The Incontestable Testament to Christ's Hypostasis

Amazingly, the fact Christ never said, “Behold! I am God!” is often used as an argument against His divinity.[1] In dialogue with such arguments, it is helpful to pose the classic trilemma (and sometimes quadrilemma if you add “legend” which is the claim of some poor historical scholarship): was Christ Lord (all He said and did was truly derivative of human-Divine hypostasis and Christianity is true), Liar (He was skilled at deception and nothing He said or did is of value, and He was killed for it and His followers partook/partake in the lie also to their deaths; not far from some heresies), or Lunatic (He was crazy enough to believe and did all that He did knowing it would get Him killed and His followers partook in His delusion)? If Christ is not divine, then Christianity is the delusion/lie atheists like to claim it is. However, do the arguments as mentioned above against Christ’s Divinity satisfy the condition of the latter statement? Through the examination of fulfilled prophecies, His teachings, and His actions, the Bible stands as a testament to Christ's divinity at its core, revealing Him as the incarnate Son of God and the fulfillment of divine promises.

First, the prophecies Christ fulfilled consistently affirm His Divinity as well as His humanity, and often in the same image/sentence. Prophesies of a virgin birth indicated a Divine origin, that He would be “God with us,” and the nature of a virgin birth suggests something transcendent is taking place (Isaiah 7:14). Birth in Bethlehem and Lordship was foretold in Micah 5:2. Prophesies which foretold Him as a King to reign and be born among men also called Him “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6-7). Although at the time of Jesus, the expectation of the Messiah was believed to be literal and earthly, the Church is understood as the true kingdom (which others imitate) and encompasses both Heaven and Earth (Daniel 2:44-45, Psalm 110:1).[2] Much language from Daniel 7:13-14 is shared in the New Testament as in Matthew 26:64, Mark 14:62, Revelation 1:7, and Revelation 5:13.[3] The Transfiguration (Matthew 17:2, Mark 9:3, Luke 9:29) and images from Revelation match language in Daniel 7:9-10.[4] Daniel 9 goes on to predict the death of Christ.[5] The Resurrection of Christ would unequivocally ensure the elimination of doubt for the Apostles and legitimize everything for anyone concerning Christ’s identity as Messiah.[6] The depth of connection between Old Testament and New Testament passages that Christ fulfilled, if described in any depth, would exceed the limits of this paper. 

Second, Christ’s words alone unambiguously created a polarizing response for those who witnessed Him, for whom it would reveal His Divinity or motivate them to accuse Him of blasphemy/speaking nonsense. It is clear on several occasions that the people would either leave Him in disbelief, conspire with other groups to kill Him, and/or accuse Him of blasphemy. Already in John 2, Christ works a miracle and then in figurative language predicts He would be put to death, and his interlocutor thought He was speaking nonsense. In John 5:16-18, He cured on the Sabbath and claimed God was His Father, and those who heard wanted to kill Him. “Jesus claimed to be continuing the creative work of God”[7] In John 6:60-66, after He insisted His body and blood must be consumed by His followers, many left, leaving only Christ’s chosen disciples. In John 7, Christ stays behind when His “brothers” go to the festival of Booths because so many were eager to kill Him, and the time had not yet come for His deliverance. These were only a few of the occurrences in which He had to manage what He said and to whom He said it. This was the state of affairs until He was finally delivered up, being accused by the Jews of blasphemy, handed to the Romans, and crucified under threat of riot because we desired Him tortured and killed this profoundly (cf. Acts 2:36).[8] For those who knew that there was much truth to His otherwise audacious claims and followed Him, His teachings proved to be effectual and accurate. In the John 6 situation, Peter clearly states that Christ is divine, regardless of how He may sound. In John 8:58 and many others, Jesus claims to be Existence or an attribute of existence which comes from Heaven, to preexist and have had contact with Abraham, and/or to stand as the principal connection we have to God (John 6:35, John 8:12, John 10:1, John 11:25, John 14:6, John 15:1,5). Christ also claims a unity with the Father to such a degree that “Whoever has seen [Him] has seen the Father” (John 14:8-9). On many other occasions, Jesus claims a connection to the Father no Jew would claim as in John 10:30, John 14:9, and John 15:4-9. He includes Himself in the command to Baptize in Matthew 28:19: "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." It is important to note here that citing every occasion would produce several pages of content, but the above should demonstrate there is a plethora that suggests He was either severely psychotic or He was Truth Itself. “The problem is that the claim that Jesus is not depicted as God in the Synoptic Gospels is flat-out wrong”.[9]

Last, but not least, the miracles and actions Christ performed (affirming His teachings and His fulfillment of the prophecies) would have had no precedent for those around Him, since prophets did not bring about miracles by directly willing them. On three occasions, Christ prophesied His death and the first prediction of His death used “must” which Peter rebuked (Matthew 16:21, Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22; Matthew 17:22-23, Mark 9:30-32, Luke 9:43-45; Matthew 20:17-19, Mark 10:32-34, Luke 18:31-34).[10] No prophet ever claimed to wield/command the force of nature themselves as Christ has, even if prefigured by Moses (Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-4, Luke 8:22-25). In each of these cases, it was God whom it is attributed to, even when human persons are involved: Creation (Genesis 1), The Flood (Genesis 6-9), The Parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14), Water from the Rock (Exodus 17), The Plague of Hail (Exodus 9:13-35), The Plague of Darkness (Exodus 10:21-29), The Crossing of the Jordan River (Joshua 3), The Drought and Rain at Elijah's Prayer (1 Kings 17-18), and The Fire from Heaven (1 Kings 18). Especially in the calming of the storm and the walking on the water, it is apparent that the Christ of the Gospels has authority over reality greater than the laws of nature, which means there wasn’t room for the skepticism of humanity which otherwise seems to never be quenched (Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:16-21).[11] As previously mentioned, before the resurrection if nothing else convinced Peter, James, and John at the fullest depth of Christ's participation in God, it would be the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13, Mark 9:1-13, Luke 9:28-36).[12] There is nothing that validates Christ’s words and is the truest height of His miracles more than the resurrection, which is coupled with appearing to and assuring that the key disciples knew that He was raised and what this meant (cf. John 10:10, Luke 24, John 20:24-29). “In the first place, the actions and words of Jesus which we know from the Gospels have been communicated to us by persons who were either contemporaries and friends of his or who were at least only a little younger and, in any case, excellently informed; second, these informants testify to strictly miraculous facts; third, these miracles were wrought to prove Christ's religious mission.”[13]

In conclusion, "in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9). It is clear from the prefigurement in prophesies that Christ would have both been human and Divine. It is clear from the Gospels that Christ, in His miracles and immediate authority over natural and spiritual forces, is God. It is clear from what Christ is quoted in saying that He claimed to be and talks as if He was God. As such, scripture itself is unambiguous on the point of Christ’s Messianic and Divine identity. Not only does the rest of Scripture surrounding Christ claim His Divinity and humanity but also it quotes Christ as claiming this about Himself. For my part then, “What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do; Truth himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.”[14]

FN:

1. Brandt Pitre, The Case for Christ (New York: Image, 2016), 120-121.
2. Pitre, The Case for Christ, 102-108.
3. Pitre, The Case for Christ, 108-113.
4. Pitre, The Case for Christ, 108-113.
5. Pitre, The Case for Christ, 113-118.
6. Robert Barron, The Priority of Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2007), 117.
7. Frank E. Gaebelein and Merrill Tenney, The Expositor's Bible Commentary: John – Acts, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1990), 64.
8. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 598.
9. Pitre, The Case for Christ, 121
10. CCC, 554, 595-618.
11. CCC, 2610.
12. CCC, 554.
13. Giuseppe Ricciotti, The Life of Christ, trans. Alba Zizzamia (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1947), 180.
14. Thomas Aquinas, "Adoro te devote," trans. Gerard Manley Hopkins

Written by Carter Carruthers & also available soon at Missio Dei