2018
YAMAUCHI LECTURE
|
THE UNIQUENESS OF JESUS |
|
by
Doug Ward |
OXFORD, OHIO-Christians believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a unique
individual, fully human and at the same time fully divine. But did Jesus
himself believe that he was God? The question of Jesus' self-understanding is a
key issue for the scholars involved in the ongoing "quest for the historical
Jesus."
One
of the most prominent of these scholars is Dr. Ben Witherington III, the Amos
Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary
in Wilmore, Kentucky. Witherington has written extensively about Jesus in
academic works like Jesus the Sage, Jesus the Seer, The Many
Faces of the Christ, and The Jesus Quest. He also is well known to
popular audiences through his blog, his columns in the Biblical Archaeology
Review, his appearances on the television series Finding Jesus, and
his frequent speaking engagements.
On
March 3, 2018, Witherington traveled to Oxford, Ohio, for one such engagement.
He addressed the identity and importance of Jesus in a lively lecture at Miami
University on "A Singular Jesus in a Pluralistic World."
|
Son
of Man and Kingdom of God |
He began the lecture by observing that although there are many
areas of controversy among historical Jesus scholars, there is general
agreement that Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man and spoke about
the kingdom of God. He added that there is just one place in the Hebrew Bible where
both of these phrases appear: the seventh chapter of Daniel.
In
Daniel 7, the prophet Daniel describes a vision about a succession of four
inhumane and beastly empires. After the fourth of these empires is removed from
power, "one like a son of man" is granted everlasting rulership over a worldwide kingdom by "the Ancient of
Days" (vv. 13-14). This kingdom is administered by "the people of the
saints of the Most High" (v. 27). So the inhumane and beastly empires are
displaced by a humane and human empire, ruled forever by the Son of Man and the
saints.
Witherington
contrasted Daniel 7 with a second messianic passage, God's promise to King
David in 2 Sam 7:12-16. After David's death his dynasty would rule after him,
with one king following another. God would be like a father to these kings (v.
14), and this dynasty would be established forever (v. 16).
The Gospels
make clear that Jesus came from the family line of David (Matt 1), and people
sometimes called him "son of David".1
However, Jesus taught that the Messiah would be more than a human descendant of
David. Quoting Psalm 110:1, he showed that the Messiah would be David's
"Lord" as well as his descendant (Matt 22:41-46).
So
Jesus was a member of the royal line of David, but he claimed to be more than
that. The term he used to describe the "more" was Son of Man.
Witherington commented that since no one else was using this title at the time,
Jesus was free to fill it with the content he had in mind.
That
content featured the universal, everlasting dominion that the Son of Man would
receive from the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:14). After his resurrection Jesus told
his disciples, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to
me" (Matt 28:18). In other words, he had been given this universal
dominion.
Jesus
also taught that he would return to fully implement his rule. As described by
the Prophets, this would include defeating all opposition and judging mankind (Zech 14; Acts 1:11). On the eve of his crucifixion, when
Jesus was being questioned by members of the Sanhedrin, he was asked if he was
the Messiah (Mark 14:61). He replied, "I am, and you will see the Son of
Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven'
(v. 62). Here Jesus was identifying himself again as the Son of Man from Dan
7:13-14. In effect, he was telling his interrogators, "You may think that
you are judging me now, but someday I will be judging you."
Witherington
asked the audience, "What kind of person thinks he can personally reign
forever? Who thinks he will bring God's eschatological reign?" The answer:
Only one who thinks he is both God and man. The title "Son of Man"
expresses this claim.
There
were additional ways, Witherington pointed out, that Jesus implied he was more
than human. One was in his manner of teaching. When Jesus taught, he did not
use footnotes or say, "Thus saith the
Lord." Instead, he spoke on his own authority (Matt 7:29). He made big
claims, and that is why his disciples did also.
|
Only
One Way of Salvation |
Witherington noted that these claims are distinctly out of step
with our pluralistic culture, which tends to believe that there are multiple
options for everything. Christianity, on the other hand, makes certain
exclusive statements. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life,"
Jesus said. "No one comes to the Father except through me" (John
14:6). Similarly, the apostle Peter stated, "And there is salvation in no
one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we
must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Witherington
explained that it is important to frame the issue properly. Christianity is not
saying that there is no value in other cultures or religions. The question is
not, "How shall we be wise?" or "How shall we be
spiritual?" Rather, it is, "How shall we be saved and
transformed?" This is the question where the New Testament draws the line.
Christianity
asserts that salvation only comes through Jesus because Jesus is unique. Jesus
elsewhere said that "no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one
knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal
him" (Matt 11:27). The apostle Paul added, "For there is one God, and
there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim
2:5).
Witherington
observed that sometimes there is only one solution to a problem. For example,
if one needed a heart transplant in 1967, there was only one surgeon
available-Dr. Christiaan Barnard. Similarly, there is only one Great Physician
and mediator between God and Man-Jesus the Messiah.
Jesus
is the only one who can represent God to humanity and humanity to God. Although
fully divine, he voluntarily limited himself, putting the "omnis" (omnipotence and omniscience) on hold in order
to become a human being (Phil 2:5-11). Having lived a human life, he
understands the challenges human beings face (Heb
2:17-18). At the same time, he is the only human being who has lived a sinless
life (Heb 4:15), the only one who could have died for
our sins, offering a perfect sacrifice on our behalf.
And
why was the death of Jesus necessary? Because God is holy, just, and righteous,
and so cannot take a pass on sin forever. Light can have no fellowship with
darkness, Witherington said, unless darkness is removed.
|
What
about the Unevangelized? |
Dr. Witherington addressed one final question: God "desires
all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim
2:4). But what about those who have never heard the Gospel?
On
this question he referred the audience to Romans 1, which states that everyone
has received the general revelation of God in creation (vv. 19-20). This means
that everyone knows something about the reality and power of God. The question,
Witherington said, is not knowledge but acknowledgment. People have too often
"exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the
creature rather than the Creator" (Rom 1:25). We know the truth, but do
not like it. The problem is not ignorance, but sin. As John 1:5 says, "The
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
People
will be judged according to what they have done with what they know,
Witherington said. And so missions and evangelism are crucial, in order to
point everyone away from false religions (the most prevalent one being
narcissism) and toward the unique source of salvation, Jesus the Messiah.
Dr.
Witherington's address could be described as part lecture and part sermon. He
spoke to a predominantly Christian audience at Miami, people who already
acknowledged Jesus as Lord and Savior. For this audience, his combination of
knowledge and conviction, logic and passion was greatly inspirational.
1One
example is blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52), who was
probably thinking of Jesus as a healer like Solomon. (For legends about the
healing powers of Solomon, see Josephus, Ant. 8.2.5.)
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