THE MESSIAH, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD

When Peter said to Jesus, “You are the messiah, the son of the living God,” (Matt. 16:16) he was not saying something totally different from what most of the Jews believed. I realize that many Jews did not accept Jesus as the messiah. However, Peter referred to the “messiah” as the “son of the living God” because the Jews of his day believed that the messiah would be “the son of the living God”. That is what their Rabbis were teaching, and they got that doctrine straight from the Old Testament.

In the second Psalm we read, “The LORD has said to me, You are my Son; this day have I begotten you. Ask me, and I will give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.… Embrace the Son, … Blessed are all those who put their trust in him.” (verses 7-12)

In the book of Micah we read, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you will come one who will rule in Israel for me; whose origin is from long ago, from everlasting.” (verse 5:2)

In Jeremiah we read, “Behold, the days come, says the LORD, when I will raise to David a righteous Branch,… and this is the name by which he will be called, JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Jer. 23:5-6)

In Isaiah we read, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government will be on his shoulders: and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

I could list other verses, however, those that I have just quoted are sufficient to explain why the Jews believed that the messiah would be the Son of God, and why they believed that He would be equal to God. Moreover, it was because they believed that the messiah would be equal to God, that they accused Jesus of making Himself “equal” to God, when he said that God was His Father (John 5:17-18).