Is Jesus Almighty God?
Common answers:
▪ “Yes, Jesus is God Almighty.”
▪ “Jesus was the manifestation of God in the flesh.”
What did Jesus say?
▪ “If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going my way to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.” (John 14:28) Jesus acknowledged that he and his Father are not equals.
▪ “I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God.” (John 20:17) Jesus did not speak of himself as God but spoke of God as a separate Person.
▪ “I have not spoken out of my own impulse, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to tell and what to speak.” (John 12:49) Jesus’ teachings did not come from him; they came from the Father.
JESUS claimed to be the Son of God, not Almighty God. If Jesus were God, to whom was he praying while here on earth? (Matthew 14:23; 26:26-29) Surely Jesus was not just pretending to talk to someone else!
When two of Jesus’ disciples asked him for special positions in his Kingdom, he answered: “This sitting down at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” (Matthew 20:23) Was Jesus telling them a lie when he stated that he did not have the authority to grant their request? Hardly! Rather, he humbly acknowledged that only God has the authority to make such decisions. Jesus even explained that there were some things that neither he nor the angels knew but that were known only by his Father.—Mark 13:32.
Was Jesus lower than God only while he was a man here on earth? No. Even after his death and resurrection, Jesus is described in the Bible as being subordinate to God. The apostle Paul reminds us that “God is supreme over Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:3, Today’s English Version) The Bible says that in the future “when all things have been placed under Christ’s rule, then he himself, the Son, will place himself under God, who placed all things under him; and God will rule completely over all.”—1 Corinthians 15:28, TEV.
Clearly, Jesus is not God Almighty. That is why he spoke of his Father as “my God.”—Revelation 3:2, 12; 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4.a
[Footnote]
a For more information on this subject, see pages 201-204 of the book What Does the Bible Really Teach? published by Jehovah’s Witnesses.
[Blurb on page 7]
Jesus said there were some things that neither he nor the angels knew but that were known only by his Father