God the Son

During the last week on earth Jesus told his disciples that at the end of the world he would come in the skies to judge all humankind, but even then they did not fully realise who he was.

When, however, God raised Jesus from the dead on Easter Day then they understood at last, and St Thomas put it into words, saying, “My Lord and my God” (NRSV, John 20:28).

The disciples now knew that Jesus was God himself who had come into the world he had made, and yet they also knew that he was Man (a human being) as well.  As a human being he had been born, as a human being he had known what it was to be hungry and tired and in pain; and lastly as a human being he had died on the Cross.

As the Athanasian Creed says, “The right Faith is, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man”.  So we call Jesus, God the Son to distinguish him from God the Father.

SUMMARY

1. From his teaching and miracles the people learnt that Jesus was a prophet.

2. The disciples, who had seen him still the storm on the Lake and knew that he was sinless, also learnt that he was the Messiah (Christ), the expected Prophet, Priest and King.

3. God’s voice at the Transfiguration taught them that he was the Son of God.

4. His Resurrection showed them that he was God the Son.  So Jesus is both God and Man (a human being).