Jesus is Equated with Jehovah
One of the most powerful impressions that one can make with a Jehovah's Witness is to
demonstrate from their own Bible that Jesus is equated with Jehovah. There are numerous
scriptures that do this. If you can get a copy of the New World Translation Reference Bible
published in 1984, the impression is even more powerful because of the footnotes.
When showing this to your Jehovah's Witness friend remember that they believe that Jehovah
is God the Father and that he is more powerful than Jesus. In addition, they believe that it is a
sin to worship Jesus and that all worship should go only to the Father. In fact, a Jehovah's
Witness can be excommunicated merely for praying to Jesus. In any case here some very
good examples from the New World Translation that equate Jesus with Jehovah in a way that
many Jehovah's Witnesses would consider blasphemous.
Example #1
In Hebrews chapter 1, the author of Hebrews goes to great lengths to tell us that Jesus is no
mere angel. That there is something very special about the person who is the "exact
representation of God's very being." Notice what the author of Hebrews states in the
following verses about the Son. Pay particular attention to the section that is underlined by
me:
8 But with reference to the Son: “God is your throne forever and ever, and [the] scepter of
your kingdom is the scepter of uprightness. 9 You loved righteousness, and you hated
lawlessness. That is why God, your God, anointed you with [the] oil of exultation more than
your partners.” 10 And: “You at [the] beginning, O Lord, laid the foundations of the earth itself,
and the heavens are [the] works of your hands. 11 They themselves will perish, but you
yourself are to remain continually; and just like an outer garment they will all grow old, 12 and
you will wrap them up just as a cloak, as an outer garment; and they will be changed, but you
are the same, and your years will never run out.”-Hebrews 1:8-12
The underlined section is a quotation from Psalm 102. In the New World Translation it states
the following about the purpose of Psalm 102:
"A prayer of the afflicted in case he grows feeble and pours out his concern before Jehovah
himself."
So, this Psalm is a prayer to Jehovah. Notice how the Psalmist refers to Jehovah in verses 25
and 26:
"25 Long ago you laid the foundations of the earth itself, And the heavens are the work of
your hands. 26 They themselves will perish, but you yourself will keep standing; And just like
a garment they will all of them wear out. Just like clothing you will replace them, and they will
finish their turn." -Psalms 102:25, 26 New World Translation
Here we see the author of Hebrews taking a scripture from the book of Psalms that is a prayer
to Jehovah and applying this to the identity of Christ! In short, the author of Hebrews is
equating Jesus with Almighty God. This is blasphemous unless of course Jesus truly is
Almighty God.
Example #2
Another example of this is when Jesus entered Jerusalem. According to the New World
Translation the following occurred:
"6 So the disciples got on their way and did just as Jesus ordered them. 7 And they brought
the ass and its colt, and they put upon these their outer garments, and he seated himself upon
them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their outer garments on the road, while others began cutting
down branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9 As for the crowds, those
going ahead of him and those following kept crying out: “Save, we pray, the Son of David!
Blessed is he that comes in Jehovah’s name! Save him, we pray, in the heights above!”-
Matthew 21:6-9
Now in the New World Translation the people were crying out to Jesus "Save, we pray, the
Son of David!" The phrase "Save, we pray!" is also translated as Hosanna which is a word
that Catholics are familiar with because we use it in prayer to God. Jews also used this word
only when addressing Yahweh (Jehovah) in prayer. Now, the Jewish religious leaders were
greatly offended by what the crowds were saying to Jesus because they viewed this as
blasphemy that is why they said the following to Jesus:
"When the chief priests and the scribes saw the marvelous things he did and the boys that
were crying out in the temple and saying: “Save, we pray, the Son of David!” they became
indignant 16 and said to him: “Do you hear what these are saying?”-Matthew 21:15, 16
The Jewish religious leaders were obviously upset that the people were addressing Jesus as
if he were Jehovah. They wanted Jesus to put a stop to such blasphemy. Is that what Jesus
did? Well, here is Jesus' response:
"Jesus said to them: “Yes. Did YOU never read this, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
you have furnished praise’?” 17 And leaving them behind he went outside the city to
Beth´a·ny and passed the night there."Matthew 21:16, 17
Notice how Jesus did not stop the people from referring to him in that way. In fact his
response to the Jewish religious leaders was to quote a scripture from the book of Psalms.
Jesus quotes to them from Psalm 8:2 which says the following in the New World Translation:
"1 O Jehovah our Lord, how majestic your name is in all the earth, You whose dignity is
recounted above the heavens! 2 Out of the mouth of children and sucklings you have founded
strength, On account of those showing hostility to you, So as to make the enemy and the one
taking his vengeance desist. "-Psalms 8:1, 2
So, Jesus' response was not to silence the crowd but to apply to himself a scripture that
applied to Yahweh (Jehovah)!
These are only two of many, many examples. Now, when you show this to your Jehovah's
Witness friend emphasize that Jesus and God the Father are different persons but they are
equal in nature as Almighty God.
One of the most powerful impressions that one can make with a Jehovah's Witness is to
demonstrate from their own Bible that Jesus is equated with Jehovah. There are numerous
scriptures that do this. If you can get a copy of the New World Translation Reference Bible
published in 1984, the impression is even more powerful because of the footnotes.
When showing this to your Jehovah's Witness friend remember that they believe that Jehovah
is God the Father and that he is more powerful than Jesus. In addition, they believe that it is a
sin to worship Jesus and that all worship should go only to the Father. In fact, a Jehovah's
Witness can be excommunicated merely for praying to Jesus. In any case here some very
good examples from the New World Translation that equate Jesus with Jehovah in a way that
many Jehovah's Witnesses would consider blasphemous.
Example #1
In Hebrews chapter 1, the author of Hebrews goes to great lengths to tell us that Jesus is no
mere angel. That there is something very special about the person who is the "exact
representation of God's very being." Notice what the author of Hebrews states in the
following verses about the Son. Pay particular attention to the section that is underlined by
me:
8 But with reference to the Son: “God is your throne forever and ever, and [the] scepter of
your kingdom is the scepter of uprightness. 9 You loved righteousness, and you hated
lawlessness. That is why God, your God, anointed you with [the] oil of exultation more than
your partners.” 10 And: “You at [the] beginning, O Lord, laid the foundations of the earth itself,
and the heavens are [the] works of your hands. 11 They themselves will perish, but you
yourself are to remain continually; and just like an outer garment they will all grow old, 12 and
you will wrap them up just as a cloak, as an outer garment; and they will be changed, but you
are the same, and your years will never run out.”-Hebrews 1:8-12
The underlined section is a quotation from Psalm 102. In the New World Translation it states
the following about the purpose of Psalm 102:
"A prayer of the afflicted in case he grows feeble and pours out his concern before Jehovah
himself."
So, this Psalm is a prayer to Jehovah. Notice how the Psalmist refers to Jehovah in verses 25
and 26:
"25 Long ago you laid the foundations of the earth itself, And the heavens are the work of
your hands. 26 They themselves will perish, but you yourself will keep standing; And just like
a garment they will all of them wear out. Just like clothing you will replace them, and they will
finish their turn." -Psalms 102:25, 26 New World Translation
Here we see the author of Hebrews taking a scripture from the book of Psalms that is a prayer
to Jehovah and applying this to the identity of Christ! In short, the author of Hebrews is
equating Jesus with Almighty God. This is blasphemous unless of course Jesus truly is
Almighty God.
Example #2
Another example of this is when Jesus entered Jerusalem. According to the New World
Translation the following occurred:
"6 So the disciples got on their way and did just as Jesus ordered them. 7 And they brought
the ass and its colt, and they put upon these their outer garments, and he seated himself upon
them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their outer garments on the road, while others began cutting
down branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9 As for the crowds, those
going ahead of him and those following kept crying out: “Save, we pray, the Son of David!
Blessed is he that comes in Jehovah’s name! Save him, we pray, in the heights above!”-
Matthew 21:6-9
Now in the New World Translation the people were crying out to Jesus "Save, we pray, the
Son of David!" The phrase "Save, we pray!" is also translated as Hosanna which is a word
that Catholics are familiar with because we use it in prayer to God. Jews also used this word
only when addressing Yahweh (Jehovah) in prayer. Now, the Jewish religious leaders were
greatly offended by what the crowds were saying to Jesus because they viewed this as
blasphemy that is why they said the following to Jesus:
"When the chief priests and the scribes saw the marvelous things he did and the boys that
were crying out in the temple and saying: “Save, we pray, the Son of David!” they became
indignant 16 and said to him: “Do you hear what these are saying?”-Matthew 21:15, 16
The Jewish religious leaders were obviously upset that the people were addressing Jesus as
if he were Jehovah. They wanted Jesus to put a stop to such blasphemy. Is that what Jesus
did? Well, here is Jesus' response:
"Jesus said to them: “Yes. Did YOU never read this, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
you have furnished praise’?” 17 And leaving them behind he went outside the city to
Beth´a·ny and passed the night there."Matthew 21:16, 17
Notice how Jesus did not stop the people from referring to him in that way. In fact his
response to the Jewish religious leaders was to quote a scripture from the book of Psalms.
Jesus quotes to them from Psalm 8:2 which says the following in the New World Translation:
"1 O Jehovah our Lord, how majestic your name is in all the earth, You whose dignity is
recounted above the heavens! 2 Out of the mouth of children and sucklings you have founded
strength, On account of those showing hostility to you, So as to make the enemy and the one
taking his vengeance desist. "-Psalms 8:1, 2
So, Jesus' response was not to silence the crowd but to apply to himself a scripture that
applied to Yahweh (Jehovah)!
These are only two of many, many examples. Now, when you show this to your Jehovah's
Witness friend emphasize that Jesus and God the Father are different persons but they are
equal in nature as Almighty God.
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