Are famous quotes about God attributed to Jesus?

  • Clarifying the question

    God is described in several ways in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament). Are some of these famous and unique quotes intentionally applied to Jesus?

  • Debates impacted by this question

    Does the Bible teach that Jesus is God?

“Yes, after all…

  • Both “Search the heart/mind” (quote)

    Compare:

    • God (YHWH). Jer 17:10 -- “I , the LORD [YHWH], search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”
    • Jesus. Rev 2:23 -- “all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.”

    This is relevant because, quotes like this are meaningful. If I said “I am HE who is 'Faster Than a Speeding Bullet and More Powerful Than a Locomotive!',” who am I claiming to be? While the description is technically true of multiple superheros, that specific quote is associated with just one: Superman. Similarly, when Jesus says “I am HE who...,” and then quotes a scripture famously attributed to YHWH, every Jew knew clearly that Jesus was claiming to be God.1

    1. Note: As a result, the Jehovah's Witness's standard field handbook, Reasoning from the Scriptures (1989) does not even touch this verse. Unless otherwise noted, the following verses are also not touched by it.

  • Both “at my right hand” (quote)

    Compare:

    • YHWH. Ps 16:8 --  I have set the LORD [YHWH] continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
    • Jesus. Acts 2:24-25 -- “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. "For David says of Him, 'I saw the LORD always in my presence; for He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.”

  • Both “founded the Earth” (quote)

    • YHWH. Ps. 102:25,26 -- Of old You founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment
    • Jesus, Heb. 1:5, 10-11 -- For to which of the angels did He [God] ever say, “...You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; and they all will become old like garment.”

    Notice: This is not simply saying that Jesus has some set of properties, and that we incidentally note elsewhere that God also has this set. Rather, Jesus and God are identified as being the same referent by applying of the same quote.

    But, so what? Couldn't it simply be “Because the Son is the one through whom God performed the creative works there described by the psalmist"?1

    1. Quote from the Jehovah's Witness's standard field handbook, Reasoning from the Scriptures (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989), 414.
    2. By way of response, however, it is said of God (YHWH) that “from Him and through Him and to Him are all things", i.e. YHWH is “the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone,' (Isa 44:24). Any author of Heb 1:10-11 is going to rightly and naturally expect readers to interpret him as identifying Jesus as God.

  • Both “through Him are all things”

    Compare:

    • YHWH. Romans 11:34-36 -- “...who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things To Him be the glory forever.”1
    • Jesus. Colossianss 1:16 -- For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him.2 Jn 1:3 -- All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.; Heb 2:10 -- For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things,2
    1. Don't forget Isa 44:24 -- "I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone,”
    2. Similar to Rev 2:23 and Acts 2:24-25 above, the Jehovah's Witness's standard field handbook, Reasoning from the Scriptures (1989) does not even touch this verse.

  • Both “Dwell in temple of [our] body”

    Compare:

    • YHWH. 2 Cor 6:16 -- “For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them ...”
    • Jesus. Eph 3:17 -- “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…”; Jn 15:5 -- “I [Jesus] am the vine, you [disciples] are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him…”
    • Jesus & the Father. Jn 14:23 -- “and My [Jesus's] Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”
    • Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 6:19 -- “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,...”
    1. Dwelling in our hearts in this way is arguably a property that could only be exemplified by God.

  • For both, “clear the way... in the wilderness”

    Compare:

    • YHWH. Isa 40:3 -- A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the LORD [YHWH] in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
    • Jesus. Mt 3:3 -- _For this [Jesus] is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'make ready the way of the LORD, make his paths straight!" (see Jn 1:23, Mt 11:10, Mal 3:1)

    But, so what? Couldn't it simply “Because Jesus represented his Father. He came in his Father's name and had the assurance that his Father was always with him because he did the things pleasing to his Father.--John 5:43; 8:29”1, 2

    1. Quote from the Jehovah's Witness's standard field handbook, Reasoning from the Scriptures (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989), 414.
    2. By way of response, however, while this is possible, it is certainly not the most plausible reading. The most natural reading, by far, has Jesus being identified as God whose path is made straight.

  • To both, we “Call on the name of the Lord”

    Compare:

    • YHWH. Joel 2:32 -- “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered”1
    • Jesus. 1 Cor 1:2 -- “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:”
    1. See also Ps 116:4 -- I called upon the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!"; Lam 3:55 -- I called on Your name, O LORD. To call on the name of the LORD then is to pray to God. Contra Witness theology, there are multiple indications in scripture that Jesus ought to be prayed to, in addition to 1 Cor 1:2. See Jn 14:14 -- "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." (Note: Who but God can say "ask me anything in my name and I will do it"?); Acts 7:59 -- They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"; Rev 22:20 --  "Amen Come, Lord Jesus."
    2. Compare: Rom 10:11-14, 17-- For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed" For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for "whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." How then will they call on Him [Jesus] in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? ... So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."

  • [Ten more, Forthcoming]