One text commonly used to "prove" the Trinity is Matthew
26:63-68,
ο δε ιησους εσιωπα και ο αρχιερευς ειπεν αυτω εξορκιζω σε κατα του
θεου του ζωντος ινα ημιν ειπης ει συ ει ο χριστος ο υιος του θεου
63 But Jesus held his peace, And the high priest
answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us
whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
λεγει αυτω ο ιησους συ ειπας πλην λεγω υμιν απ αρτι οψεσθε τον υιον
του ανθρωπου καθημενον εκ δεξιων της δυναμεως και ερχομενον επι των νεφελων του
ουρανου
64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless
I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand
of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
τοτε ο αρχιερευς διερρηξεν τα ιματια αυτου λεγων εβλασφημησεν τι ετι
χρειαν εχομεν μαρτυρων ιδε νυν ηκουσατε την βλασφημιαν
65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He
hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye
have heard his blasphemy.
τι υμιν δοκει οι δε αποκριθεντες ειπαν ενοχος θανατου εστιν
66 What think ye? They answered and said, He is
guilty of death.
τοτε ενεπτυσαν εις το προσωπον αυτου και εκολαφισαν αυτον οι δε
εραπισαν
67 Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him;
and others smote him with the palms of their hands,
λεγοντες προφητευσον ημιν χριστε τις εστιν ο παισας σε
68 Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he
that smote thee?
There
are a few key features I wish to point out.
First, the word translated “blasphemy” is βλασφημίαν (pronounced blasphémian) . This is Strong’s
Greek number 988 which it defines it as “slander, detraction, speech injurious,
to another's good name, impious and reproachful speech injurious to divine
majesty.” Note: the Greek word used does
not necessarily mean that you are claiming to be God.
In
addition, the people mocked Jesus by saying, “thou Christ”, not “thou God”. This indicates that it was simply claiming to
be the Messiah that angered them.
What did the high priest mean when he said, “tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God”? We have our own 21st Century understanding
of this, but what did a Jew in the 1st Century mean by this? We need to look at the context of the culture
in which it was said, not today’s culture.
A good place to start is Psalms 2.
You should note that the word for “anointed” in verse 2 is (מָשִׁ֫יחַ)“mashiach” in the original Hebrew. The Greek form is (Χριστός)“christos”, where we get the word
“christ”. Christ, messiah, and anointed
are all simply different forms of the same word.
Psalms 2
למה רגשׁו גוים ולאמים יהגו־ריק
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
יתיצבו מלכי־ארץ ורוזנים נוסדו־יחד על־יהוה ועל־משׁיחו
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel
together, against the Lord, and
against his anointed (messiah/christ), saying,
ננתקה את־מוסרותימו ונשׁליכה ממנו עבתימו
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
יושׁב בשׁמים ישׂחק אדני ילעג־למו
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
אז ידבר אלימו באפו ובחרונו יבהלמו
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore
displeasure.
ואני נסכתי מלכי על־ציון הר־קדשׁי
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
אספרה אל חק יהוה אמר אלי בני אתה אני היום ילדתיך
7 I will declare the decree: the Lord
hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
שׁאל ממני ואתנה גוים נחלתך ואחזתך אפסי־ארץ
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
תרעם בשׁבט ברזל ככלי יוצר תנפצם
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in
pieces like a potter's vessel.
ועתה מלכים השׂכילו הוסרו שׁפטי ארץ
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the
earth.
עבדו את־יהוה ביראה וגילו ברעדה
11 Serve the Lord with
fear, and rejoice with trembling.
נשׁקו־בר פן־יאנף ותאבדו דרך כי־יבער כמעט אפו אשׁרי כל־חוסי
בו
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when
his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in
him.
The king
in this Psalm is a christ because he is God’s anointed. And he becomes a son of God by becoming God’s
anointed king. These three ideas are
connected: christ, son of God, king.
Let’s
look at what the Bible says about Solomon when he became God’s anointed
(christ) king.
2 Samuel 7:14
אני אהיה־לו לאב והוא יהיה־לי
לבן אשׁר בהעותו והכחתיו בשׁבט אנשׁים ובנגעי בני אדם
14 I will be his
father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with
the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
1
Chronicles 17:13
אני אהיה־לו לאב והוא יהיה־לי
לבן וחסדי לא־אסיר מעמו כאשׁר הסירותי מאשׁר היה לפניך
13 I will be his
father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as
I took it from him that was before thee:
Because
Solomon was an anointed king, he was a christ, a son of God. This is why The Christ, would be a king who
was the Son of God by virtue of being God’s anointed king. We must strip away our 21st
Century way of understanding these terms and see them as a 1st
Century Jew would see them. Then we can
understand what the high priest was asking Jesus. He was asking if Jesus was claiming to be
God’s special anointed king (Christ) who God would refer to as His Son.
This
explains why the Jews seem to use the terms “Son of God” and “King”
interchangeably when telling Pilate why Jesus should be crucified. The Christ was to be a divinely appointed
king referred to as the “Son of God”. Many
Jews taught that this Christ King would overthrow the Romans.
John
19:7-12
απεκριθησαν αυτω οι ιουδαιοι ημεις νομον εχομεν και κατα τον νομον
οφειλει αποθανειν οτι υιον θεου εαυτον εποιησεν
7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to
die, because he made himself the Son of God.
οτε ουν ηκουσεν ο πιλατος τουτον τον λογον
μαλλον εφοβηθη
8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
και εισηλθεν εις το πραιτωριον παλιν και
λεγει τω ιησου ποθεν ει συ ο δε ιησους αποκρισιν ουκ εδωκεν αυτω
9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence
art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
λεγει ουν αυτω ο πιλατος εμοι ου λαλεις ουκ
οιδας οτι εξουσιαν εχω απολυσαι σε και εξουσιαν εχω σταυρωσαι σε
10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou
not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
απεκριθη αυτω ιησους ουκ ειχες εξουσιαν κατ
εμου ουδεμιαν ει μη ην δεδομενον σοι ανωθεν δια τουτο ο παραδους με σοι μειζονα
αμαρτιαν εχει
11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except
it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath
the greater sin.
εκ τουτου ο πιλατος εζητει απολυσαι αυτον οι
δε ιουδαιοι εκραυγασαν λεγοντες εαν τουτον απολυσης ουκ ει φιλος του καισαρος
πας ο βασιλεα εαυτον ποιων αντιλεγει τω καισαρι
12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews
cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend:
whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
Let’s
look at the passage of Daniel that Jesus was alluding to.
Daniel
7:13-14
חזה הוית בחזוי ליליא וארו עם־ענני
שׁמיא כבר אנשׁ אתה הוה ועד־עתיק יומיא מטה וקדמוהי הקרבוהי
13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man
came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they
brought him near before him.
ולה יהיב שׁלטן ויקר ומלכו וכל עממיא אמיא ולשׁניא לה יפלחון
שׁלטנה שׁלטן עלם די־לא יעדה ומלכותה די־לא תתחבל
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that
all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which
shall not be destroyed.
The Son of man is a separate figure from the Ancient of days (God). He comes to the Ancient of days and receives
power from the Ancient of days. God has
power by virtue of being God. If He
needed to receive power, then He wouldn’t be God.
Also, the Bible plainly states that God is not a man, nor a Son of man.
Numbers
23:19
לא אישׁ אל ויכזב ובן־אדם ויתנחם ההוא אמר ולא יעשׂה ודבר ולא
יקימנה
19 “God is not man, that he should
lie, or a son of man,
that he should change his mind. Has he
said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill
it?” ESV
The Son
of man, in the Old Testament, also referred to the very human prophet
Ezekiel. How is the phrase God used for
a human prophet a sign of deity?
Ezekiel 2:1,
ויאמר אלי בן־אדם
עמד על־רגליך ואדבר אתך׃
And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon
thy feet, and I will speak unto thee."
This is vital to understanding the crucifixion story because the Romans
would not have bothered with executing a simple religious figure. They would, however, execute someone they saw
as a challenge to Roman authority.
Pilate made a sign indicating that he was executing Jesus for being the
“King of the Jews”.
John 19:19-20
εγραψεν δε και
τιτλον ο πιλατος και εθηκεν επι του σταυρου ην δε γεγραμμενον ιησους ο
ναζωραιος ο βασιλευς των ιουδαιων
19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it
on the cross. And the writing was Jesus
Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews.
20 τουτον ουν τον τιτλον πολλοι ανεγνωσαν
των ιουδαιων οτι εγγυς ην ο τοπος της πολεως οπου εσταυρωθη ο ιησους και ην
γεγραμμενον εβραιστι ρωμαιστι ελληνιστι
This title then read many of the Jews:
for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was
written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.
Part of Pilate’s willingness to execute
Jesus was due to the Jewish leaders rejecting Jesus as king and swearing
allegiance to Cesar.
John 19:15
εκραυγασαν ουν
εκεινοι αρον αρον σταυρωσον αυτον λεγει αυτοις ο πιλατος τον βασιλεα υμων
σταυρωσω απεκριθησαν οι αρχιερεις ουκ εχομεν βασιλεα ει μη καισαρα
15 But they cried out, Away with him,
away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King?
The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
If Jesus was to be executed for a
religious crime (like claiming to be God), it would have been by stoning, not
crucifixion. Crucifixion was how the
Romans executed political dissidents.
Now consider the motive the Bible gives
for their desire to kill Jesus.
John 11: 47-53
συνηγαγον ουν
οι αρχιερεις και οι φαρισαιοι συνεδριον και ελεγον τι ποιουμεν οτι ουτος ο
ανθρωπος πολλα ποιει σημεια
47 Then
gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we?
for this man doeth many miracles.
εαν αφωμεν αυτον ουτως παντες πιστευσουσιν εις αυτον και ελευσονται οι
ρωμαιοι και αρουσιν ημων και τον τοπον και το εθνος
48 If we let
him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take
away both our place and nation.
εις δε τις εξ αυτων καιαφας αρχιερευς ων του ενιαυτου εκεινου ειπεν
αυτοις υμεις ουκ οιδατε ουδεν
49 And one of
them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye
know nothing at all,
ουδε λογιζεσθε οτι συμφερει υμιν ινα εις ανθρωπος αποθανη υπερ του λαου
και μη ολον το εθνος αποληται
50 Nor
consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people,
and that the whole nation perish not.
τουτο δε αφ εαυτου ουκ ειπεν αλλα αρχιερευς ων του ενιαυτου εκεινου
επροφητευσεν οτι εμελλεν ιησους αποθνησκειν υπερ του εθνους
51 And this
spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that
Jesus should die for that nation;
και ουχ υπερ του εθνους μονον αλλ ινα και τα τεκνα του θεου τα
διεσκορπισμενα συναγαγη εις εν
52 And not
for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the
children of God that were scattered abroad.
απ εκεινης ουν της ημερας εβουλευσαντο ινα αποκτεινωσιν αυτον
53 Then from
that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.
Notice they didn’t say anything about
killing Jesus for claiming to be God.
This is in chapter 11, after Jesus’s “I AM” statement in chapter 8 and
“The Father and I are one” statement in chapter 10. If they really believed that Jesus was going
around claiming to be God, why didn’t they mention it in their debate? They clearly state that they want to kill
Jesus to make sure the Romans don’t see him as a threat to their power and send
an army. Now, we can see why, when Jesus
said he was the Christ, a kingly figure, they said this.
Matthew 26:65-66
65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He
hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye
have heard his blasphemy.
66 What think ye? They answered and said, He is
guilty of death.
The circumstances show that both the
Jewish and Roman reasons for wanting to kill Jesus were for claiming to be the
Christ, a kingly figure.
And, if
Jesus really was claiming to be God, then his resurrection should have been
proof of that. But both Peter and Paul
referred to Jesus as a man and differentiated him from God.
Acts
2:22-24, 36
Ανδρες
᾿Ισραηλῖται, ἀκούσατε τοὺς λόγους τούτους· ᾿Ιησοῦν τὸν Ναζωραῖον, ἄνδρα ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀποδεδειγμένον εἰς ὑμᾶς δυνάμεσι
καὶ τέρασι καὶ σημείοις οἷς ἐποίησε δι᾿ αὐτοῦ
ὁ Θεὸς ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν, καθὼς καὶ αὐτοὶ οἴδατε,
22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of
God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the
midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
τοῦτον
τῇ ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει τοῦ Θεοῦ ἔκδοτον λαβόντες, διὰ χειρὸς ἀνόμων
προσπήξαντες ἀνείλατε·
23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
ὃν ὁ Θεὸς ἀνέστησε λύσας τὰς ὠδῖνας τοῦ θανάτου, καθότι οὐκ ἦν δυνατὸν κρατεῖσθαι αὐτὸν ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ.
24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it
was not possible that he should be holden of it…..
ἀσφαλῶς
οὖν γινωσκέτω πᾶς οἶκος ᾿Ισραὴλ ὅτι καὶ Κύριον καὶ Χριστὸν
αὐτὸν ὁ Θεός ἐποίησε, τοῦτον τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν ὃν ὑμεῖς ἐσταυρώσατε.
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made
that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
1 Corinthians 8:6
ἀλλ᾿ ἡμῖν εἷς Θεὸς ὁ πατήρ, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς αὐτόν, καὶ
εἷς Κύριος ᾿Ιησοῦς Χριστός, δι᾿ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς δι᾿ αὐτοῦ.
But to us there is but one God, the Father,
of whom are all things, and we in him; and one
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and
we by him.
1 Timothy 2:5
εἷς γὰρ Θεός, εἷς καὶ μεσίτης Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἄνθρωπος Χριστὸς ᾿Ιησοῦς,
For there is one God, and one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
There is no direct
mention of Jesus claiming to be God. The
Jews and Romans only refer to Jesus’s claim to be the Messiah or king. The Greek word translated as “blasphemy” in
Matthew 26:65 means “slander, detraction, speech injurious, to
another's good name, impious and reproachful speech injurious to divine majesty”,
according to Strong’s. It does not
necessarily mean “claiming to be God”.
Now, some
may have taken Jesus’s statement about coming in the clouds of heaven as
claiming deity. But, they had a habit of
twisting Jesus’s words to be blasphemous for a man to say, when, according to
Jesus, they were not blasphemous.
