Rebuttal #9 to Reason #9 (Part Two)
In Part One of Rebuttal #9 to Reason #9, we examined the first two arguments of Asher Norman in his work, Twenty-Six Reasons Why Jewish People Don’t Believe in Jesus. This part will examine the final two arguments:
- God cannot be a man or the Son of Man (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Hosea 11:9; Psalm 146:3)
- God is God and He is God alone
- Messiah will fear God
- To whom should the expression “Son of God” refer?
So let’s get started …
The Messiah will fear God. Perhaps it is because Norman is an attorney and not a theologian that he makes a critical error in understanding of Scripture. Perhaps it is because he purposely misinterprets the passage but his reference to Isaiah 11:1-3 illustrates that Norman is not grounded in truth and understanding. The word fear in Hebrew can be transliterated as yirah which is understood as reverence/awe of God. Throughout the Gospels, especially in Jesus’ Prayer of John 17, Jesus expresses an awareness of the awesomeness of God the Father. To state that the Incarnate Jesus can have reverence towards God the Father is not a contradiction but an awareness of the the role that Jesus as man on earth expressed towards the Father God. This is not a contradiction that the Messiah would reverence God but an awareness of how God the Son understood His role in our salvation.
Now for the final argument of Norman’s 9th Reason …
To whom should the expression “Son of God” refer. Norman’s ultimate argument is that the term “Son of God” refers to the Davidic line of kings. I agree. However, what Norman misses in his arguments is that Jesus is of the lineage of David (see Genealogy post) and He was/is/will be the ultimate fulfillment of the Davidic kingship as expressed by David himself in Psalm 110. David wrote in this psalm that “The Lord said to my Lord …” David knew that there would arise not only a greater king than himself but also someone who would be sitting at the right hand of God himself. In other words, the greatest of Davidic kings is God through the Incarnate reality of Jesus of Nazareth. Complicated … yes. Truth … YES!
I imagine that Asher Norman reads these posts, especially given the traffic generated by these posts. Therefore, I would like to ask him a question. Why do you focus on Messiah Ben David as ruling Messiah but ignore the reality of the Messiah ben Joseph aspect of Messiah who is to suffer and die for His people? Would love to hear from him. Shalom. God bless.
