𝐈𝐬 𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐚 𝐆𝐨𝐝?

Disclaimer: As a theologian and Scholar, I do not endorse the conclusions of any particular Jewish or Christian denomination. (I am comfortable in the excluded middle.) The Bible/TNK often challenges our preconceived notions. This post may surprise some of my readers; but, I assure you, the results speak for themselves.

Some questions won’t let you stay neutral. They demand an answer. One of the most important, and most controversial, is whether Yeshua is divine. If He is, then He is worthy of worship. If He is not, then no one should be wasting their time on Him. There is no middle ground.

Yet, for centuries, people have misunderstood what Scripture actually says. Some claim Yeshua’s divinity was a later Christian invention, forced onto the text. Others say He never directly called Himself God, so the idea must be false. Others insist Judaism has never expected a divine Messiah. These objections sound compelling at first—until you test them. Once you examine the Bible, Jewish sources, history, and logic, the evidence is overwhelming: 𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞.

𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 #𝟏: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐡 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐡

Some argue that Judaism has always expected the Messiah to be only human. But that claim falls apart once you actually read the Tanakh. Over and over, the Hebrew Scriptures describe the coming Messiah in ways that no mere man could fulfill.

𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝟗:𝟔 is one of the clearest examples.

“𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏, 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏... 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝑾𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒓, 𝑴𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒚 𝑮𝒐𝒅 (𝑬𝒍 𝑮𝒊𝒃𝒃𝒐𝒓), 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 (𝑨𝒗𝒊 𝑨𝒅), 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆.”

The Hebrew title 𝐸𝑙 𝐺𝑖𝑏𝑏𝑜𝑟 means 𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝, and one chapter later, Isaiah uses this exact phrase for God Himself (Isaiah 10:21). That means 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝟗:𝟔 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞. Some claim this refers to Hezekiah, but that makes no sense. Hezekiah was never called 𝑀𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑑, nor did he establish 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞. This prophecy is speaking of someone far greater than any human king.

Another undeniable passage is 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝟕:𝟏𝟑-𝟏𝟒. Daniel sees a vision of a mysterious Son of Man who 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧—a phrase used only for God’s presence. This 𝑆𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑎𝑛 is given absolute power, eternal rule, and—most strikingly—𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 (𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑐ℎ in Aramaic), a word used exclusively for worshiping God (Daniel 7:14).

This is not a normal king. No prophet or angel is ever given this level of worship. Yet, Yeshua directly applied this passage to Himself (Mark 14:61-62), and the Jewish leaders immediately accused Him of blasphemy. Why? Because they understood that He wasn’t just claiming to be the Messiah—𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.

Even more intriguing is the 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐃 (𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐘𝐇𝐖𝐇) in the Tanakh. This mysterious figure appears throughout Scripture, speaking 𝐚𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝 yet remaining 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐨𝐝.

• 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝟏𝟖 – Abraham meets three men, but one is called YHWH.

• 𝐄𝐱𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐬 𝟑 – The Angel of the LORD appears in the burning bush, yet speaks as God.

• 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝟏𝟑 – Samson’s parents see the Angel of the LORD and exclaim, “We have seen God!”

This being is sent 𝐛𝐲 God yet 𝐢𝐬 God. This concept of a divine yet distinct figure lays the foundation for Yeshua’s identity.

𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: The Tanakh does, in fact, describe a divine Messiah. The idea that Judaism has only ever expected a human Messiah is a medieval revision, not the original belief. See Maimonides, 𝑀𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑛𝑒ℎ 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑎ℎ, 𝐻𝑖𝑙𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑡 𝑀𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑈'𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑡 (Laws of Kings and Wars), Chapter 11.

𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 #𝟐: 𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐝, "𝐈 𝐀𝐦 𝐆𝐨𝐝"

One of the most common objections is that Yeshua never walked around saying, “𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝐺𝑜𝑑, 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑚𝑒.” But this argument completely misunderstands how Jewish teachers spoke (that is, indirectly and with the use of parables).

If Yeshua had gone around making such a blunt claim, He would have been misunderstood as denying the Father’s existence. Instead, He made statements that 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐉𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝—which is why they tried to stone Him multiple times.

• 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝟖:𝟓𝟖 – “𝐵𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐴𝑏𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑚 𝑤𝑎𝑠, 𝐼 𝐴𝑀.” The crowd immediately tried to stone Him because 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐄𝐱𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐬 𝟑:𝟏𝟒 to Himself.

• 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝟏𝟎:𝟑𝟎 – “𝐼 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒.” The Jewish leaders again picked up stones and said, “𝑌𝑜𝑢, 𝑎 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛, 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝐺𝑜𝑑.”

• 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝟏𝟒:𝟔𝟏-𝟔𝟐 – When asked if He was the Messiah, Yeshua replied, “𝐼 𝑎𝑚,” then quoted 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝟕, the divine 𝑆𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑎𝑛. The high priest called it blasphemy.

If Yeshua was just claiming to be a great teacher or a human Messiah, why did His enemies react so violently? They knew exactly what He was claiming.

𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Yeshua absolutely did claim divinity, but He did so in ways that fit His Jewish audience. The claim that He never said “𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝐺𝑜𝑑” ignores how Jewish teachers communicated divine truths (see, for example, the 𝑀𝑒𝑘ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑡𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑅𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑖 𝐼𝑠ℎ𝑚𝑎𝑒𝑙 or 𝑀𝑖𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑠ℎ 𝑇𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑚).

𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 #𝟑: 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐡

Some argue that the idea of a divine Messiah is a Christian invention (See, for example, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑦𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝐼𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒, ed. by John Hick, or 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡: 𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝐿𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 by Tom Harpur). But early Jewish sources say otherwise.

• 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐬 (𝟒𝐐𝟐𝟒𝟔, "𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝" 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥) – This pre-Christian Jewish text describes a figure called 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑜𝑑, proving that this concept existed in Jewish thought before Yeshua (4Q246).

• 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝟓𝟐:𝟏𝟑 – States the Messiah will be “𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝐴𝑏𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑚, 𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑠.”

• 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐮𝐝, 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝟗𝟖𝐚 – Describes the Messiah sitting at God’s right hand, a place of divine authority.

Even in the 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐬, some Jewish texts still hinted at a supernatural Messiah. The 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐩𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐙𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥 describes a Messiah who engages in heavenly battles. The 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐓𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐦 (Psalm 21:6) says the Messiah will be greater than the angels. These ideas existed within Judaism but were later abandoned—largely in reaction to Christianity.

𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: The idea of a divine Messiah is not foreign to Judaism. It was present in early Jewish thought but was later downplayed due to polemics against Christianity and the later 20th Century scholarly work in the Quest for the Historical Jesus (See, 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝐺𝑜𝑑: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑥𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝐽𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐺𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑒, Bart D. Ehrman, and Geza Vermes, in 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝐵𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠: 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑁𝑎𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑜 𝑁𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑒𝑎, 𝐴𝐷 30–325).

𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 #𝟒: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐈𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐞, 𝐒𝐨 𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐁𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝

The 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐚 (𝐃𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝟔:𝟒) declares that 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 (𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑑). Some argue this means God 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 be complex. But 𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 mean absolute singularity.

• 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝟐:𝟐𝟒 – “𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 (𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑑) 𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑠ℎ.”

• 𝐍𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝟏𝟑:𝟐𝟑 – “𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑒 (𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑑) 𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑠.”

Clearly, 𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑑 can mean 𝐚 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, not an indivisible unit. The Hebrew word 𝑦𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑑 signifies an absolute singularity or uniqueness. The idea that God is both One and yet complex 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐦.

𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: The Shema does not contradict Yeshua’s divinity. It simply affirms that there is only one true God, which is exactly what Yeshua taught.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞!

The 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐡. The 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐚 𝐚𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝. Early Jewish sources—even those written before Yeshua—show that the idea of a divine Messiah was already present.

The real question isn’t “𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝?” It does. The real question is: 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭?