The Divinity of Jesus Christ
President Dallin H. Oaks notes in the opening of his talk, “The Teachings of Jesus Christ,” that most of the scriptures reporting Jesus’s mortal ministries are descriptions of what He did. His talk consists of a selection of teachings from what our Savior said.
I want to first discuss what Jesus Christ was called in the scriptures—the names and titles given to Him. I believe there is a great deal to learn from such an exploration. Then I’d like to explore 5 evidences of His divinity, selected from a talk by President Ezra Taft Benson several years ago. My goal is to emphasize the Savior’s divine nature.
Names of the Savior in Scripture
(Not a complete list)
I am now going to present a partial list of the titles used in scripture for the Savior. As you listen and hear these names and titles, I would ask you to search in your heart for any feelings that arise. The Holy Spirit’s primary role is to testify of our Savior and His mission. In spite of this quite imperfect messenger, the message is that Jesus is the very Christ, the divine Son of God, and these appellations all testify of that fact.
Advocate, Alpha and Omega, Anointed One, Blessed of God; The Bread of Life; The Bright and Morning Star; Christ; Counselor; Creator of All Things; Deliverer; Emmanuel; Everlasting Father; Firstborn of the Father; Good Shepherd; Holy One of Israel; Jehovah; King of the Jews; King of Israel; King of Kings and Lord of Lords; Lamb of God; The Light; Light of the World; The Lion of Judah; Mediator; Messenger of the Covenant; Messiah; Mighty God; Mighty One of Jacob; Only Begotten of the Father; Prince of Peace; Redeemer; The Resurrection and the Life; Savior; Savior of the World; Second Comforter; Shiloh; Son of David; Son of God; Son of the Highest; Son of the Living God; The True Vine; The Way, the Truth, and the Life; Wonderful; The Word.
These names and titles all testify of the divine birth, mission, and role of Jesus of Nazareth as the true Messiah, the Mighty One of Jacob, the Son of God. If time allowed, we could delve into each of these (and as noted, these are not all the appellations used for Jesus). The Topical Guide, in our newer version of the Bible, has this list with other titles and would be a wonderful personal or family study.
When I left on my mission to France so many years ago, the ward I left from had a tradition of presenting a gift to each departing missionary. The standard gift was a copy of James A. Talmadge’s book Jesus the Christ. I really enjoyed receiving that book. I read it twice on my mission and have read more than once since. In the opening discussion, Elder Talmadge made a statement that has resonated and stayed with me over the years:
“…man never lived of whom more has been said and sung, none to whom is devoted a greater proportion of the world’s literature. He is extolled by Christian, Mohammedan and Jew, by skeptic and infidel, by the world’s greatest poets, philosophers, statesmen, scientists, and historians. Even the profane sinner in the foul sacrilege of his oath acclaims the divine supremacy of Him whose name he desecrates.”
Several years ago, I started a study of reviewing every scripture in the Topical Guide under the heading Jesus Christ. I printed out the list of scriptures and put them in a binder (I know, old school.) There are a multitude of “sub-headings” and frankly, I’m not quite done. President Nelson noted several years ago that he has done the same study. He told his wife after that that he was a changed man. Such is the power of the divine nature of Him called Jesus of Nazareth.
Declaration of His Own Divinity
Jesus applied many of the above names or titles to Himself, either through revelation to many prophets prior to His birth, during His mortal ministry, and later after His resurrection. To the Nephites, the Savior declared: “Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning... I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.” (3 Nephi 9:18, 21-22)
Over 40 years ago, I was on a bus in Le Havre, France as a missionary. As I looked upon the other passengers in that bus, some who glared at us a little, I was lamenting the fact that we weren’t allowed to proselyte on the bus (or we’d get thrown off), and wanting so badly to share the truth of the restoration to all there. The following scripture, from the closing chapters of Mosiah, speaking of Jesus came to my mind:
“Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God.” (Mosiah 27:31)
I knew then as I do now, that everyone on that bus, everyone in that city, everyone in my mission, and in fact, everyone on the planet would one day come to know and “confess” the divine nature of Him whom we call Savior. They would all come to know that Jesus is the very Christ, the Son of the Most High God, our Divine Redeemer!
Five Marks of the Divinity of Jesus Christ
In 1979, President Ezra Taft Benson gave a classic talk on the evidences of Jesus’ divinity, called “Five Marks of the Divinity of Jesus Christ” (A fireside address given at the University of Utah Special Events Center on 9 December 1979).
The First Mark President Benson of Jesus’ Divinity presented was His Divine Birth
“The most fundamental doctrine of true Christianity is the divine birth of the child Jesus. It is a doctrine not comprehended by the world, misinterpreted by [many] Christian churches, and even misunderstood by some members of the true Church.” The testimonies of appointed witnesses leave no question as to the paternity of Jesus Christ. God was the Father of His fleshly tabernacle, and Mary, a mortal woman, was His mother. He is therefore the only person born who rightfully deserves the title “the Only Begotten Son of God”. We must keep in mind who Jesus was before He was born. He was the Creator of all things, the great Jehovah, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was and is the Holy One of Israel.”
As Jehovah, He was the great Lawgiver to Moses, the power and might of every prophet to ever walk the earth, the God of Heaven, and from the Hebrew “El Shaddai”, or God Almighty.
President Benson taught that the Second Mark of the Divinity of Christ was His Ministry
In the Gospel of John, it is recorded that Jesus said “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38). As the Messiah, He fully understood His saving, atoning mission and the will of His Father.
To the Nephites, He testified: “My Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross … , that I might draw all men unto me… Therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works. “And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world” (3 Ne. 27:14–16).
The hallmark of His ministry, as prophets before Him testified it would be, was many mighty miracles. King Benjamin, in the Book of Mormon foretold of Jesus “healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.” (Mosiah 3:5).
One of the greatest in this list of miracles was the raising of His friend Lazarus from the dead. When Jesus received word that His friend Lazarus was sick, He deliberately delayed coming to Bethany to minister to His friend. It was a custom among the Jews to bury their deceased on the same day they died. It was also a superstition among them that the spirit lingered around the body for three days, but on the fourth day it departed. Jesus was very familiar with their beliefs. He purposefully delayed His arrival in Bethany until Lazarus had been in the grave for four days. In that way there would be no question about the miracle He was to perform. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother Lazarus had not died.” Jesus said, “Thy brother shall rise again.” Not understanding, Martha replied, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Then Jesus proclaimed, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”(John 11:21–26). He then cried in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43). The Apostle John’s record states: “And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin” (John 11:44). President Benson notes “That miracle was such irrefutable proof of the messiahship of Jesus.” The symbolism behind Lazarus’s return to life is profound. We too, can “return to life” as we listen and hear His voice and “come forth” as new creatures in Christ.
A Third Mark of His Divinity Is His Great Atoning Sacrifice
On the night Jesus was betrayed, He took three of the Twelve, Peter, James, and John, and went into a place across the Kidron Valley on the Mount of Olives, called Gethsemane.
The name Gethsemane is highly symbolic. The word “gethsemane” is derived from two Hebrew words: gat, which means "a place for pressing oil " and shemanim, which means "oils." During Jesus' time, heavy stone slabs were lowered onto olives that had already been crushed in an olive crusher. Gradually, the slab’s weight squeezed the olive oil out of the pulp, and the oil ran into a pit. There the oil was collected in clay jars. The oil that came from the crushing had a reddish hue, again symbolic of the weight of the sins of the world pressed down upon Jesus like a heavy slab of rock pressed down on olives in their baskets, and His sweat was as it were "like drops of blood falling from to the ground”, of course, also red in hue.
It was in Gethsemane that He suffered the pains of all men, which suffering, He said, “caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink” (D&C 19:18). He suffered as only God could suffer, bearing our griefs, carrying our sorrows, being wounded for our transgressions, voluntarily submitting Himself to the iniquity of us all. It was in Gethsemane where His pain was equivalent to the cumulative burden of all men, in Gethsemane where He descended below all things so that all could repent and come to Him. President Benson again notes “The mortal mind fails to fathom, the tongue cannot express, the pen of man cannot describe the breadth, the depth, or height of the suffering of our Lord—nor His infinite love for us. “
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf has taught that “through a divine endowment born of searing torment, and out of love for us, Jesus Christ paid the price to redeem us, to strengthen us, and to save us. It is only through [His] Atonement that we can find the peace we so badly want and need in this life.’ “(Liahona, March 2023).
A Fourth Mark of His Divinity Is His Literal Resurrection
Of all the marks of Jesus’ divinity, none has greater support by the testimony of eyewitnesses than His literal, bodily Resurrection. Several women testified that they saw Him alive. Two disciples on the road to Emmaus dined with Him. Peter proclaimed himself an eyewitness to the Resurrection. There were many special appearances to the Twelve. In addition to these testimonies, over 500 saw Him at one time. And Paul certified that he saw the resurrected Lord. On the day of Resurrection wJesus became “the firstfruits of them that slept.” And thousands in the New World came and touched the marks of the nails in His hands and feet and the mark of the sword in His side.
Jesus truly was and is the resurrection and the life!
The Final and Fifth Mark of His Divinity Is His Promised Second Coming
At the Second Coming of our Lord, He will appear in 3 separate phases:
His first appearance will be to the righteous Saints who have gathered to the New Jerusalem in Jackson County. In this place of refuge they will be safe from the wrath of the Lord, which will be poured out without measure on all nations.
Modern revelation provides this description:
“And the glory of the Lord shall be there, and the terror of the Lord also shall be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion. And it shall come to pass among the wicked, that every man that will not take his sword against his neighbor must needs flee unto Zion for safety. And there shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under heaven; and it shall be the only people that shall not be at war one with another” (D&C 45:67–69).
The second appearance of the Lord’s return will be to the Jews. To the beleaguered sons of Judah, surrounded by hostile Gentile armies, who again threaten to overrun Jerusalem, the Savior—their Messiah—will appear and set His feet on the Mount of Olives, “and it shall cleave in twain, and the earth shall tremble, and reel to and fro, and the heavens also shall shake” (D&C 45:48). The Lord Himself will then rout the Gentile armies, decimating their forces (Ezek. 38–39). Judah will be spared, no longer to be the persecuted and scattered. The Jews will then approach their Deliverer and ask: “What are these wounds in thine hands and in thy feet? …I will say unto them: These wounds are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. I am he who was lifted up. I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of God. And then shall they weep because of their iniquities; then shall they lament because they persecuted their king”.
The third appearance of Christ will be to the rest of the world. He describes this as follows: “And the Lord shall be red in his apparel, and his garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat. And so great shall be the glory of his presence that the sun shall hide his face in shame, and the moon shall withhold its light, and the stars shall be hurled from their places” (D&C 133:48–49). All nations will see Him “in the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and great glory; with all the holy angels… And the Lord shall utter his voice, and all the ends of the earth shall hear it; and the nations of the earth shall mourn, and they that have laughed shall see their folly.” (D&C 45:44, 49–50).
Come, Follow Me
Elder Neil L. Andersen stated the following last conference: “Filling our mind with the power of Jesus Christ does not mean that He is the only thought we have. But it does mean that all our thoughts are circumscribed in His love, His life and teachings, and His atoning sacrifice and glorious Resurrection. Jesus is never in a forgotten corner, because our thoughts of Him are always present and ‘all that is in [us adores] him!’ We pray and rehearse in our mind experiences that have brought us closer to Him. We welcome into our mind divine images, holy scriptures, and inspired hymns to gently cushion the countless daily thoughts rushing through our busy lives. Our love for Him does not shield us from the sadness and sorrow in this mortal life, but it allows us to walk through the challenges with a strength far beyond our own.”
President Nelson said: “There is nothing easy or automatic about becoming [a] powerful [disciple]. Our focus must be riveted on the Savior and His gospel.” Speaking on having a “Focus on Jesus Christ”, Brother Milton Camargo closed his conference talk this last April with the following:
“The Lord Jesus Christ lives today. He can be an active, daily presence in our lives. He is the solution to our problems, but we must lift our eyes and raise our sights to see Him. He has said, ‘Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.’ As we focus on Him and our Father in Heaven, make and keep covenants with Them, and make Them the most important influence in our home and family, we will become the kind of people President Nelson envisioned: “’A people who are able, ready, and worthy to receive the Lord when He comes again, a people who have already chosen Jesus Christ over this fallen world, a people who rejoice in their agency to live the higher, holier laws of Jesus Christ.’ ”
This is my goal and my plea to all here today, including myself, that we raise the bar of our discipleship, forgive all who we believe had offended us, love unconditionally all in our sphere of contacts, let go of contention of all kinds, stand in Holy places, be daily repentant, let God prevail in our lives, and be living, breathing examples of Him whose name upon ourselves we have taken by covenant through our baptism and through the sacrament today.
It is my plea that we all truly come unto Christ and be perfected and sanctified in Him, our Mighty One of Israel, our Advocate and Mediator with the Father, our King of Kings and Lord of Lords, our Lion of Judah, our Lamb of God, our Emmanuel, our Bright and Morning Star, our Redeemer, indeed, our Savior.