Do The Four Gospels Teach That Jesus Is God?

Do The Four Gospels Teach That Jesus Is God?

Brett A. Todd

Do the four Gospels teach that Jesus is God?  Growing up in an Evangelical denomination, it was a well-established belief that not only did the Gospels teach that Jesus was God, but the whole Bible did, including the Hebrew Scriptures (The Old Testament).  But as we take a closer look at the Bible, we find this is not true.  Let’s take a look.

The earliest Gospel is Mark. Scholars generally agree this Gospel was written around 65 to 70 CE.  [Just a little side note, I date all of these Gospels later, either way, Mark is our earliest Gospel.] In the Gospel of Mark, there is little if any discussion regarding Jesus' divinity. This is not to say that the author of Mark didn't believe Jesus was divine.  For Matthew (80-85 CE), again, little if anything is said.  Some have wondered whether the use of the designation, “Son of God” (Matthew 27:54) might refer to Jesus’ divinity, but it is important to understand Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience who would not understand “Son of God” as referring to Jesus’ divinity.  Instead, for these Jews, “Son of God” was an expression of one’s godlikeness.  So no, Matthew does not say much, if anything, regarding Jesus’ divinity.  Luke (80-85 CE) is a little different in that he sees Jesus' virgin birth as referring to his divinity because God is Jesus’ real father, but Luke does not explain what he means by this (Luke 1:35). It is possible, that Luke was only repeating what he had read or heard without any real meaning behind the designation, “Son of God”.

The Gospel of John (90-95 CE) takes a big step forward in the discussion of Jesus’ divinity.  As we have already noted, the Gospel of John is a maverick Gospel in many ways.  One could say it is a much more developed theology in that it proclaims Jesus as God and equal with God.  In John 1:1 we read these words, “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word (Jesus) was with God, and the Word (Jesus) was God.” Furthermore, in John 8:58, Jesus himself claims to be God, by using God’s divine name,  “I am” (ἐγὼ εἰμί). This is how this verse reads, “Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am” (Emphasis added).  Not only does the Gospel of John teach that Jesus is God, but it also gives us multiply references where Jesus declares that he is God.

    30 CE           65 - 70 CE    80-85 CE 80-85 CE     90-95  CE

Jesus’ Death --------->Mark---------> Matthew-----> Luke--------> John

What is interesting about all of this is that the further away you get from Jesus' death the more you hear about Jesus' divinity.  Again, the Gospel of Mark, our oldest Gospel never clearly mentions Jesus' divinity, the Gospel of Matthew does not say much of anything, and Luke makes small references to Jesus’ divinity but does not explain what he means.  The Gospel of John, on the other hand, which *scholars believe was written after all these other Gospels, from the get-go (John 1:1), declared that Jesus is God, back by Jesus declaring to others that he is God.

[*I'm of the opinion that John was not necessarily written later than Matthew or Luke, rather, what makes John stand out from the other Gospels is simply its philosophical genre. We will talk about this in another study.]

Do the Gospels teach that Jesus is God? Yes, maybe, and not really. It all depends on which Gospel you are reading.

In our next study, we will look at Mark 10:25, "The Camel, the Rich Man and the Eye of a Needle”.