We continued our study of "The Real Jesus" by discussing His Sonship and Deity and how they are interconnected on the 14th of September. He is the only begotten Son or "monogenes" which means that there is no other like Him. Here are our notes from the 14th.
1. Jesus is God (in essence and person) John 1:1
The Greek pronoun “pros” which is translated as with means that the Word was face to face WITH God. Compare with Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Joshua who hid their faces when they were in the presence of God! Another way to translate this passage and is brought out by Daniel Wallace. When John says "and the Word was God" can be said this way "What WAS the Word WAS." They are one in essence which affirms the deity of Jesus.
2. Jesus’ ministry began after He was baptized and after John was put in prison (Luke 2:21; Luke 3:15-17; Luke 3:23)
What was His ministry? (Mark 1:14,15; 1:35-36) Jesus came to gather up the children of God, to bridge the chasm that sin created and to establish the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus did not preach anything different from what John preached! When John was imprisoned after serving his purpose, Jesus stepped into is role and brought the ministry of establishing the kingdom of God to a climax at Calvary!
3. Why was He baptized and why did He wait until everyone else was baptized?
There are three reasons that Jesus, the Son, was baptized. All of which pointed to His Sonship.
1. Jesus was obedient to God’s word (Luke 3:3; Matthew 3:13-15; Luke 3:21)
John the Baptist had reservations about baptizing Jesus because John knew that Jesus was greater than he was. Before Jesus was immersed, He told John to permit it now because “We are right; we are fulfilling all righteousness”. Baptized is in the passive voice i.e. Jesus allowed Himself to be baptized. However, when Jesus commanded John to "permit it" the text uses an imperative verb. This shows Christ's obedience to the Father AND His supremacy over John. o
Jesus, in His humanity, was also subject to the laws of God (1 Corinthians 3:23; 1 Corinthians 15:28). When John preached that every human ought to repent and be baptized, Jesus Christ obliged because He was a human being (hypostatic union) who was also subject to God (The Father's) requirements. Jesus allowed Himself to be baptized because He did not want to diminish John’s ministry because he would eventually bring that ministry to completion.
2. His baptism was a picture of what he would endure (Death, burial, Resurrection).
According to Warren Wiersbe, this was a prophetic moment and a flash of His entire life at this baptism.
3. His baptism was confirmation in the physical realm of what was already known in the spiritual realm (John 1:29-31; 33; Luke 3:22).
John 1:30 states that John the Baptist was well aware that Jesus took precedence over him and was before him. The verse contains a phrase, "he existed before me" which contains a verb in perfect tense. This points to the pre-existence of Jesus well before the birth of John. In Luke 3:22, there are several events that happened that all pointed to one thing: Jesus Christ is the ONLY Son of God:
o God opened heaven UP
o The Holy Spirit came DOWN [pre-Pentecost]
o The Holy Spirit was upon Him as a dove
o A voice came from heaven (The verb came is in the middle voice which means that the Father made a conscious decision to proclaim that Jesus was the SON (came). The voice confirmed on earth what was already KNOWN in heaven:
YOU ARE MY SON; YOU ARE BELOVED; I AM PLEASED WITH YOU