Claim: the apostle Paul introduced the un-Jewish idea that Jesus is God
I’m just going to wrote a short post to outline the ways the New Testament acknowledges Jesus’ divinity, using sources other than Paul’s letters, with a short epilogue demonstrating that Paul’s theology, despite his mission to the gentiles which precluded them having to become Jews, is not anti-Jewish or anti-Israel.
Jesus saved his people in the exodus according to Jude
One of the strongest evidences that the theology of the early Jewish church recognised Jesus as Yahweh incarnate somehow is the letter of Jude, the brother of James, the brother of Jesus. His name is a quintessentially Jewish name of the first century, and the theology of his letter is clearly influenced by the very Jewish book of Enoch. In verse 5 of his short letter, he says, “Now I desire to remind you (even though you have been fully informed of these facts once for all) that Jesus, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, later destroyed those who did not believe.” (Some later Greek manuscripts have “the Lord” instead of Jesus, but the earlier ones all say “Jesus.” )
Father Son and Holy Spirit in sources other than Paul
Also Jude verses 20-21 are decidedly Trinitarian:
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”
1 Peter 1:2 :
According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”…
And by the way - this is in Hebrew Matthew:
https://www.hebrewgospels.com/_files/ugd/c68db9_71c9a9c22a2646ec93694a17128ef55f.pdf
Jesus is the Word of God by whom the heavens were made
John chapter 1 identifies Jesus as the Word of God “In the beginning was the Word and the word was God and the word was with God” — which identifies Jesus as divine — “by the word of the Lord the heavens were made” Psalm 33:6 — an idea that transcends nationality in the 1st century — the logos of God is an important idea also in the 1st Jewish philosopher Philo’s theology - as well as Heraclitus and the philosophy of the Stoics who saw the logos inhabiting all things.
God with us
Matthew 1:23: the virgin will conceive and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.
God’s unique Son
Matthew 3:16-17 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
“I and the Father are one” - “ye are gods” (not humans but the angelic sons of God)
John 10:30-36 “I and the Father are one” - note that the "gods” to whom “the word of God came” are not human beings in the subsequent discussion but the sons of God the angelic figures mentioned in Genesis 6:1-2 and Job 1:6, 2:1, and 38:7.
Hebrew manuscript of John 1:14: “El became man and dwelt among us.”
https://www.hebrewgospels.com/_files/ugd/c68db9_a93ec196f4b144948b2632acae6fefab.pdf
Jesus forgives sins
Jesus forgives sins: something God alone can do. Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12
Jesus’ words will never pass away
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” Matthew 24:35
He alone treads on the waves of the sea (Job 9:8)
Jesus walks on water — Matthew 14:22-36, John 6:16-21— this passage identifies Jesus as Yahweh — see Job 9:8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. Interestingly when the apostles cry out in fear Jesus replies “take courage, I am! Don’t be afraid.” In Greek, the same phrase ἐγώ εἰμι which is God’s name in the Greek Old Testament in Exodus 3:14 Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν· Like many parts of this puzzle this is suggestive rather than definite — all through the New Testament however, the divinity of Jesus is acknowledged by implication, however I think Jesus to some degree hides his divinity in puns and ambiguous phrases until:
Jesus is the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven
Matthew 26:64-66 In the trial of Jesus before the high priest:
“You have said it yourself,” Jesus answered. “But I say to all of you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “He has blasphemed! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” “He deserves to die,” they answered.
This passage Jesus identifies Himself with the Son of Man in Daniel 7:13-14 who is given the entirety of God’s dominion:
I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.
A short addendum: Paul is not anti-Jewish
Some contemporary commentators see Paul’s emphasis on Jesus’ divinity as a concession to the idolatry of the gentiles, in order to get his message across, part of an anti-Jewish agenda (they use his letter to the Galatians to justify this opinion, but the letter to the Galatians is, however, very unusual — Paul’s exegesis of Sarah and Hagar is tortuously rabbinic in its inversion of the scriptural meaning — but in this he is arguing against those who said that the gentiles had to become Jews when they joined the body of Christ. Like the apostles in Acts 15:28-29 Paul is eager that no stumbling blocks be put in the way of those gentiles who would believe in Jesus.
But Paul is not anti-Jewish - the corrective to the partial perspective in Galatians is Romans chapter 11 onwards in which Paul gives a much deeper exposition of his views about Israel and is indeed the most pro-Israel section of the New Testament, and prophesies what many of us hope is happening today, the return of the nation of Israel to the Messiah:
I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well” ?
And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if it is by grace, then it is no longer by works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.
What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, as it is written:
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that could not see,
and ears that could not hear,
to this very day.”
And David says:
“May their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution to them.
May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever.”I ask then, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Certainly not! However, because of their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. But if their trespass means riches for the world, and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!
I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”That is correct: They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will certainly not spare you either.
Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut from a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into one that is cultivated, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come from Zion;
He will remove godlessness from Jacob.
And this is My covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”Regarding the gospel, they are enemies on your account; but regarding election, they are loved on account of the patriarchs. For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.
Just as you who formerly disobeyed God have now received mercy through their disobedience, so they too have now disobeyed, in order that they too may now receive mercy through the mercy shown to you. For God has consigned everyone to disobedience so that He may have mercy on everyone.
O, the depth of the riches
of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments,
and untraceable His ways!“Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been His counselor?”“Who has first given to God,
that God should repay him?”For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be the glory forever! Amen.
