I am extremely grateful to the living God and Lord of all creation Jesus Christ that He has provided me with the boldness to proclaim His Gospel, and the ability to do so freely by allowing me to live since the LORD knows I am a sinner, and a dog without Jesus. Luckily He took flesh as the Virgin born Savior known as the Godman in order to redeem us all, Hallelujah!
In my first Youtube video “Jesus Is The God of The Old Testament”, I presented a two part syllogism for the deity of Christ:
P1. Universal and eschatological judgment belongs to YHWH alone — the one true God of Israel — (Psalm 50:1-6)
P2. Universal and eschatological judgment belongs to The Son, Jesus Christ, as his own divine authority. (John 5:21-29)
C. Therefore The Son, Jesus Christ, is YHWH — the one true God of Israel.
I decided to dive further into these two passages on this blog and answer some possible objections since I said I would in the video, and also because the Judge the Living and the Dead Discourse speaks to the divine sovereignty, authority, omniscience, and degree of reverence we are meant to have for Jesus, just as we have for The Spirit and The Father Almighty.
Psalm 50:1-6 Legacy Standard Bible
God Himself Is Judge
A Psalm of Asaph.
50 The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, has spoken, And called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shone forth. 3 May our God come and not be silent; Fire devours before Him, And a storm whirls around Him. 4 He calls the heavens above, And the earth, to render justice to His people: 5 “Gather My holy ones to Me, Those who have cut a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” 6 And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is judge. Selah.
(V.1) When the name of The LORD is invoked in this manner, with the triple divine designation (El Elohim Yahweh), you know that judgment, or a sovereign decree is about to follow. I only cite the first six verses of the Psalm for my argument, but many of the Church fathers believed since this Psalm is so strikingly similar to John 5’s judgment discourse, and since they believed the Old Testament theophanies were mainly The Son revealing The Father to creation (John 14:9), that it is the pre-incarnate Divine Son of God Himself who begins speaking in verse 7, “I Am God, your God”:
The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken Psalm 49:1. But in speaking, He has done what? He has called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down. He that has called the world from the rising of the sun unto the going down, is Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Word made Flesh, John 1:14 – St. Augustine (Exposition on Psalm 50)
The Lord Jesus Christ then took it upon Himself to take flesh for our salvation, after warning us of His second coming many times in the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah 11:1-10).
Psalm 50:1 Legacy Standard Bible
God Himself Is Judge
A Psalm of Asaph.
50 The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, has spoken, And called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Matthew 28:18-19 Legacy Standard Bible
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
We see that our Lord calls all nations from all ends of the earth to be baptized in the name of The Holy Trinity because He desires the salvation of all men. ALL authority in heaven AND on earth has been given to Jesus, not some or part.
Psalm 50:2 Legacy Standard Bible
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shone forth.
Matthew 17:1-2 Legacy Standard Bible
The Transfiguration
17 And six days later Jesus brought with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.
Luke 9:31 Legacy Standard Bible
31 who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to fulfill at Jerusalem.
Hebrews 12:22-24 Legacy Standard Bible
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23 to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
Asaph would have written this Psalm in the Davidic era (1 Chronicles 15:16-17) 1000 BC, all the way to Hebrews in around 65 AD, and we are yet to see the day of The LORD that will come like a thief in the night (Matthew 24:43-44).
Numbers 6:24-26 Legacy Standard Bible
24 Yahweh bless you, and keep you;
25 Yahweh make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
26 Yahweh lift up His face on you,
And give you peace.’
Psalm 67:1-3
Legacy Standard Bible
Cause Your Face to Shine upon Us
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
67
God be gracious to us and bless us,
And cause His face to shine upon us— Selah.
2
That Your way may be known on the earth,
Your salvation among all nations.
3
Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
Wait didn’t Jesus’s face (who is God Almighty) shine on them in glory in the Transfiguration? It is Jesus who’s salvation came to all nations, let all the people’s praise You, O God – The Mishnah — Tamid 5:1 – records that the Aaronic blessing formula in Numbers 6:24-26 was used as the official blessing of Israel daily in the Temple and “recited in the form of a prayer” for 1,400 years of worship and to this very day we still use this formula to pronounce blessings and worship our God.
And In 1979 at Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem — a tomb site dating to approximately 600 BC — two tiny silver scrolls were discovered. When unrolled they contained the Aaronic Blessing of Numbers 6:24-26 — the oldest known inscription of any biblical text ever found.
it is easy to take for granted or forget to take into account that the Bible was put together across time in 73 different books, 3 different ancient languages that are far more sophisticated than the average languages you hear spoken today, by many authors who did not all know each other, but they do now perfected in the presence of God. They are having “festal gathering and assembly” and “the spirits of the righteous made perfect”, I ask all the holy saints and angels to pray for the reader and their families.
Psalm 50:3 Legacy Standard Bible
3 May our God come and not be silent; Fire devours before Him, And a storm whirls around Him.
Acts 2:1-4 Legacy Standard Bible
The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
2 And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues like fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
Acts 2:33 Legacy Standard Bible
33 Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this which you both see and hear.
Revelation 19:11-15 Legacy Standard Bible
The Rider on a White Horse
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sits on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; having a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself, 13 and being clothed with a garment dipped in blood, His name is also called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the wrath of the rage of God, the Almighty.
Here we can see that God consistently shows Himself as a devouring fire, a whirling tempest (Isaiah 29:6), a strong wind, and a force to be reckoned with. He inspires awe and reverence to the highest degree possible. The Holy Spirit here rests on the apostles and the Holy Mother of God, in order to initiate the mission of the Church, and sanctify the new converts to the faith, further strengthening the mission of Christ.
The LORD who comes to judge will come with eyes a flame of fire, with many diadems, His name is The Word of God (John 1:1). He comes to judge justly, He comes with His reward, He is coming quickly.
Isaiah 40:10 Legacy Standard Bible
10 Behold, Lord Yahweh will come with strength, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him.
Revelation 22:12 Legacy Standard Bible
12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to his work.
I do not want to drift too far off into Revelation or the prophet Isaiah because I would be writing for centuries. We can see here that Adonai YHWH is coming with His arm ruling for Him, rendering each man for his work. What we do in this life matters, come to the love of the Holy Trinity and cry out to Jesus, He will always answer an open heart (John 10:27), and an open mind (Matthew 7:7-8). You must be willing to seek Him and not harden your heart to resisting sin and the evils of this world.
Psalm 50:4 Legacy Standard Bible
4 He calls the heavens above, And the earth, to render justice to His people:
Matthew 25:31-32 Legacy Standard Bible
The Final Judgment
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
All the nations will be gathered before the Lord Jesus for just judgment. I know the objection is coming already, how can He judge justly, and how does Jesus have all knowledge as His divine attribute if Mark 13:32, and Matthew 24:36, says The Son does not know the hour?
Mark 2:5-8 Legacy Standard Bible
5 And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” 6 But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?
Mark 11:2-6 Legacy Standard Bible
2 and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. 3 And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ you say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he will send it back here.” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they untied it. 5 And some of the bystanders were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they spoke to them just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission.
Mark 13:2 Legacy Standard Bible
2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”
And where is now that great city, the metropolis of the Jewish nation? which was fortified by so many walls round about; which had so many fortresses, and large towers to defend it; which could hardly contain the instruments prepared for the war; and which had so many ten thousands of men to fight for it? Where is this city that was believed to have God himself inhabiting therein? It is now demolished to the very foundations: and hath nothing but that monument of it preserved; I mean the camp of those that hath destroyed it: which still dwells upon its ruins. Some unfortunate old men also lie upon the ashes of the temple; and a few women are there preserved alive by the enemy, for our bitter shame and reproach. Now who is there that revolves these things in his mind, and yet is able to bear the sight of the sun? though he might live out of danger? Who is there so much his country’s enemy, or so unmanly, and so desirous of living, as not to repent that he is still alive? And I cannot but wish that we had all died, before we had seen that holy city demolished by the hands of our enemies; or the foundations of our holy temple dug up after so profane a manner. But since we had a generous hope that deluded us; as if we might perhaps have been able to avenge ourselves on our enemies on that account: though it be now become vanity, and hath left us alone in this distress; let us make haste to die bravely. – Josephus (Jewish War VII.8.6-7)
The promises of Jesus come true. The promises of His love and eternal life (John 14:1-6), and His promises of just judgment for evil and sin will come true as we saw in 70 AD with the destruction of the Temple. The evangelist St. Mark makes it extremely clear before 13:32 that Jesus the Christ has all knowledge in His essence in the very same Gospel, confirmed by extrabiblical hostile sources to Christianity that have no reason whatsoever to support the Christian narrative. Every single Church father dates Matthew and Mark before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus, who is God in the flesh, describes the destruction in rigorous detail and gets it right not by some stroke of luck, but because He created this universe and every creature in it, that means the sun, the moon, the stars, He gives life and He takes it. When they crucified our Lord, He was making a mockery of the devil (Colossians 2:15). He was warning His own followers, you will be hated by all nations because of His name (Mark 13:13).
Matthew 23:37-38 Legacy Standard Bible
Lament over Jerusalem
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you did not want it. 38 Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!
Matthew 24:1-2 Legacy Standard Bible
Signs of Christ’s Return
24 And coming out from the temple, Jesus was going along, and His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He answered and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”
Matthew 24:15-16 Legacy Standard Bible
Abomination of Desolation and the Tribulation
15 “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.
Matthew 24:17-21 Legacy Standard Bible
17 Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 And whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his garment. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.
Matthew 9:4 Legacy Standard Bible
4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?
Well, we see throughout these two Gospels that the authors have made it painstakingly clear that Jesus is all knowing. As Apostolic Christians we believe that Jesus Christ is true God, true man, so when we encounter passages in Scripture that seem to be attributing humanity, such as eating, sleeping, lack of knowledge, growing in wisdom, fatigue, etc. We know that these things must be attributed to His human nature. Since:
Colossians 2:9 Legacy Standard Bible
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells bodily,
Colossians 2:2-3 Legacy Standard Bible
2 so that their hearts may be encouraged, having been held together in love, even unto all the wealth of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
We know that each person of The Holy Trinity is distinct, I know that may be hard to grasp, but only The Son took flesh for our salvation so only The Son is limited in knowledge within His human nature, which is distinct from the divine nature without confusion or mixture, neither nature being altered by the other, but both perfectly coexist within the hypostatic union of the Divine person of the Son of God Jesus Christ (Constantinople III 680-681 AD).
It is very interesting that Jesus also reassures the readers in Matthew just 7 verses later that the “thief” is coming in the night and KNOWS the hour. In the parable the head of the house is us, we do not know the hour, Our Lord is the thief who comes in the night, it is extremely clear. Our Lord is also the Son of Man who knows the hour. This is an asymmetrical parable that makes no sense at all if both parties in the parable lack the knowledge of the hour, in fact only the thief knowing the hour is what makes the owners ignorance so dangerous. We are having our house broken into, not God Almighty. Jesus is telling us: within my human nature I truly have taken on limitations because I love you, and I would do anything for my beloved creation even though you have done nothing to deserve it, but do not forget that I am Creator, and you are creature. We see this when He says “Do not marvel at this” (John 5:28) because all authority to judge has been given to the Son of Man, a slight nod (but obvious connection) to the Son of Man coming and judging the entire world at an hour we will not expect.
Matthew 24:42-44 Legacy Standard Bible
Be Ready for His Coming
42 “Therefore stay awake, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
And do not worry about referring to Christ as a thief, it is just an idiom/parable, because He confirms this interpretation of the parable and so does St. Peter.
Revelation 3:3 Legacy Standard Bible
3 So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
2 Peter 3:10 Legacy Standard Bible
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be found out.
Daniel 7:13-14 Legacy Standard Bible
The Son of Man
13 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And came near before Him. 14 And to Him was given dominion, Glory, and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not be taken away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
John 5:27-28 Legacy Standard Bible
27 and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
Jesus is saying “Do not marvel at this” because if they had truly understood the prophet Daniel, they would know that the Lord Jesus was the fully divine Messiah there to fulfill the Davidic throne and provide the everlasting kingdom that St. Daniel had told them about.
Daniel 7:27 Legacy Standard Bible
27 Then the reign, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’
So, after that very long breakdown of this beautifully simple two part syllogism (argument) for the deity of Jesus Christ, I will restate it for His glory and hope that we properly cleared up the Mark 13:32 objection. There are also other layers to interpreting the passages that I did not dive into in this article but I may in the future or in a future video pertaining to the Monarchia of The Father.
Psalm 50:6 Legacy Standard Bible
6 And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is judge. Selah.
John 5:21-22 Legacy Standard Bible
21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. 22 For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,
John 5:28 Legacy Standard Bible
28 Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
P1. Universal and eschatological judgment belongs to YHWH alone — the one true God of Israel — (Psalm 50:1-6)
P2. Universal and eschatological judgment belongs to The Son, Jesus Christ, as his own divine authority. (John 5:21-29)
C. Therefore The Son, Jesus Christ, is YHWH — the one true God of Israel.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
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