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As of recently, I have encountered some Anti-Trinitarians online concerning the Eternal Divine Essence that Jesus has always possessed. Im aware that Anti-Trinitarians that follow the teachings of Arius affirm that Jesus is in some sense Divine i.e. a status that was given to Him. However, this article affirms that Jesus possessed the same Divine Essence as the Father, which means His essence IS from Ages to Ages, Immutable, Unchangeable and always had been.

This article, taking from Answering Islam and concisely refutes this idea. That Matthew had a high Christology, and believed that Jesus always possessed the Divine Essence and claimed this Status. Enjoy!

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According to Matthew’s narrative, Christ is Jehovah God the Son (and therefore not the Father or the Holy Spirit) who became Incarnate for the purpose of establishing God’s rule in the life of all his followers,

“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17

As well as to save his people from their sins:

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: FOR he shall save his people from their sins.Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us (Meth’ hemon ho Theos).” Matthew 1:21-23

The name Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshua, which is the shortened form of Yehoshua (“Joshua”), and means “Jehovah is salvation.” This explains the connection between Jesus’ name and his work of redeeming his followers from their iniquities, i.e., the angel is basically identifying Jesus as Jehovah God who has come to fulfill what the Psalter says Jehovah would one day do for his people Israel:  

“Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” Psalm 130:7-8

Matthew even ends his Gospel in the same way that he began it, namely, by announcing that Jesus himself is the God who has come to dwell with his people till the end of the age:

“teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I AM WITH YOU (ego meth’ hymon eimi) ALWAYS, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:20

This claim of omnipresence provides further confirmation that Matthew intends to portray Jesus as God Almighty Incarnate who came to dwell with his followers. After all, only God is capable of dwelling with all of the believers at the same time, no matter how numerous or scattered they may be, since he alone is omnipresent.

Now if there was still any uncertainty that Matthew sought to portray Christ as Jehovah in the flesh then the following passage should remove any doubts that remain:

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judæa,and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight…I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.” Matthew 3:1-3, 11-15

The Baptist is said to be the voice mentioned in Isaiah, the one who prepares the people for the coming of Jehovah God to his people:

“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low:? and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it… O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: ?he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” Isaiah 40:3-5, 9-11

And yet John boldly testifies that he was sent ahead of the Christ in order to prepare his way.

This means that Jesus is actually the Jehovah God spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, the very One whom the Baptist was sent to herald his coming!

Moreover, Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:18 are a deliberate echo of Daniel 7:13-14, as are his repeated self-references to the Son of man. Note, for instance, the following example:

“But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.” Matthew 26:63-66

Jesus’ claim to being the Son of man who comes in the clouds of heaven is taken directly from Daniel’s great vision in which he sees a figure that he describes as one like a Son of man:

“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.And there was given him dominion, AND GLORY, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should SERVE (yipelachun) him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14

This figure is truly remarkable since he clearly happens to be God appearing in human form. This is brought out by the fact that this entity rides the clouds like God does,

“The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” Nahum 1:3 – cf. Exodus 13:21-22; 14:19-20, 33:7-11; 40:34-38; Numbers 10:34; 12:4-10; Deuteronomy 33:26; Psalm 68:4, 33-34; 104:3; Isaiah 19:1

Reigns forever like God does, and receives the exact same worship that God receives,

“I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.” Daniel 6:26

“And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall SERVE (yipelachun) and obey him.” Daniel 7:27 – cf. 3:12, 14, 17-18, 28; 6:16, 20; Psalm 145:18

By therefore identifying himself as that very Son of Man whom Daniel saw, Jesus was basically claiming to be an eternal divine King whom all the nations must worship as he rules over them forever!

This in itself shows the utter futility of using Matthew 28:18 to disprove the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, since Matthew has gone out of his way to identify Christ as Jehovah God in the flesh.