I've long thought of something that I call the "Divine Delegation of Authority Principle." It seems that after Jehovah God brought forth his only-begotten Son, he has always delegated authority to others and thereby acted mediately through agents. In other words, it seems that Jehovah never does hardly anything directly: he effects the divine will through various agents in order to accomplish his purpose. Examples include:
1) Angels and the Egyptian plagues (Ps. 78:49)
2) God transmitting the Jewish law by means of angels (Gal. 3:19; Heb. 2:2)
3) Creating the world through his Son (John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-17; Heb. 1:2)
4) Transmitting other covenants through angels
5) Resurrecting people through prophets, the apostles or Jesus Christ
The birth of Christ took place through/by means of the holy spirit, a force which has an interesting role in all divine acts.
3 comments:
Greetings Dr. Edgar Foster. [you said] Jehovah never does hardly anything directly[reply} I have been wondering this for while now, but do you think that Jehovah used an angelic agent to resurrect Jesus. (Matthew 28:2-4) 2 And, notice! a great earthquake had taken place; for Jehovah’s angel had descended from heaven and approached and rolled away the stone, and was sitting on it. 3 His outward appearance was as lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 Yes, for fear of him the watchmen trembled and became as dead men.After he rolled the stone away he was sitting on it. What do you think?
Greetings Dr. Edgar Foster
{you said}Jehovah never does hardly anything directly
{reply} I have been wondering this for while now, that is, what agent do you think Jehovah used to resurrect his son from the tomb. We read in scripture: (Matthew 28:2-4) 2 And, notice! a great earthquake had taken place; for Jehovah’s angel had descended from heaven and approached and rolled away the stone, and was sitting on it. 3 His outward appearance was as lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 Yes, for fear of him the watchmen trembled and became as dead men.
Notice that after the stone was removed the angel was sitting on it. Notice how Jehovah used this angel to remove the stone. What have biblical commentaries suggested and/or what do you think about it?
Greetings Keefa,
Thanks for asking this question. Since I'm only in the process of developing this idea, I failed to mention the messianic kingdom as an instance of delegation and the Shaliach principle. But your question is interesting.
I have not consulted Matthean commentaries about this particular issue, but I would like to give the matter some thought and do research. The official stand of Jehovah's Witnesses is that Jesus was raised directly by means of God's spirit, and I accept that view. However, you raise a viable possibility.
All the best.
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