One of the unknown principles of the Bible is the certainty that when Messiah comes to earth, He will be God living in the body of a man. There is an abundance of Old Testament scripture that confirms this truth.

Is Jesus Yahweh/Elohim? Psalms 146:8 says that Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind. “The Lord (יְהוָֹה yhwh) opens the eyes of the blind.”

Isaiah 35:4-5 says that Elohim opens the eyes of the blind. “Behold, your God (אֱלֹהִים ’elôhîym) will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened.”

35 times in the New Testament it says that Jesus opened the eyes of the blind. Only God can open the eyes of the blind; Jesus opened the eyes of the blind; the Old Testament states Messiah will open the eyes of the blind. This is sufficient evidence that Jesus is both God and Messiah.

Many people have difficulty with the idea that God could live in the body of a man, but the entirety of all that God promised, requires that only as a man could God redeem human beings from their sins.

The first prophecy in the Bible that gives us evidence of this principle, is found in Genesis 3:15. Here God tells Adam that from the “Seed of a woman,” God will send One who will bruise the head of the serpent. Most people when they read this text, pass over it very quickly and don’t realize what they are reading.

First, the seed that causes a human embryo to fertilize, comes from a man, not a women. Here God states that the Seed of a woman will cause the birth of the Messiah. This necessitates that a women who is a virgin, and with no help from an earthly father, will conceive a child who will grow to adulthood and destroy the works of satan forever.

Second, this text in Genesis 3:15 predicts that this man will also be God. Again, many people may not understand that since God is the Father of this child, this child will be the Son of God. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as “The Son of God.”

When the question came up as to whether Jesus is the Son of God, one of the scriptures from the Old Testament that is used to confirm the identity of Jesus, is found in 2 Samuel. This text is well understood by every major Hebrew scholar in the historical record, that the Son who is referred to by God as He is speaking to David, the One who will be the future Messiah, the King of Israel, will be the Son of God. The reason this is certain is that in His own words, God says He will be His Father, and He shall be my son.

“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.” ~2 Samuel 7:12-14

When Jesus stood before the Pharisees at Jerusalem, He asked them about a well known scripture that David wrote concerning the Messiah.

Jesus Confounded The Leaders Of Israel

When the Pharisees gathered before Jesus to question Him, it was with the intent of publicly discrediting Him before all those who were listening. Instead, these men were themselves confounded. The text that the Pharisees used to trap Jesus was a well-known verse from Psalm 110:1a.

In this portion of scripture, The LORD God is saying to the Messiah, “Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies my footstool.” The Pharisees believed that they already knew the answer to this question when they asked Jesus: “What do you think about the Christ (Messiah) Whose Son is He?” The Pharisees believed that the Messiah was the Son of David.

The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ~Psalms 110:1a

Matthew Records This Event In His Gospel

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.” He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” ’? If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?”  ~Matthew 22:41-45

Jesus asks the Pharisees, “If the Messiah is David’s son, then why did David also call Him “Lord?” In other words, how could the Messiah be both a human being (David’s son) and also Lord (God’s Son)?

These men knew and understood that this verse of scripture that Jesus referred to was about the Messiah. Only the Messiah could sit at the right hand of God. Jesus believed these verses from Psalm 110:1 were inspired by God and were true—as did these leaders of Israel. Jesus asked these teachers of the law how Messiah could be both God and a human being?

“If the Messiah is David’s son, how can He also be David’s Lord?”

This is precisely what this prophecy from Psalms 110:1a is predicting.

The Pharisees didn’t have an answer. They were bewildered, but not Jesus. The obvious answer to this question is that the Messiah will be both David’s Lord (God) and His, Son (a future human descendant), a fact that Jesus made repeatedly concerning Himself.

The reality that Jesus is both David’s son and his Lord is confirmed by Jesus’ question which He asks of the Pharisees. For those who say that Jesus never claimed to be God, this is one of many places where He clearly asserts that He is God.

When Jesus asks this question of the religious leadership of Israel, no one was able to answer Him. This is because it was generally accepted by the Jews that Psalms 110:1 was speaking of the Messiah who will also be God. If by David’s words, the Messiah is both a son and Lord, He must also be God and man.

The idea that God could be dwelling within the person of Jesus Christ was a reality that was totally unacceptable to the leaders of Israel. Yet, this is precisely what David was predicting when he penned Psalms 110:1.

In my book, “Why Jesus Is God,” I present nearly 800 pages of evidence that proves Jesus is Yahweh/Elohim, and that when He came into the world, it was through a body that the Father had prepared for the Son. A body intended to die for the sins of the world and make the redemption of every person possible, if they would believe the Good News.

See, “Why Jesus Is God,” and the evidence to defend this important truth to those who doubt the identity of Jesus as God.

• The Greatest And Most Astute Scholar In History Said That Jesus Is God And Messiah
• How Do We Know That Jesus Is God?
• Why It ‘s Important To You That Jesus Is God
• Why Jesus Is God: Examining The Facts Of History
• If Jesus is God, Why Did He Refer to the Father as Greater than Himself?
• Are Critics Right, Did Jesus Never Claim To Be God?

Categories: Defending the Gospel, How Salvation Occurs, Jesus born to die, Jesus Cross is Offensive, Jesus is God, Living For Jesus, One Way to Heaven, Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus, Reasons For Unbelief, Religion vs. Relationship, Robert Clifton Robinson, Salvation through Jesus, The Claims of Jesus, The Historical Jesus, The Miracles of Jesus, True Repentance

Tags: Barriers to God, Evidence For God, How salvation occurs, Jesus is God, The New Testament as a Historical Document