Is the Trinity in Matthew?

“A true and accurate knowledge of the Trinity is a blessing in and of itself . . . the Trinity is the highest revelation God has made of himself to His people. It is the capstone, the summit, the brightest star in the firmament of divine truths”—The Forgotten Trinity, page 10

“The Gospel according to Matthew . . . no other was so frequently quoted in the noncanonical literature of earliest Christianity”—Preface to Matthew in the New American Bible (NAB)

If the Trinity doctrine is true, then the first gospel, the Gospel of Matthew, should provide numerous evidences of it. Let’s  carefully examine all the pertinent evidence. Is the Trinity in Matthew? If Jesus is Almighty God, we should find abundant evidence of it in the first gospel, Matthew. Let’s carefully examine all the pertinent evidence. Is Jesus God in Matthew 1?

Matthew 1:1,18 – “Jesus the Messiah”. “This is how Jesus the Messiah was born.” (NLT). Almighty God is not “the Messiah”. Thus, Matthew opens up his, the first gospel written, with two declarations that Jesus is the Messiah. If his purpose in writing had been to introduce Jesus as God, he would have said so. But he didn’t.

DOES THE TITLE-NAME “IMMANUEL” MEAN JESUS IS GOD?

Matthew 1:23 – “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means ‘God is with us'” (NAB).  Says Jesus would be called “Immanuel” – God is with us (does not mean Jesus is God). Why? The meanings of many Jewish names include “Yahweh” or “God.” The following scriptures help us get a better view of this situation:

• 1 Kings 17:1 – Elijah – My God is Yahweh
• Isaiah 1:1 – Isaiah – Salvation of Yahweh
• Jeremiah 1:1 – Jeremiah – Yahweh Loosens or Exalts
• Jeremiah 1:1 – Hilkiah – My Portion is Yahweh

• Jeremiah 1:3 – Zedekiah – Yahweh is Our Righteousness
• Jeremiah 36:10 – Gemariah – Yahweh has Perfected
• Jeremiah 36:11 Micaiah – Who is Like Yahweh
• Jeremiah 36:12 – Shemaiah – Yahweh has Heard
• Jeremiah 36:12 – Hananiah – Yahweh has Shown Favor/Been Gracious
• Jeremiah 36:14 – Nethaniah – Yahweh has Given
• Jeremiah 36:14 – Shelemiah – Yahweh is Recompense, or Communion Sacrifice of Yahweh
• Jeremiah 36:14 – Neriah – My Lamp is Yahweh

• Jeremiah 38:1 – Gedaliah – Great is Yahweh
• Jeremiah 38:6 – Malchijah – My King is Yahweh
• Daniel 1:6 – Daniel – My Judge is God
• Joel 1:1 – Joel – Yahweh is God
• Micah 1:1 – Micah – Who is Like Yahweh?
• Zephaniah 1:1 – Zephaniah – Yahweh has Concealed
• Zechariah 1:1 – Zechariah – Yah has Remembered

God or Yahweh is often imbedded within many Hebrew names. It doesn’t mean any of these men were God, just as the name Immanuel doesn’t mean that Jesus is God Almighty. Yahweh is also embedded within some Biblical place-names, but the place is obviously not “Yahweh”.

For example: “Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide, as it is said this day, ‘In the mount of Yahweh it will be provided'”—Genesis 22:14 LSB

“Moses built an altar and named it Yahweh is My Banner”—Exodus 17:15 LSB

“In his days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is the name by which he will be called, Yahweh our righteousness”—Jeremiah 23:6 LSB

“The perimeter of that city will be six miles, and the name of the city from that day will be: ‘Yahweh Is There'”—Ezekiel 48:35 HCSB

Rather than being named “God”, or “God the Son”, notice what name Jesus was actually given: “She will give birth to a son, and YOU ARE TO GIVE HIM THE NAME JESUS”—Matthew 1:21 NIV. 

Matthew 1:23 quotes Isaiah 7:14 to show how Jesus’ miraculous virgin birth fulfilled prophecy. “The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14 NIV). This was fulfilled back in the time of the prophet Isaiah and Judean king Ahaz, when a firstborn boy named Immanuel was born. The prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 also had a later and greater fulfillment in the birth of Jesus. Trinitarians often claim this title-name proves that Jesus is God. If that were true, then the child with the name Immanuel, or Emmanuel, born back Isaiah’s and Ahaz’s time would be also be God.

If we objectively consider the syntax, we’ll notice that “God is with us” is not meant in a physical sense, as Trinitarians would like us to believe. When we consider Matthew 12:30: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters,” we can easily see that “with me” is not meant in a physical, or spatial sense, but in a spiritual, sense. Another helpful account is after Jesus had resurrected the widow of Nain’s son, Luke 7:16 reports, “They glorified God, exclaiming, ‘A great prophet has arisen in our midst,’ and ‘God has visited his people'” (NAB). Jesus is here called “a great prophet.” ‘God had visited his people,’ not physically, or spatially, but spiritually, through Jesus. At Matthew 28:20, Jesus promised, “I am with you always, until the end of the age” (NAB). “With” is obviously not meant physically, or spatially, but spiritually, because Jesus is the one “whom heaven must keep till the universal restoration comes” (Acts 3:21 NJB).

Therefore, when the Scriptures are used in the local and also the remote context, and in harmony with the entire Bible, Matthew 1:23, which states “they will call him Immanuel” (NIV), cannot honestly or Scripturally be used to prove Jesus is God, or the Trinity in Matthew.

Who should we worship?

There are some verses that are often translated as though people actually “worshipped” Jesus. However, as mentioned above, accurate translations do not reflect that idea.

“On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage”—Matthew 2:11 NRSV

“Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God'”—Matthew 14:33 NAB “And the men in the boat fell at his feet, exclaiming, ‘You must be the Son of God'”—-Matthew 14:33 REB

“When we look at the historical accounts of the early church, Acts through Revelation, do we find any valid instances of anyone worshipping Jesus? No, we don’t! Here are some examples of what we do find:

“A worshipper of God”—Acts 16:14 NASB; 18:7 NASB

“Worship God”—1 Corinthians 14:25; Revelation 19:10; 22:9

“Worshipped God”—Revelation 7:11 NASB; 11:16 NASB; 19:4 NASB

A survey of the entire New Testament finds evidence of God alone being worshipped, and no evidence of Jesus being worshipped.

Other Scriptures In Matthew

Matthew 3:16-17 – “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment, heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (NIV). Trinitarians count 1,2,3 here in this verse, and say, here is the Trinity. However, notice that Almighty God calls Jesus “my Son”. Jesus is frequently called “the Son of God”, but he is never called “God the Son,” which is the often-used Trinitarian label that is never used in the Bible. Please also notice that Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are in separate locations.

• Jesus is in the water
• Holy Spirit in the form of dove is in the air
• God is in heaven and says, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Therefore, they cannot be the same. Not one aspect of the Trinity dogma is mentioned in Matthew 3:16,17—no equality, no Almightiness, nothing about being eternal.

Matthew 4:3,5 – The issue raised by Satan the Devil was, “If you are the Son of God”, not “If you are God,” not “if you are part of a Trinity”.

Matthew 4:10 – “Jesus said to him, ‘Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY” (LSB). People must ONLY worship “the one who alone is God” (John 5:44 NAB), Jesus said. He said nothing about worshipping “the Son of God,” or “God the Son,” or a Trinity.

Matthew 6:9 – Praying to the Father; verse 10 – Jesus says your kingdom, your will, not our will, or our kingdom, which shows that God is superior. Without equality, Jesus cannot be God, and the Trinity doctrine cannot be true.

Matthew 9:2 – “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Courage, child, your sins are forgiven'” (NAB). Jesus forgives sins. (See Acts 5:30-31.) Trinitarians claim this makes Jesus God. The following two scriptures show  us why this is not the case.

 Matthew 9:6 says Jesus has authority to forgive sins. “The son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (NAB). The ‘authority to forgive sins’ had been bestowed on Jesus as God’s “representative” (John 5:43 Williams New Testament), obviously. God doesn’t need anyone’s authority.

In fact, Matthew 9:8 says, “The crowd . . . praised God for sending a man with such great authority” (NLT 2013 edition). Jesus said, “God sent me” (John 8:42 NIV), so he could not be God.

Matthew 9:27 – Jesus is called “the Son of David”. God is not called “the Son of David” – Matthew 15:22; Matthew 20:30-31; Matthew 21:15. 

Matthew 10:20 – “It will not be you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (NAB). On another occasion, Jesus was teaching the same thing, but he expressed it slightly differently, by saying, “the holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say” (Luke 12:12 NAB). By comparison, we note that “the holy Spirit” is “the Spirit of your Father,” which indicates the holy Spirit is not a person.

Matthew 12:18 – “My servant whom I have have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight. I shall place my spirit upon him” (NAB). Almighty God is no one’s servant, but Jesus is God’s “servant” (Acts 3:13). God the Father was foretold in this prophecy quoted from Isaiah to “place his spirit upon” Jesus. The language here (“my spirit”) indicates holy spirit is obviously not a person, but God’s spirit.

Matthew 16:13-17 – “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (NAB). – Jesus asked, Who am I? – “The Messiah, the Son of the living God” – Peter replied. My Father in heaven revealed this to you – Jesus commended his answer. If Jesus was God, or “God the Son,” this would have been the time to state it. But, no, Jesus was confessed to be “the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” and Jesus approved this answer.

Matthew 16:27 – “Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory”, not in his own glory, not in the glory of “the Trinity.”

Matthew 16:28; Matthew 17:5,9 – “A voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son’“, not God the Son, not the 2nd person of the Trinity. “The Son of Man coming in his kingdom,” “until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” God is not the Son of Man.” Since “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19), and “God . . . will never die” (Habakkuk 1:12 NIV), and Jesus did die, it is obvious Jesus cannot be God.

Matthew 17:24-27 – “From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” (ESV).The king in Jesus’ example is Almighty God. Jesus is God’s Son, who is not equal to, but subservient to, and dependent upon, his Father, Almighty God.

Matthew 18:35 – Jesus refers to “My heavenly Father” as the one who is ultimately in charge, in this case, by showing he is ultimately the one in charge of the forgiveness of sins.

Matthew 20:23 – “To sit at my right hand or my is not mine to grant, but it is for for whom it has been prepared by my Father” (ESV). Jesus, in effect, says, ‘I can’t choose who will sit at my right or left in the kingdom – only my Fathercan,’ which shows that Jesus does not have the highest position, nor is he even  equal to God the Father.

Matthew 21:9 – “Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD [Yahweh]” (NLT).  Jesus, “the Son of Man will come . . . in the glory of his Father” (Matthew 16:27 NIV), so Jesus cannot be Almighty God.

Matthew 21:33-45 – Jesus’ Father, “the owner of the vineyard” (Matthew 21:40), sent his prophets, finally his Son. The Father is the sender, Jesus is sent.  “No slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him” (John 13:16 NAB). Obviously, God the Father is greater than his Son, Jesus.

Matthew 22:2 – “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king gave a wedding feast for his son” (NAB). The King prepared wedding feast for son – NLTSB – The King represents God, whose Son is Jesus. The feast represents kingdom of Messiah. The “king”, God the Father, is obviously greater than the “son”, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Matthew 22:36 – “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” (NAB). In other words, this scholar of Judaism wanted to know, ‘What is the essence of your teaching?’ ‘What is the central tenet of your teaching?’ This was the perfect opportunity for Jesus to let these religious leaders know how important the Trinity doctrine is, if it is a true doctrine, and that was what Jesus was really teaching.

Matthew 22:37-39 – “He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself'” (NAB). Notice that Jesus says nothing about any Trinity, or about any supposed equality with God. The most important command – ‘Love Yahweh your God, with all your heart, soul and strength’, Jesus said. If Jesus was equal to God, he should have been included in this statement. But Jesus did not include himself. Likewise, if the Trinity was real, the most important doctrine about God, as Trinitarians claim, it should have been mentioned here, but it’s not..

Matthew 22:41-45 – Quotes Psalm 110:1: “Yahweh says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand Until I put Your enemies under Your feet'” (LSB).  In Matthew 22:44  Jesus shows that the Messiah would be greater than David. Verse 45 – The answer is that Jesus is more than the son of David, he is the Son of God, but he is not greater than, or equal to, Yahweh, who is God the Father. Also Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 14:33; Psalm 45:16

Matthew 24:36 – “Of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (NAB). The Son, Jesus, doesn’t know the day and hour, only God the Father does – obviously the two are different, and the Father is superior to the Son. Trinitarians’ claim that Jesus was Almighty God on earth is soundly refuted by this one scripture.

Matthew 25:34 – ‘King will say – come you who have been blessed by my Father’, who is the superior one.

Matthew 25:40 – ‘King will say – the least of these my brothers’. God doesn’t have brothers, but Jesus does. Matthew 27:37 – Jesus is said to be “the king of the Jews,” not God.

Matthew 27:42,43 – “He’s the king of Israel! . . .  He trusts in God. Let God rescue him” (NIV).  If Jesus was God, why would he need to trust in God?

Matthew 27:46 – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (NIV; NAB). Jesus’ statement proves he is not God, because he says that God left him.

Matthew 27:54 – “Surely he was the Son of God” (NIV), not “God the Son”. Matthew 28:9 – “Jesus met them on their way, and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage” (NAB). Many translations use “worship” instead of “homage” here. However, “homage” is the correct rendering of the Greek “proskynesan” here, since Jesus said, “the true worshippers will worship the Father” (John 4:24). Matthew 28:17 – “When they saw him, they fell down before him, though some hesitated” (NJB). Many translations use “worship” instead of “fell down before him” here. Some translations, such as the CSB and NAB, omit the word “worship” entirely from this verse. Regardless, “fell down before him” is the correct rendering of the Greek “proskynesan” here, since Jesus said, “the true worshippers will worship the Father” (John 4:24).

Matthew 28:18 – “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (NIV).  If Jesus was Almighty God, he would  NOT have to be “given” anything, because he would already possess it. Matthew 28:19 – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (NIV). Trinitarians claim that “in the name of” means one Trinitarian name for the three. However, “of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” means the three are entirely separate and distinct. Trinitarians count, one, two, three . . . there’s the Trinity! The mention of the three together doesn’t make them a Trinity in Matthew, any more the mention of “Stephanus, Fortunatus and Achaichus” (1 Corinthians 16:17) together make them a Trinity.

Is the Trinity in Matthew? In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is called, or referred to, many things, and in many ways, but he is never asserted to be Almighty God. This is true whether it is Jesus, his disciples, his enemies, or the narrator speaking. The holy Spirit is also referred to in a way that indicates it is not a person. Based on the scriptural facts, the Trinity is not in Matthew!