Mosaic Christology and the human Messiah

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    Throughout the Old Testament, the human representatives of God are depicted in exalted terms, sharing in God’s honor, attributes, and authority. This provides a framework in which to understand the exalted depiction of our Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. In the last post, we saw how Jesus is described in the same terms as Adam; because of his obedient death, he became the glorious ruler of all things, just as Adam was prior to his sin. In this post, we’ll look at another one of God’s representatives in the Old Testament: the prophet Moses. Moses was the agent through whom God saved Israel out of Egypt, and the mediator who brought the Law to the people of Israel. Because of his exalted station, he shared in many of God’s honors and attributes, and the New Testament authors deliberately draw upon this when describing the Messiah.

    Note: The idea for this series is from J. R. Daniel Kirk’s book A Man Attested by God: The Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, as well as episodes 48 through 55 of Dustin Smith’s Biblical Unitarian Podcast. It wouldn’t have been possible without their extensive research, so please check out their work for a fuller treatment of the high human Christology of the New Testament!

    Moses in the Old Testament

    Because Moses was God’s chosen agent to enact Israel’s salvation from Egypt, the miracles associated with the Exodus are not only attributed to God, but to Moses as well. This can be seen in the following passages:

“Thus says Yahweh, ‘By this you shall know that I am Yahweh. Behold, with the staff that is in My hand I will strike the waters in the Nile, and they will be turned to blood’” ... Moses and Aaron did just as Yahweh commanded. In the sight of the pharaoh and his servants, he [Aaron] lifted up the staff and struck the waters in the Nile, and all the waters in the Nile were turned to blood... Seven days passed after Yahweh had struck the Nile. (Exod. 7:17, 20, 25)

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.’” And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and it became gnats on man and on beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt... And the magicians said to the pharaoh, “This is the finger of God!” (Exod. 8:16, 17, 19)

“Yahweh will fight for you while you keep silent.” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it”... Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and Yahweh swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. (Exod. 14:14-16, 21)

In each of these three instances, the actions and miracles of God are variously attributed to Moses, Aaron, and Yahweh Himself. Because Moses (and Aaron) are the ones through whom God is accomplishing the miracles, they can be attributed to either Yahweh or Moses and Aaron. When the Israelites saw that God was working miracles through Moses, this was their response:

Israel saw the great work which Yahweh had done in Egypt; so the people feared Yahweh, and put their faith in Yahweh and His servant Moses. (Exod. 14:31)

    Moses not only performs the miracles of God, but he is also given the honor due to God. Because Yahweh parted the Red Sea by the agency of His servant Moses, the people put their faith not only in Yahweh, but in Moses also. This is in spite of the fact that God is supposed to be the sole object of faith for Israel (Psa. 40:4; 118:8; 146:3, 5; Isa. 42:17); nonetheless, as God’s prophet, Moses is also worthy of faith (cf. 2 Chron. 20:20).

    Finally, he also shared in God’s glory:

Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that Yahweh had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face; but whenever Moses went before Yahweh to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining, and Moses would put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with Him. (Exod. 34:32-35) 

This is in spite of the fact that God said He would give His glory to no other (Isa. 42:8). Evidently, the non-sharability of God’s unique attributes does not extend to His empowered agents.

    In summary, Moses was given the glory and honor of God, and was allowed to perform the actions and miracles of God, even speaking the very words of God (Exod. 4:15). Because of this, he was even given the very name of God (Elohim), although only in a limited sense:

“And he [Aaron] will speak to the people for you, and he will be like a mouth for you, and you will be like God for him.” (Exod. 4:16)

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “See, I have made you God to the pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.” (Exod. 7:1)

In these verses, God says that Moses will “be like God” to Aaron and that he will “be God” to the pharaoh of Egypt. It’s no wonder that this is the case, since Moses was performing the very actions of God and speaking His own words to the pharaoh. This shows that Yahweh can invest his own title “God” into human beings in specific instances.

    Mosaic Christology in the New Testament

    According to Deuteronomy 18:15-18, another prophet like Moses would be raised up from among the people of Israel; according to Peter, this prophet is the Messiah Jesus (Acts 3:20-23; cf. John 6:14; 7:40). Moses and Jesus are explicitly compared and contrasted throughout the New Testament, and he is said to be greater than Moses (John 1:17; 6:32; 2 Cor. 3:7; 4:6; Heb. 3:1-6). Thus, we should expect that Jesus is presented in the same terms as Moses by the New Testament authors, and that is in fact what we see.

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing on his own authority, but only whatever he sees the Father doing, for whatever He does, the Son likewise does. The Father loves the Son and shows him everything that He does, and He will show him works even greater than these, so that you will marvel.” (John 5:19-20)

“Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own, but the Father who dwells in me does His works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, but if not, then believe because of the works themselves.” (John 14:10-11)

“Men, Israelites, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene [was] a man attested by God to you, by miracles and wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22)

God was in the Messiah reconciling the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19)

    These passages show that all of Jesus’ authority and miracles came from God, the Father, who was dwelling in him. As with Moses, God uniquely empowered His Messiah to perform miracles, so as to confirm to Israel that he was the true Messiah. We can see specific examples of this in the gospel accounts: Jesus was given authority to forgive sins on behalf of God (Matt. 9:2-8), just as Moses was (Exod. 32:7-13, 30-33), and he was given control over the waters of the sea (Mark 4:39-41; 6:49-51), just as Moses was (Exod. 14:16).

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in Him who sent me.” (John 12:44)

“Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me.” (John 14:1)

And having brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:30, 31)

    According to these passages, Jesus is a worthy object of faith in addition to God, because he was sent by God; compare this with Exodus 16:31, in which the Israelites believe in “Yahweh and His servant Moses.” In fact, in one instance, belief in Jesus is actually compared with belief in Moses (John 5:46).

After six days, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transformed before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as bright as light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. (Matt. 17:1-3)

For we do not proclaim ourselves, but we proclaim Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants on behalf of Jesus. For it is the God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who shone in our hearts for the radiance of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of the Messiah. (2 Cor. 4:5, 6)

    Here, the glory of God is said to shine in the face of Jesus, just as it did on Moses’ face. In the first passage, the glorification of Jesus takes place on a mountain, which was probably a deliberate connection to Moses’ glorification atop Mount Sinai (Exod. 34:29). In the second passage, Paul explicitly connects the glorification of Jesus to the glorification of Moses (2 Cor. 3:7-4:6).

    Finally, just as with Moses, the very name and title of God were given to Jesus:

“I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me” (John 5:43)

“Holy Father, protect them in Your name which You have given me, that they may be one just as we are. When I was with them, I protected them in Your name which You have given me.” (John 17:11, 12)

Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)

Because Jesus is the agent of God, performing His miracles and bearing His glory, he is even allowed to bear the title “God” along with the divine name. This is similar to when Moses was said to “be God” to the pharaoh. Since Jesus is greater than Moses, he is “God” to a wider range of people in a wider range of situations; nonetheless, this does not infringe upon the uniqueness of his Father, who remains the only true God (John 5:43, 44; 17:3).

    Conclusion

    In the New Testament, our Lord Jesus is depicted in similar terms as earlier exalted human figures like Adam and Moses. Just like Moses, he is shown performing the actions and miracles of God, bearing the glory of God, and even being called “God.” Yet this does not equate Jesus with Yahweh, because the same prerogatives were given to Moses; in fact, the New Testament authors intentionally draw upon the Old Testament depiction of Moses in their descriptions of Jesus. Because the Messiah is a “prophet like Moses” (Acts 3:22) and “worthy of greater honor than Moses” (Heb. 3:4), it is no wonder that he is depicted in such exalted terms.

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