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The ‘Son of God’ Passages in the Gospels
[The term ‘Son of God’ occurs 25 times in the Gospels, but on only seven occasions does Jesus use it of Himself or explicitly confirm it of Himself when He hears it spoken by someone else. On the other 18 occasions when the term ‘Son of God’ appears in the Gospels, it is used by Satan, by devils that had been cast out, by the Roman centurion whose servant Jesus healed, by soldiers who kept guard over Jesus at the crucifixion, by the crew of the ship when Jesus calmed the storm, by the high priests and elders, by bystanders at the crucifixion, by the angel when he delivered his message to Mary, by Peter, by Nathaniel, by John the Baptist, by St Mark the Evangelist at the beginning of the Gospel of Mark, and by St John the Evangelist at the beginning and at the end of the Gospel of John.
In addition, the term ‘Son of the blessed God’ occurs in Mark when Jesus says “I am” in answer to the high priest’s question, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed God?” And the term ‘Son of the living God’ occurs twice, once in Matthew when Peter replies “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” in answer to Jesus’s question to his apostles, “And what of you? Who do you say that I am?”; and once in John when Jesus says to Martha, “I am the resurrection and life; he who believes in me, though he is dead, will live on, and whoever has life, and has faith in me, to all eternity cannot die; Do you believe this?” and Martha answers, “Yes, Lord, I have learned to believe that you are the Christ; you are the Son of the living God; it is for your coming the world has waited.” It is worth noting that Jesus never disavowed the term ‘Son of God’ or ‘Son of the living God’ when He heard others say it in His presence.
The Gospel passages (from the Knox version) in which the term ‘Son of God’ appears can be found below.]
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mark
The unclean spirits, too, whenever they saw him, used to fall at his feet and cry out, You are the Son of God; and he would give them a strict charge not to make him known.
Mark
Then Jesus gave a loud cry, and yielded up his spirit. And the veil of the temple was torn this way and that, from the top to the bottom. The centurion who stood in front of him, perceiving that he so yielded up his spirit with a cry, said, No doubt but this was the Son of God.
Mark
Then the tempter approached, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, bid these stones turn into loaves of bread.
Matt
Next, the devil took him into the holy city, and there set him down on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down to earth; for it is written, He has given charge to his angels concerning you, and they will hold you up with their hands, lest you should chance to trip on a stone.
Matt
And at once they cried aloud, Why do you meddle with us, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?
Matt
So they went on board the ship, and thereupon the wind dropped. And the ship’s crew came and said, falling at his feet, You are indeed the Son of God.
Matt
Jesus was silent; and the high priest said to him openly, I adjure you by the living God to tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God? Jesus answered, Your own lips have said it. And moreover I tell you this; you will see the Son of Man again, when he is seated at the right hand of God’s power, and comes on the clouds of heaven. At this, the high priest tore his garments, and said, He has blasphemed; what further need have we of witnesses? Mark well, you have heard his blasphemy for yourselves.
Matt
The passers-by blasphemed against him, tossing their heads; Come now, they said, you who would destroy the temple and build it up in three days, rescue yourself; come down from that cross, if you are the Son of God.
Matt
The chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him in the same way, He saved others, they said, he cannot save himself. If he is the king of Israel, he has but to come down from the cross, here and now, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let God, if he favours him, succour him now; he told us, I am the Son of God.
Matt
And all at once, the veil of the temple was torn this way and that from the top to the bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks parted asunder; and the graves were opened, and many bodies arose out of them, bodies of holy men gone to their rest: who, after his rising again, left their graves and went into the holy city, where they were seen by many. So that the centurion and those who kept guard over Jesus with him, when they perceived the earthquake and all that befell, were overcome with fear; No doubt, they said, but this was the Son of God.
Matt
But Mary said to the angel, How can that be, since I have no knowledge of man? And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most High will overshadow you. Thus this holy offspring of yours shall be known for the Son of God.
Luke
Then the devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, bid this stone turn into a loaf of bread.
Luke
And he led him to Jerusalem, and there set him down on the pinnacle of the temple; If you are the Son of God, he said to him, cast yourself down from this to the earth; for it is written. He shall give his angels charge concerning you, to keep you safe, and they will hold you up with their hands, lest you should chance to trip on a stone.
Luke
Many, too, had devils cast out of them, which cried aloud, You are the Son of God; but he rebuked them and would not have them speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
Luke
When day came, all the elders of the people, chief priests and scribes, brought him before their council. If you are the Christ, they said, tell us. Why, he said, if I tell you, you will never believe me: and if I ask you questions, I know you will not answer them, nor acquit me. I will only tell you that a time is coming when the Son of Man will be seated in power at God’s right hand. And they all said, You are, then, the Son of God? He told them, Your lips have said that I am. And they said, What further need have we of witnesses? We have heard the words from his own mouth.
Luke
John also bore witness thus, I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and resting upon him. Till then, I did not know him; but then I remembered what I had been told by the God who sent me to baptize with water. He told me, The man who will baptize with the Holy Spirit is the man on whom you will see the Spirit come down and rest. Now I have seen him, and have borne my witness that this is the Son of God.
John
Jesus saw Nathaniel coming towards him, and said of him, Here comes one who belongs to the true Israel; there is no falsehood in him. How do you know me? Nathanael asked; and Jesus answered him, I saw you when you were under the fig-tree, before Philip called you. Then Nathanael answered him, You, Master, are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.
John
Believe me when I tell you this, the man who listens to my words, and puts his trust in him who sent me, enjoys eternal life; he does not meet with rejection, he has passed over already from death to life. Believe me, the time is coming, nay, has already come, when the dead will listen to the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen to it will live.
John
Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom should we go? Your words are the words of eternal life; we have learned to believe, and are assured that you are the Christ, the Son of God.
John
When Jesus heard that they had so cast him out, he went to find him, and asked him, Do you believe in the Son of God? Tell me who he is, Lord, he answered, so that I can believe in him. He is one whom you have seen, Jesus told him, It is he who is speaking to you. Then he said, I do believe, Lord, and fell down to worship him.
John
Jesus answered them, My Father has enabled me to do many deeds of mercy in your presence; for which of these are you stoning me? It is not for any deed of mercy we are stoning you, answered the Jews; it is for blasphemy; it is because you, who are a man, pretend to be God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I have said, You are gods? He gave the title of gods to those who had God’s message sent to them; and we know that the words of scripture have binding force. Why then, what of him whom God has sanctified and sent into the world? Will you call me a blasphemer, because I have told you I am the Son of God?
John
The sisters sent a message to him, to say, Lord, he whom you love lies here sick. And Jesus said, on hearing it, The end of this sickness is not death; it is meant for God’s honour, to bring honour to the Son of God.
John
Take him yourselves, said Pilate, and crucify him; I cannot find any fault in him. The Jews answered. We have our own law, and by our law he ought to die, for pretending to be the Son of God.
John
There are many other miracles Jesus did in the presence of his disciples, which are not written down in this book; so much has been written down, that you may learn to believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so believing find life through his name.
John
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