even though they did try to stone him for blasphemy that was their thoughts ,Jesus never claimed to be God he claimed to be Gods sonrocketman said:Hello May!
I know all about the various translations of Exodus. My point was that he used that particular name, a name that the Jews knew was associated with one God, especially in light of the 'shema' : "Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad.." - "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One".[Duet6:4] This was a very well known saying in Judaism, much like the Lord's prayer to Christians, and it would have sounded like outright blasphemy to the Jews at the time. God's name and the holy use of it has always been important to him, and he constantly empahised this to Israel. It's simply a fact of first century history that it would have sounded to them that he was saying he was God, because the teaching that there was only one God was an absolute to them. That is why they tried to stone him, and again in John 10:33 "'We are not stoning you for any of these,' replied the Jews, '"but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God'". Jesus' subsequent answer has been debated every which way, but there is no doubt what they wanted to stone him for, proof that they believed in only one God. So in a culture like that saying "I AM!" is saying you're God.
It is essential to have a thorough understanding of the day and age that Jesus lived in. One example where Jesus was at his most bold about his status was in Luke 19:44 "..because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you". They were supposed to recognize, as John the baptist did from scripture, this event: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." -Is11:6. Also in Isaiah it's interesting to note 42:8 " I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols" .. and yet doubting Thomas worshipped Jesus as "My Lord and my God".
I think when God told Moses his name [I shall prove to be] he was refering to what he knew he would eventually do as Jesus.
When Jesus was asked what the most important commandment of all was, he said in Mark 12:29 "'The most important one', answered Jesus, 'is this:Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.Love the Lord...". Even the teacher who questioned him said: [v32] "You are right in saying that God is one and there is NO OTHER BUT HIM" [emphasis mine]. Did Jesus correct him? No, he said [v34] "You are not far from the kingdom of heaven". For Jesus to quote the shema to the Jews and not try to spin it in anyway is crystal clear evidence that Jesus thinks there is only one God, and none other but one. Please research what the first century expressions 'son of man' and 'son of God' actually mean. The Jews in the new testament obviously knew, and it's why they wanted to kill him.
I get the feeling, May, that I am not going to change your mind but I'm okay with that. I believe God is one, and frankly if he is then everything in the New Testament still makes perfect sense if you accept a God who can be everywhere at once [in 3 ways?]. Anyway, Jesus is my Lord and Saviour, and that's the important thing, right? Sorry about the long post. Love and peace.
do YOU say to me whom the Father sanctified and dispatched into the world, You blaspheme, because I said, I am Gods Son? JOHN 10;36
(John 14:28) YOU heard that I said to YOU, I am going away and I am coming [back] to YOU. If YOU loved me, YOU would rejoice that I am going my way to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.............Yes it seems that Jesus knew his place and never claimed to be God and said that the father was greater than him
(John 20:17) Jesus said to her: "Stop clinging to me. For I have not yet ascended to the Father. But be on your way to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and YOUR Father and to my God and YOUR God............... yes Jesus had a God ,as he tells here ,if we stick to the bible we cant go wrong