If you read the last blog about Deuteronomy 13, you’re familiar with the argument about Deuteronomy 13 being used as a weapon against Jesus.
If you haven’t read that yet, here’s a basic summary. In Deuteronomy 13:1-6, Moses says that anyone who tries to convince others to follow “other gods” should be executed, even if they’re capable of doing miracles to authenticate the message.
Under that line of reasoning, Jesus should’ve been executed because He made Himself out to be the Son of God (John 19:7). For Christians, there’s no conflict. Jesus is God in the Flesh, just as the Father and the Holy Spirit make up the other two parts of the Godhead.
But for a Jewish audience that relied heavily on the Shema—“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! (Deuteronomy 6:4)—that claim is no different than idolatry. Jesus may not be advocating for other gods, but He’s certainly claiming to be God, which, in their eyes, is basically the same thing. If God is only one, there can be no other, including Jesus.
This conflict is all over the Gospels. In John 5, Jesus heals a man at the Pool of Bethesda who couldn’t walk for thirty-eight years. When He stands up and walks, some are incensed because “He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”
That creates an issue. Jesus makes the claim to be God and does a miracle that is plain as day, which should confirm His message. Under a strict understanding of Deuteronomy 13, though, they should still execute Jesus because He made Himself out to be a God, when Jehovah should be the only One that’s recognized as such.
How did Jesus get away, then?
Some would argue He didn’t. Jesus’ ministry spanned roughly three-and-a-half years, which isn’t very long at all. By all accounts, He rose to fame and died very quickly.
But when you look at Jesus’ claims more critically, He never actually pointed people away from Jehovah; He simply made Himself equal with God. Is that splitting hairs? Probably. But did it give Him enough to preach His message? Also, yes.
Jesus was emphatic that God and God alone should be served (Matthew 4:10). The nuance was that by serving Him, you also serve God (John 5:23).
Undoubtedly, that was a difficult concept for some. For others, it was nearly impossible to get past.
But for those who saw Jesus as God in the flesh, the issue wasn’t whether they should follow Jehovah or not, but how, by serving Jesus, they could serve the Father more fully.