kiwiekat said:
Sorry if I sound stupid, I was just wondering was Jesus also referring to himself in John 4:24 (God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.")? If he was, then is he a spirit? If he was just referring to God the Father, then I guess that makes sense too, but then how can I tell whether or not he is referring to just one person of the trinity or to all three, if a verse just says "God"? I mean each person of the trinity is fully God, right?
First of all you neither sound stupid nor are stupid. These are good questions.
God is Spirit.
Jesus is God and flesh. The Spirit of God (the Word) manifested in a body (Colossians 2:9 / Hebrews 10:5) the same way you and I have spirits manifested in our bodies (except that his Spirit is God, and ours obviously are not).
In his Spirit Jesus is God (John 1:1, 14). In his body Jesus is man (1 Timothy 2:5). And in Philippians 2:6 it says in the original Greek "while never ceasing to be God {
morphe theos huparchon } he became a man."
All three persons in the Trinity are Spirit. Jesus has a second nature of flesh (innocent flesh like that of Adam and Eve before the fall).
This makes him the bridge between God and man being both God and man, and it also makes him unique since neither God nor man have both natures.
I also posted another message in this forum on John 16:30 (Now we know that You know everything and don't need anyone to question You. By this we believe that You came from God.") I didn't really get a reply on that specific verse; I kind of figured it out, but I hope I can get some feedback. So when the disciples where saying he knows "all things" were they realizing that he is divine after all, even though he doesn't know everything in his present state?
Sorry if my wording is a bit weird; it's just that my grammar gets strange when I'm confused...
No, you did great.
I believe this is a reference to:
Isaiah 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Reflecting back on Deuteronomy 18 (entire chapter) regarding the way to determine whether or not a prophet / prophecy was from God. In John 16:30 they were essentially stating that Jesus proved himself to them that he was legitimately from God.
Does Jesus literally know all things? This is a debate that has gone on for many centuries in theological circles. There are statements like this. And chances are the way I interpreted it above is accurate. Remember Daniel and Joseph were said to have known all things or all mysteries.
Jesus clearly said:
Mark 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven,
neither the Son, but the Father.
Acts 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you
to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
Some argue that:
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
...indicates all knowledge was restored to Jesus.
I do not know if it is simply a manner of expression or not but note the absence of the Holy Spirit in both texts quoted above. This can mean he was simply omitted from the statements because 1 Coribnthians 2 (the whole chapter) clearly inidcates the Holy Spirit knows the mind of the Father.
So, there you have it, Kiwi. Several possible answers to that which we will have to settle with the Lord himself when we get to heaven... he will tell us which one it is.
Sorry if I'm repeating myself, but I also want to know if there's another way to explain Revelations 1:1 other than that Jesus must rely on the Father for knowledge. For example, could anthropomorphism have been used when it said God "gave" Jesus the knowledge?
