Jesus’ Deity in Mark’s Gospel Part 1
Christian and Ahmet discuss how Mark's Gospel presents the diety of Jesus.
Ahmet: Hi Christian, I’ve been thinking about our conversation the other day. You remember I asked you to show me where Jesus says himself, “I am God worship me?”, and you showed me that Jesus claimed to be the I AM of the Exodus.
Christian: Yes, that’s right, Exodus 3:14, in that verse God revealed to Moses his name as “I AM”, and when Jesus was pressed by the religious leaders he said, “before Abraham was, I AM”, using God’s name for himself.
Ahmet: Yes, I did find that answer compelling. The only thing was, I was at the mosque the other night, and I asked my imam about it, and he said that verse you mentioned is from John Gospels, which is written along time after Jesus.
Christian: Well, yes it was written by John, yes, some time after Jesus lived, but he was an eye witness of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
Ahmet: That is what I’ve heard from Christians, but apparently there are lots of Christian scholars who claim not only that John was late but his message had developed over time. You can see that in the language John uses, it’s so different: many claims to being God in John, but in Mark Jesus is just a man. My imam showed me…
Christian: Yes, there are liberal Christian scholars that believe all kinds of things. But have you actually read Mark for yourself?
Ahmet: Not really, I skim read it the other night…
Christian: Let me show you a few things from Mark and you can decide for yourself.
Ahmet: ok, where shall we start?
Christian: Have a look at v1, “the beginning of the Gospel, the Messiah, the Son of God”. Now I know that some original manuscripts don’t have “Son of God”, but don’t worry about that for now. He’s called the Messiah, right?
Ahmet: Yes, in the Quran, Jesus is called the Messiah, for example, in Quran 5.75, he in the Messiah, but no more than a messenger.
Christian: Ok, well let’s see who Mark understands the Messiah to be. Have a look at Mark 1:2-3. Who does Mark think Jesus is? By the way, the “messenger” in v2 and the “voice” in v3 is the Prophet Yahya, we know him as John the Baptist… and these verses are quotes from the Old Testament. Who does he prepare the way for?
Ahmet: well, Jesus, right?
Christian: Yes, but what do the verses say?
Ahmet: prepare your way… prepare the way of the Lord. Okay, I see what you are saying.
Christian: Yes, Mark uses two verses that are speaking about the LORD and applies them to Jesus. It’s no less radical that how John starts his Gospel.
Ahmet: Sure, I didn’t see that before, that’s given me something to think about… Maybe I’ll give Mark a read for myself…