The Christianization of the Shema

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one (Shema Yisrael Yahweh Eloheinu Yahweh Echad). Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:4-5

The LORD our God is one LORD
The LORD is our God, the LORD is one
The LORD is our God, the LORD alone

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one (kyrios ho theos hemon kyrios heis). Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these.’ ‘Well said, teacher,’ the man replied. ‘You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.” Mark 12:28-34

“While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, ‘Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: “The Lord said to my Lord (kyrios to kyrio mou): ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’” David himself calls him ‘Lord’ (kyrion). How then can he be his son?’ The large crowd listened to him with delight.” Mark 12:35-37

“The LORD says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies!’ Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning’s womb. The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’ The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath. He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. He will drink from a brook along the way, and so he will lift his head high.” Psalm 110:1-7

“She gave birth to a son, a male child, who ‘will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.’ And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne… Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.’” Revelation 12:5, 10

“and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” Ephesians 1:19-23

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Philippians 3:20-21

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority… Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Colossians 2:9-10, 3:1

“… It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” 1 Peter 3:21b-22

“I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time -- He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.” 1 Timothy 6:13-16 NASB

“and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6

“They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them BECAUSE he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.” Revelation 17:14 – cf. 19:16

“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.” Deuteronomy 10:17

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1-3

3.4. Conclusion

In Second Temple Judaism, then, the throne of God in the highest heaven became a key symbol of monotheism, representative of one of the essential characteristics definitive of the divine identity. While a few traces of other enthroned figures associated with God’s rule can be found, the subordination of such figure to God’s rule is almost always stressed, while the overwhelming trend of the literature is towards emptying heaven of all thrones except God’s. There is no indication that this was controverted issue, as it was later in rabbinic discussions of Daniel 7:9 and of Metatron. The uniqueness of the heavenly throne of God belongs to the logic of the monotheism that dominated common Judaism in the Second Temple period. (Bauckham, Jesus and the God of Israel – God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament’s Christology of Divine Identity [William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI/ Cambridge, U.K. 2008], 5. The Throne of God and the Worship of Jesus, 3. The Heavenly Throne of God, p. 164; underline emphasis ours)

The symbolic function of the unique divine throne is such that, if we find a figure distinguishable from God seated on God’s throne itself, we should see that as one of Judaism’s most potent theological means of including such a figure in the unique divine identity…

35. So, rightly, Gieschen, Angelomorphic Christology, 93-4: ‘Texts in which a figure shares the divine throne with God, or is its sole occupant, make a profound theological statement in a Jewish context: divinity could be ascribed to the enthroned figure.’ I would say: ‘divinity must be ascribed to the enthroned figure.’ (Ibid., p. 165; bold emphasis ours)

5.3. Divine sovereignty over all things

That it is on God’s own heavenly throne itself, the throne of glory, that Jesus sits beside God is explicit in some of the texts (Heb. 8:1; 12:2; Rev. 3:21; 5:6; 7:17; 22:3) and should probably be assumed for all. Partly with the exegetical help of Psalm 8:6, this participation in God’s cosmic rule is frequently expressed by the formulae ‘all things’ or ‘heaven and earth’ (or fuller cosmic formulae) or, for emphasis, both. This language, constantly used of God’s relationship with his creation in Second Temple Jewish texts, is significant BECAUSE IT IS THE WAY THAT JEWISH MONOTHEISM DISTINGUISHES GOD FROM ALL OTHER REALITY (‘all things’), AS CREATOR AND RULER OF ALL. By including Jesus in the full cosmic scope of God’s sovereignty, New Testament terminology places Jesus CLEARLY ON THE DIVINE SIDE OF THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN GOD AND ‘ALL THINGS.’ While Daniel 7:14 and Psalm 2:8 provided the basis for thinking of a universal rule on earth of the Messiah (Sib. Or. 5:416; 1 En. 62:6), it is the cosmic scope of Christ’s sovereignty which places it in that unique category which his enthronement on the divine throne in the highest heaven symbolizes. OF NO PRINCIPAL ANGEL OR EXALTED HUMAN IN SECOND TEMPLE JEWISH TEXTS IS IT SAID THAT HE HAS AUTHORITY OVER ALL THINGS OR OVER HEAVEN AND EARTH.

Another way in which the fully cosmic rule of the exalted Christ is stressed is by reference to the subjection of all the heavenly powers to him. The texts portray the submission both of the rebellious angelic powers (1 Cor. 15:24-28; Ascen. Isa. 11:23) and of the obedient ones (Eph. 1:20-21; 1 Pet. 3:22; Ascen. Isa. 11:24-32; cf. Rev. 5:11-14; Ep. Apos. 3). It is noteworthy that specific ranks of angels are those in high authority in the heavens: ‘principalities’ (archai: 1 Cor. 15:24; Eph. 1:21), ‘authorities’ (exousiai: 1 Cor. 15:24; Eph. 1:21; 1 Pet. 3:22), ‘powers’ (dunameis: Eph. 1:21; 1 Peter 3:22) and ‘dominions’ (kuriotetes: Eph. 1:21). (Ibid., pp. 176-177; capital emphasis ours)

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one (hen esmen, lit. “one we are”).’ Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?’ ‘We are not stoning you for any good work,’ they replied, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.’” John 10:27-33

“Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness,” Psalm 95:6-8 NASB

“See now that I myself am he! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.” Deuteronomy 32:39

“There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God… The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up.” 1 Samuel 2:2, 6

“Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD and those who hear will live… Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear HIS VOICE and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” John 5:25, 28-29

“‘For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.’ At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven”?’ Stop grumbling among yourselves,’ Jesus answered. ^‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day… Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.’” John 6:38-43, 54

“‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed — I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?’” Isaiah 43:10-13

“So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that ‘An idol is nothing at all in the world’ and that ‘There is no God but one.’ For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came (di’ hou ta panta) and through whom (di’ autou) we live.” 1 Corinthians 8:4-6

8:5-6 While there is disagreement over whether all of this verse is from Paul or whether most of it is from the Corinthians, it seems best to take it as Paul’s own confession in which he expands on the points made by the Corinthians. Verse 6 also has a creedal sound to it (and it is set off in poetic form in NA27), leading many to believe that Paul is citing (or slightly modifying) creedal material from the early church. Wright is not exaggerating when he asserts that the writing of this text ranks as “one of the greatest pioneering moments in the entire history of Christology.” We do not know whether Paul wrote this beautifully crisp and profound text or if it existed in some form before the writing of this letter. The text is so theologically profound and so perfectly fits Paul’s argument here and his theology and expression as found elsewhere in his writings that we are inclined to think that he wrote it himself. Paul does not actually qualify the Corinthians’ statements but rather is “engaging in the twofold task of building rapport and anticipating objections.” (Roy E. Ciampa & Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter to the Corinthians (The Pillar New Testament Commentary), D. A. Carson (general editor) [William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI 2010], pp. 380-381; italic emphasis ours)

“Since Paul has already referred to the things worshiped by others as so-called gods in v. 5a, it seems appropriate to place gods and lords in quotation marks in v. 5b, as do the NIV, TNIV, ESV, and other interpreters. Paul affirms that there are many entities in the world referred to as gods or lords, without suggesting that they are what people suppose them to be (as made clear by v. 6). The language of Deuteronomy 6:4 (‘the LORD our God, the LORD is one’) has governed Paul’s wording and argument in these verses…” (Ibid., p. 381; bold emphasis ours)

“While the rest of the world may be enamored with a multitude of gods and lords, for us, that is, for all those who have the knowledge common to all Christians (vv. 1, 4), things are different. The key words of v. 6, ‘Lord,’ ‘God,’ and ‘one,’ are taken from Deuteronomy 6:4 (‘the LORD our God, the LORD is one’), in which Lord and God both refer to the same (one) God. Here Paul ‘has glossed “God” with “the Father,” and “Lord” with “Jesus Christ,” adding in each case an explanatory phrase: “God” is the Father, “from whom are all things and we to him,” and the “Lord” is Jesus the Messiah, “through whom are all things and we through him.”’ Paul thus simultaneously reaffirms Jewish monotheism and THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE CHRISTOLOGY IMAGINABLE. Christ finds his identity within the very definition of that one God/Lord of Israel…

“The statement of the unique lordship of Jesus Christ is central to Paul’s theology in general and to this letter in particular. The ‘christological monotheism’ affirmed here distinguishes the Christian community from both non-Christian Judaism and Gentile paganism. Jewish monotheism is affirmed against all forms of pagan polytheism or (atheism), while, against non-Christian Judaism, Christ is understood to participate in God’s identity.” (Ibid., pp. 383-384; bold and capital emphasis ours)

“It is notable that Paul’s christological modification of the Shema comes in a passage where he hopes his statement might fulfill the very same roles that the Shema did in Judaism. The Shema was important both for its theological affirmation and its sociological function. Early Judaism rallied around the one God who had redeemed them, and their allegiance to that one God is reflected in their worship of him and rejection of all other claims to deity. If the Corinthians would rally together in loyalty to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, giving Christ the priority that they had been giving their own agendas, it would go a long way toward promoting unity within the Corinthian congregation and toward maintaining a distinct identity in contrast to the pagan environment. The deity of Christ may not be his main point, but his incorporation of Christ the Lord into the very definition of the God of Israel is consistent with the central role that Christ held in the worship and theology of the early church.” (Ibid., p. 382; bold emphasis ours)

“The roles attributed to the Father and to Christ in creation (from whom and through whom) reflect traditional biblical and Jewish affirmations of the role of God and of Wisdom (for the latter see Prov. 8:22-31; Wis. 9:4, 9; Philo, On Flight and Finding, 109). According to the prophets, Yahweh’s absolute power as creator of heaven and earth is what sets him apart from the idols (which are human creations; see, e.g., Jer. 10:3-16; Isa. 44:9-24). The description of Christ in terms normally attributed to Wisdom (Wis. 8:1-6; 9:1-2, 9; Sir. 24) suggests that just as Jesus takes the place of ‘the Lord’ in the Shema he also takes the place of ‘Wisdom’ within Hellenistic Judaism. As Wright asserts, ‘Paul has indicated that everything one might hope to gain through possessing [Wisdom] can be gained rather by possessing Christ.’” (Ibid., p. 384; bold emphasis ours)

“The relationship between the last clause of v. 6 and the first half of the verse (about God the Father) challenges interpreters. The earliest part of the verse affirmed that all things came into existence through Christ. It would be redundant to say we also came into existence through Christ since we were already included in ‘everything.’ Paul is probably highlighting Christ’s role in both creation and our participation in new creation (i.e., ‘all creation has come into being through him and our experience of the new creation was through him as well’). In this way both statements about Christ may be understood as coming logically between the two affirmations made about the Father. Thiselton, quoting Langkammer, puts it this way: ‘“Paul is the first to outline a sketch of a formal link between Protology [cosmology] and soteriology” which proclaims before the community “God the Father, the originating Ground of all and the end-goal,” alongside “the one Lord, the Mediator of the first creation and the Mediator of the reality of salvation.”’ This suggests a pervasive ‘sense of movement “from … through … to.”’ Christ is understood to be the means of accomplishing all of the Father’s intentions for his creation.

“Paul’s statement puts emphasis on the first-person plural personal pronoun throughout this verse (but for us … and we … and we). He thus stresses the unique covenantal relationship between all Christians and the God who created the universe (in contrast with the delusions of the pagan world). We know the truth of one God and one Lord. We know that all creation comes from the Father and that he is the reason and goal of our existence. We know the Lord Jesus, the agent of all creation and the one to whom our new existence is due as well. The structure of the text implies both a relationship and a contrast between us and the rest of creation. All of creation originated with the Father through the Son. We are a part of that creation, and our existence comes from the Father through the Son as well. But both this text and its context highlight a contrast between Christians and the non-Christian world. For them there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords,’ but for us there is only one God and one Lord. They are part of God’s creation, but we represent the restoration, renewal, and destiny of God’s creation, his new creation (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17), which is accomplished through Christ.” (Ibid., pp. 384-385; bold emphasis ours)

67. N. T. Wright, “Monotheism,” 130. Contra James D. G. Dunn, Christology in the Making (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 182-183, the preexistence of Christ is presupposed in both his identification with the “Lord” in the Shema and his identification with the role of Wisdom which was present at the time of creation. (Ibid., p. 384)

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him (en auto) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him (di’ autou) and FOR him (eis auton). He IS before all things, and in him (en auto) all things hold together.” Colossians 1:15-17

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him (en auto) we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” Acts 17:24-28

“For from him and through him and to (FOR) him are all things (hoti ex autou kai di’ autou kai eis auton ta panta). To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:36

“There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to one hope when you were called — one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (epi panton kai dia panton kai en panton).” Ephesians 4:4-6

“This is what the Lord says — your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, who has made all things, who ALONE stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth BY MYSELF,” Isaiah 44:24

“He ALONE stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.” Job 9:8

“Thou art He, O Jehovah, Thyself—Thou hast made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, and all their host, the earth and all that are on it, the seas and all that are in them, and Thou art keeping all of them alive, and the host of the heavens to Thee are bowing themselves.” Nehemiah 9:6 Young’s Literal Translation

“And Ezra said: ‘Thou art the Lord, thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and thou preservest all of them; and the host of heaven worships thee.’” Nehemiah 9:6

“I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Isaiah 43:6-7

“The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed FOR myself that they may proclaim my praise.” Isaiah 43:20-21

“Hear O Israel: the LORD (Jesus) our God (the Father), the LORD (Jesus) is one.”

Jesus Christ is Yahweh to the glory of God the Father!