There are many who identify as Christian, yet deny the divinity of Christ and assert that Jesus was simply God’s son. A very special man but merely a man nonetheless. With simplistic and shallow logic, expressed through infantile questions such as, “If Jesus was God, who did He pray to?” or “Why didn’t Jesus come out and say that He was God? Was he shy about his deity?”, Jesus is perceived as fully human and not fully God.
I have written in the past of how it was incumbent upon Jesus to be ambiguous about His true identity in order to preserve His life until the appointed time (The Biblical Jesus, Sept. 16, 2023). In this article, I would like to focus upon the uniqueness of the gospel of John compared to the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, insofar as Jesus is clearly depicted as God’s self revelation in John’s gospel.
The synoptic gospels were written approximately twenty years before John penned his perspective. “The disciple Jesus loved,” ministered in Ephesus for many years and it was from there that he wrote his gospel, possibly to dispel false teachings and heresies that had arisen after the first three gospels had been circulated. As the last surviving disciple, one can surmise that he took it upon himself to defend the truth about Jesus and set the record straight concerning His purpose, messiahship and deity in a unique and profound testimony.
Since John makes no mention of the fall of Jerusalem nor the destruction of the temple, it is rational to accept that he wrote his gospel prior to AD 70, when these significant events took place.
John’s Pivotal Perspective
From the outset of his narrative, John clearly intimates that Jesus and God are one and the same, as is evidenced in John 1:1-2, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” The similarity to the opening verses of Genesis is very likely intentional and the implication that the Word was active when God spoke and brought about the existence of the universe and everything in it, cannot be escaped.
In no uncertain terms, Jesus is portrayed as an extension of the Godhead (Paul aligns with this position in Colossians 2:9). John explicitly states in John 1:18, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only Son, who is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known.” The multi-dimensional nature of God is evident in this proclamation, and after His ascension, Jesus once again took up His position at the right hand of God.
Again in John 6:46, Jesus’ revelation to the Jews that, “No one has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father.”, underpins this concept. These passages allude to the declaration of Exodus 33:20, that states that no one can look upon God’s face and live. This assertion significantly differentiates natural men (as Moses was) and Jesus in a distinct and concise way.
This truth is undoubtedly reinforced by the words of Jesus recorded in John 14:9 in His response to Philip’s question. “Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
John’s pronouncement that, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who comes from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14), further demonstrates the idiosyncratic phenomenon of the incarnation.
Nothing Is Impossible With God
Our finite minds cannot fathom the infinite nature of God to accomplish what we deem impossible. On this notion, the synoptic gospels concur. Luke 1:37 states, “For nothing is impossible with God.” In Matthew 19:26, Jesus says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” And Mark 10:27 records Jesus similarly informing the disciples, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
John’s emphasis of Jesus elevating the provision of God from the manna that sustained Israel in the desert (Exodus 16) to Himself, illustrates not “what”, but “who” the true bread of life is. “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:33). The subsequent discourse (John 6:48-58) demonstrates the difficulty in comprehending that Jesus is indeed the giver of life, and many of His students discontinued following Him. They perceived His words in a strictly physical interpretation rather than the spiritual context He intended.
Indeed, this is the very same understanding that is conveyed in Genesis 2:17, that eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil will bring about death that very day. Adam and Eve died spiritually when they consumed the fruit. Conversely, Jesus offers spiritual life when we truly believe. This contrast is proclaimed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:22, where he wrote, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”
The words of Jesus in John 6:62-63 convey the consistent and unwavering truth that He not only came from heaven, He is equal with the Holy Spirit in providing life. “What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh accounts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”
Jesus Is God
The theme that Jesus is unequivocally indistinguishable from God resonates throughout John’s gospel and is the prevalent characteristic that John emphatically professes in his writings. He wills his audience to concede that Christ’s deity is undeniable and that He is the source of eternal life, which requires an eternal impetus.
The renowned “I Am” statement recorded in John 8:58 is a case in point. When the Jews persisted in exalting Abraham, Jesus’ brilliant rebuttal provokes his audience to immediately pick up stones to stone Him for blasphemy. “’I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I AM!'” Not only does Jesus imply His eternal nature, He also correlates the term to God’s name as revealed to Moses in Exodus 3 at the burning bush.
In chapter 11 of his gospel, John illustrates Christ’s authority over death when He raises His friend Lazarus who had been in the tomb for four days. Jesus told Martha that Lazarus would rise again, which she interpreted as “in the resurrection at the last day.” (John 11:24). Then, in verse 25, Jesus profoundly reveals. “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will never die.”
The significance of this statement cannot be downplayed. It is both a confession of sovereignty and a proclamation that He is above death and is indeed life itself. That He is the Creator of life. It constitutes a self identification can only be construed as God’s self revelation.
In the fourteenth chapter of John, in the sixth verse, Jesus once again boldly sets himself above all men and all pursuits of God, with the pronouncement, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Only Christ can truthfully make this claim. Jesus is the only path to heaven because God is the only way to God.
Furthermore, Matthew 7:13-14 records Jesus teaching about the narrow gate that leads to life, while John emphasizes the Jesus Himself is the gate. “I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved.” (John 10:9). Christ alone is our conduit to everlasting life. He alone is our salvation.
We are reminded of this in Acts 4:12, where Peter and John stood before the Sanhedrin and boldly proclaimed, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Questions such as “If Jesus was God, who did He pray to when He prayed?” neglect to recognize the plurality of God that pre-existed before the creation of man. Genesis 1:26 records God saying “Let Us make Man in our image, in Our likeness…” How can the finite comprehend the infinite? How can mere man comprehend what is incomprehensible to him? How can natural man discern what is spiritual unless the Spirit opens his mind? (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).
John 17 records Jesus’ supplication to the Father on the night He was betrayed. His divinity and pre-eminence are evident in His words as He articulates that He is as eternal as the Father. “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. (John 17:4-5).
There are significant differences between the synoptic gospels and the gospel of John. Yet they are complimentary portraits of the Christ. They contrast yet do not conflict. John’s gospel addresses the divinity of Jesus in a comprehensive and decisive revelation of His true identity, without pulling punches regarding His exclusivity as Messiah.
Yet through his humanity, Jesus touches our hearts in a gentle and compassionate plea to repent with great mercy and love. Jesus is love. Indeed. God is love (1 John 4:16).
