question

Common Questions

Why did Jesus pray to the Father? (John 17).

i. Because as a man He needed to pray to the Father.

ii. Because He was both God and man (Col. 2:9; John 8:58 with Ex. 3:14).

a)The two natures of Christ are why we have two types of scripture concerning Jesus: those that seem to focus on His divine-side, and those that seem to focus on His human-side. (1)One cannot ignore either his human or divine side. By doing so, one will facilitate unbiblical doctrines.

Why did He say the Father was greater than He (John 14:28)?

i. This is because His position was different than that of God, not His nature. It says in Heb. 2:9 that Jesus is made for a little while lower than the angels; that is, when He became a man. The Father sent the Son (1 John 4:10).(2)

ii. Jn 5:15-23, Jn 10:28, 29-38, Jn 14:8-11, 28 refer Jn 13:16 "greater" in Greek "meizon" meaning positional but not in nature. Both master & servant are human. Both Father & Son are divine in nature.

iii.Luke 2:51 Jesus was subject to Mary & Joseph

iv. Note Savior is equally applied to both God and Christ (Acts 4:12, Isa 43:10-11)

v.Note that "I AM" and 'First and Last" are equally applied to God and Christ (Rev 1:17,Isa 48:12)

Why did He say, "Why call me good, only God is good?" (Luke18:19)?

i. Jesus was confirming His own deity because what He was doing was good.

ii. "Was Jesus good?"(3)

Why did Jesus say that He could only do those things that He saw the Father do? (John 5:19).

i. This is an interesting verse and it is one that proves the divinity of Christ, not that He wasn't God.

ii. Can Jesus do the same things God the Father can do? Could an angel? Could a man? Of course not. Jesus, however, says He could do whatever He saw the Father do. "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."(4)

The answer to these and other verses like them is that Jesus has two natures. Jesus was fully man as well as fully God and as a man there will be verses that show His humanity.(5)

* Did the early church really teach that Jesus was God? For verification check the scriptures yourself!

For further clarification examine what the early Church Fathers had said!

BACK

(1)* Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry J. Slick, B.A., M. Div. welcomes your comments via E-mail at mslick@connectnet.com

(2) ibid.
(3) ibid.

(4) ibid.

(5) ibid.