John 20:28:
There are several reasons why
Thomas’s expression “My Lord and my God!” in John 20:28 was not one of
astonishment and praise to God. (1) Limiting the meaning of astonishment does
not give any meaning to the prior statement “Thomas answered and said to him .
. .” (2) If Thomas’s statement was one of praise, why did he not say, “Blessed
be my Lord and my God” or “My Lord and God, how great is your power”? (3) The
context clarifies that the discussion was between Christ and Thomas. Verse 27
states, “He [Jesus] said to Thomas . . .” Then verse 29 states, “Jesus said to
him . . .” So why would verse 28, which says “Thomas answered and said to Him .
. . “ not be addressed to Jesus? (4) John 20:29 clarifies that the object of
faith is the one whom Thomas saw. (5) Every use of the word “Lord” in John 20
refers to Christ (John 20:2, 13, 15, 18, 20, 25). And the presence of the word “Lord”
with the word “God” indicates that more than “Lord” is intended here. For here
is an address to Jesus, not one about Jesus. (6) The relative pronoun requires
the article, and Christ distinguishes himself from the Father (John 20:17). For
the words “Lord” and “God” function as titles of Christ without making Jesus
the same as the Father (the mistake of modalism). (7) The relative pronoun
transforms doctrine (that Christ is Lord and God) to personal faith (my Lord
and my God). So it can be concluded that John 20:28 crowns John’s Gospel by
declaring that Christ is God. (Imad N. Shehadeh, God With Us and Without Us,
2 vols. [Carlisle, U.K.: Langham Global Library, 2018], 1:71, n. 35)
Rom 9:5:
The phrase in Rom 9:5 “from whom
is the Christ according to the flesh” points to the coming of Christ in his
human nature from the Israelites, whom Paul mentions in the previous verse. The
phrase expects another parallel phrase that clarifies another feature about
Christ, which is that he is “over all,” or επι παντων θεος (epi
pantown theos). It is more natural grammatically for the participle ο ων (ho own) to be connected to the name ο Χριστος (ho Christos), which
precedes it, than to θεος
(theos), which comes after all. This means that Paul declares that the
reason for his deep pain is the nature and preeminence of the person whom the
Israelites have rejected. For though Christ according to the flesh is from the
Israelites, he is at the same time over all the universe and its creatures,
including the Jews who have rejected him, because in his nature he is God, and
he is the object of worship forever. Therefore Paul called Christ “God.” (Ibid.,
71 n. 36)
