Matthew 17:5 – While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son<\/strong>, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n See also Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35 and 2 Peter 1:16-18.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark 5:7 – And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus<\/strong>, thou Son of the most high God<\/strong>? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n See also Matthew 8:29 and Luke 8:28.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew 16:16-17 – And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God<\/strong>. And Jesus<\/strong> answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n See also Mark 8:29 and Luke 9:20.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Remark: The truth that Jesus is the Son of God is confirmed by the testimony of at least three witnesses: the Father, the demons, and Jesus\u2019 disciples. See also:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Corinthians 1:9 – God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son<\/strong> Jesus Christ our Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Romans 15:6 – That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our<\/strong> Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew 16:27 – For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father<\/strong> with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark 8:38 – Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father<\/strong> with the holy angels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew 25:34 – Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father<\/strong>, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remark: See also John 5:17. If \u201cSon of God\u201d were merely a title of Jesus, Scripture would not use such expressions as \u201cHis Son,\u201d \u201cHis Father,\u201d \u201cthe Father of our Lord,\u201d and \u201cMy Father.\u201d Jesus refers to the heavenly Father as \u201cHis\u201d Father\u2014not simply as \u201ca,\u201d \u201cour,\u201d or \u201cthe\u201d Father. The fact that Jesus calls God \u201cHis own Father\u201d is significant. Likewise, Jesus is called not merely \u201cthe\u201d Son, but \u201cHis\u201d Son.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSon\u201d and \u201cFather\u201d are therefore not just titles; they point to a unique relationship between them. This is especially important because, in Jesus\u2019 time, the Jews also referred to themselves as \u201csons of God\u201d and spoke of God as their Father. We will examine this in greater detail below.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n John 6:69 – And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark 1:1 – The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God<\/strong> \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remark: See also Matthew 26:63\u201364 and Mark 14:61\u201362. Jesus\u2019 identity as the Christ is closely connected to His being the Son. The name \u201cChrist\u201d literally means \u201cAnointed One.\u201d However, it is often joined with the title \u201cthe Son of God,\u201d showing how closely these two designations are linked. While \u201cChrist\u201d functions more as a title\u2014indeed, almost as a proper name\u2014\u201cSon of God\u201d points specifically to His unique relationship with the Father.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n John 19:7 – The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remark: It is often claimed that a symbolic understanding of sonship was self-evident in the culture of that time. This may indeed be true. Elderly men sometimes referred to their unrelated apprentices as \u201csons.\u201d But did Jesus claim to be merely a symbolic Son of God?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n John 8:41 – Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n John 5:17-18 – But Jesus answered them, My Father<\/strong> worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remark: The Jews referred to themselves as \u201csons of God\u201d (see also Romans 8:14); this in itself was not unusual. However, Jesus\u2019 claims went beyond a merely symbolic understanding of sonship. It was literal.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew 22:41-46 – While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?<\/strong> They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?<\/strong> {Psalm 110:1} If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remark: In the time of Jesus, many Jews expected the Messiah (the Son of God) to deliver the people as a king and descendant of David. In their understanding of the term \u201cson,\u201d they did not envision God\u2019s literal Son. Jesus challenged this understanding. He taught that the Christ, the Messiah, is not merely a son of David. In referring to Psalm 110:1, He showed that the Messiah could not be only David\u2019s descendant, since David calls Him \u201cLord.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, Jesus was indeed a descendant of David, the king of Israel (Matthew 1:1, 6, 16\u201317). Yet He wanted the Jews to understand that His identity went beyond that. He was not simply a descendant of David, but the Son of God.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Notably, Psalm 110 presents two distinct individuals interacting with one another: YHWH (the Father) and the Lord (Adoni), whom Jesus identifies with Himself.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n John 20:28 – And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remark: Jesus is God by nature. If \u201cSon of God\u201d merely meant that He is divine, why would Scripture use the term \u201cSon of God\u201d at all? There are several passages in which Jesus is directly called God. If \u201cSon of God\u201d meant the same thing as \u201cGod,\u201d why would the inspired writers not simply use the term \u201cGod\u201d instead?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Proverbs 30:4 – Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name<\/strong>, if thou canst tell?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remark: The above verse provides further confirmation that \u201cSon of God\u201d is not merely a name or a title. Solomon asks, \u201cWhat is His name, and what is His Son\u2019s name?\u201d This question suggests that the term \u201cSon\u201d is intended in a real and meaningful sense, not merely as a symbolic designation. If \u201cSon\u201d were simply a name or a title, such a question would make no sense.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n John 8:42 – Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God<\/strong>; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remark: An important line of evidence is the procession of the Son from the Father. However, this is a topic in itself and will be explored in a separate Q&A.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n John 20:31 – But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God<\/strong>; and that believing ye might have life through his name<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 John 2:22-23 – Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the<\/strong> Christ<\/strong>? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son<\/strong>. Whosoever denieth the<\/strong> Son, the same hath not the Father<\/strong>: he that acknowledgeth the Son<\/strong> hath the Father also.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remark: Accepting Jesus means accepting Him for who He said He is\u2014the Son of God. If we deny Jesus\u2019 true and literal Sonship, we make God the Father a liar, for He has borne witness to His Son.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sonship Who bears witness that Jesus is the Son of God? Matthew 17:5 – While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. See also Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","tag-father-son"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scriptureqna.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scriptureqna.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scriptureqna.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scriptureqna.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scriptureqna.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scriptureqna.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338,"href":"https:\/\/scriptureqna.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336\/revisions\/338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scriptureqna.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scriptureqna.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scriptureqna.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scriptureqna.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Is \u201cSon of God\u201d just a title?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What about the name \u201cChrist\u201d?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The quality of sonship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What kind of Son did Jesus claim to be?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Wasn\u2019t Jesus called the \u201cSon\u201d because He was the son of David?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
But couldn\u2019t Jesus be the Son of God simply because of His divinity?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What additional evidence suggests that Jesus is the literal Son of God?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why is it important to understand Jesus\u2019 Sonship?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n