117. JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, the TRINITY and THE ... - Answers

Ask: (2) Didn’t the Jews already have unity of purpose with the Father?
Ask: (3) If Jesus was just stating His unity of purpose with the Father, then why did the
Jews understand His words to claim that He was God? (v.33).
Ask: (4) If (as the WT says), the Jews were mistaken in thinking Christ to be God,
why didn’t Jesus correct their misunderstanding? Instead, Jesus endorsed their understanding
(v.34-38), as seen by them seeking to take Him again in v.39.
The John 17:21 context is very different, as the Greek word for ‘one’ (en) refers to unity
among people tending to be divisive over various issues. That is why Christ prayed for unity
among believers.
The way the word ‘one’ is used in John 17:21 does not determine its meaning in John 10:30.
Ask: (5) If the oneness that Christ shares with the Father is identical to the
oneness that believers have with Christ, then all believers should be able to insert their
names in these verses:
- ‘I (your name) and the Father are one.’ (John 10:30, NWT)
- ‘He who does not honour (your name) does not honour the Father who sent him.’John 5:23
- ‘All things that the Father hath are Mine (your name).’ (John 16:15).
Ask: (6) Are you willing to insert your name in these verses? Obviously not!
16. John 10:33 ‘thou being a man, makest thyself God’.
In John 10:33, John records and endorses the Jews’ accusation that Jesus is claiming to be
God: ‘For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a
man, makest thyself GOD’. v.33.
‘Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?’ v.34.
Watchtower Teaching: To this, JWs reply that Jesus was denying being God, claiming to
be no more God than the Jews.
Bible Teaching:
v.34 ‘Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law (Old Testament law in Psalm
82:1,6,7), I said, ye are gods? (Hebrew ‘gods’= elohim 430 ).
v.35 ‘If he called them (Old Testament Jewish judges or magistrates) gods unto whom the
word of God came (Jewish magistrates were entrusted with judging justly).
v.36 ‘Say ye (Jesus’ listeners) of him (Christ), whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into
the world, ‘Thou (Jesus) blasphemest’; because I said, I am the Son of God?’
v.39 Therefore they sought again to take him . . .’.
Jesus’ words, rather than denying His deity, still left the Jews understanding that He was
claiming full deity and equality with God because they still sought to arrest him for
blasphemy. (v.31-33, and 39).
Explanation: Jesus in v 34 is quoting from Psalm 82:1-6 which says:
v.1 ‘God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods (Hebrew
Elohim 430 )
v.2 ‘How long will ye judge unjustly . . .?’
v.6 I have said, Ye are gods 430 and all of you are children of the most High’.
v.7 ‘But ye shall die like men . . .’
‘Ye are gods’ is said of magistrates, because of the dignity and honour of their office. It
shows that the word translated ‘gods’ (Elohim) can rightly be applied to men, though rare.
It applied to Moses (Exodus 7:1; 4:16) and to magistrates (Exodus 21:6; 22:8,9) because they
were representing God. The meaning is:
If the Scripture applies the word ‘god’ to earthly magistrates, it is right to apply the term
to those in office and authority. If applied to magistrates, it cannot therefore be
blasphemy to use this word of Jesus Christ the Messiah who is so much more exalted
and sanctified by the Father than earthly magistrates.
Note: 1) Jesus did not deny that he meant to apply the term to himself, as seen by His using
the expressions ‘I and my Father are one’ v.30; ‘Son of God v.36, and ‘god’ v.34.
2) Jesus did not deny that it was properly applied to himself.
3) Jesus did not deny that it implied that he was God.
Key: Jesus stated only that they were inconsistent in applying Elohim (god) to human
magistrates and not allowing it also to be applied to Jesus Christ as Messiah.
Hence, Jesus said that the Jews were not authorised to charge him with blasphemy for
applying ‘god’ to himself, because the law applied Elohim (gods) to human judges and
because God endorsed Jesus as ‘Son of God’ by His miracles.
17. John 17:5 Christ and Father share the same glory, that Jehovah won’t give to another.
In John 17:5 Jesus said that before the world existed, He had the same glory as the Father:
‘And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was.’ (John 17:5).
Comparing this with Isaiah 42:8 we see that Jehovah will not give his glory to another:
‘I am the LORD (Jehovah): that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another’.
Conclusion: Because Jesus shared the same glory with the Father, and because this glory is
exclusively Jehovah’s and no one else’s, then this proves that Jesus Christ is Jehovah God.
18. John 20:28 ‘Thomas answered and said unto him, “My Lord and my God”.’
Thomas addresses Jesus as ‘My Lord and my God’, thus recognizing Jesus as Jehovah God
the Son. Jesus commended Thomas on his belated acknowledgement of Jesus as God.
Watchtower Teaching: JWs dismiss this verse as a simple record of Thomas’ shock and
surprise at seeing the risen Christ. A modern parallel might be ‘Oh, my God!’
Perhaps Thomas was making an emotional exclamation that was directed to Jehovah God,
though spoken to Jesus. (Should you Believe in Trinity, p.29).
Bible Teaching:
a) If Thomas said, ‘My Lord and my God’ as expressing shock or surprise, then he would
have been guilty of blasphemy, and of taking God’s name in vain.
First century Jews regarded any careless use of God’s name as blasphemy.
b) If Thomas had taken God’s Name in vain, Jesus clearly would have rebuked him for it.
c) Instead, Jesus commended Thomas for believing that Jesus was both Lord and God.
(‘Thomas, because thou hast seen me thou hast believed’ v.29).
If Jesus was only a man or a god, He should have corrected Thomas’ wrong opinion, but
Jesus reinforced Thomas’ view here.
d) Thomas wasn’t calling Jesus ‘a god’; he was calling Jesus his Lord and his God. If Jesus
was not Almighty God, He would have corrected Thomas by saying something like,
‘No, I am just a god, a lesser god. Jehovah is the only true God. You must not put me in
Jehovah’s place. Only Jehovah may be called my Lord and my God.’ But Jesus said no
such nonsense. He commended Thomas for recognizing Him as the true God.
If Thomas said ‘My Lord and my God’ as an emotional exclamation of astonishment, as
JWs think, then Thomas would be talking to himself.
But v.28 states he was talking to Jesus by using the word ‘him’.