Many will be surprised by my question: Did Jesus really live by faith? Yes? No? Well, maybe?
Now let’s put our thinking caps on! If Jesus eternally pre-existed as God (or even as Michael the archangel as the JW’s believe), then when he transmigrated to earth did he remember the former glories of heaven? If he did, then faith for him was superfluous, for “faith is the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.).
If Jesus personally pre-existed as ‘God the Son’, then when he came to earth ‘in flesh’ did he remember with satisfaction the exhilaration of having flung the sun, moon, stars and planets into space by his creative word? If so, then he did not really need the faith the rest of us do, for “by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God ...” (Hebrew 11:3: By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.).
Was Jesus conscious of previous angelic worship of him as God? And as he trudged Galilee’s dusty roads did he recall with immense comfort the conversations he had had “pre-incarnation” with the other two Persons in the Trinity? Even more fundamentally and profoundly was he conscious that he was God all the while living as man? If so, why would he need faith?
The typical response is that Jesus as “true man” had emptied himself of the outward display of hisDeity, so he was, temporarily at least, unable to enjoy the privileges of Deity during the days of his humility. For 33 years Jesus was not conscious of the things God is eternally conscious of! Therefore, he could not tap into his omniscience for undue advantage. Hmm. Convenient dichotomy? As you can see, the popular notion that Jesus was not really a human being like the rest of us leaves us in uncertainty where our question is concerned. After all, if Jesus is God-in-the-flesh as the popular notion runs, then would he really need to live by the faith the rest of us must? Yes? No? Well, sort of?
FAITH IN JESUS OR THE FAITH OF JESUS?
I imagine by now some readers are feeling uneasy about our question: Did Jesus really live by faith like the rest of us? Let’s look at a significant piece of the puzzle. Doesn’t the NT exhort us to have faith in Jesus? The answer is, yes. Of course the Scriptures enjoin us to believe in Jesus. Perhaps the best known Bible verse of all time says that “whosoever believes in him has eternal life”, right (John 3:16: For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.)? True. We are indeed encouraged to take Jesus at his word, to rest in his finished work on the cross, to hope in his Gospel, to rely on his victory over death, to rest in his proven character, and to await for his glorious return to complete our salvation. Jesus the Messiah is indeed the proper object of our trust.
But I want to show that this is only part of the matter. For there are many NT texts that also call us towalk according to “the faith of Jesus”, that is, to exercise the same faith Jesus himself lived by. Texts that are typically translated as “faith in Jesus” include this theory of ‘Kenosis’ or ‘emptying’ is the official Trinitarian doctrine teaching that the so-called “two natures” of Jesus are “unchangeable, indivisible, inseparable” and that the “properties” of His Godhood and Manhood are “preserved” in the one “hypostasis” (Person) all the while not being “as though he were parted or divided into two Persons”. Still doesn’t answer our question!
The righteousness of God - Yehovah [is] through faith in Jesus the Messiah for all those who believe (Romans 3:22: the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus the Messiah for all who believe. For there is no distinction:).
That he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26: It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.).
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in the MessiahJesus, even we have believed in the Messiah Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in the Messiah(Galatians 2:16: …yet we know that a person is not justified[a] by works of the law but through faith in Jesus the Messiah, so we also have believed in the Messiah Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in the Messiah and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.).
I have been crucified with the Messiah; and it is no longer I who live, but the Messiah lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
And may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in the Messiah, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith (Philippians 3:9).
However, most Bible readers are not aware the Greek grammar in these verses literally reads “through the faith of Jesus”. But our King James readers who have these verses tucked away in the 3 memory bank already suspect this (even if you don’t read the Greek) because for instance, Romans 3:22 and Galatians 2:16,20 respectively read:
The righteousness of God (which) is by [the] faith of Jesus the Messiah unto all and upon all them that believe … Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus the Messiah … and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God …
It has to be said that either translation is permissible from the original Greek text. So we must now ask if there is a way to rule in favour of one or the other, or is it best left open because it does not really matter?
THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM
Let’s now compare the same linguistic structure --- “the faith of Jesus” --- with the exact same construction in Romans 4:16 --- “the faith of Abraham”,
For this reason it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promisemay be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
Here there is no doubt the genitive must be understood to mean “the faith of Abraham”, for nobody for a moment thinks we are to have “faith in Abraham”! The Scripture says, “Abraham believed God, [and] it was reckoned to him as righteousness” (Romans 4: 3). Abraham is a great example of what it means to live by faith. All who follow Abraham’s example of faith are his children.
So, Abraham’s true descendants are th e who walk in “the faith of Abraham”. Which is to say, anybody --- whether Jew or Gentile --- who takes God at His word like Abraham did, and thus commits himself or herself to the promises of God in the Messiah, will also be considered right in God’s sight. A true descendant of Abraham displays the same faith Abraham had.
Now here is the crunch. The Scripture also says that Jesus himself walked in the faith of Abraham!
How could it be otherwise? If Jesus was to be considered the descendant (lit.“seed”) and offspring of 2 These verses are from the NASB, but the NIV, the RSV, the NKJV, the RV, and all the main English translations (except the KJV) follow this construction, directing us to have faith in Jesus as the object of our trust.
The ESV reads “faith in Jesus” but in its footnotes has, “Or, through the faith of Jesus Christ”, giving editorial acknowledgment to the literal Greek text.3
The question is whether the Greek genitive is the objective genitive to be translated “faith in”, or the subjective genitive to be rendered, “faith of” … ek pisteoos Xristou Ieesou.2
Abraham --- not just according to the flesh, but also after the spirit of the promise (Galatians 3:14: …so that in the Messiah Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit[a] through faith.) --- then he too must have “the faith of Abraham”.
And since Abraham was justified by faith --- considered righteous before God --- even so the Scripturesays Jesus was considered righteous because of his trust in the word of God to himself as the ultimate “messianic seed” of Abraham. Jesus applied the messianic promises God had made to Abraham to himself, thereby exercising the same faith in God that Abraham had! Let’s see how this happened.
JESUS’ BAPTISM
God pronounced Jesus was the promised Messiah at his baptism, This is my Son, the beloved one, in whom I am well-pleased (Matthew 3:17).
A multitude of Bible commentators recognise that this word of God to Jesus at his baptism comes straight from Psalm 2. Psalm 2 of course, is a prophecy that God will declare to His Messiah, “Thou art My Son ... My king upon Zion”. Jesus will be tested to see if he believes this against all odds.
Immediately after this word of God to him, Jesus was “driven” or impelled by the Spirit into the wilderness to face his nemesis, the Devil. The wilderness temptations are a whole study in themselves of the faith of Jesus. Notice the Devil tries to cast doubt into Jesus’ mind … “If you are the Son of God…”
At least twice did the Devil challenge God’s declaration that Jesus was “My Son, the chosen one”.
By rejecting Satan’s temptations, and being in an extreme state of physical weakness to boot, Jesus placed himself in an extremely vulnerable place … the place of absolute faith-dependence in the declaration of his Father that he was God’s Son, the chosen Messiah.
At each test, Jesus countered by faith in the written word of God. In effect Jesus said, “Yes, although Iam the Messiah, I won’t exercise my God-given authority for self-serving ends to turn these stones into bread. And I won’t take a leap off the temple so God bears me up on angels’ wings before the adoring crowds. I won’t short-circuit the path of suffering by the cross. And I won’t bow down and worship you Satan, even though for now the kingdoms of this world are in your power. God will give me His kingdom in His own time and way. That’s what’s written. And I believe it.”
Jesus demonstrated his loyalty and devotion to His Father when all mankind from Adam down had failed miserably. And throughout his ministry, Jesus held onto His Father’s word that after his sufferings, God would raise him up to glory and seat him in the heavely places (Psalm 2; Ps. 110:1 The Lord [Adonai] says to my Lord [Adoni]: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”;
Daniel 7:13-14,18,22,27: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Vs.18: But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’,Vs. 22: …until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom Vs. 27: And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’[a], etc.).
Let’s listen to his faith in His Father’s plan for him ...
THE SON OF MAN ASCENDED
Jesus’ favourite way of describing himself was to cryptically call himself ‘the Son of Man’. Why so?
Rheams have been written on the importance of this self-designation. But many sound commentatorsare on the money when they point out Jesus lifted this term directly from Daniel’s vision of the glorified Son of Man.
In the prophetic vision Daniel saw one like a son of man being “presented” to God (after his suffering) and being “given dominion, glory and a kingdom” which would be an everlasting reign (Daniel 7:13-14).
The obvious reason Jesus loved to call himself “the son of Man” was because it was a way of always reminding himself to walk by faith in this prophetic vision: One promised day God was going to give him the Kingdom! Jesus lived by this word of God to ‘the Son of Man’ which was still in the future. He often confessed his faith this way;
The Son of Man is to go just as it is written about him (Matthew 26:24: The son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born).
It is written of the Son of man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt (Mark. 9:12: And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?), but [then] the Son of Man comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels (Mark. 8:38: For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels).
The puzzling statement of Jesus in John 6:62, “What then if you should behold the son of Man ascending where he was before?” must be considered, not as a statement that Jesus remembered how he had personally pre-existed in heaven before he came to earth as the God-man, but as Jesus’ faith-statement in Daniel’s “son of Man” vision of God’s promised future. 4
THE TRIAL
This is the statement of faith that Jesus gave openly at his trial, and under oath before the High Priestand the Jewish Sanhedrin in answer to their challenge, “Are you the Messiah, the son of theBlessed?” And Jesus said: “I am; and you shall see the son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven (Mark 14:61-62).
Jesus’ commitment to Daniel’s prophecy was the mainspring of his mission. It was his public confession of faith that God would make His word to him come true. To all appearances, this 5 affirmation of Jesus’ faith in God’s promise to glorify him must have appeared delusional.
Practically, Jesus’ faith in God’s promises to him as the Messiah meant that daily he must deliberately and consciously choose to walk by faith in His Father’s promised future outlined for him in the prophetic Scriptures. Daily Jesus had to deny himself, take up his cross, and say yes to His Father’s vision for him. And he maintained his unwavering trust in God’s word all through the opposition and disheartening circumstances that screamed everything to the contrary, especially at his trial before official Jewry that mocked and scorned him.
“BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM”
But what about Jesus’ statement, “Before Abraham was, I am” ( John 8:58)? Doesn’t this verse show that Jesus was conscious that he was Almighty God? Well, if it does, it cancels out everything we have summarised so far. For if Jesus was conscious that he was the God of Abraham himself (!) then what was he doing pretending to need faith?
I have dealt at length elsewhere with this verse showing, that for strong contextual and grammatical reasons, it is not a statement where Jesus was claiming to be Almighty God. 6
Sufficient for now to say that, in context Jesus is challenging those who considered themselves to beAbraham’s descendents. If they really were Abraham’s children, argues Jesus, then like Abraham who believed the word of God and who looked forward to the promised Messiah, they too would recognize Abraham’s greatest son now standing right in front of their very eyes.
Jesus cannot be referring to his personal pre-existence as God in heaven before he came to earth, because “the son of Man” is a human being, and not even trinitarians believe Jesus was a human being before coming down to earth! No, theson of Man is a reference to a human being seen in prophetic vision exalted to heaven. The vision is a promise of the future glorification of the human Jesus, seated in heaven with God after his ascension. Jesus held onto this vision by faith.
Compare First Timothy 6:13: I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of the Messiah Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession. Jesus made this good confession before Pontius Pilate”.
See They Never Told Me This in Church! (First Edition pp 170-172) (Second Edition pp 183-185): purchase at Amazon.com, just search – Greg Double.
Also see my article on this website: thebiblejesus.com” titled, “A Letter To My Pastor”.
Messiah, “the seed” of Abraham, was right there, standing in their very midst but they did not know him! If they but had the faith of Abraham, they too would “rejoice to see my day … and be glad” (John 8:56-58: Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”[d] 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”).
Jesus makes astaggering statement, “Before Abraham was, I am (he).”
Note: The Jewish leaders say, “have you seen Abraham” but that is not what Jesus said. He said, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it as was glad.” The Jewish leaders didn’t have ears to hear.
The possibilities in the Greek text as to how to best translate what Jesus says here in John 8:58 areintriguing, even tantalising. Did Jesus say, “Before Abraham was, I am (he)”? meaning, I am the Messiah whom God told Abraham to expect?
This is a legitimate explanation of the text, for God promised Abraham that one of his sons was already destined in God’s foreordained and future plan to be the Messiah. Which is to say, in God’s mind the Messiah already existed before Abraham; not because he personally pre-existed Abraham as God; because he held priority of purpose for the world.
Now let’s look at the second possible nuance of Jesus’ enigmatic statement. Did Jesus intend to be understood as saying, “Before Abraham comes to be, I am (he)”? - meaning, before Abraham is raised (in the future resurrection of the faithful at the end of this age) I will already have been brought back (to life) before him?
There is no contextual or grammatical reason why this could not be what Jesus was claiming. Jesus very well may be publicly declaring his absolute faith that God would raise him up from the dead before Abraham is called out of his grave! Jesus believed he would precede patriarch Abraham in the resurrection!
With such (deliberate?) ambiguity by Jesus, it is no wonder the Jews were angrily puzzled, and picked up stones to kill him. And is it any wonder the debate continues to this day?
The only reason why our translators prefer the first option is convention. Or perhaps more to the point, are they driven by popular dogma? I mean, there is absolutely no legitimate reason why our modern translations render John 8:58 with the capital letters, “Before Abraham was, I AM”.
So, whether we prefer the first or the second option, in either case Jesus was expressing his total trustin the word of God to him through Abraham. Professor of Rhetoric and Composition at Miami Dade College in Florida summarises this when he writes: … Jesus believed God’s Abrahamic promise to bless all nations in Abraham’s seed. According to the NT writers, this in Jesus’ exclusive case meant believing God’s revelation to him that he himself was Abraham’s Messianic seed. Jesus’ faith in God’s promise led him to his crucifixion, and God justified him by raising him from the dead. So it is that God is “the justifier of the one who has [the faith of] Jesus (Romans 3:26). That is, God justifies (counts as righteous) the one who believes the same promise that Jesus; and his ancestor Abraham before him believed.
Just as Abraham clung for dear life to God’s promise that he would be the father of many nations, even so Jesus clung for dear life to God’s promise that he himself was Abraham’s long-promised Messiah, and that God would give him “the nations”; an innumerable family of faith to inherit the promised Kingdom (see Psalm 2:8: Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession).
And just like Abraham who had believed God “against all hope”, even so. The preposition prin + aorist infinitive construction in Matthew 26:34: Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”; John 4:49: The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”, 14:29: “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Messiah?” for instance, all point to future possibilities.
I note our translators are not consistent even in this very chapter where Jesus’ exact words ego eimi are not capitalised as I AM in verses 24 and 28. In these verses also observe how the translators supply in italics the word he … I am he, meaning, I am the one being referred to. Thus, “Before Abraham was, I am (he)” is Jesus’ claim that he was the subject God and Abraham were discussing! 9
Against all contrary evidence, Jesus believed God would reverse the world’s execration of him, by raising him up from the dead and enthroning him next to the right hand of the Majesty on high.
The phrase “the faith of Jesus” alerts us to the fact that Jesus pleased God with the same quality offaith Abraham had. On the one hand Christians have no problem understanding that Abraham was “counted righteous” because he believed God’s promise to him, but ... On the other hand Christians have difficulty comprehending that God justified Je
