Is Jesus really God? (part 1)

Yes. Yes, He is. I'm more convinced now than ever.

I spent another weekend in Tennessee with some of Alli's family. They are Jehovah's Witnesses, and although I disagree to the highest extent with the majority of their doctrines, I do think that they are wonderful people, and I had another great weekend down there!

Sunday morning, before I went to the service at their Kingdom Hall, I got into a discussion with Alli's aunt about the deity of Christ. As I see it, among the many doctrinal heresies, the denial of Jesus as God is the greatest one, and the key that unlocks the rest of what seems to be an extremely legalistic and man-centered religion. I had happened to go through the first few chapters of Revelation during my quite time earlier that morning and read some interesting verses. They spurred me on to do more research when I returned back home... and it turns out that there is more biblical evidence that I had ever imagined! I'd like to present my findings here as a personal reference, but also as a reference that might possibly encourage and help anyone else who might read this.

Another multi-post series. Consider it a short "Why I am not Jehovah's Witness" series to precede my soon-to-be-completed "Why I am not Catholic" series!

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The first point from the first two chapters of Revelation deals with the names that Jesus uses for Himself, and then a certain claim that He makes. Chapter 1, verse 8 reads (NKJV):

"I am the Alpha the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

The New World Translation, which is used exclusively by the Jehovah's Witness organization, leaves out "the Beginning and the End", and translates "Lord" as "Jehovah God". Now, I'm not quite sure why this is the case, since archē ("beginning") and tělŏs ("end") exist in the primary manuscripts, and the word used for "Lord" is kurios, which is used to designate Christ, not God the Father. Regardless, we'll move on with the word study...

Again, in verse 11, Jesus says:

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last."

The New World Translation has taken this entire sentence out of the text, and claim that this is still Jehovah God speaking, but we'll leave that alone for the sake of argument, because I believe that my point will still hold true. The word here for "First" is prōtŏs, and the word for "Last" is ěschatŏs.

Now, in verse 17, Jesus says:

"Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last."

The New World Translation does also keep in these words "First" and "Last", which are the same Greek words used in verse 11, and recognizes that these are the words of Jesus, which is important. Jesus is naming Himself as "the First and the Last."

We're almost at the interesting part here, but let's first consider why the fact that Jesus refers to Himself as "the First and the Last" is important. Let's read a passage from the Old Testament, Isaiah, chapter 44, verse 6:

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: "I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God."

Now, it is true that the words for "First" and "Last" here are not the same as those found in Revelation, but this is no solid argument against this connection because... well... the words are from different languages! What is also true, however, is that the Hebrew words used here are only found two other places in the Bible: both also in the book of Isaiah, and both also used to refer to God the Father, Jehovah. Furthermore, the verse states that it is not only Jehovah God, but also his Redeemer who say this about Themselves. And what do They say next, after They claim this holy title?...

"Besides Me there is no God."

So much for Jesus just being a separate god-man beside Jehovah. And yes... the New World Translation retains all of this valuable insight in Isaiah... :o)

In naming Himself "the First and the Last", Jesus is claiming a relationship that is much closer than being only the Son of God. He is using specific language that is reserved for Jehovah God, the King of Israel. In doing so, He reveals that He is, in fact, God Himself at the same time that He is also His Son.