–59
In a conversation with some scribes, it is agreed upon that only God can forgive sins. The next thing Jesus does is prove He can forgive sins, proving He is God (see Mark 2:1–12).
Jesus’ favorite way of referring to Himself was as the Son of Man. That, by itself, is a claim to deity (see Daniel 7:13–14).
Jehovah’s Witnesses and Muslims both claim that Jesus is a created creature and a prophet, and He is not God. In Luke 6:5, Jesus claimed to be “Lord of the Sabbath.” In Mark 12:35–37, Jesus claimed to be Lord of King David. In Matthew 12:6, He claimed to be Lord of God’s temple. Tell me, can a created being who truly represents God claim these titles and get away with it? God is Lord of the Sabbath; God is Lord of King David; God is Lord of the temple. Yet, Jesus says, “That’s Me.” Can a mere prophet or an angel also claim to have all authority in heaven and on earth? Imagine Peter, Elijah, or Thomas saying that repentance, baptism, prayer, and forgiveness are to take place in his name. Can an angel or some other created person get away with claiming:
- All things that the Father has belong to Him? (John 16:15)
- To be present with his disciples forever? (Matthew 28:20)
- To have the keys of hades and death? (Revelation 1:18)
- To obey Him results in God’s indwelling? (John 14:21–23)
- To be the judge of every person’s thoughts, words, and deeds? (Matthew 25:31–46)
- To answer prayer? (John 14:14)
- To have shared glory with the Father from before the existence of the world? (John 17:5)
- And basically everything Jesus claims in the book of Revelation?
I would agree with Muslims and Jehovah’s Witnesses when they say it would be blasphemous for created beings to claim these titles and positions. Yet Jesus claims them and gets away with it, for He is God.
Jesus accepts worship.
There are several times people fell down and worshiped Jesus in the New Testament. For example, right after Jesus ascended to heaven in Luke’s account, the apostles “worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Luke 24:52).
However, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who do everything they can to try to prevent people from coming to the conclusion that Jesus is God changed the word worship to the word obeisance in their Bible, which is the idea of bowing down and showing respect as to a king, but it doesn’t necessarily mean worship.
The Greek word proskyneō (προσκυνέω), which is what the apostles did to Jesus in Luke 24, is the same word used twice in Luke 4:7–8:
“Therefore, if You will worship before me [this is the devil speaking], all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship [proskyneō] the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
We must only worship Yahweh God. Jesus proves that He knows this truth, yet He accepts worship.
Other inspired writers say Jesus is God.
Isaiah 45:22–23 is considered one of the most monotheistic passages in all of the Bible.
Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath.
God truly is glorious and worthy of reverence. In Philippians 2, the apostle Paul attributes this glory to Jesus Himself, saying:
At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:10–11
Speaking of the name of Jesus, in Joel 2:32, the Scripture says:
And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the LORD
Shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,
As the LORD has said,
Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.
Once again, “LORD” (in all capital letters) is the Tetragrammaton, Yahweh. Whoever calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved. Later, by the Holy Spirit, Peter and Paul use this passage in Joel to reference salvation in Jesus.
In Acts 2, Peter says repenting and being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus begins to fulfill calling on the name of the LORD. When penitent Saul sought salvation, Ananias instructed him:
And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Acts 22:16
Later, Paul himself, in Romans 10, says obeying the gospel of Jesus is calling on the name of the LORD.
In John 1, the apostle speaks of the Word who became flesh in verse 14. That Word is identified as Jesus in verse 17. Notice how the Word is introduced:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
John 1:1–4
Jesus—the Word in this passage—is called God, the Creator, and the giver of life. I agree with the inspired apostles that Jesus is “our great God and Savior” (Titus 2:13).
We have now seen how The Father ascribes deity to Jesus, Jesus fits the description of deity, Jesus claims He is God, Jesus accepts worship, and other inspired writers say Jesus is God. Now, let’s see:
2. The Role of the Son in the Trinity
With all this evidence that Jesus is God, it is also clear that Jesus is not the Father, nor is He the Holy Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct whos, but they are all one God.
The role which Jesus plays in the Trinity is the Son. As the Son, Jesus:
- Showed us the Father.
- Delivered God’s will.
- Sent the Holy Spirit.
- Serves as the head of the church.
- Has all authority over judgment.
- And is the one mediator between God and man.
This set of points deserves its own lesson. The one fact I’d like to explore here is that Jesus is mediator.
The angel explained to the virgin Mary that because the power of the Highest would overshadow her and that Jesus would be born of the Holy Spirit, “that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). The Sonship of Jesus is directly connected to His incarnation—God taking on flesh and living the human life.
Because He is God, and because He served as a human, the Bible says this:
There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
1 Timothy 2:5–6
A mediator is a go-between, kind of like a bridge. A bridge cannot work as designed, unless it is part of both lands that it connects. Similarly, the only way Jesus can be the mediator between God and man is if He is both God and man.
When Jesus was born, He was taking on the form of a bondservant. He humbled Himself and showed humanity how to serve God fully. He fulfilled the Law of Moses, and provided the new covenant through His sacrifice. By doing this, the Bible calls Jesus the propitiation—the sufficient sacrifice—for our sins. The wages of sin is death, but God was willing to provide that payment for us through His Son. Follow along as Paul explains this:
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:21–26
It was righteousness—the right thing for God to do—to provide the sacrifice through His Son. Verse 26 says that through that sacrifice, the Father was both just and the justifier. He was just in that the crime (sin) was fully paid for with death, but He can justify sinners because it wasn’t our death that paid that price. Being the mediator, the propitiation, is the role Jesus plays in the Trinity as the Son. Of course, this already begins to address the final point of this lesson, and that is:
3. The Role of the Son for Disciples
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
As the Son of God who took on flesh, He also went through the human experience like we do. He was tempted in all ways as we are, yet without sin. The Scriptures also say:
Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.
Hebrews 5:8–9
What’s the role of the Son for disciples? Here’s another set of points that deserves its own article:
- Jesus is our Lord. We are His servants.
- Jesus is our Redeemer. We are the redeemed.
- Jesus is our Propitiation. We are the saved.
- Jesus is our Advocate. We are the guilty.
- Jesus is the Giver of Life. We are those who are eternally grateful for that indescribable gift.
When we see the Father, we are drawn toward God. When we are led by the Spirit, we are in step with God. When we know the Son, we can come to God.
Jesus said to him [Thomas], “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6
Now, we unite our minds with Thomas a few days later, as he looked upon the risen Savior and boldly proclaimed, “My Lord and my God!”