3. SON OF MAN, SON OF GOD AND PROPHET
Jesus was very aware that he was only a man. That is why he usually referred to himself as the Son of Man and only once as the Son of God.
Even though God spoke through him, Jesus had no aspiration to be like God. He was content being a bond-servant (i.e. spokesperson/prophet) for God with no desire to be personally exalted. Jesus always deferred to Father God and put God ahead/above himself. If he thought of himself as being equal to God, he would not have put God above himself. He was a servant of God who spoke for God — nothing more.
COMMENTARY ON THE TRINITY: The simple fact that Jesus always deferred to Father God spoils the doctrine of the trinity. He is/was one of a multitude of prophets that God has sent, and continues to send, to speak for him.
As a son of man, there was nothing intrinsically divine about Jesus. The only thing that made Jesus special was the anointing that empowered him to speak for God.
STUDY TIP: See JESUS DID NOT IMAGINE HIMSELF TO BE EQUAL TO GOD for more commentary on the trinity.
It was said of Jesus by others that he was the Son of God. And God himself said that Jesus was his son. Jesus strongly implied that he was the Son of God by referring to God as his father, and he never denied that he was the Son of God, but he never came right out and said that he was the Son of God. This attitude agrees with statements that Jesus made about not testifying about himself.
| STUDY TIP: There were only two facts about Jesus that were like God: | |
Except for these qualities, Jesus was a son of man and nothing more. Because he knew his limitations and his calling as a true prophet, he never represented himself as anything more than a son of man. |
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| STUDY TIP: There is one very important fact about Jesus that confirms that he was not like God: | |
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It is important to recognize that Jesus never outwardly claimed to be the Son of God. He had every right to do so because he was born again, but he never said it of himself. Thus we must ask the question: Why did he never really came out with a clear statement about himself that he was the Son of God?
The answer is that it is not necessary for messiahs or prophets to testify about themselves. Jesus and other messiahs trust God to witness to others abut their son-ship. It is not necessary, therefore, for them to testify (i.e. make a public statement) about themselves. Sons of God know who they are, and they knew that God knows that they are sons of God. If someone else finds it necessary to make a pronouncement about their son-of-God status, they could do that, of course, but true sons-of-God like Jesus would never make such public claims about themselves.
If anyone recognizes that Jesus is a son of God, God would be the one to make that truth known to that person by speaking that truth to their hearts. People who could hear God’s voice recognized that Jesus was a son of God because they understood that Jesus spoke for God. And they believed his words. On the other hand, people who could not hear God’s voice did not know that he was a son of God because they did not understand that he was speaking for God and did not understand his words because they had hard hearts. This is true today just like it was true in Jesus’ day.
People who could not hear God’s voice plotted to kill Jesus because they thought his words blasphemed God. Because they were not able to discern between good and evil, they called good evil and evil good. They thought that Jesus was evil and thought that religion was good. That was true in Jesus’ day and is still true today.
We see these principles in this scripture:
John 5:31-34: If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true; 32 there is another who bears witness to me, and I know that the testimony which he bears to me is true. 33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony which I receive is from man; but I say this that you may be saved.
COMMENTARY: This says that testimonies (e.g. affirmations, attestations, claims, etc.) that people make about themselves are not true. This will be a hard fact to accept for Jews and Christians who are very quick to make claims about their spirituality and their relationship with God.
STUDY TIP: See this link for more about making personal claims about being sent by God.
People who practice public religion as a way seeking praise from men do so in contrast to Jesus’ teachings and practice.
STUDY TIP: See this link about public prayer.
By identifying themselves as Jews or Christians, they self-testify about their relationship to God. On their own authority, they make names for themselves that identify them as sons of God. They do this so that people will praise them and idolize them as spiritual people who have special relationships with God and special gifts from God. And the ones who are especially full of pride, will earn income from this imagined relationship with God.
Servants whom God sends to speak for him have no need to self-testify about their relationship with God. They trust that God will testify (i.e. make known) to others in their hearts that they speak for God.
Jesus did not find it necessary to make claims about his son-ship because he only cared what God thought and said about him. He sought no glory or praise for himself. Moreover, he rebuked religious people who sought the praise of men. Therefore, it is contrary to Jesus’ teaching that Christians should praise Jesus as an equal of God and set him up as their king instead of God. Those who do think of him as an equal to God have stumbled over Jesus.
In John 5:31-34 we learn that people who make personal claims about their relationship with God (i.e. saying “I am a son of God” or “I am a child of God,” or “I am a Christian” or “I am a believer,” or “I am a prophet,” or I have been called by God to preach,” etc.) do so in violation of Jesus’ teaching and practice. They are only making names for themselves for selfish, prideful purposes.
Even though Jesus did not personally claim that he was the son of God, some — but not all — men were convinced that Jesus was the son of God. What convinced them was the burning in their hearts that convinced them that Jesus spoke for God by explaining the mystery of scripture to them. That is a big deal, of course, but that does not make Jesus unique. Anyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear will get the same reaction when they hear God speak through a true prophet.
The truth is that all who are born by the spirit (i.e. New Covenant disciples) are sons/children of God. He is the forerunner of all New Covenant disciples and the model for all who follow him.
COMMENTARY ON FOLLOWING JESUS: Christians have a very dumbed down view of what it means to follow Jesus. As with all things religious, following Jesus is all about doing religious things. This contrasts, of course, with God’s focus which is on the inner man (i.e. the heart) — not on external appearances or religious behaviors.
For Christians, following Jesus is a matter of following religious laws written by men. Christians do not understand that what God wants, and what Jesus did, was follow God’s spiritual laws written on his the heart by the spirit of God. This is what God expects of everyone. God wants people to rest from religious activity — not be busy with religious activity. Resting from religious activity is the essence of the Fourth Commandment
In practical terms, this means that Jesus, and those who follow him, serve God as true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, and warriors. True followers know that they serve God in these functions and they know that God knows that they serve God in these ways. They have no need or desire to announce this fact to anyone. Furthermore, they have no need or desire to participate in religious rituals and traditions.
Jesus is the perfect example of all who are born again by the spirit of God. He is not God, but he is the is the perfect example of a New Covenant disciple. His spiritual brothers and sisters are also New Covenant disciples who have God’s spiritual laws written on their hearts. They have Jesus’ personal qualities and fulfill his ministry functions. They are followers because they are born again, just like Jesus was born again.
Jesus was not always a son of God. He was a son of man until he was baptized by the spirit of God. He was born into a religious family and observed Jewish religious laws until he was baptized
STUDY TIPS: See this link for more about Jesus’ religious history. See this link for understanding of Jesus’ baptism.
It was only at the moment of his baptism by the spirit of God that God recognized Jesus as his son. That is the point at which God’s laws were written on his heart. That is the point at which he stopped being religious and began his ministry of destroying religious structures and institutions.
STUDY TIP: See this link for more about baptism.
See Jesus and the Money-Changers in the Temple for understanding of Jesus’ ministry. See this link for descriptions of Jesus’ ministry.
The baptism story is not unique to Jesus. It is the story of all New Covenant disciples who are baptized by God’s word (i.e. spirit.) They spend a season of their lives as Old/First Covenant religionists before God gives them a new heart. This is the miracle of creation that awaits all New Covenant disciples.
STUDY TIP: See Religious Rituals and Traditions: Circumcision, Baptism, Communion for more about the tradition of baptism.
The story of Jesus exists in the Bible to give a picture of how it will be for all New Covenant disciples. If Jesus’ story was unique to him, it would be only his history and would not be useful for training in personal righteousness by others.
What we should learn from Jesus’ life before baptism and life after baptism is that a change of status from Son of Man to Son of God should be common to all New Covenant disciples. What is really interesting, however, is that even after Jesus became a Son of God, he still referred to himself as a Son of Man. This confirms that he was content with being a bond-servant (i.e. spokesperson, prophet) for God and that he had no desire to be personally exalted.
Instead of exaltation, we find that Jesus carefully avoided being labeled as a son of God and avoided doing the things that religious people do to be noticed so that they might be labeled as “sons of God”. In avoiding public labeling, he practiced what he preached about humility and self-exaltation. For Jesus, his focus was/is all about his words (i.e. his teaching)— not about what he did and not about being seen. His words were the most important thing because he knew that when he spoke he was speaking for God. That was his ministry: teacher and prophet.
COMMENTARY ON PROPHETS: Jesus never directly referred to himself as a prophet. Being careful that he did not testify about himself, he was content to let others draw their own conclusions. This attitude is a clear contradiction to the practices of contemporary prophets who are quick to self-declare that they are prophets who speak for God.
Jesus was a true prophet who did not identify himself as a prophet. False prophets who have created prophetic ministries for themselves always identify themselves as prophets and teachers. They find it necessary to label themselves and advertise their ministries because it would be very hard for them to get jobs as ministers (e. g. pastors, priests, authors, musicians, rabbis, teachers, professors, etc.) in the world of commercial religion.
Considering Jesus’ teachings and personal habits, it is accurate to say that he was an advocate of secrecy and anonymity — not of publicity. He practiced what he preached about public displays of righteousness. We would expect that of Jesus, but his faithfulness to these principles does complicate efforts to find physical evidence of him. It is little wonder, therefore, that so many people have failed in their efforts to prove that he existed.
Being enigmatic, and invisible is what we should expect from a true son of God because a son of God, should, as much as possible, try to be like his father. Therefore, it was more important to Jesus that he be invisible and heard than visible. That is God’s attitude about himself. This attitude is very different, of course, from religious people who are always working to make names for themselves by doing religious things that can be seen.
Instead of having his pride nourished by the praise of men, Jesus’ food (i.e. what nourished him spiritually) was doing his father’s will which was to be God’s spokesperson (i.e. one who hears God’s spoken voice in his heart and reports and interprets what he hears to people who cannot hear God’s spoken voice because they have hard hearts.)
STUDY TIP: When Jesus heard God’s voice and reported to others what he heard, he fulfilled the scripture that says that Jesus’ name is Immanuel (i.e. God with us.)
This does not mean that Jesus the human person or his human name represented God because his name is his character. Furthermore, it is impossible for any physical object, including a human person, to represent God who is invisible and spiritual.
The only way that God can be known and experienced is when we hear his voice in our hearts. This can happen when God speaks directly to our hearts or speaks to us through a true prophet.
Jesus was a true prophet. Therefore, Jesus represented God in the hearts of people who heard his voice in their hearts. Thus, it can be said that Jesus’ voice — not Jesus the human person — was God with people. In other words, anyone who speaks for God manifests the spirit of God in the heart of anyone whose heart is open and receptive to hear God’s spoken voice.
It is worth repeating that, for Jesus, the thing that was important about him was his words. Everything else, including physical evidence that he lived, will pass away. Only Jesus’ words, which are really God’s words, will live on because God exists in his words which are eternal. Words are the only way that God reveals himself, and the only way we know God is when his laws are written on our hearts.
These truths support the scripture that says that the testimony (i.e. words spoken) of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Or, to rephrase that principle, God’s spiritual words spoken through Jesus are the essence of God’s spirit and the essence of Jesus.
What this means for us in our current search to understand Jesus is represented in these few points:
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- The important thing about Jesus is that he spoke (i.e. prophesied) for God.
- God is spirit.
- God’s words are spirit.
- Jesus is the spirit of God speaking through a human.
- Jesus is a perfect example of the spirit of God speaking through a human.
- True followers of Jesus replicate the example of Jesus.
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People who follow Jesus do what he did. Thus, they speak for God like Jesus did. They are true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, and warriors. Fulfilling these functions is how they serve (i.e. worship) God.
Furthermore, people who follow Jesus do not practice any kind of religion. In fact, like Jesus, they are lawbreakers. This is what happens to people whom God calls out of religion.