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Question: It seems to me that the ‘way of Jehovah’ of Isaiah 40:3 is applied to Christ in Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; and Luke 3:4. Does not this indicate that Christ is God? |
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Answer: Isaiah 40:3 is a prophecy concerning the mission which John the Baptist fulfilled as the forerunner of Christ’s first advent. “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” It seems only proper that the “way of the Lord” in this text should be applied to the way of Christ and “a highway for our God.” According to the prophecy of the angel before Christ’s birth, it was revealed that “they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated as, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23). Thus it is not inconsistent that a text in the Old Testament which speaks of “Lord” or “God” in a prophecy relating to Christ should be rightly applied to Christ in fulfillment, Father and Son bearing the same name. But this does not in any way suggest that they are the same individual, nor does such a conclusion seem necessary from the wording of the passages in the Bible. The two individuals were of one family, and shared a common purpose. Jesus gave His entire life to the performance of His Father’s will–He was doing the work of God. |