Titles for Jesus In the Gospels – Son of God
In the Gospels, there are many titles for Jesus. However, there are three main titles – Son of God, Christ (Messiah), and Son of Man. We will look at one of these in each of the next three weeks.
The Gospel refers to Jesus as the Son of God (or the equivalent phrase Son of the Most High or Son of the Blessed One) 27 times. The use of the title is fairly evenly spread among the Gospels: 8 times in Matthew, 5 in Mark, 8 in Luke, and 6 in John.
In fact, Mark uses this title in his “title verse” to introduce Jesus and the Gospel:
The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1
But this title (or its equivalents) is used throughout the Gospels. Here are just a few examples:
Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:33
“Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” John 11:27
And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” Mark 15:39
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”Luke 1:35
Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” Mark 3:11
As seen from these verses, this title appears on the lips of Jesus’ disciples, a Roman centurion, men and women, angels, and demons! The Gospels want us to know that Jesus is the Son of God!
It is also important to note that ‘Son of God’ is generally used in the Gospels to refer to Jesus’ Person as the unique Son of God. It is not simply a designation that might be given to other humans; it describes Jesus’ unique relationship to the Father. In fact, as such it is part of the title verse of Mark’s Gospel and forms a key part of the structure of the whole Gospel of Mark. Mark (and the other Gospel writers) want us to know that Jesus is the Divine Son of God!
Furthermore, the full revelation of the New Testament, shows that Jesus is fully God, the 2nd Person of the Trinity, the Eternal Son of God. This is seen not only in the title but passages such as the introduction to John’s Gospel:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:1-3
This means that when we read the story of Jesus in the Gospels, it is not just the story of a great man – it is the story of the Unique Son of God, the Eternal 2nd Person of the Trinity!
In Christ,
Bret