Whom God called “my son” in the Old Testament

• Israel (Hos 11:1; cf. Ex 4:22; Jer 31:9)
• David’s son (2 Sam 7:14; 1 Chr 17:13; 22:10; 28:6)
• God’s anointed king (Ps 2:7; cf. Ps 2:2, 6)

Jesus is God’s anointed king spoken about in the Psalms

• According to the apostles
  • The Son of God is begotten of God through His resurrection from the dead (Acts 13:33; Ps 2:7)
  • The Son of God is a descendant of David (Acts 13:22-23)
    • Jesus was descended from David according to the flesh, declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead (Rom 1:3-4)
    • Jesus is the Son of David (see <topic id=“756” startswith=“” nth=“”>Son of David</topic>)
  • He is the Holy One who did not see decay (Acts 13:35-37; Ps 16:10; cf. Acts 2:25-32)
• According to Hebrews (Heb 1:5; 5:5; Ps 2:7)
  • Jesus Christ is the begotten Son of God (Heb 1:5; 5:5)
  • Jesus is the king described in Psalm 45 (Heb 1:8-9; Ps 45:6-7)
  • He is David’s Lord (Heb 1:13; Ps 110:1; cf. Mt 22:42-45; Mk 12:35-37; Lk 20:41-44) 
    • He is also a priest in the order of Melchizedek (Heb 5:6; Ps 110:4)
    • Melchizedek, like the Son of God, was without father, mother, or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life (Heb 7:3)
• “Son of God” parallels “Christ” [footnote text=“&quot;Christ&quot; means &quot;the Anointed One.&quot;”]
  • Mt 16:16 – Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
  • Mt 26:63 – But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God."
  • Mk 1:1 – The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
  • Lk 4:41 – And demons also came out of many, crying, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
  • Jn 11:27 – She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."
  • Jn 20:31 – but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.2 Cor 1:19 – For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes.
  • 1 Cor 1:9 – God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
  • 1 Jn 5:20 – And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
  • Gal 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
  • Eph 4:13 – until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
  • 1 Jn 1:3 – that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
  • 1 Jn 3:23 – And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
  • 2 Jn 1:3 – Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.
• “Son of God” parallels “King of Israel”
  • Nathanael’s confession about Jesus (Jn 1:49)

Jesus’ status as Son is unique

• He is the only Son of God (Jn 3:16, 18; 1 Jn 4:9)
• Jesus calls the Father “My Father” (Mt 7:21; 10:32, 33; 11:27; 16:17; 18:10, 19; 20:23; 25:34; 26:29, 39, 42, 53; Lk 2:49; 10:22; 22:29; 24:49; Jn 2:16; 5:17, 43; 6:32, 40; 8:19, 49, 54; 10:18, 25, 29, 37; 14:2, 7, 20, 21, 23; 15:1, 8, 10, 15, 23, 24; 20:17; Rev 2:27; 3:5, 21)
  • A claim to divinity (Jn 5:18)
  • Distinguished from “your father” (Jn 8:38, 41, 42, 44; Jn 20:17)

Jesus revealed as the Son of God at His baptism

• A voice from heaven called Jesus “my beloved Son” (Mt 3:17; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:22)
• The descent of the Spirit as the sign that Jesus is the Son of God (Jn 1:32-34)
  • Cf. Lk 4:18-21

• Mt 14:33 – And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
• Mt 16:16 – Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
• Mt 27:54 – When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
• Mk 3:11 – And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God."
• Mk 15:39 – And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"
• Lk 4:41 – And demons also came out of many, crying, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
• Jn 1:34 – And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."
• Jn 1:49 – Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
• Jn 11:27 – She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."
• Acts 9:20 – And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."
• 1 Jn 4:15 – Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

• Mt 4:3 – And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."
• Mt 4:6 – and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you,'and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"
• Mt 27:40 – and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross."
• Lk 4:3 – The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."
• Lk 4:9 – And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,

• Mk 1:1 – The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
• 2 Cor 1:19 – For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes.
• Heb 4:14 – Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
• 1 Cor 1:9 – God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
• 1 Jn 5:20 – And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

• Jn 11:27 – She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."
• Jn 20:31 – but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
• 1 Jn 5:5 – Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

• Mt 26:63 – But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God."
• Lk 22:70 – So they all said, "Are you the Son of God, then?" And he said to them, "You say that I am."

• Lk 1:35 – And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God.

• Jn 1:34 – And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."
• Acts 9:20 – And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."

• Rom 1:4 – and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

• Mt 27:43 – He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
• Jn 19:7 – The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God."

• Jn 10:36 – do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?

The Son

• Mt 11:27 – All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
• Mt 24:36 – "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
• Mt 28:19 – Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
• Mk 13:32 – "But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
• Lk 10:22 – All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
• Jn 3:17 – For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
• Jn 3:35 – The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
• Jn 3:36 – Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
• Jn 5:19 – So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
• Jn 5:20 – For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
• Jn 5:21 – For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
• Jn 5:22 – The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,
• Jn 5:23 – that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
• Jn 5:26 – For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.
• Jn 6:40 – For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
• Jn 8:36 – So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
• Jn 14:13 – Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
• Jn 17:1 – When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
• 1 Cor 15:28 – When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
• Heb 1:8 – But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
• 1 Jn 2:22 – Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
• 1 Jn 2:23 – No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.
• 1 Jn 2:24 – Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.
• 1 Jn 4:14 – And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
• 1 Jn 5:12 – Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
• 2 Jn 1:9 – Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

His Son

• Rom 1:3 – concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
• Rom 1:9 – For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you
• Rom 5:10 – For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
• Rom 8:29 – For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
• 1 Cor 1:9 – God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
• Gal 1:16 – was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
• Gal 4:4 – But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
• Gal 4:6 – And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
• 1 Thess 1:10 – and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
• 1 Jn 1:3 – that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
• 1 Jn 1:7 – But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
• 1 Jn 3:23 – And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
• 1 Jn 4:9 – In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
• 1 Jn 4:10 – In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
• 1 Jn 5:9 – If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son.
• 1 Jn 5:11 – And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

My Son

• Ps 2:7 – I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
• Hos 11:1 – When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
• Mt 2:15 – and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son."
• Mk 9:7 – And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him."
• Lk 9:35 – And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!"
• Acts 13:33 – this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, "'You are my Son, today I have begotten you.'
• Heb 1:5 – For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"? Or again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son"?

My beloved Son

• Mt 3:17 – and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
• Mt 17:5 – He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."
• Mk 1:11 – And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."
• Mk 9:7 – And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him."
• Lk 3:22 – and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."
• 2 Pet 1:17 – For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,"

Son of the Most High

• Mk 5:7 – And crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me."
• Lk 1:32 – He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
• Lk 8:28 – When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me."

Only Son

• Jn 3:16 – "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
• Jn 3:18 – Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
• 1 Jn 4:9 – In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

A son

• Heb 1:2 – but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
• Heb 3:6 – but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
• Heb 7:28 – For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

His own Son

• Rom 8:3 – For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
• Rom 8:32 – He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Your Son

• Jn 17:1 – When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,

• Col 1:13 – He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

The Father’s Son

• 2 Jn 1:3 – Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.

• Jn 11:4 – But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

• Gal 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

• Gal 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

• Gal 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

• 1 Jn 3:8 – Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

• Jn 3:18 – Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
• Gal 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
• 1 Jn 5:10 – Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.
• 1 Jn 5:13 – I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

• Jn 5:25 – "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

• Heb 10:29 – How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

• Heb 6:6 – if they then fall away, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

• Heb 7:3 – He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

• 1 Jn 5:10 – Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.

• 1 Jn 5:12 – Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

• Jn 3:18 – Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

• Jn 5:25 – "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

• Eph 4:13 – until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

• Rev 2:18 – "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: 'The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.