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[Kind Glue]

> I am not misguided. Unitarians don't believe that Jesus is God, as neither Muslims nor Jews believe that Jesus is God.

Maybe NOT your trinitarian God-Man Jesus but they do in Fact believe in Jesus. They believe in him as a prophet & messenger of God and the coming Messiah.

Matthew 21:11 "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

Acts 3:22 For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He tells you.

John 4:19 "Sir," the woman said, "I see that You are a prophet.

Mark 6:15 Others said, "He is Elijah," and still others, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old."

John 4:25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

[jimwalton]

Thank you for finally presenting some kind of case, rather than just name-calling. It gives us somewhere to go with the discussion.

As I mentioned in a previous post to you on another thread just a few days ago, Jesus is clearly identified as a prophet in the Scriptures (primarily the Gospels) in the sense that he delivers the message God has for the people:

• In Matthew 21.11; Luke 7.16; 24.19; John 6.14; 7.40, et al., the people identify Jesus as a prophet.
• In John 1.45, a prospective disciple considers Jesus to be the prophet written about by Moses (possibly referring to Deuteronomy 18.15).
• Jesus considered himself a prophet (Matthew 13.56; Mark 6.4; John 4.44)
• After Jesus's resurrection and ascension, his followers considered him a prophet (Acts 3.22, referring to Deut. 18.15; Acts 7.37, 52-53
• along with some of the texts you mentioned above. There are plenty of them.

At the same time Jesus is consistently identified as more than a prophet. While he did have a prophetic role and was at times referred to as a prophet, the Scripture is clear that He was more than a prophet in the sense that He is the Son of God (multiple places), the Word of God (Jn. 1.1-14), and God Himself (Jn. 10.30). Hebrews 1.1-2 is clear to that end also.

John knew Jesus was a prophet, but he asked, "Are you the Messiah?", i.e., more than a prophet. Jesus's answer is that God has come—the fulfillment of prophecy. In 11.6 He makes an allusion to Isa. 8.13-14 and Jesus's claim to be more than a prophet. Even John is more than a prophet (Mt. 11.9), and Jesus is vastly his superior—the Son of Man of Daniel 7.13.

Jesus doesn't leave it as allowing people to assume he's a prophet and nothing more. He ups the ante. In Matthew 16.16 he won't let it sit that he is a prophet. He pushes them to a deeper, more accurate identification of Him as "the Christ, the Son of the living God."

But you know this. You know the Scriptures regard Him as more than a prophet. Hebrews 1.2 contrasts Him with the mere prophets. They are the mouthpieces; He is the fulfillment. Jesus is the "Son," the appointed heir of all things, the agent of creation, the very radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of God's being, the one who (in a Godly role) sustains all things, the one who forgives sins, the one who sits on the throne in heaven. He is obviously far more than a prophet, filling a role and having a status that is available to no mere prophet.