Death of a Nomad

Is Jesus God? Well, the short answer is no—but kinda yes. It’s complicated.

If this is your first time here, a quick summary about me:

I grew up in church, was heavily involved, became a minister around the age of 23, and eventually left in 2019 when I had a perspective shift concerning Scripture. Whew! That’s the quickest I’ve ever told that long story. Anyway…

When I left the church, I had no idea where I was going or what I “was.” Over time, each doctrine I’d believed in for so long slowly unraveled. One of the first doctrines this happened with was the Trinity.

From my teenage years, I would debate the validity of the Trinity with my Mormon friends or friends of certain Christian denominations.

The idea goes God exists in three equal persons—God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. It is believed that Jesus is 100% God and 100% man.

To be short and sweet: I do not believe in this perspective of the Trinity or the relation between God and Jesus. It’s an idea that is almost impossible to wrap our minds around.

Important to note: it is not something to be dismissed simply because it is difficult to understand. The perspective I’ve arrived to as of today is a result of viewing Scripture and its content from a Hebraic perspective. I only ask that you consider and ponder what you read in this post.

Back to our question: Is Jesus God? Yes—but not in the way that we think.

In the Hebraic perspective, one’s offspring is a continuation of you. So, when Scripture claims that Jesus is the Son of God, it means He can be looked at as the continuation of something/God.

To describe it: Jesus was taught in the ways of God so much so that he carried a similar authority, identity and function.

Without getting super spiritual, we can simply say God brought Him forth in the world in order to complete a purpose or function in His identity.

Now, if we combine this understanding with the understanding of where the Hebrew people were at the time of Jesus’ ministry, we start to get a picture.

Most of the tribes of Israel had been ‘divorced’ from their intimate covenantal relationship with God. They were scattered all over. This was a result of God examining the people of Israel and seeing this as the best option for their ultimate healing. He’d always planned to restore the covenant He had with Israel. He knew He’d have to reteach them once they’d been integrated into other cultures that do not understand the language/behavior of Hebrew.

So, when Jesus came preaching the kingdom of heaven being at hand (the unification/covenant relationship between God and Israel), those who were Hebrew were able to recall and recognize that it was the appointed time of God gathering Israel back to himself.

They literally saw Jesus as God or the Son of God, because He was completing God’s purpose. What God started in the Torah was always meant to continue.

Jesus didn’t start something new or separate. He was continuing God’s plan with the people of Israel.

This understanding may beg the question(s):

1. Should we worship Jesus?
2. Is it essential for a Christian/Scripture-led life to believe in the traditional view of the Trinity?
3. Why do Christians find it important to believe in the divinity of Jesus?
4. Is it sufficient to believe that He fulfilled God’s plan without believing in the idea that he was 100% God and 100% man?

This is just something to think about..