Jesus is a Servant of God

The book of the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible is an important piece of evidence on the present subject. This book details the activity of the disciples over a period of thirty years after Jesus was raised up. It is important to see what the disciples were saying about Jesus, and what titles they used in referring to him.

It will be quickly obvious that they often referred to him as a servant of God, but never Son of God. Peter, for example, said:

“The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus” (Acts 3:13).

Peter further said:

“God raised up his servant” (Acts 3:26), where the title servant refers to Jesus.

Not only Peter, but the entire group of believers viewed Jesus as God’s servant. When they raised their voices together in prayer to God, in the course of their speaking to God they called Jesus “your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed” (Acts 4:27). They repeated this title also in verse 30. Consistently, Jesus was being called servant of God by the original followers of Jesus.

Some people mistakenly thought that the disciples called Jesus Son of God. An inconsistency of translation actually helped to give this wrong impression. In the King James Bible, the translators call Jesus ‘Son of God’ in Acts 3:13, 26, and ‘child of God’ in Acts 4:27. They simply translated the Greek word paida as ‘son’ or ‘child’. But the word paida also means ‘servant’, and the present context demands this translation since the author of Acts is trying in this passage to establish that Jesus is indeed the servant of God.

The translators knew that the Greek word paida means servant. When the same word was used for David in chapter 4, verse 25, they translated it ‘servant’. Why not call Jesus also by the same title? Or, if they feel that ‘son’ is the correct translation, why not also call David ‘Son of God’? Jesus and David are both called by the same title in Greek. Why not call them by a same title in English also?

Other translators recognised this inconsistency and corrected it in the modern translations of the Bible. Therefore the New International Version of the Bible and many others call Jesus Servant of God in the verses already quoted above. Nevertheless, the fact that Jesus was God’s servant was so well known that even the King James Bible called him by this title in Matthew 12:18. Referring back to Isaiah 42:1, Matthew identified Jesus as the servant of the one true God Yahweh.

In the next part, we will see how the eagerness in some people to call Jesus ‘Son of God’ led them to invent explanations that indirectly insult God.

6 responses to “Jesus is a Servant of God”

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May 8, 2007 at 9:42 am

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Dean

December 13, 2008 at 3:33 pm

I notice that you make no mention of how the Apostle John refers to Jesus as the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:18 The word begotten used here is the Greek word monogenēs and it means only begotten child and the word son is from the Greek word uihos which, when used in speaking of a person, means son.
Yes Jesus was God’s servant, but He was also His only begotten Son. I myself am a servant of God and Jesus and I to am a son of God, but I am not a begotten son has Jesus. I am a son by adoption through the Spirit.

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1. Mohammad Saidin
  
  May 24, 2009 at 10:28 am
  
  You should also notice what the word ‘only’ means in English. Ironically, David is also God’s begotten Son as in Psalm 2:7. In fact, Jesus himself refused to be called Son of God by rebuking the devils who called him so as in Luke 4:41. Jesus again refused as in Luke 9:20 & 21. Do you listen to what Jesus himself says or to what the Church says? See also about Jesus in the Holy Quran. Thanks.
  
  Reply
  1. real christian
    
    July 31, 2011 at 3:31 pm
    
    You should read this again and read a little more and you will see that Psalm 2:7 is really in regards to Jesus, not David. See Psalm 2:12 it says to put your trust in him the Son. Now why would God say put your trust in a man. He never did this before. He actually warns of putting trust in men in other versus. See he is talking about Jesus, put your trust in Jesus the only begotten Son. And Jesus rebuked the devils who called him a son of God because he did not want the people to know who he was at that point or else they would worship him and he did not want this before he went to the cross. He had a mission to accomplish first. The devils knew who he was and that they had to obey him or they would not have mentioned it. I myself have heard from God and he called me his son when he talked to me but i know that i am an adopted son and Jesus is the only begotten Son. The bible has no contradictions in it. You just have to read it with un biased eyes. Ofcourse i had trouble understanding everything until i recieved the holy ghost since then he has opened my eyes of understanding and reading the bible and understanding is alot easier for me. So i know that a non believer will have trouble understanding these things. But what i said here is truth. Do you not feel your spirit deep inside you crying out in agreement while you read my post. Just forget what you have learned for a minute and listen to your spirit with fresh ears. See what happens. Ask Jesus to show you the truth.
2. Abubakar Aliyu Sa’ad
  
  August 7, 2012 at 4:28 pm
  
  You said Jesus was the only begotten son of God in John 3:18 but the David was also called begotten son of God in (psalms 2.7) “I will declare the decree:the Lord hath said unto me (David),thoug art my son;this day I begotten thee”
  
  Reply
Is Jesus the son of God? « mehedi.co.uk

July 6, 2009 at 10:08 am

[…] https://haram.wordpress.com/jesus-in-the-glorious-quran/jesus-is-a-servant-of-god/ Also read: Jesus … is He God’s Son or God’s servant? “Son of God” […]

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A South Asian Muslim on his journey..sometimes confused and dazed.. These are collected articles, bits of knowledge picked up along the way. Visit the pages and posts to find a vast array of subjects that irked my curiosity. Hope you may find a gem or two to enlighten you. Peace be upon you.

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