Do you find it interesting that neither God’s angel, nor Matthew, nor Isaiah try to elaborate upon the statement? There isn’t a Bible penman who ever goes out of his way to prove that the Lord Jesus is Immanuel. It must be remembered that the Bible was never really meant for atheists and unbelievers. The average unbeliever isn’t going to be convinced about anything simply because the Bible declares it. Faith to believe what the Bible says is an operation of the Holy Spirit of God rather than an operation of the mind and the intellect. Just as we see more clearly in the Gospel of Luke, the Bible was written to be a blessing to believers. “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.” I can’t prove it, but I have no doubt in my mind that this Theophilus was already a child of God. Theophilus and all the rest of the early disciples believed that the Lord Jesus was “God manifest in flesh.”
But of course, the unbelieving Jews at the time didn’t believe that. And just because you believe that Jesus is Jehovah – Emmanuel – that doesn’t mean your neighbor does. And that leads us to a question that I’ve asked before, and will continue to ask: Can you prove, or at least can you give some logical arguments that Jesus Christ is Emmanuel? This scripture gives us an opportunity to address this subject once again, so I’m taking the opportunity. Let’s think about the direct method of proof and also the indirect method.
Let’s begin with John 10:23 – “And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch. Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.” How is this possible – that Jesus and His Father are one? They are certainly different persons, just as my father, my son, and my grandsons are all different people. Ah, but God-father and God-Son are the same in essence or substance. They are not both Canadian or Americans, Caucasian or Hebrew. But they are both deity – the Lord Jesus was saying, “I and my father are one God.” And in what way did the Jews understand what Jesus saying? “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” There can be no doubt about the fact that the Jews thought that Jesus was calling himself God – He was. And furthermore Jesus did not correct them – they were absolutely right. A similar passage may be seen in John 5:16-18 – “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”
When I lived at my parents’ house, I never was foolish enough to claim all that was my father’s as my own. I had my bedroom, and he and my mother had theirs, and I rarely entered their bedroom. The things that were in that room, belonged to them, and not to me. But listen to John 16:15 – “All things that the Father hath are mine.” Jesus was not speaking about his step-father, Joseph, but the Father – God the Father. He said in effect, “He and I share everything equally.” What sort of things? Creatorship, the preservation of creation; the worship that creation might offer to them. They share Life, Glory, the Fullness of God-hood, and so much more. The declarations of Jesus prove that He is God.
There are others, but let’s move on and consider the direct statements of men under the Spirit’s guidance. I read of two men arguing over the deity of Christ: One said, “If it is true, then the Bible should make it plain!” The other replied, “How? What should it say?” “It should say, ‘Jesus Christ is the true God!'” The man’s friend replied, “That is a fortunate choice of words, because that is exactly what it does say.” Things like I John 5:20 – “We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” It might be argued that “this is the true God,” refers to God the Father. But as most good commentaries point out, the nearest antecedent to “this” is “Jesus Christ.” Usually, only those who hate the doctrine of Jesus’ deity prefer not to apply this statement to Christ.
And this brings us to Romans 9:5 – Speaking of Israel Paul said, “Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.” Someone predetermined NOT to believe that Jesus is Emmanuel might argue that this verse is saying nothing more than that Christ has been blessed by God. But those who are experts in Greek and honest with God positively assert that Paul is saying that Christ is the God who deserves to be blessed – that is – the One worthy to be praised and honored for ever. Don’t let anyone twist these scriptures; they declare Christ to be Deity. Don’t listen to those atheistic Jehovah’s Witnesses; they’ve been fed a Satanic lie. Rather listen to Paul in I Timothy 3:16 – “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” These verses are really quite clear as far as I’m concerned. I wish that there were a hundred more just like them, but as I say the Bible assumes that we should know that there is a God and His name is Jesus Christ.
I have to pause at this point and go back to our text in Matthew 1. Were these two verses the message of the angel to Joseph, or are they the Holy Spirit explanation of the angel’s message to Joseph? I found that the commentaries are divided on the question, if they say anything at all. But this is either the testimony of Gabriel that Jesus is God in human flesh, or it is the testimony of the Holy Spirit through Matthew, which is just as authoritative, if not even more authoritative.
Another indirect statement about Jesus’ deity comes from Thomas in John 20:26-29 – “And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” Where do we read of Jesus’ rejection of Thomas’ testimony and praise? You won’t find it here or in any other passage of the King James Bible. Furthermore you won’t find it the corrupt NIV, RSV, ASV, TEV or any another. And that is despite the fact that the manuscripts of most other versions of the Bible were written by men that hated the doctrine of the deity of our Lord. Either Christ is exactly what Thomas said or else He was a great deceiver.
Now let’s get a bit heavier: John 3:11-13 – “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” How can Christ be both in Jerusalem and in Heaven at the same time? There is only one answer: through what is called Omnipresence – an attribute of deity. But this leads to a rather important related question. Doesn’t this make the statement about “God with us” rather confusing? Don’t we believe that God is omnipresent – everywhere present at all times? Yes, we do. Well, then how is this incarnation the presence of God in a different way? Simply put, here was the eternal God in such a way that someone could look into His eyes. Rather than hearing His voice in the wind, or in the Word of God, for a time it was a human voice. And when a miracle was required, it was the Lord Jesus, not a prophet, an angel or a servant, instantly proving Himself. In Christ Jesus, God was with us, as He had never been before.
There is indirect proof of Jesus deity in His divine knowledge. John 2:23-25 – “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.” Matthew 12:25 says that Jesus knew the thoughts of the Pharisees. Luke 6:8; Matthew 22:18; Mark 2:8 and other passages all say the same thing. This ability of Christ Jesus’ is something that belongs to God. Listen to the testimony that disciples gave in John 16:29-30 – First, our Lord said, “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.” The last statement is a declaration that Jesus is the Son of God. People might guess what another is thinking, but actual knowledge of their thoughts belongs to God.
How can the Bible call Jesus “the Creator” if He were not God? John 1:1-3 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Doesn’t this suggest that everything that was created was done so by Jesus, the Word of God? That means that He could not possibly be made Himself or that is a created being. Colossians 1:16: “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities or powers, all things were made by him and FOR HIM.” What is more, the next verse says that all things are preserved by Jesus’ power.
We know that Jesus is God, indirectly through the forgiveness of sins. The Bible says that in Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sin. Neither is there salvation in any other – only through this man is preached unto you forgiveness of sin. Now look at Mark 2:5-11 – ” When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.”
What is the meaning of Colossians 2:9 if Jesus is not God? “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” And what is the meaning of Hebrews 1:3 if Jesus is not God? “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person.”
All of these things that I’ve given you are New Testament evidence, and we could spend another sermon tying in the Old Testament references to the New Testament. “Like man he walked, like God He talked. His words were oracles, His deeds were miracles. Of God the true expression, of man the finest specimen. Full orbed humanity, crowned with deity. No trace of infirmity, no taint of iniquity. Behold the man; Behold thy God. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail incarnate deity!”
Now, let me close with one more thought. It’s not the heavy all-argument crushing final blow; it’s more like a feather. The Apostle Paul once wrote – “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost.” Let me simply quote John Gill’s commentary on this verse: Paul says, “I swear by Christ – the God of truth – who is truth itself, and I appeal to him as the true God, the searcher of hearts, that what I now deliver is truth, and nothing but truth, and has no falsehood in it. This both shows that the taking of an oath is lawful, and that Christ is truly God, by whom only persons ought to swear.”
Christ Jesus is “Emmanuel – God with us.”