end? Certainly He is. Revelation 22:12 speaks of
the coming of Christ and continues directly into verse 13. There is no
reason, grammatical or otherwise, to insert a break here and separate
verse 13 from verse 12.44 This chapter ends with the words "Come,
Lord Jesus." There is no reference to the "coming" of the Father, and
the attempts to find such a reference are feeble at best.45 Logically, if
Jesus is the Alpha and Omega in 22:13, He is likewise everywhere else,
for there can be only one first and last, only one beginning and end.
Does this exclude the Father? Of course not. Since Jehovah is the first
and the last (Isaiah 41:4), and each of the divine Persons is likewise
identified as Yahweh (see chapter 9), the phrase "Alpha and Omega"
would apply equally to the Father, to the Son, or to the Spirit.
EQUAL WITH GOD
When Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, a controversy ensued
that sheds light on the deity of Christ:
For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was
doing these things on the Sabbath. But He answered them, "My
Father is working until now, and I Myself am working." For this
reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him,
because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling
God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Therefore
Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you,
the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees
the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the
Son also does in like manner" (John 5:16-19).
Jesus healed on the Sabbath. The Jews objected to this, alleging He
was breaking God's law. Jesus' response is often missed in the rush to
get to the phrase, "making Himself equal with God." The Jews took
great offense when He said that His Father was working till then, and
He himself was working. The reason they were so upset is that they
had a belief that Yahweh "broke" the Sabbath. That is, Yahweh kept the world spinning in its orbit, kept the sun shining or the rain falling,
even on the Sabbath day. Thus, in one sense, God was above the Sabbath law because He continued to "work" in maintaining the universe.
You can see, then, why Jesus' words offended them. He claimed the
same right for himself! They are enraged that by calling God "Father"
in a way that was unique and special to himself, He was making himself
equal with God. They knew that to be the Son of God was to be deity.
The son is always like the father, and if Jesus is the Son of the Father
in a special and unique way, He must be deity.
Now, many are confused by the discourse that follows, for in it
Jesus says that "the Son can do nothing of Himself." All through the
discourse the dependence of the Son upon the Father is stressed. Many
use this to argue against the deity of Christ. Yet, in reality, just the
opposite is true. The Son of God is not here repudiating the allegation
of His equality with the Father. Instead, He is expanding upon it, and
in the process correcting it. That is, He is making sure that no one
misunderstands what it means for Him to be equal with the Father.
How does He do this?
First, the Jews, while rightly sensing the exalted nature of the Lord's
claim, misunderstand the claim and phrase in the context of competition between the Father and the Son. That is, the Jews use a term of
the Son that is technically incorrect-it speaks of an equality of persons, which would confuse the distinction that exists between the Father and the Son.46 Rather than using the term in the way Paul does
when speaking of the equality the Son had with the Father in Philippians 2:6, they use the term in a different form. Jesus corrects their
misapprehension in the following verses by carefully distinguishing
Himself from the Father, while maintaining the truth of the claim He
has made in verse 17.
Secondly, Jesus makes it clear in the following discourse that there
is no
the coming of Christ and continues directly into verse 13. There is no
reason, grammatical or otherwise, to insert a break here and separate
verse 13 from verse 12.44 This chapter ends with the words "Come,
Lord Jesus." There is no reference to the "coming" of the Father, and
the attempts to find such a reference are feeble at best.45 Logically, if
Jesus is the Alpha and Omega in 22:13, He is likewise everywhere else,
for there can be only one first and last, only one beginning and end.
Does this exclude the Father? Of course not. Since Jehovah is the first
and the last (Isaiah 41:4), and each of the divine Persons is likewise
identified as Yahweh (see chapter 9), the phrase "Alpha and Omega"
would apply equally to the Father, to the Son, or to the Spirit.
EQUAL WITH GOD
When Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, a controversy ensued
that sheds light on the deity of Christ:
For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was
doing these things on the Sabbath. But He answered them, "My
Father is working until now, and I Myself am working." For this
reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him,
because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling
God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Therefore
Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you,
the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees
the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the
Son also does in like manner" (John 5:16-19).
Jesus healed on the Sabbath. The Jews objected to this, alleging He
was breaking God's law. Jesus' response is often missed in the rush to
get to the phrase, "making Himself equal with God." The Jews took
great offense when He said that His Father was working till then, and
He himself was working. The reason they were so upset is that they
had a belief that Yahweh "broke" the Sabbath. That is, Yahweh kept the world spinning in its orbit, kept the sun shining or the rain falling,
even on the Sabbath day. Thus, in one sense, God was above the Sabbath law because He continued to "work" in maintaining the universe.
You can see, then, why Jesus' words offended them. He claimed the
same right for himself! They are enraged that by calling God "Father"
in a way that was unique and special to himself, He was making himself
equal with God. They knew that to be the Son of God was to be deity.
The son is always like the father, and if Jesus is the Son of the Father
in a special and unique way, He must be deity.
Now, many are confused by the discourse that follows, for in it
Jesus says that "the Son can do nothing of Himself." All through the
discourse the dependence of the Son upon the Father is stressed. Many
use this to argue against the deity of Christ. Yet, in reality, just the
opposite is true. The Son of God is not here repudiating the allegation
of His equality with the Father. Instead, He is expanding upon it, and
in the process correcting it. That is, He is making sure that no one
misunderstands what it means for Him to be equal with the Father.
How does He do this?
First, the Jews, while rightly sensing the exalted nature of the Lord's
claim, misunderstand the claim and phrase in the context of competition between the Father and the Son. That is, the Jews use a term of
the Son that is technically incorrect-it speaks of an equality of persons, which would confuse the distinction that exists between the Father and the Son.46 Rather than using the term in the way Paul does
when speaking of the equality the Son had with the Father in Philippians 2:6, they use the term in a different form. Jesus corrects their
misapprehension in the following verses by carefully distinguishing
Himself from the Father, while maintaining the truth of the claim He
has made in verse 17.
Secondly, Jesus makes it clear in the following discourse that there
is no
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