“Now after John had been delivered up into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” Mark 1:14-15

“And in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus rose up, went out of the house, and went away to a desolate place, and was praying there. And Simon and his companions searched for Him; and they found Him, and said to Him, ‘Everyone is looking for You.’ And He said to them, ‘Let us go elsewhere, to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came out for.’ And He went, preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and casting out the demons. Mark 1:35-39

One vital aspect of Jesus’ proclamation is that individuals had to be willing to abandon everything for his sake, including giving up their own lives if necessary:  

“And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:34-38

“And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.”’ And he said to Him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.’And looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’” Mark 10:17-21

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 10:34-39

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple… So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” Luke 14:26-27, 33

The reason Christ could demand such a devotion is because he is that very sovereign King of the kingdom, which he came to announce. As such, one cannot enter the kingdom without first embracing and loving its Ruler.

In this post I will set out to prove that Jesus’ proclamation in all the Synoptic Gospels centered on his being the unique divine King whom everyone must submit to in order to be saved.

DIVINE SON OF MAN AND KING

Throughout the Synoptics Jesus speaks of himself as the Son of Man who comes on the clouds with his angels to judge mankind:

“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of HIS Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38

“And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.” Mark 13:26-27

“But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him and said to Him, ‘Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’ And Jesus said, ‘I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”” Mark 14:61-62

Christ is clearly referring to the vision of the prophet Daniel, where he sees two distinctly divine figures:

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; ALL nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14 New International Version (NIV)

By identifying himself as the Danielic Son of Man, Jesus was essentially proclaiming himself to be the eternal divine King whom all nations are to worship forever and ever.

Interestingly, even the rabbis took Daniel’s prophecy as a reference to the King Messiah:  

one like a man was coming. That is THE KING MESSIAH.

and… up to the Ancient of Days. Who was sitting in judgment and judging the nations.

came. arrived, reached. (The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16490/showrashi/true#v13)

Jesus further confirmed his divine royalty by entering Jerusalem on a donkey:

“And as they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples,and said to them, ‘Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ you say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he will send it back here.’ And they went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they untied it.And some of the bystanders were saying to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’And they spoke to them just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission.And they brought the colt to Jesus and put their garments on it; and He sat on it.And many spread their garments in the road, and others spread leafy branches, having cut them from the fields.And those who went in front and those who followed were shouting:

‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!’

“And Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.” Mark 11:1-11 – Cf. Matt. 21:9-17

This same episode is found in John’s Gospel with some added details:

“On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.’ And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.’ These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him, and that they had done these things to Him.” John 12:12-16

As John noted, Jesus was deliberately fulfilling a prophecy that is found in Zechariah, as well as another one located in the Psalms:

 “This is the day which Yahweh has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. O Yahweh, save! O Yahweh, succeed! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh; We have blessed you from the house of Yahweh.” Psalm 118:24-26

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Lowly and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a pack animal. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; And His reign will be from sea to sea And from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.” Zechariah 9:9-11

What makes Zechariah’s prophecy all the more remarkable is that elsewhere in the book, the prophet identifies the King who rides the foal of a donkey as YHWH God Almighty!

“And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; in that day Yahweh will be the only one, and His name one… Then it will be that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of hosts, there will be no rain on them.” Zechariah 14:9, 16-17

Since YHWH is the One coming to Jerusalem to rule over all the earth, this means that it is YHWH whom the prophet announced will enter Jerusalem on a donkey!

Therefore, by riding on a donkey into Jerusalem Jesus was basically identifying himself as that YHWH God whom Zechariah prophesied was coming to Jerusalem to reign.

Once again, we have the rabbis agreeing with the New Testament that Zechariah 9:9 is in fact a Messianic prophecy:

In the land of Hadrach. R’ Judah the son of Ilai expounded: THIS IS THE MESSIAH, who is sharp against the nations and soft to Israel. R’ Yose the son of a Damascene mother said to him [to Judah the son of Ilai]: “Judah, our master, how long will you pervert the verses for us? I call heaven and earth to testify for me, that I am from Damascus, and there is a place named Hadrach. [Rabbi Yose continued:] Now how do I explain: ‘And Damascus is His resting place?’” That Jerusalem is destined to reach as far as Damascus. ‘His resting place’ means only Jerusalem, as it is said: (Psalms 132:14) “This is My resting place to eternity.” He said to him [i.e. R’ Judah to R’ Yose]: “Now how do I explain (Jer. 30:18) ‘And the city shall be built on its mound?’” He replied: “That it is not destined to move from its place.” So was the baraitha taught in Sifre (Deut. 1:1).(The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16213/showrashi/true#v1; emphasis mine)

Behold! Your king shall come to you. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO INTERPRET THIS EXCEPT AS REFERRING TO THE KING MESSIAH, as it is stated: “and his rule shall be from sea to sea.” We do not find that Israel had such a ruler during the days of the Second Temple.

just and victorious. saved by the Lord.

and riding a donkey. This is a symbol of humility.

and a foal of she-donkeys. as in (Gen. 32:16) “and ten foals.” (Ibid., https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16213/showrashi/true#v9; emphasis mine)

The next example is so remarkable, that Muhammad plagiarized our Lord’s words and ascribed them to his deity:

“‘But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

“‘Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.” Then the righteous will answer Him, “Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?” The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”

“‘Then He will also say to those on His left, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.” Then they themselves also will answer, “Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?” Then He will answer them, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’ When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, ‘You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.’” Matthew 25:31-46; 26:1-2 NASB1995

Note here that Christ identifies himself as the very Lord and King of the day of judgment, being the Owner of the glorious throne!

It is so plainly obvious that Jesus was making himself out to be God Almighty in the flesh that Muhammad stole the aforementioned statements of Christ and put them in the mouth of his god:

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah, who said that the Messenger of Allah said:

Allah (mighty and sublime be He) will say on the Day of Resurrection: O son of Adam, I fell ill and you visited Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so had fallen ill and you visited him not? Did you not know that had you visited him you would have found Me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you fed Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I feed You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so asked you for food and you fed him not? Did you not know that had you fed him you would surely have found that (the reward for doing so) with Me? O son of Adam, I asked you to give Me to drink and you gave Me not to drink. He will say: O Lord, how should I give You to drink when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: My servant So-and-so asked you to give him to drink and you gave him not to drink. Had you given him to drink you would have surely found that with Me.

It was related by Muslim.

Hadith Qudsi 18 (sunnah.com https://sunnah.com/qudsi40/18)

By taking Jesus’ words and attributing them to Allah, Muhammad bore witness to the fact that Christ made himself out to be God Almighty since he does what even Islam’s false prophet realized that only the one true God shall do. I.e., Jesus Christ comes to judge mankind on the last day, on the day of resurrection, since he is the Master and Ruler of the day of judgment!

The Synoptics have more to say.

In one episode, Jesus heals a paralytic in order to prove that, as the Son of Man, he has power to do what even the Quran acknowledges only God can do, namely, forgive sins:

“And when He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. And being unable to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof over where He was; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the mat where the paralytic was lying. And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, ‘Child, your sins are forgiven.’

“But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ‘Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?’ Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, ‘Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”; or to say, “Get up, and pick up your mat and walk”? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—He said to the paralytic, ‘I say to you, get up, pick up your mat, and go to your home.’ And he got up and immediately picked up the mat and went out before everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this.’” Mark 2:1-12 – Cf. Matt. 9:1-8; Luke 5:17-26

This isn’t the only time that Jesus personally forgave a person’s sins:

“Then He said to her, ‘Your sins have been forgiven.’And those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, ‘Who is this man who even forgives sins?’And He said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’” Luke 7:48-50

Astonishingly, these texts demonstrate that Christ possesses the very characteristics and performs the unique functions, which the Hebrew Bible only attributes to God.

According to the OT, it is YHWH who forgives sins, heals diseases, and knows what is in the hearts of men:

“then listen in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and give to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know, for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men,” 1 Kings 8:39

“Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.” Psalm 44:21

“Bless Yahweh, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;” Psalm 103:2-4

And, as I already noted, even the Islamic scripture attests that forgiveness of sins is a unique divine prerogative:

who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves, remember God, and pray forgiveness for their sins — and who shall forgive sins but God? — and do not persevere in the things they did and that wittingly. S. 3:135 Arberry

Interestingly, the Quran echoes the very objection which the Jews leveled at Jesus for claiming to be able to forgive sins!

I will have a lot more evidence to share in the next part in this series.