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In The Principle of Agency in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, we learned that an agent is one who has been “authorized to act for or in the place of another.”
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In The Principle of Agency in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, we learned that an agent is one who has been “authorized to act for or in the place of another.” In Hebraic terms, the agent or the “one sent” is called the shaliah. The term comes from the verb shelach which means to send. The New Testament equivalent is apostle or apostolos in the Greek, and it means: a messenger, one sent on a mission. According to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, the one sent was considered to be the legal representative of the sender. Interact with the agent was equivalent to interacting face-to-face with the sender. The “face-to-face” aspect is one of the features of Jewish agency that is mainly foreign to our Western thinking. Professor Marianne Thompson explains the unique correlation between the agent and the sender:
A common saying in the rabbis was “the one who is sent is like the one who sent him” or “a man’s agent is equivalent to himself. Because the saliah [shaliah] may act on behalf of the one who sent him, when one deals with the saliah it is as if one is dealing with the one who sent that person.1
For example, in previous posts we saw where Moses was called “Yahuwah” because he was Yahuwah’s agent. In addition, we learned that Joseph was seen as Pharaoh’s equal because he was the king’s agent. We also discovered that the actions of Yahushua’s disciples were portrayed as being his, a claim that was acceptable in that culture because the disciples had been appointed by him. Knowing about the principle of agency and being able to recognize it will help us better comprehend Scripture. As pastor and author, David Burge, says, agency “is the key to understanding the relationship between the one true God and His Son, Yahushua Christ.”2 With this in mind, let’s examine the New Testament as it relates to Yahushua, the human agent of Yahuwah.
The language of agency is used in conjunction with Yahushua throughout Scripture. More than thirty times, the New Testament speaks of Yahushua being sent by Yahuwah, most of which occur in John’s writings. According to these passages, the overarching purpose for which Yahushua was sent was to preach the gospel of the kingdom of Yahuwah and be the world's Savior.
Luke 4:43 But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of Yahuwah to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”
1 John 4:10 and 14 In this is love, not that we loved Yahuwah, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins… 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
Those who believe Yahushua is Yahuwah think it was his idea to save the world or that he at least played an equal role as a member of the triune team that implemented the plan. However, Yahushua tells us in no uncertain terms that it was Yahuwah the Father’s doing and not his own:
John 8:42 Yahushua said to them, “If Yahuwah were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from Yahuwah, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.
An agent who comes on behalf of the sender is, by definition, not the sender. Yahushua says at least six times in the gospel of John alone that he does not speak or act on his initiative.
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An agent who comes on behalf of the sender is, by definition, not the sender. Yahushua says at least six times in the gospel of John alone that he does not speak or act on his initiative. Even the laying down of his own life was done at the Father’s command. This is all in keeping with the principle of agency.
That Yahuwah sent Yahushua to accomplish His will is an essential theme in the New Testament. Yahushua repeatedly stated that he did only the Father’s will and not his own. For example:
John 5:30 “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
If Yahushua is Yahuwah, we would expect that his will would be the same as that of Yahuwah the Father’s and that by doing Yahuwah’s will, he would be accomplishing his own. However, several times, Scripture reveals that Yahushua and Yahuwah had differing wills. As such, Yahushua chose to do only the will of Yahuwah, who sent him. This is in perfect keeping with the law of agency. According to one source, a shaliah or agent “performs an act of legal significance for the benefit of the sender as opposed to him or herself.” 3
At least nine times, Yahushua said his words came, not from himself, but from Yahuwah the Father who sent him.
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Those who believe Yahushua is a deity contend that he preexisted in heaven as the Word of Yahuwah. Thus, as the Word of Yahuwah, we would expect him to speak his own words and deliver his teachings. What we discover, however, is that Yahushua did no such thing. At least nine times, Yahushua said his words came, not from himself, but from Yahuwah the Father who sent him. For instance:
John 7:15-17 The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” 16 So Yahushua answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of Yahuwah or whether I speak from Myself.
John 8:28 So Yahushua said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
Just as Yahuwah taught His agent Moses what to say, so Yahuwah taught Yahushua what to say.
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Incredibly, the Great Teacher, as Yahushua is often called, had a Teacher! Just as Yahuwah taught His agent Moses what to say, so Yahuwah taught Yahushua what to say. In addition, Yahushua repeatedly states that the source of his words, which we call the gospel message, did not originate with him but were given to him by Yahuwah:
John 12:49-50 “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. 50 “I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”
John 14:24 “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.
Yahushua was Yahuwah’s human agent whom He commissioned to speak divine truth to the world. Yahushua said:
John 8:40 “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from Yahuwah; this Abraham did not do.
In addition to speaking only the words of Yahuwah, as His agent, Yahushua did only the works Yahuwah gave him to do:
John 4:34 Yahushua *said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.
If Yahushua were Yahuwah we would expect him to say “our work” or at the least, “my work,” but instead he says he accomplished the work of the only true God, whom he identifies as the Father.
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If Yahushua were Yahuwah we would expect him to say “our work” or at the least, “my work,” but instead he says he accomplished the work of the only true God, whom he identifies as the Father:
John 17:1 and 3-4 Yahushua spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come…3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Yahushua Christ whom You have sent. 4 “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.
Indeed, the works themselves were to serve as proof, not that he was Yahuwah, but that he was Yahuwah’s human agent. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached:
Acts 2:22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Yahushua the Nazarene, a man attested to you by Yahuwah with miracles and wonders and signs which Yahuwah performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—
John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.
Many Christians believe the reason Yahushua was able to perform miracles is because he is deity. But this is not the case. Yahushua credited Yahuwah with doing the miracles:
John 14:10 10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
Acts 10:38 “You know of Yahushua of Nazareth, how Yahuwah anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for Yahuwah was with Him.
Yahushua did not come in his own authority, as we would expect if he was Yahuwah, but in the authority of the One who sent him.
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As Yahuwah’s agent, Yahushua was given authority to accomplish his mission. Yahushua did not come in his own authority, as we would expect if he was Yahuwah, but in the authority of the One who sent him:
John 5:43 “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
John 10:25 Yahushua answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.
To come in someone’s name means you have come in their authority. Yahushua accomplished his agency in the authority Yahuwah gave him. If Yahushua is Yahuwah, he would not need to be given authority; he would innately possess it. But if Yahushua is Yahuwah’s human agent, he would need Yahuwah’s divine power and authority to accomplish his mission.
Professor Thompson explains one of the most important aspects of the principle of agency as it relates to Yahushua and Yahuwah: the agent is regarded as the sender.
Yahushua is presented in the Gospel [of John] against the backdrop of the Jewish concept of agency, and furthermore, against the understanding that there is one chief agent through whom Yahuwah acts…Because Yahushua is the chief agent of Yahuwah, when one confronts him, one confronts Yahuwah.”4
The Encyclopedia of Jewish Religion puts it this way:
The main point of the Jewish law of agency is expressed in the dictum, “a person’s agent is regarded as the person himself.” Therefore any act committed by a duly appointed agent is regarded as having been committed by the principal…5
The main point of the Jewish law of agency is expressed in the dictum, “a person’s agent is regarded as the person himself.” Therefore any act committed by a duly appointed agent is regarded as having been committed by the principal…5
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Therefore, the principle of agency helps us understand and properly interpret certain passages that appear to say Yahushua is Yahuwah. For example,
John 5:18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling Yahuwah His own Father, making Himself equal with Yahuwah.
John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”
John 12:44-45 And Yahushua cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 “He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.
John 20:28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
These passages and others like them are often used to “prove” Yahushua’s deity. But when Scripture is read with the traditional Hebraic mindset common to the first century, we see Yahushua is simply communicating his agency. James McGrath, professor and New Testament scholar, addresses Yahushua’ agency when he writes:
And the key idea regarding agency in the ancient world appears to be summarized in the phrase from rabbinic literature so often quoted in these contexts: ‘The one sent is like the one who sent him.’ The result is that the agent can not only carry out divine functions but also be depicted in divine language, sit on Yahuwah’s throne or alongside Yahuwah, and even bear the Divine name.6
This is why Yahushua said that whoever receives him, receives the One who sent him:
Matthew 10:40 “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.
If you reject the agent, by default, you have rejected the sender.
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Conversely, to reject or dishonor Yahushua is to reject and dishonor Yahuwah because he was sent on Yahuwah’s behalf. If you reject the agent, by default, you have rejected the sender.
John 5:23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
Luke 10:16 “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
The law of agency helps us understand passages previously used to support the fourth-century doctrine that Yahushua is fully God. It gives clarity to who Yahushua is, his ministry, and his relationship with Yahuwah the Father. Although there have been countless faithful agents, both past and present, Yahushua surpasses them all as the ultimate agent of the Most High Yahuwah. Even demons recognize him as such:
Luke 8:28 Seeing Yahushua, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What business do we have with each other, Yahushua, Son of the Most High Yahuwah? I beg You, do not torment me.”
Surely, demons know who Yahushua is. This demon identified Yahushua, not as the Most High Yahuwah, but as His son, a term designating him as the Messiah or Christ.
As the only begotten Son of Yahuwah, Yahushua’s agency is unique in that he was sent by Yahuwah to reconcile all things unto Yahuwah through his sacrificial death.
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As the only begotten Son of Yahuwah, Yahushua’s agency is unique in that he was sent by Yahuwah to reconcile all things unto Yahuwah through his sacrificial death. Furthermore, he is the only one who has been exalted to Yahuwah’s right hand for his obedience and given the authority to rule the world on Yahuwah’s behalf. It’s no wonder that Paul refers to Yahushua as the last Adam. It should also not surprise us to find that Yahushua’s desire to glorify the Yahuwah who sent him was the motivation for carrying out his agency. Speaking of himself, Yahushua said:
John 7:18 “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
How then should we respond to Yahushua the Christ, Yahuwah’s human agent? We’ll allow Yahushua to answer the question in his own words:
John 6:29 Yahushua answered and said to them, “This is the work of Yahuwah, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
1 Marianne Meye Thompson, “Gospel of John,” in Dictionary of Yahushua and the Gospels, Joel B. Green, ed. 1992 (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1992), p. 377
2 David Burge, Divine Agency in the Scriptures, 8-10-15, https://sandrahopper.blogspot.com/2015/ accessed 7-5-19
3 Shaliah, Wikipedia, accessed 6-30-19, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaliah#Biblical_sources
4 Thompson, Ibid.
5 Agent (Heb. Shaliah), The Encyclopedia of Jewish Religion, R.J.Z. Werblowsky, G. WiYahuwaher, (New York: Adama Books, 1986), p. 15.
6 James F. McGrath, The Only True God: Early Christian Monotheism in its Jewish Context, (University of Illinois Press, 2009) p. 14.
This is a non-WLC article. Source: https://onegodworship.com/jesus-the-human-agent-of-God/
We have taken out from the original article all pagan names and titles of the Father and Son, and have replaced them with the original given names. Furthermore, we have restored in the Scriptures quoted the names of the Father and Son, as they were originally written by the inspired authors of the Bible. -WLC Team
