Jesus Became God Series
How and When Jesus became God Series — Part VIII.
How did Jesus become God when he never called himself God or declared or even considered himself God? Does the transfiguration help us understand that Jesus became God during the time witnessed by Moses, Elijah, and the three disciples? In the mount of transfiguration from the cloud came the voice saying: Matthew 3:17, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Mark 1:11 “You are my beloved Son; with you, I am well pleased.”; Luke 9:35 This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” Is this not enough, having proclaimed that Jesus is the Son of God?
2 Peter 1:17—When Jesus received honor and glory from the Father witnessed by Peter and other witnesses, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; Luke 3:22—And the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you, I am well pleased.”
In Matthew 17:5— while he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
John the Baptist, who, upon seeing Jesus, declared him the Son of God.
Yet already, as the New Testament acknowledges, a rift was beginning to emerge due to the speed with which thoughts about Jesus were developing. It is the rift between the first generation of Christians—the Jewish Christians—and the rapidly growing Gentile church spread by Paul.
The Jewish Christians, led by James and Peter, saw Jesus remained fully human like themselves. He fulfilled the role of the Messiah but was not himself divine. The Jewish Christians rejected the Virgin Birth and the doctrine of the Incarnation. The early Jewish Christians led by James had different thinking and views about Jesus. The Roman authorities kicked the group out of Jerusalem, the center of their contact with other believers. If Paul has something to do with it, nobody knows.
The Jews rejected them because of their faithfulness to Jesus, and they were not welcome anymore then followed by the Gentile rejection and accused them of heresy. So then, after being expelled from Jerusalem, rejected by the Jews, and finally, by the Gentiles, nobody hears from them anymore.
It was Gentile Christianity or Gentile church, shaped by Paul, which became some form of Christianity. The Gentile Christians increasingly saw Jesus through Paul’s view and the Greek followers’ eyes. Paul successfully established the Gentile church with his teaching, while at that time, the Jewish church led by the Apostles had no match with Paul handling the mind of the believers.
The gentile mind had no trouble regarding Jesus as divine. They saw him as the Son of God—the only Son of God. Paul’s disciple is not known as much about the coming of the Messiah as the Jews did. The word Christ (Christos) has been attached to Jesus and became part of his name, Jesus Christ, or just Christ. The Gnostic Christians say that Jesus only appeared to be a man but was wholly God since the beginning of time.
Part V The Chosen
Part VI Jesus Became Christ
Part VII Acceptance as Christ
Part VIII Jesus became God
Related topic: Jesus Human and Divine
