The Biblical Evidence for Jesus' Divine Sovereignty Over the Cosmos

 

The Hebrew Bible tells us that God rules over the earth and the cosmos:

"For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods." (Psalms 97:9)

Interestingly, the New Testament ascribes this sort of thing to our Lord Jesus, thus demonstrating Jesus to be God:

"Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand." (John 3:25-35)

"He [Jesus] said to them, 'You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”  (John 8:23-24)

"and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." (Ephesians 1:19-23)

"To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. " (Romans 9:5) 

Here is what the OT says about the reign of the Father:

"The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens! Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high," (Psalms 113:4-5)

The Bible says similar language about the LORD Jesus:

"He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high," (Hebrews 1:3)

[The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, pg. 1442 confirms that Hebrews 1:3 and Psalm 113:5 are cross-referenced]

The Omniscience of the Lord Jesus

 

In this article, I will list some passages from the Gospels which proves that our Lord Jesus is omniscient, and hence the divine Son of God. I'll also give some quotes from biblical scholars and commentators proving that these verses do indeed teach that Jesus is omniscient.  These proofs are useful in debate against Muslims and heretical groups which deny the truth of the deity of Christ. 

According to the rest of Scripture, God knows the hearts and thoughts of men (1 Chronicles 28:9; Psalm 44:21; Ezekiel 11:5; Matthew 6:5). The NT writers ascribe this to Jesus, thus understanding Him to be God:

Mark 2:5-10: "And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins' "(Mark 2:5-10) '

John Gill: "And immediately, when Jesus perceived in his Spirit,.... "His own Spirit", as the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read; not his human soul, nor the holy Spirit of God, though both may be said to be his Spirit; but his divine nature, in and by which he knew all things, even the most sacred thoughts of men's hearts: and as soon as ever the above thoughts were conceived in the minds of the Scribes and Pharisees, they were perceived by him, and told to them," (https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/geb/mark-2.html)

Robert H. Stein: "The reference to Jesus’s “spirit” (πνεῦματι, pneumati) does not refer to the Holy Spirit but to Jesus’s own spirit (cf. 8:12). If this were a reference to the Holy Spirit, we would expect “in the Spirit” or “in the Holy Spirit” (cf. 12:36), not “in his [αὐτοῦ, autou] spirit.” Here it serves as a synonym for “heart” (cf. the synonymous parallelism in Ps. 77:6). Mark gives no explanation of how Jesus knew what the scribes were thinking. He probably assumed that, if the prophets possessed such clairvoyance (cf. John 4:16–19), certainly Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would possess this as well (cf. Mark 5:30; 12:15; 14:18–21). Although “they were reasoning within themselves” (διαλογίζονται ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, dialogizontai en heautois) can be interpreted as meaning that the scribes were talking among themselves, this is unlikely since in 2:6 the locale where this takes place is the “heart.” If this involved a visible whispering of the scribes among themselves, we would expect that instead of “Jesus knowing in his spirit,” Mark might have written “Jesus seeing [or ‘hearing’].”" (Robert H. Stein, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament - Mark, pg. 120)

Matthew 12:25 - " Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. "

Luke 6:5-8 - "And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there."

John Gill: "Being the omniscient God; though they had said nothing of their intentions, he knew what they designed, should he heal the man with his withered hand, as they expected he would" (https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/geb/luke-6.html)

Luke 9:46-47 - "An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side."

John 2:25 - "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he [Jesus] himself knew what was in man."

Craig Keener: "Jesus’ response was based on his knowledge of their character (2:24–25), which in turn would affect their actions (cf. 3:20–21). By claiming Jesus’ knowledge of human character, John again affirms Jesus’ deity." (Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, 2 vols, pg. 531)

Scripture teaches that only God has omniscience:

"...then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind)," (1 Kings 8:39)

Liberal Scholar Dale C. Allison on the Crucifixion of Jesus

 

Muslim apologist Paul Williams brought the liberal scholar Dale Allison on his show in order to (probably) get information from him to support his attack against Christianity and the Gospel.

However, William's favorite scholar has some strong disagreements with the Qur'an (4:157) concerning the crucifixion of Jesus:

"Almost everyone in the guild takes for granted [presumably including Allison] that Jesus was a Jew who lived in first-century Palestine, that his parents were named Mary and Joseph, that he taught in parables, that he spoke about God's reign, and that he was crucified in Jerusalem" (The Historical Christ and the Theological Jesus, pg. 9, brackets mine)

The Date of the Gospel of Thomas

 

"Having seen a terminus ante quem of c. 200 c.e. , we now have strong grounds on the basis of Thomas’s allusion to the temple, and ‘literary influences’, for a terminus a quo of 135c.e....We have seen that the best fit for Thomas is some time after 135 and some time before 200ce. A terminus a quo is established by the various literary influences upon Thomas and the confidence about the non-rebuilding of the temple in GTh 71. At the other end, the papyri and the mention of Thomas in Hippolytus give a fairly secure terminus ante quem of c. 200ce/ early third century. The affinities of certain elements of Thomas with other works from the second century ce is apparent, as we will see further in the course of the commentary" (Simon Gathercole, The Gospel of Thomas: An Introduction and Commentary, pgs. 121, 124) 

"Against a first-century date for Thomas is also the recognition, with probably the majority of scholars today, that Thomas in its current form depends on the Synoptics. This is because Thomas has parallels to every stratum of Gospel tradition (including John and distinctively Matthean redaction) and some of its sayings follow others solely because of the sequence in the canonical Gospels.......What is more troubling for an 'early Thomas' hypothesis is that Thomas bears numerous characteristics of Syriac Christianity from the second half of the second century, more than of a Palestinian Jewish milieu well over a century earlier. Worse yet, the Gospel of Thomas sometimes follows the sequence and content of Tatian's Diatesseron (and other Syrian tradition from that period or later)." (Craig Keener, The Historical Jesus of the Gospels, pgs. 55-56)

Jewish Sources on Isaiah 9:6

 

"Another explanation: He said to him: ‘I have yet to raise up the Messiah,’ of whom it is written, For a child is born to us (Isa. IX, 5)." (Midrash Rabbah Deuteronomy, Rabbi Dr. H. Freedman and Maurice Simon, Rev. Dr. J. Rabbinowitz, p. 22, link)

"The prophet said to the house of David, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and he has taken the law upon himself to keep it. His name is called from eternity wonderful, the mighty God who liveth to eternity, the Messiah whose peace shall be great upon us in his days." (Targum Jonathan)

[This disproves the idea often put forward by rabbinic Jews that the "mighty God" is not referring to the "child" but rather to God calling the child the "Prince of Peace"]

"According to some, these expressions are names of God, and the following שר שלום, the name of the child. I think that all these words are names of the child;" (Abraham ibn Ezra)

"Let Hezekiah, who has eight [shemona] names, come, and exact retribution from Sennacherib, who has eight names. The Gemara elaborates: The eight names of Hezekiah are as it is written: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government is upon his shoulder; and his name is called Pele Joez El Gibbor Abi Ad Sar Shalom” (Isaiah 9:5)." (Talmud, Sanhedrin 94a, link)

What do we say concerning the argument that this verse speaks of King Hezekiah? The Puritan John Owen gives a brief argument against this interpretation:

"How can it be said of Hezekiah, that 'of the increase of his government there should be no end,' seeing he lived but four and fifty years, and reigned but twenty-nine, and his own son Manasseh, who succeeded him, was carried captive into Babylon? " (John Owen, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Vol 1: The Epistle to the Hebrews, The Messiah, The Jewish Church, pg. 205, link)

John Owen gives some further arguments against the common Jewish way of breaking up the names so that the "Prince of Peace" is the only name referring to the child, while the other names refer to God:

"1) If words may be so transposed and shuffled together as these are to produce this sense, there will nothing be left certain in the Scripture; nor can they give any one instance of such a disposal of words as they fancy in this place. (2.) The very reading of the words rejects this gloss, “He shall call his name Wonderful.” (3.) It is the name of the child, and not of God that gives him, which is expressed for the comfort of the church. (4.) What tolerable reason can be given for such an accumulation of names unto God in this place? " (John Owen, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Vol 1: The Epistle to the Hebrews, The Messiah, The Jewish Church, pgs. 203-204, link)