“And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my
God!’”
John 20:28
This is a rather long blog but is in answer to a question posed to me and to a person in need of more information as to the position tethered and promoted by Jehovah Witnesses. I hope that you find this helpful.
A Study on John 20:28
By Richard L. Crumb
The
question by many when reading John 20:28 is: Who is Thomas speaking too or
about when his words: Did those words apply to Jesus or did Thomas exclaim calling Jesus
my Lord and then acknowledging God making those two statements referring to two
different persons? Jehovah Witnesses claim the latter method that Thomas was
not referring, “o theos” to Jesus. Christians or non-Jehovah Witnesses
say different that Thomas gave acknowledgement that Jesus was both Lord and
God. So who is right? Furthermore, how can we witness to Jehovah Witnesses
affectively? To begin to discern the truth the position of Jehovah Witnesses in
regard to Jesus Christ must be set forth. Jehovah Witnesses call Jesus Christ
“a god” and not God. This theology is Arian as set forth both the 4th
century monk Arius and was refuted by Athanasius and settled at the council of
Nicea 326 A.D. Jehovah Witnesses do not adhere to the councils decision and
remain Arian in theology. Taking the headings from their book, “Aid to Bible
Understanding” 1971 edition, pp. 917–933, and selected portions that refer
to our study will give us their position by means of their own words. Jesus had
a prehuman existence, p. 917; and this prehuman existence was that He was “a
god” and not the God, or the Father. They used John 1:1 for proof as well as
other Scriptures. I will not deal with this in this study and have done so in
other studies that are available on request. Jesus is not a co–creator. On page
918 last portion of this subsection Jehovah Witnesses state: “Rather than a
co–creator, then, the Son was the agent or instrumentality through whom
Jehovah, the Creator, worked. Jesus himself credited God with the creation, as
do all the Scriptures.––Matt. 19:4–6. I will give these verses for your
viewing: “And he answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who
made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ ‘and said, ‘For this
reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and
the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.’” Jesus is
“Wisdom personified, p. 918, How he is the “only–begotten Son;” Why called “the
Word”, and Jesus’ Godship, pp. 918-919. As Non–Trinitarians they once again use
John 1:1 as a proof text that Jesus was only “a god” and not God. The
explanation given by Jehovah Witnesses to the words of Jesus: “I and My
Father are one” (John 10:30) taken from “Aid to Bible Understanding”
p. 919 which states: “That this did not mean that Jesus claimed to be the
Father or to be God is evident from his reply, already partly considered. The
oneness to which Jesus referred must be understood in harmony with the context
of the statement. He was speaking his works and his care of the “sheep” who
would follow him, His works, as words, demonstrated that there was unity, not
disunity and disharmony, between him and his Father, a point his reply went on
to emphasize. (John 10:25,26,37,38; compare 4:34; 5:30; 6:38–40;
8:16–18…..Jesus’ prayer on behalf of the unity of all his disciples, including
future ones, shows that the oneness or union between Jesus and his Father was
not as to identity of person but as to purpose and action. In this way Jesus’
disciples could “all be one,” just as he and his Father are one. ––John
17:20–23.
This then is the theological
position of Jesus Christ, that He is only “a god” and not the God, or the Father
and that Jesus only in unity of purpose with the Father and not to be
identified as God. Therefore, when, according to Jehovah Witnesses Thomas
cried, “my Lord and my God” he was speaking of two separate identities.
Taking their words from “Aid to Bible Understanding” p. 920, subsection
“My Lord and my God,” second paragraph of this subsection: “So, Thomas may
have addressed Jesus as “my God” in the sense of Jesus’ being “a god” though
not the Almighty God, not “the only true God,” to whom Thomas had often heard
Jesus pray. (John 17:1-3). Or he may have addressed Jesus as “my God” in a way
similar to expressions made by his forefathers, recorded in the Hebrew
Scriptures with which Thomas was familiar…In this sense, acknowledging or
confessing Jesus as the true God’s representative and spokesman. Whatever the
case, it is certain that Thomas’ words do not contradict the clear statement he
himself had heard Jesus make, namely, that “the Father is greater than I am.”
John 14:29). Each of these suppositions addressed in my other writings on
Jehovah Witnesses and available for copies on request.
Having set forth the doctrine of
Jesus by Jehovah Witnesses I now turn attention to John 20:28: “…my Lord and
my God!” The Greek from Textus Receptus which is the same in the critical
text that Jehovah Witnesses used for their translation: “ἀπεκρίθη Θωμᾶς
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ὁ
κύριός
μου καὶ ὁ
θεός
μου.” Literal translation: “he answered Thomas and
he said to him, the lord my and the god my.” Good English rendered: “Thomas
answered and said to him, my lord and my god. Notice that I did not capitalize
lord or god as this not the case in critical text but they are capitalized in
the Textus Receptus. I follow the Textus Receptus and agree that lord should be
Lord, and god, should be God. Either case Thomas said those words, so, to whom
was he addressing those words?
Does
Scripture aid us in our understanding to this question: “Is Jesus God, or “a
god?” Taking from the New World Translation in Isaiah 40:3: “Listen! Someone
is calling out in the wilderness: ‘Clear up the way of Jehovah, you people!
Make the highway for our god through the desert plain straight.” Referring to Jesus John the Baptist quoted
this verse from Isaiah: “he said: ‘I am a voice of someone crying out in the
wilderness, ‘Make the way of Jehovah straight,’ just as Isaiah the prophet
said’” (John 1:23). It is clear that John the Baptist was conjoining the
word Jehovah and God in Isaiah 40:3 to Jesus in John 1:23. Paul the apostle gives
us more understanding when he wrote: For even if there are so–called gods,
whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for
us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and
one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live”
(1Corinthians 6:5–6). We must
notice the comparison from verse 5, to verse 6: “if there were so–called gods
in heaven or on earth” and the word for “if” is emphatically used for the
writer uses “εί” and “περ” as “είπερ” which is a strong way of saying “if
indeed, “if indeed there were….” And not there are……” and then conjoins the one
God who is the Father by which all things were made, and one Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom are all things,…..; Paul then says: “However, there is not in
everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now
eat as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is
defiled” (1Corinthians 8:7). Previously in verse 4: “Therefore concerning the eating of
things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that
there is no other God but one” (vs. 4). Paul uses this narrative in regards
to eating things that were or possibly offered to idols with the doctrine taught
in Scripture and revealed to us by Jesus Christ through His life on earth. Then
tells us that there is the Father, and there is the Lord Jesus Christ and that
both are creators. Paul adds; that “all” things were created by Jesus Christ.
That being so stated then Jesus Christ had to be, that is, if He is a created
being as Jehovah Witnesses teach, that He is not God but “a god,” one that is
created then there should be Scripture that tells us that the Father created
Jesus Christ: there are none. Paul writing to Timothy states that there is: “For
there is one God and one Mediator between God and men the Man Christ Jesus,”
(1Timothy 2:5). Paul writes further: “And without controversy great is
the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the
Spirit, seen by angels preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world,
received up in glory” (1Timothy 3:16). God is the subject of this verse and
literally can be translated, as God appeared in true character in the flesh.
God justified in the Spirit, that is, an influential principal, a term for a
process superior to a merely natural or carnal course of things, by the
operation of the Divine Spirit. God preached among the Gentiles, God was
believed on in the world, and God was received up in glory. Scripture is clear
that Jesus Christ, God manifested in the flesh, was God, and as His Wisdom
clothed in flesh was called the Son of God, the Son of Man, two natures in one
body.
John
20:28 then is speaking rightly by Thomas when he declared: “My Lord and My
God.” The Greek word “καὶ” can be used either copulative, or cumulative.
So then, how is it used in this verse? The Greek will aid us: “Ὁ
κύριός
μου καὶ ὁ
θεός
μου.” The my Lord and the my God with the antecedent “him”, “αὐτῷ·”
causes both “Lord” and “God” to refer to the same antecedent which is
Jesus Christ to whom Thomas was answering. Therefore, “καὶ” can be, and is being used copulative, which
makes both statements equal, and refer to the same antecedent. If there was no
antecedent by which the statement by Thomas refers too, then the Greek word “καὶ” is to be understood to be cumulative and make
the two phrases to be different as the latter phrase would only be an addition
in his declaration. Thomas saw the risen Jesus and the wounds caused by His
crucifixion and along with al those three years of traveling with Jesus. Thomas
heard the words of Jesus, and hearing or in the least knowing that John the
Baptist declared that Jesus was the antitype to the type found in Isaiah 40:3
he would then without any hesitation due to Jesus appearing before him and
calling Jesus both Lord and God.
If
John 20:28 was the only proof that Jesus was both God and Son of God, the
Second Person of the Trinity then we would fall short to present this doctrine
to others. All of Scripture and keeping within context, not by our
presuppositions; rather by Scripture interpreting Scripture, we have more than
enough truth in regards to the Divinity of Jesus. We do not have to rely on
just one Scripture, or a twisting of the Greek or as in some cases providing
some truth to cover up the lie, so that we, by faith, have assurance that our
Doctrine that Jesus is both God and man is a correct doctrine.
This
short study will give at least some information that will aid a person in their
search of the truth. Questions are welcome as “iron sharpens iron” and I look
forward to them and/or any other helpful ideas or thoughts. Finally, all
italics are mine.
May God Bless You
Richard L. Crumb
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