Son of God in the New Testament

Contents

Obscuring Translations

• The very symbolic usage by Jesus of 'son' is given good recognition when the NIV translates 'Son of Perdition' as "the one doomed to destruction" (John 17:12).

Son as 'Disciple' or Someone Giving Allegiance

• Rabbis commonly called their disciples 'sons', so in this sense 'son of God' would be understood as "disciple of God" - a bold claim: even other prophets like Elijah and Elisha were only "sons of men". To the Jews, to overturn the Mosaic Laws was so obviously a blatantly Satanic act that such a man could never be such a "disciple taught by God". (Cf. 1 Samuel 3:16, 2 Kings 8:9, Exodus 4:22). The following are examples of 'son' being used to mean "disciple":
• Jesus says, 'And if I in Beelzebub cast out the demons, in whom do your sons cast out?' (Luke 11:19, Matthew 12:27). Jesus means something like, "so what does that make you and your teaching, if you have been teaching disciples to heal demons and it can only be done through faith in the devil?" Here the NIV translates the first case as 'followers' and the second case simply as 'people'!
• 'Someone announced to him, Your mother and your brothers stand outside wanting to see you. But he said replying to them, My mother and my brothers are those heeding to the guidance of God and acting,"' (Luke 8:20-21). This is very similar to the use of 'son' as "disciple".
• The Apostles talk to their disciples as their 'sons' and 'children' (1 Timothy 1:2, 1:18, 2 Timothy 1:2, 2:1, Titus 1:4, Philemon 10 1, Corinthians 4:14, 1 John 2:1, 2:12, Galations 4:19 - etc.)
• The Iranian Prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster) was also called the Son of God.
• Christ is normally called '(a) son of God', without the word 'the'. (See statistics at end).
• 'He is my Son, the chosen,' (Luke 9:35). 'Chosen,' suggests being selected through some condition. 'Jesus was faithful to the one who appointed him,' (Hebrews 3:2).
• 'And {craft, understanding} is judged [separate or issuing] from all her children.' (Luke 7:35)
• The meaning of 'Son of God' can also show itself by looking at Jesus' use of an opposite term: 'Son of the Devil'. For example, Jesus says, 'You are from the father (of) the devil and you want to do the heart of your father.' (John 8:44), 'In this manifest the children of God and the children of the devil,' (1 John 3:10). This use of Father and Son for the devil and the Pharisees just as he uses it for God and Himself is a clear demonstration of this meaning of allegiance.
• Indeed, the application of 'Son of God,' to the Righteous is as frequent as it is to Jesus Himself! (Matthew 5:9, 5:45, Luke 6:35, 11:52, Romans 8:16, 9:26, Galatians 3:26 ('Sons of god through the trust in Jesus Christ') - etc.)

Son of Man

• Jesus usually calls himself 'Son of Man' (81 times) and not 'Son of God' (5 times, all of which appear in John alone). It is his followers who call him 'Son of God'; so if his followers, then they are using their usage, which was probably less inventive and closer to the Jewish meaning than Jesus might use.

Son as Hereditary

• 'Son' carries the connotations of 'heir' (Romans 8:17), for Jesus is heir to the creation, as it says in Paul, (1 Corinthians 15:27-28): 'However when it says that all things have been put under |Jesus|, it is clear that this does not include he |God| who put under him all the things. And whenever he |God| puts under him |Jesus or God| all the things, then also the son himself |Jesus| will be put under the one |God| who put under him all the things.'
• In Israel, a male was always designated as the son of one's father, but Jesus had no father. In Luke 1:35 it says that Jesus was called a Son of God because 'Holy spirit will {visit, come upon} you and power from highest {overshadow, hide} you.'

Creation as an Act of God

• Similarly, Adam as well as Jesus is called 'Son of God' (Luke 3:38), as an indication of being created by the Will of God without recourse to a biological father.

Adoption

• The status 'son' was also given to an adopted son as can be seen through a careful comparison of the genealogies of Matthew 1:16 and Luke 3:23, working from Joseph backwards in time: according to the Old Testament Law a man may raise up children to a brother when that brother dies childless. By Son of God can mean God adopts Jesus as a son, giving him an adopted rank ('(a) son of me you are, I today engender you')

Father-Son

• Son reflects a Father-Son relationship of Jesus with God. Father was not an uncommon title for God by the Jews, and in Isaiah 64:8 it appears in the Old Testament: "Yet, O LORD, you are our Father."
• 'We from {fornication, idolatry} were not begotten, one father we have the God' (John 8:41); but Jesus is saying that the son of God is the true Jew, which they for rejecting his message are not.
• As "true Jew", compare 2 Esdras 6:58: 'But we your nation, whom you have called your first-born, only-begotten...'
• What is the significance of the fact that Jesus is called the 'son', but never the 'brother', of God?

Spiritualised Sonship

• Notice that Jesus was called the Son of David even though he wasn't (he was descended from David through Joseph, but Joseph played no part in the conception since Mary was a virgin),
• And indeed, upon the cross in John 19:26, he said to his mother, with his disciple there, '{And, Behold}woman, your son' and to his disciple, 'here is your mother';
• From this it is clear that 'son' is a very spiritualised concept. He was the Son of David because he was the spiritually heir to the throne. In fact, although not a son of David he was a descendent of David since Mary is said to have been, but one must ask why the gospels have given us his genealogy through Joseph if not to imply that he is a son of David in some way (i.e. spiritually, or through adoption). The following are also spiritual in intent:

Son as Messenger

• "But to all who received {it, him}, {it, he} gave {the right, power, authority} to become children of (a) god, to those who trusted in his truth, they who not born of bloods nor of (a) will of (a) flesh nor (a) will of (a) husband but of (a) god." (John 1:12). 'You will be sons of most high,' (Luke 6:35) - exactly what the angel announced Jesus to be: 'You will be called a Son of the Most High,' (Luke 1:32). Clearly, this does not mean that we become God!
• 'For they are equal to angels and are sons of god, being sons of the Resurrection' or 'For they are equal to angels and are sons, being sons of |the| god of the Resurrection' (Luke 20:36).
• 'Sons of God' in the Old Testament is translated 'angels', from which it is clear that 'Son of God' really means 'messenger of God'. Jesus himself says that he only speaks and does what God shows him to do. (John 5:19, 8:28). (Genesis 6:2,4, Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:6, Daniel 3:25; plus apocrypha, etc.)

A List...

• 'Anyone loving from the God has been born and recognises God' (1 John 4:7)
• 'Anyone trusting that Jesus is the Christ from God has been born' (1 John 5:1)
• 'You become her [Sarah's] children if you do good' (1 Peter 3:7)
• 'Sons you are of those murdering the prophets,' (Matthew 23:31).
• 'None from them is {ruined, destroyed} except the son of ruin' (John 17:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:3).
• 'The sons of the {kingdom, princess} shall be cast out' (Matthew 8:12; Matthew 13:38)
• 'Can the sons of the bridechamber not mourn, {until, as long as} with them is the bride?' (Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:19).
• 'The good seed they are the sons of the kingdom; but the weeds are the sons of the wicked (one)' (Matthew 13:38).
• 'For the sons of this age are unto their own kind shrewder than the sons of the {light, a hero, man, human}' (Luke 18:8; John 12:36, Ephesians 5:8).
• 'Not the children of flesh, these children of God,' (Romans 9:8).
• 'The children of the {command, proclamation, summons}' (Romans 9:8; Galatians 4:28)
• 'Son of hell,' (Matthew 23:15).
• 'The sons of (disobedience, disbelief}' (Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 5:6, Colossians 3:6, 1 Thessalonians 5:5).
• 'Children of {passion, wantonness, temper, impulse, punishment}' (Ephesians 2:3)
• 'You [plural] are all sons of {light, a hero, man, human}' (1 Thessalonians 5:5).

Statistical Usage of 'Son Of God'

Occurrences of 'A Son' and 'The Son'

Used By

Quotes Used in this Document