“Be
on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy
Spirit has made you
overseers,
to shepherd the church of God which He
purchased
with
His own blood.”
Acts 20:28
I
was online the other day, discussing this verse. It's one of
special, theological importance. A plain reading of this verse shows
that God purchased the church, “with His own blood.” Obviously,
it was Jesus who shed His blood on the cross so this verse seems to
affirm the divinity of Jesus. That is, Jesus is God.
The
person with whom I was discussing this verse took exception to that
understanding. He resorted to a “mistranslation” argument. I've
had dealings with this individual before and his Greek is not really
that good. However, in this case, there is a certain amount of
ambiguity in the Greek that he was leveraging to bolster his point.
The
most obvious translation of this verse is the one rendered in most
Bibles, “through
His own blood.”
Another translation, which is a little more awkward in English, is
“through
the blood which is His own.”
But there is still another possibility: “through
the blood of His own (Son).”
The
latter translation is not the most likely but it is still possible.
The question is, which is the intended translation of the three?
Since the critic I was conversing with online did not believe Jesus
is God, he argued the 3rd
translation, the least likely one, is the correct one. He hooted and
cheered that even RKBentley, a conservative Christian, acknowledged
that “through the blood of His own” had merit as a possible
translation. Of course, he ignored that I said it is the less likely
one. As far as he was concerned, it is THE translation because Jesus
is not God.
From
there, we began discussing some other verses that referred to Jesus
as God. Here are a few that I cited – please excuse my frequent
use of the word, “clearly,” I was making a point:
In
John 20:28, Thomas clearly says to Jesus, “The Lord of me and the
God of me.”
John 1:1c clearly says, “the Word was God.”
Titus 2:13 clearly says, “the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ”
2 Peter 1:1 clearly says, “our God and Savior, Jesus Christ”
In John 10:11, Jesus clearly said, “I AM (ἐγὼ εἰμι) the good shepherd” while Psalm 23:1 clearly says, “Jehovah is my shepherd.”
In Matthew 3:3, John the Baptist said he was preparing the way for the Lord (who is clearly Jesus) just like Isaiah said. Isaiah 40:3 clearly said the prophet will prepare the way for Jehovah.
Joel 2:32 clearly says that whoever calls upon the name of Jehovah will be saved. Roman 10:13 clearly says whoever calls upon the name of the Lord (Jesus) will be saved.
Revelation 1:8, we clearly see that God is the Alpha and Omega. In Revelation 1:17, Jesus clearly says He is the first and the last. In Revelation 22:13, we clearly see that the Alpha/Omega and the first/last is the same Person.
In John 5:21, Jesus clearly says He gives life just as the Father gives life.
In John 5:23 Jesus clearly says we should honor Him in the same way we honor the Father
In John 10:30, Jesus clearly said, “I and the Father are one.”
We also have many clear instances of people worshiping Jesus; The man born blind (John 9:38), the magi (Matthew 2:11), the disciples in the boat (Matthew 14:33), et al.
John 1:1c clearly says, “the Word was God.”
Titus 2:13 clearly says, “the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ”
2 Peter 1:1 clearly says, “our God and Savior, Jesus Christ”
In John 10:11, Jesus clearly said, “I AM (ἐγὼ εἰμι) the good shepherd” while Psalm 23:1 clearly says, “Jehovah is my shepherd.”
In Matthew 3:3, John the Baptist said he was preparing the way for the Lord (who is clearly Jesus) just like Isaiah said. Isaiah 40:3 clearly said the prophet will prepare the way for Jehovah.
Joel 2:32 clearly says that whoever calls upon the name of Jehovah will be saved. Roman 10:13 clearly says whoever calls upon the name of the Lord (Jesus) will be saved.
Revelation 1:8, we clearly see that God is the Alpha and Omega. In Revelation 1:17, Jesus clearly says He is the first and the last. In Revelation 22:13, we clearly see that the Alpha/Omega and the first/last is the same Person.
In John 5:21, Jesus clearly says He gives life just as the Father gives life.
In John 5:23 Jesus clearly says we should honor Him in the same way we honor the Father
In John 10:30, Jesus clearly said, “I and the Father are one.”
We also have many clear instances of people worshiping Jesus; The man born blind (John 9:38), the magi (Matthew 2:11), the disciples in the boat (Matthew 14:33), et al.
So
we see time after time where the Bible clearly identifies Jesus as
God. The response from my critic friend online was to cite William
Barclay:
But
we shall find that on almost every occasion in the New Testament on
which Jesus seems to be called God there is a problem either of
textual criticism or of a translation. In almost every case we have
to discuss which of two readings is to be accepted or which two
possible translations is to be accepted.
Note
that Barclay said, “almost every occasion.” If the Bible says
even once that Jesus is God, then that would clear up the ambiguous
verses but never mind that now. What struck me was that the rebuttal
I usually hear to seemingly clear references of Jesus' divinity is to
say that the Bible doesn't really mean what it clearly seems to be
saying. Each and every time the Bible seems to identify Jesus as God, they say a more obscure translation of the verse is the correct one.
Is
that the best they have? Their only response - ever - is to say, “what
that really means is....” We argue rules and they argue
exceptions. How odd it would be if God gave us His revelation in
code. How are we expected to understand any part of the Bible if the
most ordinary meaning of any verse is never
the correct one?
