Why is Jesus called "The Son of God"?
What does "The Son of God" mean?

Mark begins his gospel account this way:

"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God."
Mark 1:1

Why did he say that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God? What does the term "Son of God" mean anyway?

Also, John, at the end of his gospel account said:

"And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written in this book:
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God;
and that believing ye might have life through his name."
John 20:30-31

Obviously, those who read and were familiar with the Old Testament scriptures were looking for one to come who would be identified as the Son of God! What were they looking at that gave them this hope? What made John and Mark declare that Jesus of Nazareth was this promised Son of God? What saith the Scripture?

Please prayerfully consider:

"Why do the nations rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."
Psalm 2

Please notice verses 1 and 2 in this passage:

1. nations
2. people
3. kings
4. rulers

set themselves against

1. the LORD (Jehovah)
2. His anointed

In Psalm 2:2, the nations, people, kings, and rulers set themselves against two parties: The LORD and His anointed.

"I will declare the decree:
the LORD hath said unto me,
Thou art my Son;
this day have I begotten thee."
Psalm 2:7

Here, in Psalm 2:7, we also see the same two parties as the Lord says to his anointed "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotton thee."

What does it mean that "this day have I begotten thee"? There is an interesting commentary on this in Acts 13:28-35:

"And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him from the dead: And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee."
Acts 13:28-33

Please notice...

"...hath raised up Jesus again;

as it says in the second psalm,

thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee."

Acts 13:33

The plain sense of this scripture is that the phrase "this day have I begotten thee" meant that the Son would be raised from the dead!

Therefore:

"this day have I begotten thee" = raised from the dead

Therefore, the Son of God spoken of in Psalm 2 is the one that the Lord would raise from the dead!

So, how is it that both John and Mark said that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God? The answer is: He was declared, by God, to be the promised Son of God, when he raised Jesus up from the dead!

He was declared "the Son of God" by the resurrection from the dead

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, makes this very clear when he said:

"And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:"
Romans 1:4

His virgin birth gave Him the title "the Son of God"

"And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
Luke 1:31-35

The testimony of man bare witness that He is "the Son of God"

John the Baptist's testimony:

"And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God."
John 1:34

Nathanael's testimony:

"Nathanael answered and saith unto him,
Rabbi, thou art the Son of God;
thou art the King of Israel."
John 1:49

After seeing Jesus walk on water, all the disciples said:

"Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God".
Matthew 14:33

The Centurion

"Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God."
Matthew 27:54

Peter said:

"And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God."
Matthew 16:16

John wrote:

"He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."
1 John 5:10-12

"And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;"
Revelation 2:18

See also 1 John 1:3, 3:23, 4:14-15, 5:20, and 2 John 3.

Paul proclaimed:

"And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues,
that he is the Son of God."
Acts 9:20

Paul later wrote:

"God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto
the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord."
1 Corinthians 1:9

"For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea."
2 Corinthians 1:19

At Lazarus' tomb, Mary said:

"She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ,
the Son of God, which should come into the world."
John 11:27

Soon after Pentecost, Peter preached:

"The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go."
Acts 3:13

The demons and unclean spirits testified that He is "the Son of God"

"And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him,
and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God."
Mark 3:11

"And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee,
Jesus, thou Son of the most high God?
I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not."
Mark 5:7 (parallel in Luke 8:28)

"And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying,
Thou art Christ the Son of God.
And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak:
for they knew that he was Christ."
Luke 4:41

Jesus declared Himself to be "the Son of God"

"He trusted in God; let him deliver him now,
if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God."
Matthew 27:43

"Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?"
John 10:36

God the Father audibly confirmed that Jesus is "the Son of God"

"And lo a voice from heaven, saying,
This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased."
Matthew 3:17

"And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying,
This is my beloved Son: hear him."
Luke 9:35

Later, Peter spoke of this in his epistle:

"For he received from God the Father honour and glory,
when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
2 Peter 1:17

Conclusion: By the resurrection of the dead, by His virgin birth, by the testimony of men, the demons, and God Himself... Jesus of Nazareth is indeed, the "Son of God" spoken of in Psalm 2.

A Final Admonition

Let us remember the final admonition of Psalm 2:

"Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way,
when his wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."
Psalm 2:12

Why is Jesus called "The Son of God"? What does "The Son of God" mean?