A: Jesus asked his disciples this question: “Who do you say I am?” Peter responded: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:15). Jesus continues today to ask all of us the same question. How one answers may determine where one spends all eternity.

Many believe that he was a ‘good teacher’–but on what basis? Many secularists and even Jewish folk call him such and yet reject what he taught. Some refer to him as a prophet, or a special servant of God, but reject any references to his divinity–picking and choosing what they wish to believe or accept.

Muslims call him a ‘prophet’, yet reject most of his teaching and definitely his ‘Jewish’ heritage and progenitors, and the very book that contains his teaching and testifies of him. Jehovah Witnesses look on him as ‘the greatest’ in all creation–’a god’ compared to the rest of us, but somewhat less than ‘The God’. Mormons teach that he is ‘one’ of the three major Gods of this creation–part of ‘The Godhead’. The Gnostics believed that Jesus was Divine but rejected his humanity. Other folks question whether he even ever existed in history, or if he did, whether the Gospels are really a reliable record of what he did and said.

However, all major Christian denominations—Roman Catholic, Anglican, Protestant (including all main-line & Evangelical churches), and Orthodox churches (Greek, Russian, & etc.) believe in and teach the same doctrine about Jesus. It is one of the major doctrines that all Christians can agree on. It is also a teaching that separates all Christianity from other religions and from those church organizations who call themselves Christian but really aren’t. The question is–who do you say he is?

Look at the whole passage in Matt. 16, verses 13-20. Notice that Jesus commended Peter’s response and called it inspired. Notice also what Peter did not say. He did not say that Jesus was merely a ‘good’ teacher, or a prophet, or even the greatest servant of God who ever lived. Peter said: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God“. A Divine designation. Who do you say he is?

Was Jesus a servant of God? Yes he was, but he was also a lot more. Colossians 2:9 testifies: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” So Jesus was Divine according to this passage. However, in some passages Jesus seems to be more of a servant to God. How can this be understood? In Philipians 2:5-11, Jesus is portrayed as both God and servant, human and Divine:

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross!

Notice that in verses 6 & 7 Jesus is said to have two natures–one Divine and one human nature that he took when he came into the world as a baby. This squares with the Christological teaching of all Christian churches:

1. Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man.

2. Jesus was one person with two natures–one human and one Divine.

When Jesus was conceived, the Holy Spirit implanted the Divine nature–a nature that Jesus shares with the Spirit and with God the Father, and he also received a human nature from his mother Mary. Now, who do you say he is?

A good reference for further study on this subject: “Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine”, by Wayne Grudem (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994, 1264 pages) See: Chapter 26: The Person of Christ, pgs. 529-567. Very readable and accessible and a far better explanation than I could ever tender.

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A: Rather than being a problem for Christians, I have always viewed ‘The Shema’ (Deut.6:4) with awe and wonder, how well the mystery of the ‘Triune God’ can easily fit into this passage.

Christians believe that the Trinity (The Father, The Son, & The Holy Spirit) is One. The ‘Shema’ states that: “Yahweh our Eloheynuw is One”. The root word for ‘Eloheynuw’ is ‘Elohim’. Elohim is the ‘plural’ form of ‘El’ (God), a general name for the Divine. It is traditionally translated as: ‘gods’, ‘judges’, or ‘God’–depending solely upon the context.

When ‘Elohim’ is referring to (according to the context) other deities, it is translated–’gods’. When it is referring to ‘Yahweh’ (Heb. personal name for God) it is translated–’God’. When the context refers to humans of authority, especially those of religious authority, it is translated–’judges’. Elohim appears in one form or another–2,597 times in the Hebrew Scriptures (Ot). Most of the time it is referring to Yahweh & translated–’God’, several hundred times it is referring to other gods & translated–’gods’, and a handful of times it is referring to humans of authority and translated–’judges’.

The point is, I believe that ‘Eloheynuw’ (plural) allows for the possibility of the Trinity rather than precluding it. Any Rabbi or Jewish teacher will argue against such an understanding, of coarse. However, see how well it really fits into the Christian understanding of God:

Our ‘Eloheynuw’ (pl) God is One.

Our ‘Triune’ (pl) God is One.

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