Page 20 - Christology - Student Textbook

50
word paraklētos (“Helper,” “Intercessor,” or “Advocate).” Gerhard Kettle and Gerhard Friedrich
51
notes the same meanings as well.” Caution to our interpretation of paraklētos should be exercised
as it does not always refer to the Holy Spirit. In some passages, paraklētos is applied to “the exalted
Christ” (advocate [1 John 2:1]). But paraklētos is most often referred to God the Holy Spirit (John
52
53
14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7, 13).

Claims by God the Father
In confirmation of the supremacy of Jesus Christ over the angels, God the Father notes, “Your
throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a scepter of justice” (Heb. 1:8 [NLT]). Here
the Father addresses the Son as God, co-equal with Himself.

Claims by the Witnesses of Jesus Christ
After His resurrection, Jesus Christ appeared before many people. But Thomas, one of Jesus’
disciples, had not seen the resurrected Jesus yet. After being told that He had risen, he could not
believe unless he saw in His hands the mark of nails, placed his finger into the mark of the nails, and
placed his hand into His side. Having been convinced that truly He is the one, he said, “My Lord and
my God!” (John 20:25, [28 NET]). Embedded in that affirmation is the claim that Jesus Christ is God.

When Jesus came to Bethany to minister to Lazarus, one of the people who welcomed Him was
Martha, the sister to Mary. Her faith in Jesus Christ was resolute. She trusted that whatever Jesus
was able to ask God, it was going to be done (John 11:22). After Jesus’ assertion that He was the
resurrection and the life, and after asking her if she was believing in Him, Martha responded by
saying, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world”
(John 11:25-26 [ESV]). Leon Morris notes that not only was Jesus Christ delineated as “godly,” but it
can also point to an especially “close relationship to God.” On Martha’s statement that Jesus Christ
54
was the one who “is coming into the world,” Morris suggests that it connoted “the long-awaited
55
Deliverer.”

Affirmations by Demons
Many people were brought to Jesus and He healed them from countless diseases. But whenever the
unclean spirits saw Him, they fell face down and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” (Mark 3:11
[NRSV]). Again, a man with probably “five to six thousand” demons (legion [Mark 5:9, 15]),
56
acknowledged that Jesus was the “Son of the Most High God” and appealed to Him by God to not
“torment” him (Mark 5:7-8 [ESV]). So, demons claimed that He was the Son of God.

th
50 Barbara Aland, et al., Novum Testamenturm Graece: Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, 28 ed.
(Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012), John 14:16.
51 Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, eds., The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, trans.
Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1964), 5, Ξ—Πα: 800-3.

52 Ibid.

53 Ibid.
54 Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John: The New International Commentary on the New
Testament, Rev., eds. Ned B. Stonehouse, F, F. Bruce, and Gordon D. Fee (Grand Rapids, MI: William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995), 490.

55 Ibid.
56 Robert H. Stein and Robert W. Yarbrough, eds., Mark: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New
Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 255.

19