John 1:1 and the Jehovah’s Witnesses – Episode 22, Jesus is My Lord and My God

If we would understand how John intended us to understand John 1:1c, “and the Word was God” (could he possibly, as Jehovah’s Witnesses assert, mean Jesus was “a god”?), we need to see John’s representation of Jesus in places outside of John 1:1, that is, in the remainder of his Gospel.

My Lord and My God

The apostle John gives further evidence to his own view of who Jesus is when he recounts the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to his disciples in the upper room. At his first appearance Thomas is not present, so Thomas expresses skepticism when told what happened, but then Thomas is present the next time Jesus appears to his disciples.

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples were telling him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the marks of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Eight days later his disciples were inside with Thomas. Jesus entered, though the door was locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace to you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Bring your finger here and see my hands and bring your hand and put it into my side, and don’t be unbelieving but believing.” Thomas answered, “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:24-28)

Are we to suppose that John includes this account for any reason other than to attest to the truth about who Jesus is? If he didn’t agree with this perspective, it hardly seems possible he would have included it. We shouldn’t be surprised that Jehovah’s Witnesses must do a bit of hemming and hawing about this passage:

My Lord and my God!: Lit., “The Lord of me and the God [ho the·osʹ] of me!” Some scholars view this expression as an exclamation of astonishment spoken to Jesus but actually directed to God, his Father. Others claim that the original Greek requires that the words be viewed as being directed to Jesus. Even if this is so, the intent of the expression “my Lord and my God” is best understood in the context of the rest of the inspired Scriptures. Since the record shows that Jesus had previously sent his disciples the message, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God,” there is no reason to believe that Thomas thought that Jesus was the almighty God. (See study note on Joh 20:17.) Thomas had heard Jesus pray to his “Father,” calling him “the only true God.” (Joh 17:1-3) So Thomas may have addressed Jesus as “my God” for the following reasons: He viewed Jesus as being “a god” though not the almighty God. (See study note on Joh 1:1.) Or he may have addressed Jesus in a manner similar to the way that servants of God addressed angelic messengers of Jehovah, as recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures. Thomas would have been familiar with accounts in which individuals, or at times the Bible writer of the account, responded to or spoke of an angelic messenger as though he were Jehovah God. (Compare Ge 16:7-11, 13; 18:1-5, 22-33; 32:24-30; Jg 6:11-15; 13:20-22.) Therefore, Thomas may have called Jesus “my God” in this sense, acknowledging Jesus as the representative and spokesman of the true God.

Some argue that the use of the Greek definite article before the words for “lord” and “god” indicates that these words refer to the almighty God. However, in this context the use of the article may simply reflect Greek grammar. Cases where a nominative noun with the definite article is used as vocative in Greek can be illustrated by a literal translation of such scriptures as Lu 12:32 (lit., “the little flock”) and Col 3:18–4:1 (lit., “the wives”; “the husbands”; “the children”; “the fathers”; “the slaves”; “the masters”). In a similar way, a literal translation of 1Pe 3:7 would read: “The husbands.” So the use of the article here may not be of significance in determining what Thomas had in mind when he made his statement.

The Witnesses’ commentary here would divert us from the obvious meaning by noting that some commentators (which ones, why no references?) suppose that Thomas is not addressing Jesus but exclaiming like many in our culture, “Oh my God!” But the Witnesses’ commentary knows that is not the case, so they resort to the view that Thomas is acting like others who have been in the presence of the Angel of Yahweh and addressed him as God. But we have already seen that the Angel of Yahweh was Yahweh, not a created being, so addressing him as Yahweh was entirely appropriate. Knowing this, the Witnesses’ commentary explores the idea that the use of the definite article in Thomas’ remark, “the Lord of me and the God of me,” is more a function of the vocative voice in Greek than a testimony to Thomas’ belief that Jesus is Yahweh.

The vocative in Greek is the form Greek speakers give to expressions of declaration or address like this one by Thomas. There is a question as to whether the vocative is being used here. We would expect the vocative to read, ho kuri’e kai ho the’e, as in Matthew 27:46, but it reads instead, ho kurios kai ho theos, which are typically nominative in form, not vocative. However, many Greek speakers used the nominative like a vocative.

But it doesn’t matter! Thomas is here addressing Jesus as his God. And if Jesus is not God, Jesus should correct Thomas. This is what those mistaken for God did in Scripture. In Revelation 19:9,10, the apostle John says he fell at an angel’s feet to worship him, but the angel corrected him, saying, “Don’t do that (literally, watch out), I am a servant like you and your brothers who holds to the testimony of Jesus.” Then the angel says, “Worship (literally, bow down to) God.” But Jesus doesn’t correct Thomas. He receives what Thomas says of him. He is Thomas’ Lord and God. He is not ‘a’ god but ‘the’ God.

So could John have intended in John 1:1c that the Word was ‘a’ god? Hardly. Everything else in the rest of John’s Gospel screams that his view of Jesus is that he is the true God, God Almighty, Yahweh Himself, worthy of worship. And we have already seen that this is consistent with John’s other writings, specifically Revelation, where John acknowledges that Jesus is the Alpha and Omega that the Father also claims to be (see chapter 2 and Revelation 22:12,13) and depicts Jesus as receiving the same praise and worship as the Father (Revelation 5:12,13).

But there is more evidence concerning John’s worldview that would prevent him from ever believing that Jesus was ‘a’ god, a created being, no matter how powerful or exalted.