Jesus is a mighty God?

John 10:34-35 God said, “you are gods”

“Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;” john 10:34-35

This pronouncement made by our lord Jesus Christ before the Pharisees who questioned his words is an illusion to some verses in the Old testament, Psalm 82:1 and 6 which reads:

“God stands in the congregation of the mighty; he judges among the gods. …I said, ‘you are gods’ and all of you are children of the most high.”

The word ‘gods’ in these verses was used metaphorically of those whom God had placed as judges in the nation of Ancient Israel. This is similar to what is written in Exodus 21:6,

“Then his master shall bring him to God [the judges as his agents]; he shall bring him to the door or doorpost and shall pierce his ear with an awl;
and he shall serve him for life.”

Another proof that those referred to as ‘gods’ in Psalms 82:1 and 6 are not of the same nature as the God almighty is that they were to die like “mere men”:

“How long will you defend the unjust and show partially to the wicked?...” “But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.” Ps. 82:2, 7

Going back to John 10:34-35, our Lord Jesus Christ alluded to Psalms 82:1 and 6 in order to stress a point to the Pharisees who took offense at his statement that he is the son of God. In the succeeding verse, john 10:36, Christ was pointing out to his detractors that if they were to accept that those from whom God’s word came are called “gods”, then why should they accuse Christ of blaspheming when he introduced himself as the son of God:

“As for me, the father chose me and sent me into the world. How, then, can you say that I blaspheme because I said that I am the Son of God?”

But, even as they really are “so-called gods” as mentioned in the bible, this should not lead us to believe in and worship other gods aside from the only true God, the father, as stated by Apostle Paul:

“Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” I Cor. 8:5-6

The belief that there is more than one true god other than the father is erroneous and is biblically untenable. The lord Jesus Christ himself made it quite clear when he declared that the father is the only one true god:

“These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:1,3

Isaiah 9:6 “Mighty God”

Isaiah 9:6 is a prophecy about the ”Son”, our Lord jesus Christ. However, as you will see later, Jesus Christ is not the mighty god referred to nor does this prophecy indicate his alleged divinity.

Isaiah 9:6 reads:

 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Since Isaiah 9:6 was originally written in Hebrew, it would be of help to consult the Jewish Publication Society of America on how it renders the verse:

“For a child is born unto us, a son is given unto us; And the government is upon his shoulder; and his name is called Pele-joez-el-gibbor-abi-ad-sar-shalom.”
The holy scriptures according to the Masoretic text

The Hebrew name pele-joez-el-gibbor-abi-ad-sar-shalom is translated in the footnote as “Wonderful in counsel is God the mighty, the everlasting father, the ruler of peace”

It is evident here that this is not a series of names as interpreted by some but just one long name. More importantly, we could clearly notice here that the “God the mighty” or “Mighty god” referred to who is also “wonderful in counsel” is none other than “the everlasting father” Himself. Taking into consideration that jesus Christ is the “Son” of the father (Matt. 3:16-17), He therefore, is not the father himself, hence, Christ is not the mighty God.

Does it say anywhere else in the bible that the father is indeed “wonderful in counsel”? In the same book of Isaiah, these are stated:

“All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom.” Isa. 64:8

Clearly then, the “Mighty god”, who is referred to in the prophecy as also “wonderful in counsel”, is not the Son jesus Christ but the “everlasting father.”

Why then is that one long name, having as its part the term “Mighty God”, mentioned in the prophecy concerning Christ? It is because the “government” or “authority” that the child (Christ) would later hold came from no less than the Mighty god who is the father. Christ himself proved this when he said:

“Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.” Matt. 28:18, 11:27

Therefore, although Christ is the fulfillment of this prophecy about the child, it does not mean that he is god. It is worthwhile to note that one’s state of being is not necessarily determined by the meaning attached to his personal name, much less by the meaning of the title of the government or authority he holds. 

Simon the apostle was named “Cephas” or “Peter” which means rock (John 1:42) and the apostles James and John, were named “Boanerges, that is, ‘Sons of thunder’” (Mark 3:17). However, it doesn’t mean that peter is himself a rock and that the other two are ‘sons of thunder’. Moreover, biblical name of persons such as Eliphelet (The god of deliverance and Elihu (whose God is he{Jehovah} and places like Elkosh {od of my bow} and El-bethel {the god of bethel}) Also contain descriptions about God, but no serious theologian so far claims that those persons and places are God.

Going back to Isaiah 9:6, is this how Jewish scholars understand this verse which is originally written in their language—that the name in this prophecy does not indicate Christ’s alleged divinity? In the Jewish study bible, explain that:

“The mighty god… ruler: This long sentence is the throne name of the royal child. Semitic names often consit of sentences that describe God; thus the name Isaiah in Hebrew means, ‘The lord saves’; Hezekiah, ‘The lord strnghtens’… These names do not describe that person who holds them but the god whom the parents worship. Similarly, the name… un this verse Isaiah 9:6 does not describe that child or attribute divinity to him, contrary to classical Christian readings of this messianic verse.

It is clear that Pele-el-gobbor-abi-ad-sar-shalom is the “name” or the “title” of the authority or government or, as jewish scholars put it, the “throne name” which “does not describe the child or attribute divinity to him” but, as another scholar also puts it, “descriptive of his {Christ} office” given by the father:

“This son is not have a name which will be for a sign, like names of Isaiah’s sons, but one which will be descriptive of his office.”
Isaiah 1-39, by John Mauchline