Jesus has a God.  It’s not something you’re likely to hear your pastor or Sunday School teacher say, but Scripture says it plenty of times. Over twenty times, in fact[1].  Church tradition has so obscured our view of Scripture that when we read the truth, we can’t “see” it.

Matthew 27:46 (NASB) About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” (emphasis added)

Jesus has a God

The only other crucifixion narrative records Jesus’ words as well,[2] but somehow it still doesn’t sink in.  Instead, we focus on the portion of the verse that says Jesus felt forsaken by God. For those familiar with Psalm 22:1, even that claim is easy to dismiss because we think he is simply quoting the passage as a fulfillment of prophecy, not as a heartfelt cry to “his” God. The words do not penetrate our dogma, but Scripture plainly says Jesus has a God.

Israel intuitively understood that their Messiah would worship God, just as his ancestor King David had.  But it was also prophesied that their coming king would look to his God for help:  

Psalm 89:26-27 (NASB) “He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ ²⁷  “I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth. (emphasis added)

Similarly, Isaiah prophesied that the Servant of God, that is, the Messiah, would be given as a covenant to the people and a light to the nations to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.  God’s Servant understood that, despite the difficulty of his calling, his God would strengthen and reward him:

Isaiah 49:4-5 (NASB) But I said, “I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice due to Me is with the LORD, And My reward with My God.” ⁵  And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, And My God is My strength)… (emphasis added)

The prophet Micah declared that the coming Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, and would rule on behalf of his God:

Micah 5:4 (NASB) And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth. (emphasis added)

Jesus himself testifies, not that he is God, but that his Father is the one true God: 

John 17:1 and 3 (NASB) Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You…³  “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (emphasis added)

More specifically, after the Father raised Jesus from the dead, he declared that the Father was his God:

John 20:16-17 (NASB) Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus *said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'”  (emphasis added)

The truth has been there all along, but we have not had eyes to see that the God of Mary and the God of the disciples is the God of Jesus.  Selah.

Some may propose that Jesus only had a God while he was in his humbled, earthly state.  However, this theory quickly unravels when we read that even after Jesus was exalted to God’s right hand, he still has a God. 

Revelation 1:5-6 (NASB) and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— ⁶ and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.  (emphasis added)

In addition, when Jesus addresses the church in Sardis, he expresses that he has a God:

Revelation 3:2 (NASB)  ‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. (emphasis added)

Moreover, Jesus gives the same declaration four more times in his exhortation to the church in Philadelphia:

Revelation 3:12 (NASB) ‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. (emphasis added)

Since Jesus so clearly states that he has a God, we should not be surprised that Paul also bears witness to this truth:

Romans 15:5-6 (NASB) Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, ⁶ so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (emphasis added)

2 Corinthians 1:3 (NASB) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, (emphasis added)

2 Corinthians 11:31 (NASB) ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. (emphasis added)

Ephesians 1:3 (NASB)  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (emphasis added)

Ephesians 1:17 (NASB) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. (emphasis added)

Notice that Paul places the Father and Jesus into two separate categories:  the Father is “God” while Jesus is the “Christ.”  Paul clearly knows Jesus is not God, rather he is the human mediator between the one God and man.

1 Timothy 2:5 (NASB) For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (emphasis added)

Like Paul, the apostle Peter also testifies that Jesus has a God:

1 Peter 1:3 (NASB) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (emphasis added)

Naturally, this is in perfect harmony with the revelation that God gave him about Jesus being the Christ of God:

Matthew 16:16-17 (NASB) Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷  And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. (emphasis added)

How can God have a God? It’s an oxymoron.  However, when we understand that Jesus is a man, it makes complete sense to say that he needed the power of his God to carry out the will of his God, that he might be exalted to the right hand of his God. Indeed, it is consistent with the testimony of Scripture, but directly contradicts the 4th century doctrine that says God is a tri-part being.  May the veil of orthodoxy be removed that we might fully see that Jesus has a God.

[1] Messiah has a God: Psalm 22:1; 45:6-7;  89:26, Isaiah 49:4-5 (2x); Micah 5:4.  Jesus has a God: Matthew 27:46 (2x); Mark 15:34 (2x); John 20:16-17; Romans 15:5-6; 2 Corinthians 1:2-3; 11:30-31; Ephesians 1:1-3; 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:8-9; 1 Peter 1:3; Revelation 1:4-6; 3:2; 3:12 (4x). 

[2] Mark 15:34