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When did The Apostles "realise" Jesus Was Actually God?
- Thread starter JesusFan
- Start date
Are you really serious with this question?
Tom Butler
New Member
Peter called Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One, the Son of the Living God, in Matthew 16:18. Whether he understood exactly what he was saying , I'm not sure.
In John 20:28 Thomas said "My Lord and My God."
They may have had some inkling before the resurrection, but definitely understood it afterward.
In John 20:28 Thomas said "My Lord and My God."
They may have had some inkling before the resurrection, but definitely understood it afterward.
They understand. I work with a Muslim from Yemen, and I have had the chance to have long talks with him about Jesus. The oriental mind is very different from the Western mind. This man says that he believes Jesus was a very special prophet, but he does not believe Jesus is the Son of God. Then he explained that that means to be of the same "substance" as God. To the Jew or Muslim, to say a person is the Son of God is to say he is very God, they are the same substance.
As to when they believed Jesus was God, Nathaniel believed Jesus was the Son of God as soon as he met him and Jesus had said he saw him under the fig tree before he was "called". (Jn 1:49) This is an example of foreknowledge.
I believe they knew Jesus was God when He appeared to them the first time after His resurrection. Up until that point they felt defeated and lived in fear of the same punishment as Christ received. When He appeared to them and "breathed" on them, their eyes were opened and they knew He was God in the flesh.
Yes. Can you answer it?
Tom Butler
New Member
If they did believe before the crucifixion (granting your point), could they un-believe? They saw Jesus heal, raise the dead, control the storm, and discern the thoughts of men. But after the crucifixion, Peter seemed to think the great adventure was over. "I'm going fishing," he said.
I'm wondering if any of his followers thought, "you know, Jesus said he'd rise from the dead after three days. Let's hang around and wait."
My guess is that they didn't. But my, didn't they change after they saw Him alive?
They were men, they had doubts. Even John the Baptist, who was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb, and saw the Spirit descend upon Jesus as a dove, doubted, and sent men when he was in prison to confirm whether Jesus was the Christ, or should they look for another. (Mat 11:2-6)
Yes, as Winman points out in post #9, in hindsight we can see where they should have known because it is presented. And they probably came to the conclusion in steps, i.e. I think He may be God in the flesh, I think He probably is God in the flesh, and finally "My Lord and my God."
When Jesus was being tempted, Satan said, "if you are the son of God" do this or that, but Jesus would not take the bait and test God. Next we have the demons (unclean spirits) proclaiming Jesus was the Son of God. We have John the Baptist first proclaiming, then doubting. But the answer he received, tell him the blind see, the lame walk, etc confirmed for John the Baptist through scripture that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus spoke in John 3:18 that everyone must believe in the name of the Son of God, so clearly from that time on, they should have known.
But working against their grasping what seems obvious in hindsight is the prophecy that they will be scattered. And so, like the other posters, it is only clear in scripture that they believed from the heart after the resurrection.
God Bless
When Jesus was being tempted, Satan said, "if you are the son of God" do this or that, but Jesus would not take the bait and test God. Next we have the demons (unclean spirits) proclaiming Jesus was the Son of God. We have John the Baptist first proclaiming, then doubting. But the answer he received, tell him the blind see, the lame walk, etc confirmed for John the Baptist through scripture that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus spoke in John 3:18 that everyone must believe in the name of the Son of God, so clearly from that time on, they should have known.
But working against their grasping what seems obvious in hindsight is the prophecy that they will be scattered. And so, like the other posters, it is only clear in scripture that they believed from the heart after the resurrection.
God Bless
David Lamb
Well-Known Member
I agree, Winman. We have an example in John 5.18 of the very thing you mention:
Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
Yet how many times do we hear people asking, "How can Jesus be both God and the Son of God?"
Yeah, I agree that He knew by then. This was actually debated by my fellow seminary students a couple of years ago. The question was whether Jesus knew as a baby, or as a toddler, or at what point He realized it. Fun to debate but obviously no way to know the definitive answer. But everyone seemed to agree that He knew by the time He was 12, as you pointed out.
easy way also to understand it is that His divine"nature' always knew it, while his humanity "grew up" to realise and know it!