What did Jesus really say?

1.2.3.3 Because God was his "Father"?

Is Jesus (pbuh) a divine son of God because he called God "Father"? Well, how do all Christians refer to Him? What does Jesus himself have to tell us in this regard? Let us read

"That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven..."

Matthew 5:45

and "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

Matthew 5:48:

...etc.

There are countless verses in the Bible to this effect. To understand what is meant by the reference to "Father" we need only read John 8:42:

"Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me."

So the love of God and His prophets is what makes God someone's "father." Similarly,

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do."

John 8:44

Obviously neither the Devil nor God is the physical father of any of them. The term "Father" in that day and age was used by the Jews in the same sense that Christians use the word "father" today to address a priest. It was not meant to be taken literally. Otherwise, the Bible would bear witness that every believer in Jesus (pbuh) is also the "physical" son of God.

Further, please note that Joseph is called a "father" to Pharaoh in Genesis 45:8, and Job is called the "father" of the poor in Job 29:16. Once we read all of this we begin to understand how the Jews used to understand the reference to God Almighty as "Father."

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