Is Jesus God? Part 13: "Jesus called God “my father” and the father “my God”"

Return to Part 12: "Jesus was God’s servant, chosen one, and beloved"

John 8:54 “Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.”

Is God not able to glorify himself? Jesus is stating that it means nothing if he does it himself, and what matters is that God glorifies him, and that God is another entity, with different authority. If he is one in the same as God, equal in a trinity, then even God’s testimony would not be true. It’s quite a conundrum.

John 11:41-42 “So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. “I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” (See also Jeremiah 1:5 )

Jesus is thanking God that he heard him. Does God need to talk to himself? Is it possible that God can’t hear himself, or others? Then he continues to state that God hears him and responded to him, and it was proof for the others to know that God had sent him as a prophet to deliver God’s message.

John 14:28 “You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”

He says he is going back to the Father, not himself, and further clarifies that the Father is greater than him. If they are one in the same (3 in 1) then he would be talking about himself.

John 15:10 “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love.”

Jesus is saying that he is only relaying God’s commands, that God commanded him to command the people, and that God’s love is separate from his love. Does God love himself?

John 16:23 “In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” (See also Luke 11:2 , and John 4:23 )

When ‘kingdom comes’ (as seen in Luke 11:2 ), Jesus is saying they will ask God, not himself.

John 17:21 “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

If Jesus is in God, and God is in Jesus, and says that everyone can be IN God, does that make everyone else part of God to? This shows that he did not mean that they are the same substance, nor even have the same glory or powers.

John 20:17 “Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

Does God have a God? He clearly states that he is going to his father…your God and “my” God.

Mark 12:29 “"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

Jesus is saying “our” God, not “me”. This means God was above Jesus, and the Lord of Jesus.

Matthew 12:50 “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

This means that Jesus, and others, are sons and daughters of God if they are obedient. He also says God is his father, meaning his creator. Does God create himself? If God is in everyone as we see in John 17:21 , then does that also make everyone God?

Matthew 20:23 “Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."”

Jesus says he has no authority to grant where people can sit in heaven! If he is God, then he would have that authority. He is distinguishing himself apart from God.

Matthew 27:46 “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?").”

Does God need to beg himself, and ask himself why he has forsaken himself? Jesus was thinking God had forgotten about him!

2 Peter 1:17 “He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Peter is talking about Jesus. Does God need to receive honor and glory from himself? Does God love himself, and have to be pleased with himself?

Revelations 3:12 “The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.”

My God is stated more than once in this verse.

Revelations 3:21 “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

If Jesus is God, then why does he have to share a throne with himself? This also causes a problem with the idea that Jesus was God in human form because God had to make himself human to be on Earth, but why does he need human form alongside him in heaven? Wouldn’t he just be ‘God’ in heaven without a partner? He also identifies himself to be separate from his Father.

Qur’an 3:51 “Indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is the straight path.”

Allah is my God, and your God.

Qur’an 4:171 “O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not "Trinity": desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs.”

Allah is not having a trinity, as he does not need help. Jesus was a messenger (given the word of God) and prophet. Allah is one without partners, nor does he have a son. He can manage things by himself.

Qur’an 5:72 “They have certainly disbelieved who say,"Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary" while the Messiah has said, "O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord." Indeed, he who associates others with Allah - Allah has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers.”

The Jews believed that the Messiah would be a man, which is in agreement with Islam. However, the Christians believed that Messiah meant that he would be divine, hence making Jesus the Messiah. Islam teaches that Jesus is the Messiah, but rejects that Jesus is divine, and not son of God, nor God himself. In this verse, Allah is rebuking those that make Jesus to be God, and tells of Jesus’ teachings for mankind to worship Allah, who was the Lord of Jesus, and their Lord.

Continue to the next Section – Part 14: "Disciples did not believe Jesus was God"

Return to the Main Directory Listing Page for this Series

Recommended Reading:

Bible Corruption Series:

Part 1 – Intro to Bible Version Differences

Part 2 – 1 John 5:7, The Three That Bear Record in Heaven (Comma Johanneum)

Part 3 – John 7:53-8:11, Pericope of the Adulteress

Part 4 – Mark 16:9-20, Resurrection of Jesus

Part 5 – Conflicting Gospels on the Empty Tomb & Ascension of Jesus

The Corruption of the Torah

Is the Crucifixion of Jesus Really Foretold in the Old Testament?

Do Muslims Believe in the Bible?