Hello,
We have been wondering about when Jesus would have become aware of His deity...
Is this something He always knew?
It has come up when reading our daughter stories from Arthur Maxwell's Bible Story - the early years of Jesus....they seem to imply that He was taught, rather than something He always knew.
Through Him only
He would have known when he was 12. According to Luke 2:42 Jesus was that old here: "And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" (Luke 12:49)
Consider with that the Jewish understanding in Jesus' time of what calling God your father meant. "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." (John 5:18)
I can't say anymore except give these passages which are clear prophecies of Christ. They lead me to believe that Jesus' deity was something he was inherently aware of from the womb, though they don't make that 100% certain as far as I can tell. How that could be so is a mystery, but the passages are worth giving for consideration.
"But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly." (Psalm 22:8-9)
"Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name... And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength." (Isaiah 49:1, 5)
I believe the Father revealed it to him by saying this to him:
1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
1:10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
1:11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
1:12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. Heb.1:8-12
I think Jesus heard these words spoken to him in his humanity. As to WHEN it happened I dont know.
Scripture is clear on one thing... Jesus always existed. Therefore, the theological answer is He knew before the beginning of time.
But I understand the question is about Jesus in human form. This is not clearly addressed in scripture, in fact not much of his early years is mentioned. Just a few moments here and there.
Therefore we can conclude that this is not something we should dedicate a whole lot of time trying to figure out. If it were a paramount issue then the Holy Spirit would have inspired one of the writers of scripture to discuss it. But He did not.
Krispy
True Krispy, we must enter upon sacred ground most carefully. Was it not the Spirit that took on flesh? The incarnation (God with us).
Fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. Not learning to be God but rather man.
The Godhead has always been 3 persons. Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Genesis 1:26: Then God said, "Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
This is in reference to God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit
Genesis 11:7: Come, let US go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech."
This is in reference to God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit
John 1:1-5: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was WITH God, and the Word WAS God. He WAS WITH God in the beginning. Through him ALL things were made; without him NOTHING was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
The Godhead has existed eternally, my friend... as God the Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
He did not have to learn to be man as God can not be taught anything because He is all knowing. Instead, he stooped down and submitted to being a man to fulfill the will of His Father... which was to be the blood atonement for the sins of His people.
Krispy
Sorry Krisp. I was referring more to the Heb 5:8 passage referencing his learning obedience through suffering. That which He was not subject to learn in Heaven but would through the incarnation. We are clear on His omniscience and the plurality of the trinity/one God.
I am just wondering...what does it matter? Is there something important about when He was aware of His deity that I am missing?
I would say He was aware of His deity when He was aware of His humanity. But, still we don't know when.
It would be bad for us if He was aware of His humanity without being aware of His deity, eh?
My guess, before 12 years old.
Julius
Awarness of His deity? I was thinking this morning about what thoughts occupy our minds and what we teach our children? I would not discourage anything that would have to do with the actions of Christ's humiliation in taking upon Himself the flesh of man. What greater things can we talk about and teach our children if not those things about the very God we want them to embrace in the greatest sense possible. Carters is reading with his daughter in hopes that the love and appreciation he has for Christ will be shared by his daughter. For the mind to be exercised on Christ preincarnate or post, is to appreciate and be in awe of who He is. Though it can be with the wrong heart, unprofitable and trivial, it can be a means to the greater worshipfulness that comes by meditating on who God is.
May they contemplate everything about Him even the minutia of His time on earth, and may they love Him all the more for it.
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