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Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath
Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath
Sam Shamoun
Bassam Zawadi wrote a paper
where he tries very hard to deny that Jesus was claiming to be God when he identified
himself as the Lord of Sabbath. He states that:
Now Christians argue that Jesus claimed to be Lord of the
Sabbath is something that only God could claim.
Well there are several replies to this. The first one is given by Sam Shamoun in
his debate with Sami Zaatri on the topic "Is Jesus God",
which can be downloaded here.
Sam Shamoun tried to show that Jesus calling him self the Lord of
the Sabbath means he declared himself to be God. Sami Zaatri replies back and says that it
is only a title of honor and that even the name Gabriel means "strong God". Sam
Shamoun replies back.
Sam Shamoun said in the 1st hour, 10th minute 25th second...
You assume that Gabriel is a title referring to the characteristic of the
angel. On the contrary, Gabriel is not a title signifying the nature of the angel but
signifying the God that the angel represents. Often times, persons and angels are given
names, which are depictive of the God that they serve. Example: eeneehoo means "My
God is he". That's not calling him God, its calling Yahweh his God. So often times
messengers are given names that signify and describe the God that they serve.
Sam Shamoun does not realize that he shot himself in the
foot. He said that terms like these could be given to messengers to signify the God that
they represent. So isn't it possible that this was a title given to Jesus to signify the
God that he came to represent?
RESPONSE:
First, I didn’t say "eenehoo" means "My God is he", but that
the name Elihu has this meaning.
Second, as I indicated the name Gabriel doesn’t signify the nature of the angel
but of the God whom the angel serves. Yet is this analogous to Jesus’ use of the
title "the Lord of the Sabbath"? Not at all since the text clearly demonstrates
that Jesus wasn’t attributing this title to the Father:
"So THE SON OF MAN IS Lord even of the Sabbath." Mark 2:28
Jesus expressly says that he as the Son of Man IS the Lord of the Sabbath. Christ
wasn’t applying this to the Father but to himself, to his own Person, since he,
not the Father, became the Son of Man. So my point still stands.
Moreover, here is what Gabriel has to say about the Lord Jesus:
"In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named
Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and
the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Hail, O favored one,
the Lord is with you!’ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in
her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be
afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your
womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and
will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of
his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom
there will be no end.’ And Mary said to the angel, ‘How shall this
be, since I have no husband?’ And the angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will
come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to
be born will be called holy, the Son of God.’" Luke 1:26-35
Gabriel is clearly NOT at all Jesus’ equal, but a creature that is subordinate and
subject to God’s beloved Son. In fact, angels like Gabriel are commanded to worship
Christ since he is their Sovereign Lord and Creator:
"For to what angel did God ever say, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten
you’? Or again, ‘I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son’?
And again, when he brings the first-born into the world, he says, ‘Let all
God's angels worship him.’ Of the angels he says, ‘Who makes his
angels winds, and his servants flames of fire.’ But of the Son he says, ‘Your
throne, O God, is for ever and ever, the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed
you with the oil of gladness beyond your comrades.’ And, ‘You, Lord, did found
the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish,
but you remain; they will all grow old like a garment, like a mantle you will roll them
up, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will never end.’
But to what angel has he ever said, ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies
a stool for your feet’? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve,
for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?" Hebrews 1:5-14
One inspired author was granted a vision where he saw all creation, not just the angels,
worshiping the Lord Jesus:
"And I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written
within and on the back, sealed with seven seals; and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with
a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?’ And
no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look
into it, and I wept much that no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to
look into it. Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep not; lo, the Lion of
the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and
its seven seals.’ And between the throne and the four living creatures
and among the elders, I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns
and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth;
and he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.
And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell
down BEFORE THE LAMB, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of
incense, which are the prayers of the saints; and they sang a new song, saying,
‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and by
your blood did ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and
have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth.’ Then
I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice
of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a
loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and
wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ And I heard EVERY
CREATURE in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein,
saying, ‘To him who sits upon the throne AND TO THE LAMB be blessing
and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!’ And the four living creatures said,
‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped." Revelation 5:1-14
Thus, Zawadi hasn’t simply shot himself in the foot; he has actually blown both
his feet right off by raising this issue!
As if this wasn’t bad enough note how he exposes his complete ignorance and
inability to understand what he reads and hears:
Also notice how Shamoun contradicts himself...
Sam Shamoun said in the 1st hour, 51st minute 52nd second...
I didn't say Jesus never said he was God. I didn't say that. Again you
misrepresent me even though I corrected that lie and distortion. I said while on
earth Jesus didn't say it because he had to safeguard the distinction of persons
between the Father and Son and first provide supernatural proof of who he is. Once that
was done, once he gave the convincing proof, once he established that he is not the Father
then after that he could speak of himself being as God.
Shamoun says that Jesus never claimed to be God while on
earth. However, Jesus said that he was the Lord of the Sabbath while he was on earth. So
according to Shamoun that means Jesus never claimed to be God by saying that statement.
But then Shamoun argues that Jesus did claim that he was God by calling himself the Lord
of the Sabbath. But Sam said that Jesus never declared it on earth. It is so clear how
Shamoun contradicts himself.
RESPONSE:
What Zawadi withholds from his readers is the reason why I gave the above answer.
Zaatari challenged me to show him where Jesus said, "I am God." Zaatari
didn’t ask me to show him where Jesus implied that he was God without having to say
those precise words. In fact, here is Zaatari’s challenge in his own words:
He never met my challenge of showing me where said I am God, something he said he would.
(Source: Zaatari's
debate review){1}
What I said was that Jesus never came out and said he was God in those exact words
while on earth since this may have resulted in some confusion. As the late NT Catholic
scholar Raymond E. Brown stated:
"The question concerns Jesus a Galilean Jew of the first third of the first
century, for whom ‘God’ would have a meaning specified by his background and
the theological language of the time. By way of simplification (and perhaps
oversimplification) let me say that I think by a Jew of that period ‘God’
would have been thought of as One dwelling in the heavens - among many attributes.
Therefore, a question posed to Jesus on earth, ‘Do you think you are God?’ would
mean did he think he was the One dwelling in heaven. And you can see that would have
been an inappropriate question, since Jesus was visibly on earth. As a matter of fact the
question was never asked of him; at most he was asked about his relationship to God."
(Brown, Responses to 101 Questions on the Bible [Paulist Press; Mahwah, N.J. 1990],
p. 98; bold emphasis ours)
As time went by the believers came to understand that Jesus wasn’t the Father
even though he was God in essence. This led them to the realization that the noun
"God" wasn’t limited to the Father but could be used in a broader sense
to refer to Christ as well without this implying that Jesus was the same Person as the
Father. As Brown puts it:
"… I would say that by that time (i.e. the last decade of the first century),
under the impact of their quest to understand Jesus, Christians had in a certain sense
expanded the meaning of the word ‘God.’ It no longer for them simply
covered the Father in heaven; it covered the Son on earth. They had come to realize
that Jesus was so intimately related to God, so filled with God's presence, that the
term God was applicable to him as it was to the Father in heaven. May I emphasis that
this does not involve a change in Jesus; it involves a change and growth in the Christian
perception of who he was." (Ibid., bold emphasis ours)
Brown says regarding whether Jesus believed he was God:
"Did Jesus have an identity which his followers later came to understand in terms
of his being God? If he was God (and most Christians do agree on that), did he know who he
was? I think the simplest answer to that question is yes." (Ibid. p. 99; bold
emphasis ours)
Another scholar, evangelical author Murray J. Harris, provides several reasons why the
noun "God" is infrequently used of the Lord Jesus by the NT writers without this
implying that they did not affirm or hold to Christ’s Deity:
"First, in all strands of the NT, theos generally signifies the Father…
When we find the expression theos pater we may legitimately deduce that ho theos
estin ho pater. And since pater refers to a particular person (not an attribute),
the identity between ho theos and ho pater as proper names
referring to persons must be numerical. ‘God’ must be equated with ‘the
Father.’ If Jesus were everywhere called theos so that in reference to him
the term ceased to be a title and became a proper noun like 'Iesous, linguistic
ambiguity would be everywhere present.
Another reason why theos regularly denotes the Father and rarely the Son is
that such a usage is suited to protect the personal distinction between the Son and
Father… which is preserved everywhere in the NT, but nowhere more
dramatically than where the Father is called ‘the God of our Lord Jesus Christ’
(Eph. 1:17) or ‘his God and Father’ (Rev. 1:6) and where Jesus speaks of
‘My God’ (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34; John 20:17; cf. Rev. 3:2, 12), or, in an
address to Jesus reference is made to ‘your God’ (Heb. 1:9). God was the one to
whom Jesus prayed, the one he called his Father (e.g., Matt. 11:25). It was ho logos,
not ho theos, of whom John said sarx egeneto (John 1:14).
Clearly related to this second reason is a third. The element of
‘subordinationism’ that finds expression not only in the four authors who use theos
as a christological appellation but also elsewhere in the NT may have checked any impulse
to use theos regularly of Jesus. By customarily reserving the term theos for
the Father, NT writers were highlighting the fact, whether consciously or unconsciously, that
while the Son is ‘subordinate’ to the Father, the Father is not
‘subordinate’ to the Son. One finds the expression ‘the Son of
God’ where God is the Father, but never ‘the Father of God’ where God is
the Son.
A fourth reason that may be suggested for the comparatively rare use of theos as
a christological ascription was the danger recognized by the early church that if theos
were applied to Jesus as regularly as to the Father, Jews would have tended to regard
Christianity as incurably deuterotheological and Gentiles would probably have viewed it as
polytheistic. If theos were the personal name of the Father and the Son,
Christians would have been hard pressed to defend the faith against charges of ditheism,
if not polytheism, however adamant their insistence on their retention of monotheism.
Fifth, behind the impulse generally to reserve the term theos for the Father lay
the need to safeguard the real humanity of Jesus against docetic or monophysitic sentiment
in its embryonic form. In the early years of the church there was a greater danger that
the integrity of the human ‘nature’ of Jesus should be denied than that his
divinity should be called into question, witness the fact that docetism not Arianism was
the first christological deviation.
Finally, the relative infrequency of the use of theos for Jesus corresponds to
the relatively infrequent use of ontological categories in NT Christology which is
functional in emphasis…" (Harris, Jesus As God - The New Testament Use of
Theos in Reference to Jesus [Baker Books; Grand Rapids, MI 1998], pp. 282-283; bold
and underline emphasis ours)
In light of the foregoing, it comes as no surprise that Jesus didn’t simply come
out and say, "I am God," while on earth. Christ affirmed his Divine identity in
other ways which insured that his audience wouldn’t assume that he was claiming to be
the Father.
As a helpful illustration of this point, note the way Jesus identified himself
as the Sabbath’s Lord:
"And he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is Lord of the
Sabbath.’" Luke 6:5
Christ says that he as the Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath. This is significant
since Jesus was identifying himself with the figure that the prophet Daniel saw:
"As I looked, THRONES were placed and one that was Ancient
of Days took his seat; his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head
like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire. A stream of
fire issued and came forth from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten
thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books
were opened… I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a Son of Man, and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and
kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is
an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that
shall not be destroyed." Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Daniel sees two figures, one whom he calls the Ancient of Days which is undoubtedly God
Almighty. He also sees the figure of a man who rides on the clouds of heaven, indicating
that this is entity is more than a human figure. This particular human is pictured as a
Divine being since he does what God is said to do, namely ride on the clouds of heaven:
"Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, thou art very great! Thou art clothed
with honor and majesty, who coverest thyself with light as with a garment, who hast
stretched out the heavens like a tent, who hast laid the beams of thy chambers on the
waters, who makest the clouds thy chariot, who ridest on the wings of the
wind," Psalm 104:1-3
"An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of
the Egyptians will melt within them." Isaiah 19:1
Furthermore, the very verb used here in reference to the Son of Man being served or
worshiped is used elsewhere in connection to the service given to God alone!
"Nebuchadnez'zar said, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abed'nego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set
at nought the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve
and worship any god except their own God.’" Daniel 3:28
Thus, we have a specific Son of Man who is a Divine figure that reigns over
all creation forever.
By identifying himself as the Son of Man Jesus made sure to safeguard the personal
distinction between he and the Father since his audience would have known from Daniel that
the Son of Man was personally distinct from the Ancient of Days. At the same time, Christ
confirmed his own Divine identity by calling himself the Son of Man and the Lord of the
Sabbath. More on the title Son of Man shortly.
Secondly, we should not forget that Jesus was GIVEN all
authority (Matthew 28:8[sic]) and therefore had the authority to break the Sabbath
with God's permission and will. Therefore, this was only a title of honor in order to
signify that authority GIVEN to hm.
RESPONSE:
First, Zawadi is obviously confused since he quotes a text where the post-resurrected
Christ is given authority to rule over all creation:
"But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek
Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come,
see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen
from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see
him. Lo, I have told you.’ And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Hail!’ And
they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said
to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they
will see me.’ … Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to
which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him;
but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to
the close of the age.’" Matthew 28:5-10, 16-20
In light of the foregoing, how can this passage prove Zawadi’s contention that
God permitted Jesus to "break" the Sabbath when the verse he is quoting is
referring to an authority that Christ received after his resurrection? If anything
this implies that Jesus shouldn’t have been doing the things he did on the Sabbath
since he hadn’t received any authority until much later. Yet Jesus did have the right
to do what he did and not merely because the Father granted him this right! Jesus could
work on the Sabbath because he is God. What Zawadi thought was a text proving his assertion
actually backfires against him and affirms the point we have been making.
Second, the authority that Jesus was given In Matthew 28:18 is that which he set aside
when he became a man. Christ relinquished his authority as ruler at the Incarnation in
order to become a servant:
"And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus
called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over
them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you;
but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first
among you must be your slave; even as the Son of man came not to be served but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’" Matthew 20:24-28
Christ later received back his authority as Sovereign King after completing the work
God sent him to do. For more on this issue please read the following articles:
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/q_authority_given.htm
http://answering-islam.org/Shamoun/q_father_greater.htm
Zawadi continues:
Thirdly, Jesus said that "
the Son
of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath" All
Christians agree that when Jesus calls himself the "Son of Man" then he is
emphasizing his human nature. Now how can Jesus' human nature claim to be God? Shouldn't
it be his Godly nature that does it?
RESPONSE:
To begin with, it is vital to remember that Jesus was identifying himself as the Son
of Man whom the prophet Daniel saw in an inspired vision. As we demonstrated earlier
Daniel’s Son of Man isn’t simply a human being, but rather he is a Divine Being
who happens to also be human. Thus, by calling himself the Son of Man Jesus was claiming
to be both human and Divine at the same time.
This is why Jesus could say that as the Son of Man he has authority to forgive sins,
something which God alone can do:
"And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘My son,
your sins are forgiven.’ Now some of the scribes were sitting there,
questioning in their hearts, ‘Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy!
Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ And immediately Jesus, perceiving in
his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, ‘Why do you
question thus in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, "Your sins
are forgiven," or to say, "Rise, take up your pallet and walk"? But
that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins’
-- he said to the paralytic – ‘I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go
home." And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went out before them all;
so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like
this!’" Mark 2:5-12
It also explains why Jesus could say that as the Son of Man he will judge all the
nations in order that all may give him the same exact honor that God receives:
"When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with
him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered
all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the
sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the
left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave
me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick
and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will
answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or
thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or
naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to
one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’ Then he will say
to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was
thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and
you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also
will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a
stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?’ Then he
will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least
of these, you did it not to me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but
the righteous into eternal life." Matthew 25:31-46
"The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all
may honor the Son, EVEN AS they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father who sent him… and has given him authority to execute
judgment, because he is the Son of man." John 5:22-23, 27
In fact, Jesus as the Son of Man sits at God’s right hand and comes again
on the clouds with his angels to gather his elect:
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and
the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of
man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the
Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out
HIS angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather HIS elect
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matthew 24:29-31
"But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and
Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, ‘Behold, I see the
heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.’"
Acts 7:55-56
The foregoing conclusively shows that when the title Son of Man is used of Christ it
doesn’t simply refer to his humanity. It is also an allusion to his Deity, to his
Divine identity.
More importantly, Zawadi fails to realize that Jesus and the NT writers may use a
specific title for Christ that applies to one of his natures even though they may have his
other nature in view. This is because even though Christ has two distinct natures he is
still one Divine Person. Putting it simply, the one Person of Jesus has both divine and
human properties by virtue of having two natures, divine and human, simultaneously. These
distinct sets of properties coexist together in the One Person of Christ.
As such, the NT can address Christ as the Son of Man, man etc., in contexts where his
Deity is in view and can refer to him as God’s Son, Lord etc., in situations where
his humanity is being emphasized. In order to illustrate this point more clearly please
note the following texts:
"No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son
of man." John 3:13
"Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before?"
John 6:62
Jesus can speak of himself as the Son of Man who came down from heaven even though he
only took on flesh when he came to the earth. Prior to the virgin birth Jesus didn’t
exist with a human nature and therefore wasn’t a Son of Man.
"None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory." 1 Corinthians 2:8
Paul affirms Christ’s Deity by calling him the Lord of glory and also confirms his
full humanity by referring to his crucifixion. Yet since Christ is one Person with two
natures, Paul can say that the Lord of glory was crucified even though it was the humanity
of Jesus, his physical body, which was nailed to the cross.
For more on this point please consult the following paper:
http://www.carm.org/doctrine/properties.htm
Fourthly, no where do we even see that the Jews accused Jesus
of blasphemy when he said this statement.
RESPONSE:
First of all, it is irrelevant whether the Jews accused Jesus of blasphemy or not. What
is relevant is whether Christ is affirming his Deity by using titles which belong to God alone.
Second, Jesus’ statement that he is Lord over the Sabbath was made in direct response
to the Jews taking offense at Christ and his followers working on this sacred day:
"At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; his disciples
were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw
it, they said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the
Sabbath.’ He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did, when he was
hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of
the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but
only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in
the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater
than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, `I desire
mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For
the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath.’ And he went on from there, and
entered their synagogue. And behold, there was a man with a withered hand. And they asked
him, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath?’ so that they might accuse him. He
said to them, ‘What man of you, if he has one sheep and it falls into a pit on the
sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a
sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’ Then he said to the man,
‘Stretch out your hand.’ And the man stretched it out, and it was restored,
whole like the other. But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him,
how to destroy him.’" Matthew 12:1-14
Jesus not only claimed to be master over the Sabbath but that he was also greater than
the temple itself! In order to appreciate the full implications of such a statement note
what Christ says about the temple in his showdown with the Jewish rulers:
"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If any one swears by the temple, it is
nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold
sacred? And you say, ‘If any one swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if any one
swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! For
which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So he who swears by
the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and he who swears by the temple, swears
by it AND BY HIM WHO DWELLS IN IT; and he who swears by heaven,
swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it." Matthew 23:16-22
The temple was the place that housed the very presence of God, the earthly location
where God dwelt. Christ saying that he is greater than the temple is the height of
blasphemy since no creature could dare make such an assertion; that is unless, of course,
Jesus is God and can therefore say such things without blaspheming!
Jesus defended his actions by saying that he could do things that others could not do,
as well as permit his followers to do likewise, because he has authority over the Sabbath
and is greater than the temple. And as the above text expressly shows, Jesus’
response and actions is what led the Pharisees to eventually want to kill him.
This isn’t the only time that Jesus evoked such a reaction for working on the
Sabbath:
"After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda,
having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and
withered… A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him
lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to
him, ‘Do you wish to get well?’ The sick man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no
man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another
steps down before me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and
walk.’ Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.
Now it was the Sabbath on that day. So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured,
‘It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.’ But
he answered them, ‘He who made me well was the one who said to me, "Pick up your
pallet and walk."’ They asked him, ‘Who is the man who said to you,
"Pick up your pallet and walk"?’ But the man who was healed did not know
who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. Afterward
Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘Behold, you have become well; do not
sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.’ The man went away, and told the
Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason the Jews were persecuting
Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. But He answered them, ‘My
Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.’ For this reason therefore the
Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking
the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God."
John 5:1-3, 5-18
Jesus essentially justifies his actions by affirming his equality to the Father. Jesus
reasons that just as God is not bound to keep Sabbath since he is Sovereign over it and
can therefore work on this day, in a similar fashion Christ can also work on it since he
is God’s Son and the Sabbath’s Lord. It is little wonder that the Jews tried
even harder to kill him since they understood what he was saying.
Moreover, since Zawadi appealed to the Jews as a gauge to measure whether Christ
claimed to be God, here are several places where the Jews wanted to kill the Lord Jesus
for his Divine claims which they took to be blasphemous:
"‘Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, he will never see
death.’ The Jews said to him, ‘Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died,
as did the prophets; and you say, "If any one keeps my word, he will never taste
death." Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who
do you claim to be?’ Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory is
nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is your God. But you
have not known him; I know him. If I said, I do not know him, I should be a liar like you;
but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to
see my day; he saw it and was glad.’ The Jews then said to him, ‘You
are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them,
‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’ So
they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of
the temple." John 8:51-59
"And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, ‘Have you no
answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?’ But he was silent and
made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the
Blessed?’ And Jesus said, ‘I AM; and you will see the Son of man seated at the
right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’ And the high priest tore
his garments, and said, ‘Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his
blasphemy. What is your decision?’ And they all condemned him as
deserving death." Mark 14:60-64
"The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and by that law he ought to die,
because he has made himself the Son of God.’" John 19:7
Will Zawadi now accept that Jesus made Divine claims in light of the reaction of the
Jews? We highly doubt that he will and are pretty certain that this last point of his is
nothing more than another desperate attempt of evading the plain meaning of Jesus’
words.
As one can see from the foregoing, Zawadi’s rebuttal is desperately weak and will
fail to convince any objective person that Jesus wasn’t claiming to be God when he
identified himself as the Lord of the Sabbath.
And we now conclude with some advice to Zawadi:
Please make sure you have carefully understood what you have read
and heard since this will save you from being embarrassed and exposed for distorting
people’s statements. This will also prevent the impression that you are nothing more
than a fraud and deceiver for perverting what others say. If you continue this path of
distortion then this will make it obvious that you can do nothing better than to attack
straw men and/or throw out red herrings.
Bassam Zawadi responded to this article, and the discussion continues:
1,
2, 3.
Notes:
{1} It is vital that we address Zaatari’s assertion that I never met his challenge
during the debate. The truth is that Zaatari ran from the debate before I ever got the
chance to answer him. In fact, he was suppose to debate a second topic right after we had
finished the first one, but he conveniently made excuses to leave the Paltalk room since
it became apparent that he was in way over his head and couldn’t refute the material
which was being leveled against him. Zaatari apparently realized that he was losing and so
needed to find a reason to run and save face.
Here is the passage which I was prepared to present during the debate in answer to his
challenge:
"And I heard a loud voice saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God (tou theou -
the God) is with men, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people
and God (ho theos - the God) himself will dwell with them and be their God.’
He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he
said, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him
who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.
He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be HIS GOD and he will be my son.’"
Revelation 21:3-7
The evidence strongly supports the view that Jesus is speaking in these references.
For instance, Christ is said to be the God who comes to dwell with mankind:
"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him
Immanuel’- which means, ‘God (ho theos - the God) with us.’"
Matthew 1:22-23
"teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo,
I AM with you ALWAYS, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20
The Lord Jesus promises to be with all believers till the end of the age, which is a
claim of omnipresence! Since God alone is omnipresent this provides additional evidence
that Christ claimed to be God.
Furthermore, Jesus in Revelation identifies himself as the Alpha and Omega,
the Beginning and the End:
"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand
on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the
Living One; I WAS DEAD, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the
keys of death and Hades.’" Revelation 1:17-18
"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is
the First and the Last, who died and came to life again." Revelation 2:8
The First and the Last is just another way of saying that Christ is the Alpha and the
Omega, the Beginning and the End. Interestingly, both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Quran
agree that the First and the Last is a title of God:
"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:
‘I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.’"
Isaiah 44:6
"Hearken to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am He,
I am the first, and I am the last." Isaiah 48:12
He is the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward;
He has knowledge of everything. S. 57:3 Arberry
This in itself sufficiently proves that Jesus claimed to be God since only God can call
himself by this title.
Moving on:
"And he said to me, ‘These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord,
the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent HIS ANGEL to show his servants what
must soon take place. And behold, I AM COMING SOON.’ Blessed is he who keeps
the words of the prophecy of this book… Behold, I AM COMING SOON! My
reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End… I,
Jesus, have sent MY ANGEL to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the
Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star’… He who testifies
to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. COME, LORD JESUS."
Revelation 22:6-7, 12-13, 16, 20
It is Jesus who is the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets that sent his angel
and is coming soon, who expressly identifies himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the
Beginning and the End!
And here is the final line of evidence connecting Jesus with the Divine Speaker of
Revelation 21:6-7:
"For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he
will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes." Revelation 7:17
Jesus the Lamb does what God in 21:7 says he will do, give believers to drink from the
spring of living water. This isn’t the only place where Jesus is said to do this:
"Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you
for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living waters’
… Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but
whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him
will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’"
John 4:10, 13-14
"On the last day, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is
thirsty, let him come to ME and drink. Whoever believes in ME, as the
Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’"
John 7:37-38
Thus, the foregoing presents a very strong case that Jesus is the One who identifies
himself as the God of all believers in Revelation 21:6-7. At the very least, the above
texts show that Jesus claims and ascribes to himself the very functions and titles of
God Almighty.
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