Is Jesus Really the Son of God?
One of the fundamental claims of Christianity is that Jesus is more than just a man. It is of divine origin. Christians firmly believe that Jesus Christ represents God, but he is also the Son of God. This statement is confusing, especially to atheists. In this article we will try to delve deeper into this issue and understand what the phrase “Son of God” actually means.
Many questions arise about this statement. They are often asked in church. Almost all atheists do not deny the very existence of Jesus, since there are enough historical records that there once lived on earth a man whose name was Jesus of Nazareth. But they are sure that he was no more and no less a god than any individual on Earth who claims to be God himself.
Skeptics believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a simple preacher and an influential religious leader, but not God. Others criticize Christianity in general but practice a different faith. In Islam, Jesus is considered a Prophet, a messenger of God. Muslims are sure that Jesus is not the son of God and, moreover, not God Himself.
In the Gospel of Luke there is the phrase “Son of God.” It is spoken by an angel when he appears before the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and brings her the news that she will have a miraculous virgin birth and the birth of a son who will be called the “Son of God.” In the New Testament this phrase is repeated several times. In the Gospel of Matthew, Peter, Jesus' disciple, calls him the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus calls Himself the same way.
In the Gospel, a voice from Heaven declares regarding Jesus that “This is my Son whom I love...” The entire Bible is replete with the idea of Jesus as the Son of God. It repeats itself over and over again.
In Christianity, the time that Jesus spent on Earth is considered to be a manifestation of the final relationship between the Father and the Son. At the same time, Jesus is fully God Himself and no less than God, because He is the Son.
This is quite a difficult task for the modern human mind. But all parts of the triune God are equal and important. Jesus was the only one of the Holy Trinity to appear on earth as a living person. He told all people living on earth that they too are children of God. The Bible says that those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God are themselves sons and daughters of God the Father.
But historians are interested in knowing how and when Jesus’ followers began to talk about him as God and what did they mean? Why did the Jewish preacher from Judea Jesus become God? During his lifetime, Jesus never declared himself to be God. His students did not know about this either. But in the last Gospel of John, Jesus declares that he “was before Abraham,” and “I and the Father are one,” and “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father also.”
All this is written only in the Gospel of John. The earlier Gospels of Paul make no such claim. Also, Matthew, Mark and Luke did not mention that Jesus called himself God. This important point shows us the contradictions in the scriptures. Scientists do not see anything unusual in this, since this is a theological understanding of Jesus, not considered an accurate historical fact.
At the dawn of Christianity, Christians began to call Jesus God in the same way that the Romans called their emperors gods. They did not do this in a vacuum, but put a certain context into this statement. Of course, this was no accident, because it was in Rome that Jesus was called “God.” And this was in some way a competition with the existing Roman God, the emperor and Jesus. When Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, it changed everything.
The Emperor has ceased to be a god! The emperor himself began to worship God, Jesus. This changed people's consciousness quite a lot. It forever changed the understanding of religion and politics. History is not the past, in which there are many things that cannot be shown historically. For example, it is impossible to show what my grandfather ate on March 22, 1924. Historians do not have access to this because it is a thing of the past. However, this is not part of the story. History is something that a person can show what happened in the past.
Therefore, historians cannot say for sure whether Jesus was God, the Son of God, or whether He was resurrected. Historians have no way of showing that anything miraculous happened in the past. Therefore, in order to believe in a miracle, you must believe that God did it all. A person must believe in the existence of God. Theological beliefs are no good for historians.
Of course, miracles may have happened in the past, but they are not part of history. The same goes for Jesus, God the Son. Historians act like historians, whether they are believers or non-believers. They cannot state with certainty whether Jesus was actually the Son of God or whether He was raised from the dead. But they can look at these events from the other side, as traditions that have been maintained for thousands of years.
If Jesus had not been declared God by his disciples, then the followers of Christianity might have remained a small Jewish sect within Judaism. They would not have been able to attract large numbers of non-Jews to the new religion, and the pagans would not have quickly accepted Christianity during the first three centuries. Christianity would have remained a significant minority in the Roman Empire and would not have become the state religion of Rome. And all of this depended on the early Christians' claim that Jesus was God, the Son of God.
THE IMAGE OF THE “ELDER SON” IN THE PARABLE OF JESUS
One of the amazing qualities of a person is our speech. The Creator has endowed us with this ability to express our thoughts by voicing them. Moreover, human language is so multifaceted and diverse that it is capable of reflecting subtle shades of the multicolor palette of our thoughts. Each cultural and historical era has its own language, its own way of conveying thoughts. There is the language of diplomats, which is not entirely understandable to the common man, there is youth “slang”, and any narrow specialization from medicine to law has its own “language”. One of the phenomena of human speech is the ability to speak allegorically, speak in riddles, parables... The most famous person in the world who spoke in parables is Jesus Christ. “I will open My mouth in parables; I will speak secret things from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 13:35) Parables are Jesus’ signature style of speaking. During his short preaching life, He told many diverse and inimitable parables, which emphasized His Divine talent as a preacher. Jesus, in order to convey His Gospel to the people who listened to Him, used objects, events and life situations that surround a person at all times. Therefore, His parables are relevant for us, living 20 centuries later. Parables, as a special genre of speech of the wise, have been known since ancient times. To compose interesting parables required remarkable intelligence and ability. To understand parables, inner spiritual work must also be done: “to understand the parable and the intricate speech, the words of the wise and their riddles.” (Prov. 1:6) One day Jesus told perhaps His most famous parable. This is the so-called parable of the “Prodigal Son”. It was written by Paul's companion, Luke. Apparently this is one of the most striking creations of Jesus as a preacher, with which He illustrated His Gospel. In an absolutely life-like story, the Messiah revealed not only His teaching, but also showed how some people responded to the Gospel. “He also said: a certain man had two sons; and the youngest of them said to his father: Father! give me the next part of the estate. And the father divided the estate for them. After a few days, the youngest son, having collected everything, went to a far side and there squandered his property, living dissolutely. When he had lived through everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need; and he went and accosted one of the inhabitants of that country, and he sent him to his fields to graze pigs; and he was glad to fill his belly with the horns that the pigs ate, but no one gave it to him. When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have an abundance of bread, but I am dying of hunger; I will get up and go to my father and say to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants. He got up and went to his father. And while he was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him. The son said to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son. And the father said to his servants: Bring the best robe and dress him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fatted calf, and kill it; Let's eat and have fun! For this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. And they started having fun. His eldest son was in the field; and returning, when he approached the house, he heard singing and rejoicing; and calling one of the servants, he asked: what is this? He said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he received him healthy.” He became angry and did not want to enter. His father came out and called him. But he said in response to his father: Behold, I have served you for so many years and have never violated your orders, but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends; and when this son of yours, who had wasted his wealth with harlots, came, you killed the fatted calf for him. He said to him: My son! You are always with me, and all that is mine is yours, and it was necessary to rejoice and be glad that this brother of yours was dead and came to life, was lost and was found.” (Luke 15:11-32) It would seem a simple and understandable story. However, this, perhaps the most famous parable of Jesus, is unfortunately not understood by many people who consider themselves followers of Christ, which means the Gospel is not understood. In this story we see three main characters: A father and his two sons - the youngest and the eldest
father
Everything is clear with my father. He symbolizes God accepting a repentant sinner into his fatherly arms, but with his two sons, when some preachers interpret this parable, there is a problem.
YOUNGER SON
It would seem what difficulties may arise in understanding this vivid image, which depicts to us the repentance of a sinner before God and his acceptance into the arms of the Heavenly Father. Many preachers use this famous image in a call to repentance. But for some reason they associate this image only in relation to those bowing their knees before God... pagans!? To those who come for the first time from the world; and when a former member of the Church sincerely repents, then this image of the “youngest son” from the parable no longer applies to him. The explanation for such teachers is simple: “The former member of the church knew Christ, but the one to whom Jesus turned and called to repentance did not know Him.” But let me. God had only one son - Israel. “Israel is my son, my firstborn” (Exodus 4:22) . And by the sons of this parable, Jesus meant the Israelites. For the pagans there were completely different comparisons. For example: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” (Matt. 15:26) . Every Israeli knew about the God of Abraham. Zacchaeus and Magdalene did not immediately become the same as Jesus found them. From childhood they were taught to fulfill the commandments of the Lord. And children, as you know, absorb everything like sponges. And then?.. Then children grow up and begin to see the unseemly actions of adults. The actions of those who taught them one way, but they themselves acted differently. It is this hypocrisy that some are tempted by. Thus, these people fall into the devil's trap. They live in sin for years, although deep down they understand that they should live differently, but they themselves cannot get out of this state... And then Christ comes to the rescue. He extends the hand of salvation to them by telling this parable just for them. This parable is intended to encourage a sinner who wants to change and convince him that God will definitely accept. He will accept, not punish. He will receive you and dress you in “the best clothes.” But some do not let up: “You see, he lived as he wanted, he sinned... and now he has repented and that’s all!? Like water off a duck's back! And we should accept him and give him a place next to us?!” And we have to hear this from Christians. Hear from those who consider themselves to be of one spirit with Jesus. When someone coming from the world repents, everyone is glad to see him. Everyone smiles at him. Hymns and songs are sung in his honor, but when a former member of the Church kneels, an incomprehensible, ringing silence ensues. And it often happens that a sincerely repentant sinner is, of course, accepted, but they are already accepted as a second-class person. And if the repentant has certain abilities for public service, then his entry there, as they say, is “denied.” Others sense this reception in advance and agree to the role of “workers in the father’s house,” abandoning filial dignity. I'm not even talking about the long-term penances and “excommunications” accepted in well-known religious communities for those who returned. And now we come to the second son in Jesus' parable.
ELDER SON
Surprisingly, I often hear positive opinions about this character. And some directly state: “The eldest son” is us, who never left God, unlike some...” And indeed, the eldest son in the parable never left his father’s house, unlike his younger brother. I didn’t squander my property with harlots. He worked and was unassuming. In general, everything is positive. Why not an example to follow? However, look at his reaction to the actions of his father, who received his younger brother and threw a holiday on this occasion: “he was angry and did not want to go in” (Luke 15:28) . The elder brother is so angry that he does not want to enter the house. He is so angry that he does not want to see his younger brother return in new clothes given by his father. By not wanting to enter the house, the eldest son thereby shows disrespect for his father. And when his father comes out and personally calls him, the hitherto obedient and unpretentious son suddenly boldly reproaches him: “Here, I have served you for so many years and have never violated your orders, but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends; and when this son of yours, who squandered his wealth with harlots, came, you killed the fatted calf for him . Where have the love and respect for your father gone?! How did the positive qualities of the eldest son disappear in an instant? Or maybe they never existed? How can one not recall the story of Joseph and his older brothers. There, the father also gave his youngest son colorful clothes, thereby making him stand out. And what was the reaction of the other sons? They, having waited for an opportune moment, returned the same clothes to Jacob, staining them with blood (directly hinting to him about the death of the one to whom they belonged), and nearly killing Joseph, they sold him into slavery. I also remember another story, when God “had regard for Abel and his gift,” but “had no regard for the elder Cain.” What was the reaction of the neglected older brother?: “Cain was greatly upset, and his face fell.” (Gen.4:5) God tried to calm Cain by talking to him and keep him from sinning. However, the neglected brother decided to kill his competitor and no longer heard the admonishing voice of God. At a convenient moment, Cain carries out his plan. Another character comes to mind from Jesus’ parable about the servants to whom the Master gave “talents” (“mines”). There is also one character who took the silver (and therefore agreed to serve), upon the return of the Master, suddenly begins to speak impudently to him. And all the negative feelings, until a certain moment hidden in the soul of the “evil servant” towards the Master, suddenly surface. Who is this “eldest son” who, upon the return of his younger brother, does not share the joyful feelings of his father? Who is he who remains outside the celebration and rejoicing? Who did Jesus mean by “eldest son” when telling perhaps His most beautiful and famous parable? Under the image of the “eldest son” hides F A R S E Y, who does not know God.
“Whatever is high among men is an abomination to God”
The beginning of the 15th chapter, where this rather lengthy parable is located, begins like this: “All the tax collectors and sinners drew near to Him to listen to Him. But the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, “He receives sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-3) It was the Pharisees who were indignant at Jesus for accepting repentant sinners. It was precisely these people, who considered themselves the standard of piety, who were disgusted to sit at the same table with the Zacchaeus and Magdalenes, who had just been freed from sin. They constantly grumbled and condemned Jesus and His disciples. But God was behind all the actions of Jesus and, specifically, behind the acceptance of the fallen. Who was behind the discontent of the Pharisees? Behind the discontent of the Pharisees, the ears of the devil, the enemy of the human race, peeked out. The ancient serpent turned a blind eye to the special piety of the Pharisees. He wasn't particularly bothered by their twice-weekly posts. He was not irritated by the observance of many religious rules such as: “washing hands, bowls, mugs, cauldrons and benches.” (Mark 7:4) . The devil was pleased by the zealous Pharisees, who would rather bring another lamb as a gift to God (“corban”) than treat needy parents. But when sinners began to emerge from the kingdom of darkness and sin, to truly emerge, and not superficially and hypocritically, then the devil became worried. He sounded the alarm and raised his voice through his servants, the Pharisees. It's amazing how accurately Jesus illustrates the Pharisees' response to the Gospel. used the age difference between the brothers. After all, two brothers are not just described, but clearly divided into older and younger. As often happens in a family, the younger brother will do some mischief, but due to his age he does not know how to hide it. But the older one is smarter... He will be able to hide his guilt and blame his younger brother for everything in front of his parents, although both are to blame. And he is not to blame for anything. The sin of the Magdalenes and Zacchaeus was visible to everyone, and to themselves first of all. But the sin of the Pharisees was skillfully hidden behind the curtain of ostentatious religious theater. The Pharisees cleverly engaged in religious window dressing and looked righteous in the eyes of people. But God knew their hearts. It was not for nothing that Jesus told them: “You show yourselves to be righteous before men, but God knows your hearts, for whatever is exalted among men is an abomination to God” (Luke 16:15)
"they will prosper even more in wickedness"
Well, what are we all about the Pharisees and the Pharisees from ancient Israel! Now everything is different in the Church! Everything is new! Differently? In a new way? Indeed, in the Church for a long time there are no longer people who tie boxes with commandments to their foreheads. Those who observe ritual ablutions and are fixated on circumcision have long since disappeared. Indeed, these are not there, but others have appeared - modern ones. After all, Pharisaism has not gone away. It is still alive and active. “Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Heb. 13:8) And the Pharisees are the same forever. Epochs change, one culture is replaced by another, and Pharisaism cleverly mimics any religious situation. The Pharisees' leaven of hypocrisy is available and can be purchased at any religious crossroads. It is regularly delivered to consumers by religious merchants from the 18th chapter of the Revelation of John. The product is popular and does not stay in storage for a long time. The Apostle wrote about them: “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Get rid of such people." (2 Tim. 3:5) And again: “...for they will increase in wickedness even more, and their word will spread like cancer.” (2 Tim. 2:16-17) These devilish internal troops have been poisoning the lives of sincere Christians for 20 centuries. If the Gospel can be compared to living water, after drinking which people become healthy, then the teaching of pseudo-Christians is more like a slurry poisoned by lies and hypocrisy, which brings only death: “... and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a lamp, and fell on the third part rivers and water sources. The name of this star is “wormwood”; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many of the people died from the waters, because they became bitter.” (Rev. 8:10-11) It is they who constantly resist the spread of the pure Teachings of Christ and interfere with the “Gospel navigation”: “... and it was as if a great mountain, burning with fire, was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood, ... and the third part of the ships perished.” (Rev. 8:8-9) It is they who, spreading their darkness, do not allow the Gospel rays to shine in full force for all people: “... and the third part of the sun and the third part of the moon and the third part of the stars were struck, so that the third part was darkened them, and the third part of the day was not light - just like the nights.” (Rev.8:12) Jesus Christ created His Church, living according to His commandments and rules, and the devil founded his false church, living according to his commandments and rules. John wrote well about the false church posing as the truth in his Apocalypse. The false church is depicted as the city of Babylon and a harlot sitting on the state beast. Church Babylon sends her troops, countless as locusts, bringing death, “to fight with you, daughter of Zion.” (Jer.6:23) Many liars-preachers, using the religious attributes of scammers, poison the people listening to them: “and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and brimstone” (Rev.9:17) It is useless to treat the diseases of this religious society. It is necessary to flee from this church Babylon and not look back, like righteous Lot. Run to the One who once healed Zacchaeus and Mary Magdalene. Run to the Risen Jesus, who will now heal any person from the disease of sin. All you have to do is believe in the power of the Word of Jesus! Believe and ask Him about it. “And they are not thirsty in the deserts through which He leads them: He brings out water for them from the rock; cuts the rock, and waters flow.” (Isa.48:21)
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Jesus Christ - Son of God and Son of Man
Another secret that the best Christians struggled to uncover.
theologians and philosophers, is the “gracious synthesis of the Divine and the human” in the divine-human nature of Jesus Christ. “Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Creator God’s plan for man. He is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, the perfect realization of ideal being. And this means that the Incarnation of the Son of God is the central event of human history” (Word of the Shepherd. 2005. P. 388). About the main reasons for the Incarnation of Christ. thinkers of the East and West spoke differently. But His Holiness Patriarch Kirill considers God’s love for man to be the most reliable explanation: “Only moved by great love for the human race, God could send His Only Begotten Son to freely suffer and die on the cross” (Ibid. p. 84). However, the concept of love, according to Patriarch Kirill, in modern times. society has undergone such deformation that people are not able to see in it a motivating reason for their salvation (Ibid.). The message of God's love is a characteristic difference between the NT and the OT. “God loves us!” - this fundamental religion. truth reveals itself with great power precisely in God-manhood. The Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate and made man Son of God, lived his earthly life in strict accordance with the creative plan of God the Father, recreating in Himself the primordial nature of man. “...In Christ, God’s plan for man becomes a reality, and therefore the property of everyone who strives to realize it. Just as, by the law of heredity and solidarity, people inherited the sin of Adam, so by the same law they can inherit that deified human nature that was revealed in Jesus Christ. And in order to make this possible, the Lord gives people a special means that brings them into the closest relationship with Him. Such a means is life in a community of like-minded people who have the same faith in the Triune God and confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Son of Man, the Savior of the world. In this community of faith, that connection with Christ is achieved and realized, which helps a person to assimilate the saving fruits of the Redemption and restoration of human nature accomplished by Him. Such a community is the Church...” (The Shepherd’s Word. 2005. P. 391). The significance of the resurrection of Christ, after suffering and death on the cross, for all humanity is that “Christ is the first, but not the only and not the last in the series that He began. Resurrection is part of God’s plan for man, the property of all people. And just as Christ rose from the dead, so will each of us rise again. And this means that there is no death” (Ibid. p. 370).
The good news addressed to people, the testimony that Jesus Christ atoned for the sins of people, that salvation is in God, has been brought to this day by the living experience of the Church (Address to television viewers before the start of the live broadcast of the Easter service (04/24/2011) // Collected Works Ser. 2, 2013, p. 224). “...Redemption, culminating in victory over death,” says His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, “acquires significance for us only when we are ready to personally accept and assimilate its fruits, demonstrating through deed our determination to follow the Accomplisher of salvation. This is exactly what the apostle says: “...I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2.20)” (“Celebrating Easter”: Address to the readers of the “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” on the eve of the Holy Resurrection of Christ (21.04. 2011) // Collected works, Ser. 2, 2013, p. 216).
