You’ve heard me use the term “cherry-picking” when referring to people who try to prove the Trinity using the Bible? But what exactly does that term, cherry-picking, mean?
Rather than define it, I’ll give you an example:
John 20:28 is a popular proof text that Trinitarians and Twinitarians use: It reads: “‘My Lord and my God!’ Thomas exclaimed.” (NLT)
For those who believe that Jesus is God, this verse constitutes absolute proof, because they say that Jesus does not immediately correct Thomas for calling him God, which he would do if he were not God.
This is a good example of the dark art of cherry-picking Bible verses to support a false doctrine. You pick a single verse that on its own seems to support your doctrine and you ignore the immediate context as well as overall scriptural harmony.
Let’s start with the immediate context of John 20:28. In the same chapter, just 11 verses earlier, we read this:
““Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”” (John 20:17)
So, Jesus doesn’t refer to himself as God. In fact, he refers to his disciples, and this includes Thomas, as his brothers. If Jesus is God, then wouldn’t that make Thomas into God’s brother? But Jesus says that he’s ascending to “my God and your God.” So not only does Jesus call the Father his God, but he says that the Father is the God of Jesus’ brothers, which would include Thomas. So, is Jesus Thomas’ God or is the Father Thomas’ God? And if Thomas is a child of God, and Jesus is God, then Thomas is a child of Jesus, but if that’s the case, then why did Jesus refer to him and the other disciples not as his children, but as his brothers?
You see the paradox we create when we try to impose our own ideas onto Scripture?
Since our goal is not to support our own theories and beliefs, but rather to be guided by the holy spirit into all the truth (John 16:13), we will open our hearts and minds to the possibilities and do more research.
Here we have two verses (17 and 28) in the same chapter of John, chapter 20, that seem to contradict each other. Is Jesus Thomas’ God, or is that role filled by Yehovah, the Father of Jesus?
Which words carry more weight to you, those of Jesus, or those of Thomas?
But there is still that argument that the Jesus-is-God crowd use: “If Jesus isn’t God, then why didn’t Jesus correct Thomas?”
Ah, but no one seems to notice the repercussions to that line of reasoning, that is, if Jesus is God, then why didn’t he praise Thomas for his insightful leap of faith? Remember, he isn’t known as “doubting Thomas” because he doubted that Jesus is God. What he doubted, in fact what all the disciples doubted, was that Jesus had been resurrected. This is the critical point. Let’s delve into it.
Just to refresh our memories, here’s an excerpt from the account starting with the women who first went to the tomb to dress the corpse of Jesus.
“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.…suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them [saying] “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! …When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. …But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.” (Luke 24:1-11 NIV)
They couldn’t believe Jesus had been resurrected. That was the issue. They only came to believe when Jesus appeared to them, and they touched him and saw that he was a man. Thomas wasn’t there, so he continued to doubt in the resurrection of Jesus. But when Jesus appeared to him personally, are we to believe that Thomas jumped right over the fact that Jesus had been resurrected and jumped to the conclusion that Jesus was God?
Think about this. Let’s put it in perspective. Going from “I don’t believe that Jesus has been resurrected” to “I believe Jesus is God” is a huge, huge leap. If that’s the case, then Thomas alone made it. None of the other disciples jumped to that conclusion. What would Jesus have said in the face of such an enormous leap of faith?
Well, what did Jesus say to Peter when he also showed his faith? Remember the incident?
Then Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-17 NIV)
Jesus praised Peter for recognizing that he was the Messiah, the anointed one, and the Son of God.
But if Thomas went from doubting that Jesus had even been resurrected all the way to recognizing that he is God, well, what praise would Jesus heap on him?
In keeping with his praise of Peter, wouldn’t Jesus have told Thomas: “Yes, Thomas, you finally get it. I am God! Go tell the rest because they still don’t get it. What remarkable faith and insight you have, Thomas! Good for you!”
But that isn’t even close to what Jesus said.
“Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."” (John 20:29 NIV)
That’s not praise. That’s a rebuke. Thomas should have believed because it had been prophesied that the Messiah would rise the third day. Or he should have believed because of the multitude of witnesses, his fellow apostles, who had testified that they’d seen Jesus.
But you might say, “Okay, okay, but then explain why Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God”?
Why did Thomas use both titles?
This is where we need to go into the wider context, that is, if we want the truth and are not afraid of finding something that conflicts with our cherished little beliefs infused into our brains. I know of where I speak, because I was raised to believe that as a member of the JW Other Sheep class, I would survive Armageddon and live forever in the New World. Who wants to question such a cozy little belief?
So, why did Thomas say, “My Lord and my God”?
We cannot take his words in isolation. We have to think about the man and where he had been and what he’d been doing for the previous three years of his life in the company of Jesus Christ. What had he heard Jesus preaching about God and about himself. Here’s just a smattering of verses that indicate what Thomas had been absorbing for years about who was Lord and who was God.
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” (John 1:18 KJB)
“For God so loved the world that He gave the only begotten Son, so that everyone believing in Him should not perish, but should have eternal life.” (John 3:16 BLB)
“Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.” (John 6:68 NASB)
“If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14 LSB)
“This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent —Jesus Christ.” (John 17:3 CSB)
“Mary Magdalene then went and told the disciples she had seen the Lord.” (John 20:18 CEV)
“Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.” (John 21:12 NIV)
They clearly considered Jesus to be Lord, and the Father, Yehovah, was God. This belief, Thomas and the other apostles and disciples carried with them as they spread the Good News.
“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.” (Ephesians 1:17 BSB)
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:3 NIV)
““Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36 NKJV)
There are many more texts that show the New Testament writers believed Jesus to be their Lord, but Yehovah, the Father, to be their God, but why belabor the point here?
What we see in Thomas is acknowledgement that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and Lord who had been resurrected to life by Yehovah, the God of Israel.
This fact was acknowledged over and over by the disciples. Here are just some of the texts that prove this point:
“…and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 1:4 NIV)
“This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.” (Galatians 1:1 NLT)
“Through him you believe in God who brought Christ back to life and gave him glory. So your faith and confidence are in God.” (1 Peter 1:21 GW)
The only way to avoid Scriptural disharmony and contradiction is to accept that Thomas was acknowledging what he’d been taught but had failed to fully grasp. Jesus is our Lord and his Father who raised him from the dead is our God.
Now there’s a problem with this conclusion.
You see, if you accept that Jesus is God, then you won’t be reviled and slandered by others who call themselves Christians but are not. Jesus tells us that we are not worthy of him if we are not willing to bear our cross. That means, we are not worthy of calling ourselves a follower of Christ if we are not willing to walk the path that he walked which led to shame and persecution and even possibly death in our case . Certainly, Jehovah’s Witnesses who follow Christ, are killed socially. Their character is assassinated by the systematic shunning they must endure to stay the course of truth.
How odd that after leaving the Organization and enduring such cruel treatment, some then adopt teachings that make them acceptable to the churches of Christendom. Is the approval of men that important? Ironically, those who have been shunned and slandered by their previous associates in the Organization, can become slanderers themselves. They don’t want to accept the burden of the cross and of bearing scars for Jesus. So sadly, they turn on those who do.
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