Who is the Son of God? This question can be taken in two different ways. One might already have in mind a clear definition of “Son of God”, and simply want to know who, exactly, it is that bears that title. What specific individual, by name, is the Son of God? On the other hand, one might be asking what it even means to be the Son of God. Such a person has no clear concept of this title and wants to know what it is supposed to communicate.
If I wake up the morning after a national election and someone asks me, “So, who is the president?” I know that they mean, “which candidate won?” I don’t need to explain the concept of the presidency to them, I simply need to give them a name. On the other hand, If someone who has no concept of a constitutional republic and has never heard of America were suddenly brought to the White House and told, “this is where the president lives,” they would likely ask “who is the president?” They would mean much more than “what is his name?” or “which guy in the crowd is he?” They would want someone to explain what a president is.
Thus, we have before us here two questions, both of great importance:
- Who, exactly, is the Son of God? (i.e., What specific person? What is his name?)
- What does that even mean? (i.e., What does that title communicate? What nature, role, status, position, etc. is encompassed in such a label?)
It is worthwhile to answer both.
Jesus of Nazareth, God’s Son
The first question is rather straightforward. Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. The voice of God the Father Himself affirmed this publicly at the time of Jesus’ baptism by John (Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22), after which, John the Baptist testified to his followers:
“I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God,” (John 1:34).
Similarly, Jesus’ disciples Peter, James, and John heard the voice from heaven on the mount of transfiguration again declaring that Jesus was God’s Son (Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:1-8, Luke 9:28-36). Peter would later write concerning this experience:
“For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased’— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain,” (2 Peter 1:17-18).
Jesus also referred to Himself as God’s Son (John 10:36, Mark 14:61-62, etc.), and when Simon Peter confessed that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” Jesus responded:
“Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven,” (Matthew 16:17).
This only scratches the service of the biblical evidence that Jesus is, indeed, the Son of God. God the Father declared it. Jesus Himself confessed and displayed it in power. The prophet John testified to it, and Jesus’ disciples were willing to die for it. Jesus was, indeed, the Son of God!
But who is the Son of God?
Okay, so Jesus is God’s son, but what is that supposed to mean? What does that tell about who He is?
Messiah, son of David
One of the first things to note is that this was an established title for the Messiah, the promised king from the line of David who would fulfill the promises of God. Indeed, all the descendants of David who took the throne could, in one sense, bare the title of God’s son, as we see in the promise the LORD made to David:
“When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever,” (2 Samuel 7:12-16).
This promise began with Solomon, who literally built a house for God’s name (i.e., the temple). We know that Jesus never committed any sin (Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21), but this promise includes sons of David who will commit iniquity and require correction. Thus, when God says “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me,” this applies to all the Davidic kings, reaching its climax in the Messiah but not limited to him alone. We similarly read in Psalm 89:
“I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all generations,” (Psalm 89:3-4).
And later in the Psalm:
“He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth. My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall be confirmed to him. So I will establish his descendants forever And his throne as the days of heaven,” (Psalm 89:26-29).
Thus, the term “son of God” means one who rightly sits on the throne of David in accordance with God’s promise. In the prophetic, messianic Psalm 2 we read:
“Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, ‘But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.’ I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You,'” (Psalm 2:6-7).
Again, the Psalm connects the language of sonship with one sitting on the throne of Judah as God’s appointed king. This seems to be what Nathaniel had in mind when he confessed to Jesus:
“Nathanael answered Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel,'” (John 1:49).
We perhaps see this even in the equally Messianic Psalm 110, (the Old Testament passage cited more often than any other by the New Testament authors as pointing to Jesus):
“The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’ The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of Your enemies,'” (Psalm 110:1-2).
The verse that follows is difficult to translate. Most Christian translations read something like:
“Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew,” (Psalm 110:3).
But Jewish scholar Daniel Boyarin suggests that the last half of the verse should read:
“In sacred splendor, from the womb, from dawn, you have the dew wherewith I have begotten you.”1
This interpretation that the language here implies God “begetting” the one being addressed (i.e., the Messiah) is also found in a number of early English translations, such as Wycliffe, Coverdale, the Matthew Bible, Great Bible, and Bishops Bible, as well as several Roman Catholic versions.2 Such readings have not persuaded the majority of modern scholars, but are nevertheless plausible.
At any rate, the Old Testament establishes the term “son of God” as a title for the Davidic kings and ultimately for the Messiah, the promised descendant of David who would come to fully accomplish all that God had promised in His covenants.
(See more on this concept in our article: If Jesus was already God, what does it mean that He was “given” authority and the name above all names?)
The Divine Son of God
Yet, is this all that it means for Jesus to be God’s Son? He certainly is the promised heir to David’s throne, but is He merely that? No. In the New Testament and in the words and works of Jesus, the term clearly took on a far more significant meaning, and one that applies only to Jesus. Even here, the Old Testament prophets pointed forward to this, as when Isaiah wrote:
“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this,” (Isaiah 9:6-7).
This is plainly the Messiah, the promised “Son” who sits on the throne of David and rules forever in the zeal of the Lord. Yet, this one is something more than just another descendant of David, and not merely by degree. He’s not just a better, more righteous king. He is Himself called “Mighty God” and “Eternal Father.” This is God’s Son in a far truer sense. He shares in the Father’s divine nature!
This is how Jesus used the term “Son of God” regarding Himself, classing the Son above even the angels in heaven (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32). Evil spirits cowered before Jesus as one with the power to torment them because He was the Son of God (Matthew 8:29, etc.) Jesus’ enemies recognized what He meant by the title and sought to execute Him for blasphemy:
“For this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God,” (John 5:18).
“The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, ‘I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?’ The Jews answered Him, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God,'” (John 10:31-33).
“The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and by that law, He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God,'” (John 19:17).
Likewise, New Testament passages like Hebrews 1 lay out in detail the unique, divine sonship of Jesus. In Christ, the title “Son of God” has a special application that speaks not only to His position as the Messiah King in fulfillment of God’s covenant with David but even more so to His very nature as the second person of the Trinity, God Himself come in flesh. That is who the Son of God is.
