The objection
A word about YHWH can also be fulfilled through a representative. When the New Testament applies such texts to Jesus, it could therefore merely be saying that God acts through him.
1. Not every fulfillment asserts the same kind of identity
God can speak through a prophet and save through a king. This does not automatically mean that the prophet or king is God. For every quotation, we must therefore ask which statement is transferred: a commission, a historical act or a characterization that distinguishes God as God.
The objection to a blanket argument from transfer does not remove the specific evidential force of particularly weighty texts.
2. Romans 10 leads the one who calls to Jesus
Paul connects confessing Jesus as Lord with salvation and then speaks of the same Lord over Jews and Greeks, who is generous to all who call on him. The supporting quotation from Joel explains that everyone who calls on the Lord's name will be saved. In the original text, YHWH is meant.
The close sequence of the argument supports the view that Paul relates this saving invocation to Jesus. The point is not merely that Jesus carries out a commission. His name is the immediate referent of saving faith and invocation.[1]
3. Philippians 2 transfers universal homage
Isaiah 45 excludes other gods and has every knee bow before YHWH. Philippians 2 takes up this image and directs the universal confession to Jesus as Lord. At the same time, this happens to the Father's glory.
If Jesus were merely an alien creature, it would need to be explained why precisely the homage directed at God's uniqueness is offered to him. The Trinitarian reading explains why worshiping him does not divide God's honor: The Son belongs to the identity of the one God, whose glory he shares with the Father.
4. Hebrews 1 transfers creation and permanence
Psalm 102 distinguishes the enduring Creator from his perishable world. Hebrews 1,10–12 addresses the Son with precisely these characterizations. A mere commission does not explain why founding heaven and earth and enduring existence in contrast to their perishability are attributed to him.[1]
The conclusion therefore rests on the content of the transferred statements, not on mechanically equating every quotation. Saving invocation, universal worship and imperishable creative sovereignty form a coherent body of evidence. The blanket category “representation” names a possibility; it does not yet explain this evidence.
Biblical texts in context
Sources and further study
- Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian FaithOld Testament divine predicates in New Testament Christology.