Him as the only-begotten Son. God has other sons. Angels are termed sons
of God. Men are also His offspring, and believers are now the sons of
God; but Jesus is God's son in a higher, special, and perfect sense.

That Jesus claimed to be in this sense the Son of God is clear from many
incidents in His history. It was ostensibly on the ground that He
declared Himself to be "equal with God" that He was arrested and
condemned by the Jewish rulers. The high priest put the question to Him
directly and solemnly, "I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell
us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God." The reply was distinct
and emphatic. "Jesus said, I am: Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man
sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of
heaven."[056] There is no resisting the meaning which these words
convey. The Sonship they assert is very different from that which is
implied when a mere man who fears God and keeps His commandments is said
to be a son of God. It was a claim to the possession of Divine
personality and power, and was so understood by His accusers. When
Caiaphas heard the reply he accepted it in its full significance,
tearing his clothes and exclaiming, "He hath spoken blasphemy; what
further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his
blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of
death."[057]

His saying that He was the Son of God was the "blasphemy" for which He
was condemned. The horror, real or affected, and the rent robes of the
high priest, the verdict of the court, and the contemptuous treatment to
which Jesus was afterwards subjected, leave no room for doubting that He
declared Himself to be the Son of God, having at His disposal the powers
of heaven and earth.