Jesus is Jehovah!: 1B. What I mean by "Jesus is Jehovah"

Continuing from my previous post, part #2, "1A. Why I use `Jehovah' instead of `Yahweh'," with this part #3, "1B. What I

[Above (click to enlarge): "The Annunciation," by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1898, Philadelphia Museum of Art. That is, "the announcement by the angel Gabriel to a virgin called Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God." ("Annunciation," Wikipedia, 28 September 2011. I like Tanner's version of the Annunciation because it is so realistic.]

mean by "Jesus is Jehovah," of my new series, "Jesus is Jehovah!" by topic, which will be based on my morning `quiet time' Bible reading. See the Contents page for more details.

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JESUS IS JEHOVAH!
© Stephen E. Jones

Jesus is Jehovah!: Contents

1. INTRODUCTION

B. What I mean by "Jesus is Jehovah"
What I mean by "Jesus is Jehovah" is that Jesus of the New Testament is Jehovah (or Yahweh) of the Old Testament, come in the flesh.

That is, Jehovah God the Son, took upon Himself a human body and nature at His Incarnation in the womb of the Virgin Mary, while retaining His God-nature (Php 2:6; Jn 1:14).

"The Incarnation represents the belief that Jesus, who is the non-created second hypostasis of the triune God, took on a human body and nature and became both man and God":

"The Incarnation in traditional Christianity is the belief that the second person in the Christian Godhead, also known as God the Son or the Logos (Word), `became flesh' when he was miraculously conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The Incarnation is a fundamental theological teaching of orthodox (Nicene) Christianity, based on its understanding of the New Testament. The Incarnation represents the belief that Jesus, who is the non-created second hypostasis of the triune God, took on a human body and nature and became both man and God. In the Bible its clearest teaching is in John 1:14: `And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.' In the Incarnation, as traditionally defined, the divine nature of the Son was joined but not mixed with human nature in one divine Person, Jesus Christ, who was both `truly God and truly man'. The Incarnation is commemorated and celebrated each year at Christmas, and also reference can be made to the Feast of the Annunciation; `different aspects of the mystery of the Incarnation' are celebrated at Christmas and the Annunciation. This is central to the traditional faith held by most Christians. Alternative views on the subject ... have been proposed throughout the centuries (see below), but all were rejected by mainstream Christian bodies." ("Incarnation (Christianity)," Wikipedia, 10 September 2011).

"The doctrine of the Incarnation teaches that the eternal Son of God ... became human without in any manner or degree diminishing his divine nature":

"INCARNATION The doctrine of the Incarnation is taught or assumed throughout the Bible (e.g., John 1:14; Rom 8:3; Phil 2:5-11; 1 Tim 3:16). `Incarnation' is from the Latin meaning `becoming flesh,' that is, `becoming human.' The doctrine of the Incarnation teaches that the eternal Son of God ... became human without in any manner or degree diminishing his divine nature. In the process of ordinary birth, a new personality begins. The Virgin Birth was a miracle, wrought by the Holy Spirit, whereby the eternal Son of God `became flesh,' i.e., took a genuine human nature in addition to his eternal divine nature. It was a virgin birth, a miracle. The Holy Spirit has never been thought of as the father of Jesus. Jesus was fully God, the Second Person of the Trinity (Col 2:9), and genuinely human (1 John 4:2-3). The council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451 declared that Christ is `to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably ... the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person....' The Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 21 states: `The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man, in two distinct natures and one Person for ever.' The person who was God and with God `in the beginning' before the created universe is the same person who sat wearily at the well of Sychar, the same person who said, `Father, forgive them,' on the cross. The distinction of his natures means, and has always meant to the church, that Jesus is just as truly God as the Father and the Spirit are God, and at the same time, without confusion or contradiction, he is just as truly human as we are human." (Douglas, J.D. & Tenney, M.C., 2008, "Zondervan Bible Dictionary: New International Version," Zondervan: Grand Rapids MI, Reprinted, 2009, p.261. Emphasis original).

"The Word was God; the Word now becomes what he was not - flesh. Yet he became this without ceasing to be what he eternally was - God":

"INCARNATION. The words incarnation or incarnate do not occur in the Bible. Their two component parts, however, in carne, (en sarki), come several times in the NT, with a verb describing either the incarnation in itself or the work of the incarnate Christ. Thus, the Johannine Epistles speak of his `coming in the flesh' (I John 4:2; II John 7), Romans of his being `sent in the flesh' (Rom. 8:3), and the ancient hymn in I Timothy of his `appearing in the flesh' (I Tim. 3:16). On the other hand, the first Petrine Epistle says that he `suffered in the flesh' (I Pet. 4:1), and `died in the flesh' (3:18), Ephesians that he made peace by abolishing `in his flesh the enmity' (Eph. 2:15), and Colossians that `he made reconciliation in the body of his flesh' (Col. 1:21-22). But the central and most comprehensive verse is John 1:14, `And the word became flesh (kai ho Logos sarx egeneto).' We will explain incarnation by expounding these words. 1. ho Logos. The subject of this sentence, ho Logos receives its meaning and substance both from its object, sarx, and from the preceding verses. To him is ascribed eternity: `In the beginning was the Word'; relationship to the Deity: `And the Word was with God'; and quite bluntly and directly, Deity itself: `And the Word was God.' He is described as the maker of all created things: `All things were made by him'; the possessor and imparter of life: `In him was life and the life was the light of men'; and as being the true light.' Hence the Logos who became flesh was in himself eternal, God, the Creator, life and light. ... 2. sarx. ... The Word became a man .... The assumption of flesh by the Son of God involved a unity with sinful man sufficient for the bearing and destruction of sin, and able to do justice to such verses as Rom. 8:3 ('sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh'), II Cor. 5:21 ('he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin') and Gal. 3:13 ('Christ ... being made a curse for us'). 3. egeneto. This word must be taken in apposition to the four times repeated en of vss. 1-2. In the beginning the Word was, and was with God, and was God. But now the Word became flesh. That is, whereas the earlier verses had spoken of the continued state and activity of the Word, a completely new and different state and activity is now posited. The Word was God; the Word now becomes what he was not - flesh. Yet he became this without ceasing to be what he eternally was - God." (Parker, T.H.L., "Incarnation," in Harrison, E.F., Bromiley, G.W. & Henry, C.F.H., eds, 1960, "Bakers Dictionary of Theology," Baker Book House: Grand Rapids MI, Eleventh printing, 1982, pp.282-283. Emphasis original).

What I do not mean by Jesus is Jehovah is that the Father and Holy Spirit are therefore not Jehovah. As I have previously stated in my "Jesus is Jehovah in the New Testament" series:

"That Jesus is Jehovah does not preclude the other two Persons of the Holy Trinity (Mt 28:19; 2Cor 13:14; 1Pet 1:2), the Father (Dt 32:6; Isa 63:16; 64:8; Mal 1:6) and the Holy Spirit (Lk 4:18 = Isa 61:1; Acts 5:3-4,9; 2Cor 3:17), also being, as revealed in the New Testament, Jehovah: the one Triune God."

Or, as I put it in my post, "Re: Is Jesus Jehovah? Please answer the following #1":

"The Bible (in all mainstream translations by qualified scholars) reveals there is ONE Jehovah (Heb. Yahweh) God (Dt 6:4; Mk 12:29). Yet the Bible also reveals THREE who are called Jehovah:

1. The Father is Jehovah (Dt 32:6; Isa 64:8; Mal 2:10).

2. The Son is Jehovah (Mk 1:1-3; Jn 8:24,58; 12:41; 20:28; Rom 10:9; 1 Cor 8:6; 10:4; 12:3; Php 2:9-11; Heb 1:8-12; Jude 1:4-5; Rev 1:7-8,17; 2:8; 21:6; 22:13).

3. The Holy Spirit is Jehovah (Lk 4:1,18; Ac 5:3-9; 2Cor 3:17; Heb 3:7-11)."

So in affirming the Bible's teaching that Jesus is Jehovah, I am not denying the Bible's teaching that the Father and the Holy Spirit are also Jehovah. I am merely focusing on the first-mentioned Bible teaching, that Jesus is Jehovah, come in the flesh!

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My next post in this series, part #4, is "1C. Quotes by mainstream Christian authors that Jesus is Jehovah."

Stephen E. Jones, B.Sc., Grad. Dip. Ed.
My other blogs: CreationEvolutionDesign & The Shroud of Turin