The Father Knows

The Father Knows

by

Gilbert Torres

Admittedly, there was an alternate title for this article which crossed my mind; who’s your daddy? The point being, if you can move past my low grade humor, is on the superiority of father. Certainly, among Christians when the discussion centers on the question of deity one can almost hear the chant, Father! Father! Father! as the one who knows and who knows all things. This is especially true in contrast with the Son who unabashedly and unapologetically declared, in the minds of some saints, that he did not know the hour of his coming. Hence, Jesus dropped the deity card, or as others strongly imply in this gotcha theology, it makes Jesus unreliable.

assertions and claims

Typically, most of the arguments and counter-arguments on the deity of Jesus are both bland and either negative or positive assertions that Jesus is not God or Jesus is God. The back and forth exchanges often seem like and take on the tone of a shouting match between schoolyard kids, “is not!” “is too!” Does anyone remember getting into a schoolyard word fight over who's dad was bigger and stronger? So, too, are the demands for just one verse as proof to support one’s theology. After all, it is the isolated, single-verse mentality which often reigns supreme in these so-called discussions. I cringe at the thought of the reactionary response with which this article might be seized as just another ping pong ball. Any understanding which purports to exalt the Father but which denies or diminishes the Son is, to understate it, seriously suspect. Of course, no one would deliberately or outright claim or acknowledge that they deny or diminish the Son. But, it would be just as bad to think that we can exalt the Son if we deny or diminish the Father.

Why didn’t Jesus, as is often heard from Muslims as well as Christians who doubt or deny the deity of Jesus, just declare and say clearly and aloud, “I am God.”

lessons lost

Understandably, this demand for such proof is the same and it is very much what might be expected from atheists. However, it is a travesty, on the other hand, that Christians would make this their ultimate standard. Once again, the mere query purports to disprove, or at least seriously question, the deity of Jesus by way of a negative question. It speculates on what the scripture does not state rather than examine what it does state. The even worse travesty of this negative question tactic is that it is often assumed to be and is mistaken for knowledge and understanding by the one posing the question.

The lessons on what the scripture states about Cain are lost. Cain interacted with God. Yet, although Cain had no doubt, at least it would seem reasonable to infer given his interactions with God, as to the existence of God it is hardly true to say that Cain believed God. Then, there is the lesson of what the scripture states about the testimony from God himself about Israel who heard his voice and saw his works. Yet, Israel did not believe God. On the contrary the testimony from God is that they were an obstinate, unbelieving and stubborn people. Hence, seeing and hearing are not necessarily a full-proof guarantee of belief.

One of the much touted claims against the deity of Jesus stems from the time when Jesus declared to the disciples concerning the hour of his coming that, no one knows, not even the angels, nor the Son, but the Father alone. (Matthew 24:36) Here is my blog article on that discussion topic, Was Jesus Ignorant? The reason why I mention this claim here is only to highlight what the ignorance which is ascribed to Jesus and which simultaneously purports to exalt the knowledge of God, the Father.

the Shema and Jesus

Shortly after Jesus had twice strongly admonished the Sadducees saying to them

Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the scriptures or the power of God?

And

. . . you are greatly mistaken.

that Jesus quotes the Shema from Deuteronomy 6. It was at this time that the Pharisees saw that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees (Matthew 22:34) that they move in to take their turn at Jesus. It is this quotation of the Shema by Jesus which is blithely claimed to be proof for a negative assertion that Jesus was not a so-called trinitarian. What escapes this blissful glee is the significance in the words of the Shema as spoken by Jesus. The Shema reads:

Hear, o Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.

The quotation by Jesus reads as follows:

Hear, o Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord.

What is significant about the way Jesus quotes the Shema is his emphasis on Lord. Jesus reiterates what the Shema asserts, namely, that the Lord is God. The sum of every word and work of Jesus was to give glory to God, the Father. The unfortunate point about this and on which some are mistaken and others greatly mistaken is that while the Father is God, both the Shema and Jesus declare it is The Lord is our God (the wording of the Shema) and The Lord our God (the wording of Jesus) - is one Lord. It may not be intentional, but the focus and emphasis on who is or is not God seems misplaced and be suggestive of an inability, perhaps reluctance, to grasp and accept the emphasis on Lord.

The emphasis in both by the Shema and by Jesus is not on God, but on the Lord. This reflects the prevalent references in the Old Testament. There is the example of the Lord God himself who declared that he himself (Ezekiel 34) would seek for, search for and care for his sheep like a shepherd. Then, when Jesus, the Begotten Son comes into the world, he declares that he himself is the Good Shepherd. The implication concerning the Lord God and the Good Shepherd is there for all to read and the inference is for all to draw.

conclusion

Do not swing wildly and run to the other end of the spectrum with a seriously mistaken negative claim that the Father is not God and thereby you dishonor the Son, because to dishonor one is to dishonor the other. The positive assertion from the Shema and Jesus is that the Lord is God with the designation of Lord being as prevalent of Jesus as the scriptures state in, both the Old and New Testaments declare that, the Lord our God is one Lord. The Son acknowledges and praises the Father as Lord of heaven and earth, Jesus declared. (Matthew 11:25, 27)

"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

Then, yet again, Jesus followed up with one final point. He posited a query to the scribes concerning the enigma of Psalm 110 about the Lord and my Lord. No one ventured to answer Jesus. He did not offer any explanation. Once again, the implication is there for all to read and the inference is for all to draw concerning the Lord. It is not for you to wonder why Jesus did answer his own question for the scribes. It is for you to understand the scriptures and to teach what the scriptures state, not what they do not state.

The Father knew, just as those who profess to know him as their Father, who is Lord. The Son knew who is Lord. Do you? If you say Jesus is Lord, as Jesus said to Pilate when Pilate asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jews,

Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about me?