The Sonship of Jesus: Matthew | Cross & Crescent Ministries

The Sonship of Jesus:

Matthew

Question: Does the Gospel of Matthew identify Jesus as God’s Son?

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Overview

The Sonship of Jesus is taught throughout the Gospel of Matthew. Those who refer to Jesus as the Son of God or accuse Jesus of claiming to be God's Son are as follows.

Matthew (2:13-15)

God, The Father (3:13-17 & 17:1-8)

Jesus (11:27, 21:33-46, 22:1-14, 24:36, 26:59-68 & 28:16-20)

The Disciples of Jesus (14:22-34 & 16:13-20)

Non-Jews (27:50-54)

Satan & Demons (4:1-11 & 8:28-32)

The Jewish Religious Leaders (26:59-68 & 27:38-44)

It should be noted that the Sonship of Jesus (as well as the Fatherhood of God) has nothing to do with physical, biological or sexual procreation. A Son of God, according to the Bible, is someone who represents God and acts with the authority of God, and this is applied to humans and angels. Simply put, God is a Father because God has sons and daughters, and the sons and daughters of God are those who represent God and act with the authority of God.

References to the Sonship of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew are especially significant when contrasted with the Quran. The Quran (although claiming to be a continuation of the religion of Jesus) states that it is highly inappropriate to associate Allah with Fatherhood or to suggest that Allah has children in any sense, and this is explicitly denied when applied to the relationship between Allah and Jesus. In short, the Quran denies the religion of Jesus by denying the Sonship of Jesus and the Fatherhood of God.

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Bible Passages - Matthew

Matthew 2:13-15

(13) When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

(14) So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, (15) where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Bible Passages - God, The Father

Matthew 3:13-17

(13) Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. (14) But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

(15) Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented.

(16) As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. (17) And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Matthew 17:1-8

(1) After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. (2) There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. (3) Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

(4) Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters - one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

(5) While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

(6) When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. (7) But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” (8) When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

Bible Passages - Jesus

Matthew 11:27

(27) All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Matthew 21:33-46

(33) “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. (34) When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

(35) “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. (36) Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. (37) Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

(38) “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ (39) So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

(40) “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

(41) “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

(42) Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes’?

(43) “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. (44) Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

(45) When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. (46) They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Matthew 22:1-14

(1) Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: (2) “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. (3) He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

(4) “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

(5) “But they paid no attention and went off - one to his field, another to his business. (6) The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. (7) The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

(8) “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. (9) So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ (10) So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

(11) “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. (12) He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

(13) “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

(14) “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Matthew 24:36

(36) But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Matthew 26:59-68

(59) The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. (60) But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.

Finally two came forward (61) and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

(62) Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” (63) But Jesus remained silent.

The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

(64) “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

(65) Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. (66) What do you think?”

“He is worthy of death,” they answered.

(67) Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him (68) and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”

Matthew 28:16-20

(16) Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. (17) When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. (18) Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Bible Passages - The Disciples of Jesus

Matthew 14:22-34

(22) Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. (23) After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, (24) and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

(25) Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. (26) When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

(27) But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

(28) “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

(29) “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. (30) But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

(31) Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

(32) And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. (33) Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

(34) When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret.

Matthew 16:13-20

(13) When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

(14) They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

(15) “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

(16) Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

(17) 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. (18) And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. (19) I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (20) Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Bible Passages - Non-Jews

Matthew 27:50-54

(50) And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

(51) At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split (52) and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. (53) They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

(54) When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Bible Passages - Satan & Demons

Matthew 4:1-11

(1) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (2) After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. (3) The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

(4) Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

(5) Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. (6) “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

(7) Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

(8) Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. (9) “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

(10) Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

(11) Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Matthew 8:28-34

(28) When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. (29) “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”

(30) Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. (31) The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

(32) He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.

Bible Passages - The Jewish Religious Leaders

Matthew 26:59-68

Finally two came forward (61) and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

(62) Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” (63) But Jesus remained silent.

The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

(64) “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

(65) Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. (66) What do you think?”

“He is worthy of death,” they answered.

(67) Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him (68) and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”

Matthew 27:38-44

(38) Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. (39) Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads (40) and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” (41) In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. (42) “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. (43) He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” (44) In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.