Did Jesus know he was God?

Maneuvering through Christology

Want a ticket to Rome?

Probably you are sitting on it right now!

If not, it’s easy. You just have to mess around with theology and write or speak something that does not align with Church’s official teachings.

And voilà — off you go to Rome to give an explanation.

Well, this is what we were told in our theology classes with some real-life stories of theologians who had to either recant from their views or get their books blacklisted.

Some time ago, I discovered that I held a heretical belief. That too — Docetism! It was a bitter pill to swallow.

The heresy

Docetism is derived from the Greek word dokein (‘to seem’ or ‘to appear’), which held that Jesus Christ only seemed to have a real human body and experience human suffering and death. His physical form was an illusion. This position preserved the idea that the divine could not truly unite with corruptible matter which is called Gnosticism (another heresy). In simple terms, it denied the full humanity of Jesus.

The first condemnation against these heresies appears in 1 Jn 4:2–3 and 2 Jn 7, which warn against those denying Jesus came “in the flesh.” Many church fathers followed suit until finally it was condemned as heretical at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE and later at Chalcedon in 451 CE.

How did I revive this mummy after 1500 years? Well, I had company — my classmates and many of you who are possibly holding a similar belief or a variation of it.

Christ Pantocrator. Photo by Tadeusz Zachwieja on Unsplash

The Christology question

In our Christology class, we were asked, “Did Jesus know he was God?”

Wait, hold on! It’s not that easy. Many of our wise professors had their heads spinning trying to answer. It was a matter of intense debate in our refectory for weeks together. Many are still grappling with it.

If your answer is “yes” then you risk joining the heretic mummy. Why?

Because, only one who is fully human and fully God can save humanity. If the fact that he is God enters into his human consciousness and knowledge he is no more truly human and our salvation is at stake.

Before moving ahead let us clarify two terms. Objective knowledge is knowing something for certain, a fact that is independent of you, for example it is a sunny day. Subjective knowledge means to know something intuitively, for example, feeling happy or sad.

Jesus was a Jew and like any other Jew he practised strict monotheism believed in YHWH the one true God. So, objectively it was not possible for Jesus to know He was God. But subjectively, he grew in an awareness that he is intimately, personally, exclusively, and uniquely related to God which becomes the cornerstone of his ministry — the Abba consciousness. We often see Jesus withdrawing and praying alone with the Father. And we also read in Lk 2:40; 52 that Jesus grew in wisdom and in divine and human favour.

But there are other texts that explicitly proclaim Jesus as the son of God, right?

Let’s step back

For a moment let’s get into the shoes of the gospel writers. They too struggled with this question — who is Jesus? God or man?

For though they had “seen the Word of life and touched him with their hands” (1 Jn 1:1–3 paraphrased) they never fully grasped the mystery of the Word made flesh while Jesus was with them. Even they were strict monotheists who expected a political messiah. It was only after resurrection that they pondered over his divinity.

So, what emerges in the scriptures is a tension to show that Jesus was fully human like anyone of us but he was also fully divine. They tried their best to articulate their experiences through their writings. But language has its limitations.

The scripture points to what the authors (and we) know about Jesus than to what Jesus knew about himself.

Conciliar Clarification

Many thinkers used various philosophical frameworks to explain this mystery. Some were condemned as heretical. Finally, the council of Chalcedon held in 451 CE teaches us,

“… there is one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in divinity and also perfect in humanity; truly God and truly human …. in all things like unto us, without sin.”

Wrapping up

Jesus’ ignorance about his divine sonship was a theological necessity for his kenosis (Phil 2:6–8) to be complete and for him to learn obedience through suffering (Heb 2:7). But by having the union of divine and human nature in him, Jesus had the possibility of subjectively knowing about his intimate and personal relationship with the Father in his human consciousness. This position harmonises his divine and human nature.

It is not possible to have an elaborate theological discussion. But this is how I was saved from being a heretic. For more information read the book mentioned below.

Confusing? Pray over it. Let the mystery awe you.

Does it matter?

The truth is we have a God who truly let go of everything, for us. He was true to his words, like a grain of wheat he died, both metaphorically and literally, to give us new life.

In the words of St Irenaeus, “Christ became what we are in order to enable us to become what he is.” (Against Heresies, book V)

He showed us how to be a human. Shouldn’t we too die to ourselves so that Christ can live through us?

Probably this has opened more questions than giving a clear answer.

Here’s another gamble to visit Rome: When did Jesus know that he was God?

Bibliography

Parappally, J. (2019). The Meaning of Jesus Christ — An introduction to Christology, Indian Theological Series — 6. Bengaluru : Theological Publications in India.