What Implication Does SOLIDARITY Have on the Teaching that Jesus is Divine?

The key to understanding the subject of the deity of Jesus Christ is the concept of SOLIDARITY. This is an eastern cultural ideal. It is also a biblical ideal.

What is "solidarity"?

"Solidarity" is the Hebrew concept of corporate identity.

In both the Old and New Testaments, the concept of solidarity underlies kinship, marriage, common residence, occupations, covenants, and, subjectively, affection.

In the Old Testament, we find this concept within the Ten Commandments. According to Deuteronomy 5:

[9] Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
[10] And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

God's curse, rooted in the sins of one's parents, has extended consequences for their children, grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren. Three generations. But observe that God's blessing extend to thousands of generations. God is just and good indeed!

Next, "solidarity" is seen in God's various acts, some of which are catalogued in Deuteronomy 11: "And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel" (verse 6). "Solidarity" is also illustrated in the story of Achan, which is found in the seventh chapter of Joshua. Joshua, and all Israel with him, "took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones" (verses 24 and 25).

In the New Testament, the Hebrew concept of "solidarity" is reflected in the "in Christ" paradigm, which is the goal and substance of the everlasting gospel.

"Solidarity" was a philosophical concept considered foolishness to the Greek. 1 Corinthians 1:23. But "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness". 1 Corinthians 3:19. Yet Paul determined to know nothing but the gospel (1 Corinthians 2:2ff); Paul said he had the mind of Christ (verse 16). Paul bids us to "let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus". Philemon 2:5. Paul wants us to think like Jesus thought; i.e., like a biblical Hebrew.

We participate in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ because we are "in Him". It is thus that we partake of His merits.

A prime example of biblical "solidarity" in the New Testament is Hebrews 7:9-10, in which Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek "in Abraham": "And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him

This may not make sense to our accustomed way of thinking today, but it is biblical and most importantly, strikes at the very heart of the everlasting gospel.

The "in Christ" paradigm is explicitly connected to the evangelical message of salvation in Ephesians 2:4-9:

[4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
[5] Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
[6] And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
[7] That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
[8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
[9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Because we are "in Christ", we RIGHT THIS MINUTE sit with Him in heavenly places.

"In Christ" or "in Christ Jesus". The truth expressed by this phrase is also expressed by other similar phrases such as "in Him" or "together with Him" or "in the beloved" or "in whom," etc.

Without doubt, "solidarity" has huge implications not only for our understanding of evangelical salvation, but also our understanding of last events, which is known as eschatology.

"Solidarity" makes "inaugurated eschatology" understandable. "Inaugurated eschatology" is the concept that things now are as though they were things to come. The future is inaugurated into the present. Some have called this, "Already, but not yet". This is possible because Christ's people are united in Him. Jesus stands at the head of humanity as the "New Man", an altogether new category of created being.

In the Book of Romans, Paul teaches that God created all men in one man (Adam); Satan then ruined all men in Adam; likewise, God redeemed all men in one man (Christ). It is thus that Jesus stands at the head of a renewed humanity as the Second Adam. Also, on the basis of "solidarity", Jesus could state to the unbelieving Jews, "Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44).

How did Jesus become "God"?

"Solidarity" is a Hebrew concept; it is neither a Greek, nor a democratic, concept. As Christianity spread in the direction of Rome and gained increasing numbers of Gentile adherents, believers lost sight of the biblical concept of solidarity, which was displaced by its cultural counterpart "western individualism".

"Individualism" is a Greek, democratic philosophy that values the person, single to itself, as the standard. "Solidarity", on the other hand, values the group over the individual.

Jesus is the "Son of God". This is the theme of the Book of John. John grouped together his proofs for this legitimate claim, including his argument for the pre-existence of Jesus, which is rooted in the concept of "solidarity". Unfortunately, in my opinion, a clash in cultural understanding over the concepts of Hebrew "solidarity" and Greek "individualism" resulted in the gradual elevation of Jesus from the Hebrew Son of God to the western co-equal of God Himself.

I do not believe that the Apostle John ever believed or taught the deity of Jesus Christ. No monotheistic Jew would have done so. Instead, John taught that because Jesus is the Son of God, He has authority to speak on behalf of the Father and create newness, even the new birth. Jesus has power to do this by His spoken word. He enlightens. His teachings are not like the teachings of other men: "The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things". John 4:25. He has the power to judge, while no man may judge Him. Lastly, Jesus is always in complete control, going to His death willingly.

What implication does "solidarity" have on the traditional teaching that Jesus is divine?

JESUS IS NOT GOD. Being divine and doing "divine" acts are separate concepts. Jesus is the Son of God. As such, He has authority to speak in the name of the Father. But neither does this mean that Jesus co-existed independently from the Father, nor that Jesus is God Himself.