Ángel
Manuel Rodríguez
Why
do some people say that the title "God" in Titus 2:13 does not refer
to Jesus? The passage seems very clear: "While we wait for the blessed
hope—the
glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (NIV).
Sometimes what is obvious to one person
is not as obvious to another. Why? Because we often bring to our reading
of the Bible some of our own personal ideas and convictions.
In
this particular case a person who concludes, based on his or her reading
of other biblical passages, that Jesus is not God will make an effort
to bring this passage into agreement with that conviction. Those who conclude
that Christ is God will argue the opposite.
There's
nothing wrong in using the general biblical teaching on a topic to inform
and influence our interpretation of a particularly problematic passage.
However, we should always be
open to the possibility that our general understanding of a biblical concept
may not necessarily be right. Passages that do not seem to conform to
our preunderstanding may serve to
correct erroneous or unbalanced views.
Whenever
a biblical teaching is clearly discernible, an attempt to harmonize the
difficult passages with it would be appropriate. In those cases we have
to pay close attention to the language used by the author and the historical,
religious, and cultural backgrounds that may have motivated the author
to express the idea in a way that may appear to be out of balance with
the prevailing biblical perspective. Such investigation may result in
an exegetically sound harmonization or in the recognition that the passage
may not be clear enough to contradict or support the general teaching
of the Scriptures. Then we wait for further evidence or new insights that
will solve the apparent tension.
Look
at Titus 2:13. The central question is: Are the titles "the great God
and Savior" referring to one Person, Jesus, or do we have here a reference
first to the Father and then to Jesus as Saviour? The King James Version
takes the second option: "the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."
Here's
a literal translation of the phrase under consideration: "the great God
and Saviour of us Jesus Christ." From a grammatical point of view the
passage could be understood in either of the two ways. The article "the"
could be connected only with "great God" and not with "Saviour."
How
do we decide? One could argue that in general the New Testament avoids
calling Jesus God. However, there are some passages in which He is called
God (2 Peter 2:20; John 20:28), and this could be another one of those.
Besides, Greek grammar indicates that if we have one definite article
("the") and two nouns connected by the conjunction "and," the article
governs both nouns. In other words, "the great God and Savior" is designating
one person, further defined in the sentence as "Jesus Christ." This would
be the most natural way of reading the passage in the original Greek.
An
argument that tips the balance is the use of the noun "appearing." That
noun always applies to Jesus in the New Testament and not to the Father
(1 Tim. 6:14; 2 Tim. 1:10; 4:1, 8; 2 Thess. 2:8). Equally important is
what is said in Titus 2:14, where it suggests that in the previous verse
Paul was not talking about two different Persons (the Father and the Son),
but about one. He develops the thought by saying the one (our great God
and Saviour, Jesus Christ) "who gave himself for us to redeem us" (NIV).
We
also know that the phrase "God and Saviour" was employed in pagan religious
settings as a religious title used to designate only one person, a particular
pagan deity. Paul may have used these two titles in order to state in
unambiguous terms that Jesus Christ is the only true "God and Saviour,"
and that at a particular moment He will appear in all His glory to those
He will redeem.
Although
the sentence could be interpreted either as a witness to the deity of
Jesus or as a reference to the Father and to our Saviour, a contextual
analysis suggests that the more likely and more correct interpretation
is the first one.
6/11/98
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