Jesus, the Son of God: A Name That Still Confronts and Comforts
Every Advent we return to familiar words—light in the darkness, hope for the weary, peace for a world that cannot seem to find it. But perhaps no phrase is as familiar, or as contested, as the New Testament’s claim that Jesus is “the Son of God.”
For many Christians, these words feel sacred and familiar, woven into carols and creeds. But if we slow down—really slow down—they raise questions that are anything but the sentimentality we find associated with them at Christmas.
What does it actually mean?
Why did the earliest Christians think this mattered?
And why does this title provoke both deep faith and deep skepticism today?
Advent invites us to sit with these questions—not simply to recite a doctrine but to enter a story that we’re all invited to be a part of.
The Claim That Confronts Us
In much of modern secular thinking, “Son of God” is assumed to be mythological—an ancient Jewish or pagan way of expressing admiration. A poetic exaggeration. A symbol, not a statement.
But for the New Testament writers, “Son of God” wasn’t a metaphor. It was a (dangerous) claim about identity. It got Jesus killed. It made the Roman Empire nervous. It saw many persecuted and put to death for upholding Jesus’s claim about Himself.
Jesus wasn’t crucified for saying, “Let’s all just be nicer to each other.”
He was crucified because He said things like: “What about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?” (John 10:36)
The religious leaders didn’t misunderstand. They understood too well. To claim a unique Sonship was to claim a place that belonged only to God.
This is uncomfortable in a world that prefers Jesus as spiritual teacher, moral guide, or compassionate healer. Keller would say that modern people often like Jesus’ ethics but resist His authority—His insistence on defining reality, not merely inspiring it.
But the New Testament won’t let us shrink Him down.
Jesus is not merely godlike. He is God-with-us.
The Questions Skeptics Ask—and Why They Matter
Many people reject Jesus’ divine Sonship because they reject the idea of the supernatural altogether. But disbelief often takes other forms too:
“Isn’t ‘Son of God’ just a title used for kings?”
Yes—but Jesus exceeds it. He does what no king ever did: commands nature, forgives sins, speaks as if He stands on the inside of divine life.
“Isn’t it offensive to claim Jesus is the only Son?”
It would be—if the claim were about exclusion. But the Christian faith insists the opposite:
Because He is the Son, we can all become children of God. His unique Sonship opens the door, it doesn’t shut it.
“Couldn’t this be legendary development?”
This argument struggles against the historical data. Scholars—Christian and secular—agree that very early, within months or years of the resurrection, the first Christians were already worshipping Jesus. Monotheistic Jews do not worship a human lightly. Something happened that redefined reality for them.
Keller often said it this way:
You don’t go to your death for a metaphor.
The birth narratives of Advent are only the beginning of a testimony that exploded into the ancient world and has never stopped reshaping lives.
The Invitation Beneath the Doctrine
To say Jesus is the “Son of God” is not merely to affirm an idea. It is to be invited into a relationship with the One who shares the Father’s heart.
The early church believed Jesus was the Son because they experienced His power, His compassion, His authority, and His resurrection.
Advent is a season of waiting, yes—but also of naming.
Naming who God is.
Naming who we are.
Naming the One who steps into the world as the Father’s Son so that we might step into the Father’s love.
And so the question remains: If Jesus truly is the Son of God, what does that mean for the way we live, worship, and hope?
That’s a question worth sitting with.
