Does Jesus fit as a son-like avatar-emissary of God?

  • About this question

    Does Jesus fit as God’s special revelation to man-kind? That is to say, whether Jesus is actually an avatar/emissary/envoy from God or not, does Jesus at least fit as being God’s chosen representative (e.g. God incarnate)? Does Jesus resemble a Divine figure, along the lines of this story:

    Matthew 21:33-37 — [Jesus said] “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner [representing God] who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers [representing Jewish leaders] and went on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves [representing God’s prophets] to the vine-growers to receive his produce. The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. But afterward he sent his son [representing Jesus] to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

       
    This might help answer:

“Yes, after all…

  • Jesus fits as being a perfect moral exemplar/light for us

    A man stands as Jesus kneels and washes his feet.

    Rather than being a normal figure, like your next-door neighbor, Jesus really stood at as a moral exemplar for humanity. He was a moral beacon of light in his culture, bringing with him an unprecedented ethic of love that seemed literally out of this world.

    For some examples:

    • Jesus regularly emphasized a shockingly radical love and service for others, even by today's Western standards (which was already largely influenced by Christianity), but especially by ancient standards.1
    • Jesus cared for the most hated/belittled/downtrodden as equals in unprecedented ways, despite being shunned for it.

       

      • E.g. See Jesus's counter-cultural (for Jews) honoring of women, Romans/gentiles, and Samaritans.
      • E.g. See Jesus's radical befreinding of Jewish society’s scorned sinners (tax collectors etc.).2
      • E.g. See Jesus's radical love for the weak (Lk 14:13 — when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind)
    • E.g. During his mocking, torture, and excruciating crucifixion by those who hated him, Jesus said “Father, forgive them,” as he hung dying on the cross (Lk 24:34).
    • E.g. Despite his being regarded as their Jewish king by his disciples, Jesus washed their feet and commanded them to love others similarly.
    • Jesus’s apostles genuinely believed Jesus never sinned (i.e. never lied, stole, lusted etc.); they were so convinced that they were willing to die for their belief in him as the unblemished (faultless) lamb "who takes away the sins of the world" (Jn 1:29).3
    • Jesus’s own family apparently believed Jesus never sinned (i.e. never lied, stole, lusted etc.); they converted (Acts 1:13, 1 Cor 9:5), and at least one of Jesus's own brothers [James] died for that belief, as recorded by Josephus etc.).4

    This is relevant because few/no humans who we have significant historical information on fit as potentially being a morally perfect exemplar like Jesus, and Jesus’s sin-ridden culture would work against his being so.

      • Mt 5:39-44 -- “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”
      • N.T. Wright: “in particular, he ate and drank with all sorts and conditions of people, sometimes in an atmosphere of celebration. He at with ‘sinners,’ and kept company with people normally on or beyond the borders of respectable society - which of course, in his day and culture, meant not merely social respectability but religious uprightness, proper covenant behavior, loyalty to the traditions and hence to the aspirations of Israel. This caused regular offense to some of the pious, and we will consider in due course why this was so. For the moment we note that his table-fellowship was a sufficiently well-known and striking feature of his regularly style to be commented on, and for him to respond to such comment in various ways. It is, of course, possible in theory that this whole picture is pure fabrication…. But this can confidently be ruled out as highly improbable. (a) All our sources, however we analyze them, point back in this direction. (b) This activity carries the market of the appropriate similarities and dissimilarities of which we spoke earlier. Jesus’ actions make sense within his Jewish context, and within the socio-cultural world of Galilee in particular, and they make sense also as the precursor of some aspects of the early mission of the church. At the same time, these actions presented a challenge to certain aspects of the Jewish worldview, and were not imitated easily or readily by the church as a whole. (c) For what it is worth, almost all serious contemporary writers about Jesus would agree that something like this activity was indeed characteristic of him.” [Jesus and the Victory of God (Fortress, 1992), 149-150.]
    3. Jesus's apostles had spent more than enough time to catch Jesus in sin, if he were a sinner. And yet they continued to preach Jesus as sinless and Lord until their dying breath.
    4. Most non-Christian scholars believe that James, the brother of Jesus, died for his faith in Christ and His being God incarnate. This makes little sense unless James felt his brother's life was consistent with being who he claimed to be.

  • Jesus’s message fits as an all-important one from God

    Jesus proclaimed an allegedly Divine message fits as being a particularly important warning-message from God, and so worthy of miraculous vindication from God if true.

    Notably, Jesus proclaimed the Gospel: that God's righteous judgment is coming. All evil will be destroyed, and that includes all of humanity; we are all corrupt and guilty of sins (lying, stealing, etc.). But while God is just, He has also extended loving mercy to any who repent and accept Christ as Lord (i.e. choosing to submit their will to God's); they will be spared. Their sins will be cleansed, they will be new creations, and they will enjoy glory, love, and everlasting life with God's chosen.

    That Jesus's message fits well as a potentially Divine message (unlike random claims from your neight) supports belief in Jesus's unique Divine avatar-like status because it operates as almost a fulfilled necessary criterion. If Jesus did not proclaim a message that had this sort of significance and connection to God's alleged plans and will, then it would be hard to say he was a son-like avatar.

  • Jesus is the famous centerpiece of human history

    Jesus is the most influential human being to ever exist.

    • His birth-date literally divides the timeline of the modern world.
    • His impact on culture, religions, empires, art, music, literature, architecture, human relations, charity medicine, education, holidays, etc. is unparalleled. No one even comes close.1

    This matters because God would presumably know in advance that Jesus would have this affect on the world (and/or plausibly ensured it). Since God knows what His forthcoming impact would be, God would of course recognize Jesus as quite special and choice-worthy.

      • Jaroslav Pelikan (History professor at Yale): “Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in the history of Western culture for almost twenty centuries. If it were possible, with some sort of super magnet, to pull up out of that history every scrap of metal bearing at least a trace of his name, how much would be left?” [Jesus through the Centuries (Yale, 1985) 1. ]
      • Thomas Schultz: “No one recognized religious leader not Moses, Paul, Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius etc. has ever claimed to be God; that is, with the exception of Jesus Christ. Christ is the only religious leader who has ever claimed to be deity and the only individual ever who has convinced a great portion of the world that He is God.” [The Doctrine of the Person of Christ with an Emphasis upon the Hypostatic Union (DTS dissertation, 1962), 209.]
      • William Robertson: “If one takes a historically objective approach to the question, it is found that even secular history affirms that Jesus lived on earth and that he was worshiped as God. He founded a church which has worshiped Him for 1,900 years. He changed the course of the world's history.” [Our Lord (Eerdmans, 1937), 29.]
      • E.P. Sanders (Jewish NT scholar, professor at Duke): “On a spring morning in about the year 30 C.E., three men were executed by the Roman authorities in Judea. Two were ‘brigands’… the third was executed as another type of political criminal. He had not robbed, pillaged, murdered, or even stored arms. He was convicted, however, of having claimed to be ‘king of the Jews’―a political title. Those who looked on… doubtless thought that… the world would little note what happened that spring morning… it turned out, of course, that the third man, Jesus of Nazareth, would become one of the most important figures in human history.” [The Historical Figure of Jesus (Penguin Books, 1995) 1.]
      • James Kennedy & Jerry Newcombe: “Despite its humble origins, the Church has made more changes on earth for the good than any other movement of force in history. To get an overview of some of the positive contributions Christianity has made through the centuries, here are a few highlights: • Hospitals, which essentially began during the Middle Ages. • Universities, which also began during the Middle Ages. In addition, most of the world's greatest universities were started by Christians for Christian purposes. • Literacy and education of the masses. • Representative government, particularly as it has been seen in the American experiment. • The separation of political powers. • Civil liberties. • The abolition of slavery, both in antiquity and in modern times. • Modern science. • The discovery of the New World by Columbus. • Benevolence and charity; the Good Samaritan ethic. • Higher standards of justice. • The elevation of the common man. • The high regard for human life. • The civilizing of many barbarian and primitive cultures. • The codifying and setting to writing of many of the world's languages. • The greater development of art and music. • The inspiration for the greatest works of art.” [What if Jesus Had Never Been Born (Thomas Nelson, 1994), 3-4.]

  • Jesus’ message is the most beloved/spread

    The message Jesus brought (of salvation through Him) is the most widely spread message of its kind on Earth, by far.

    • Jesus’ Gospel has penetrated every country on the globe.
    • Jesus’ Gospel has penetrated remote villages etc.
    • Jesus’ Gospel has penetrated the hearts and lives of more people than any other.

    This counts in favor of belief in Jesus's Divine avatar-like status because it is plausibly what we would expect if God were on Jesus's side. God might reasonably be expected to ensure that the message was unnaturally successful (even if naturally spread),1 because God has at least some intention for humans to know it.

    1. One can understandably ask why God would not employ more supernatural means to deliver His message, such as loudly proclaming it from the sky every few days, in every persons own language. That is not the subject of this page, however. Suffice it to say, God has reasons for wanting to empower humans with spreading His message, to give us honor and responsibility. As long as it is reasonably possible that God would want to do this, it would be surprising if the message delegated to His servants would utterly fail. By contrast, the remarkable success fits better on the hypothesis that God is behind it.

  • Jesus's life plot-twists history into the best story

    The described life of Jesus dovetails with Judaism in a shockingly story-like way. For example, Jesus's life turns the formative events in Jewish history (i.e. the major formation events of Israel) into brilliant foreshadowing.

    For example:

    1. The greateness of a protagonist is captured in part by the protagonists virtues, abilities, and accomplishments. Jesus has the greatest possible virtue (omnibenevolence), the greatest possible power and ability (omnipotence), and performs the greatest possible accomplishment, namely the greatest act of love. See below.
    2. As an act of love to save you and me, Jesus sacrifices all his rights as the maximally-worthy, all-powerful, all-knowing God of the universe, and if that's not enough, went to die an excruciating death on the cross to save his murderers as they tease Him (God of the universe) and spit in His face.

  • Jesus fits Messianic (King & Savior) prophecies

    The described life of Jesus brilliantly fulfills very specific Old Testament prophecies that no human is likely to accidentally fulfill.

    See:

    This is relevant because the long awaited Jewish messiah (king & savior) was expected to be a unique avatar-envoy of God; it was part of the job description.

  • Jesus ingeniously fits Jewish symbols/prefigurings

    The described life of Jesus brilliantly parallels a mountain of very specific, central, and formative events in Jewish history in an ingenious storytelling way that that no human is likely to accidentally fit (e.g. arguably plot-twisting history into a remarkable/best story).

    A full page will analyze several examples, including:

    This is relevant because such a fit is characteristic of ingenious designed storytelling, which in turn is evidence of a God’s orchestrating Jewish history around Jesus Christ—a feature that fits like a glove with the hypothesis that Jesus is God’s special revelation to mankind.

  • Jesus believed/claimed he was Divine in some sense

    Jesus stands with hands raised holding up the planet earth.

    Throughout Jesus's ministry, we see clear indications that Jesus considered himself to be Divine. More than that, in several locations he essentially claimed to be God.

    A full page will cover these points:

    • Jesus believed he was God incarnate(!).
    • Jesus believed he was religiously special (e.g. that he could modify the law).
    • Jesus claimed to be the divine Son of Man.
    • Jesus said “I am the Son of God.”
    • Jesus called Israel’s God “Abba.”
    • Jesus claimed to forgive sins.
    • Jesus taught people to pray to him.
    • Jesus taught “serve me as Lord.”
    • Jesus accepted worship.
    • Jesus taught he would judge as God.
    • Jesus claimed to be the good shepherd.
    • Jesus's close friends and family were convinced he was Divine.
      • E.g. The apostles were convinced.
      • E.g. Jesus's family (notably James) was convinced.
      • E.g. Paul was convinced (who was closely associated with James, Peter, and the apostles).

    This matters because, if Jesus both claimed to be God incarnate and fits the bill, then naturally Jesus appeared to be sinless and to stand out in a way overall that is relevant to being a son-like avatar-emissary of God.

  • Jesus fits as a miracle-worker

    Jesus was regarded by his contemporaries as being a prophet who regularly performed miracles (e.g. healed the sick, raised the dead, calmed storms, walked on water etc.).1 This is relevant because ultimately all such miracles are done through God's omnipotent supernatural power, and the freedom with which Jesus did these miracles (as opposed to other prophets) suggests a particularly close connection with God—one that fits like a glove with the hypothesis that Jesus is a special son-like avatar-emissary of God.

      • Ben Witherington: “Most scholars are willing to say that Jesus performed deeds that were viewed as miracles in his day.”, [New Testament History: A Narrative Account (Baker Books, 2001), 120.]
      • Luke Timothy Johnson: Even the most critical historian can confidently assert that a Jew named Jesus worked as a teacher and wonder-worker in Palestine during the reign of Tiberius, was executed by crucifixion under the prefect Pontius Pilate and continued to have followers after his death. [The Real Jesus (Harper, 1996), 123.]