The words are small, set in stone with tiny cubes of colored limestone, but the confession they carry is immense: “to God Jesus Christ.” In a Roman-era building at ancient Megiddo, in the Jezreel Valley, archaeologists uncovered a beautifully preserved mosaic floor that contains one of the most striking phrases in early Christian archaeology. A group of early believers—ordinary men and women living in the shadow of the Roman Empire—commissioned a floor inscription that openly dedicates their meeting place “to God Jesus Christ.”

This is not a sermon in a manuscript, not a later theological treatise, and not a medieval church decoration. It is a third-century dedication carved into the very floor where the first generations of believers stood, knelt, and prayed. It stands among the earliest explicit invocations of Jesus’ deity ever found in the material record. In an age when some critics claim that Christians “gradually exaggerated” who Jesus was, this mosaic speaks plainly from the soil of northern Israel: long before church councils and imperial patronage, holy ones in a Roman military setting were already calling Jesus “God.”

In this chapter we will consider the discovery at Megiddo, the setting of the mosaic, the Greek wording “to God Jesus Christ,” and what this reveals about early Christian belief. We will also examine how this find aligns with the New Testament’s own teaching about Jesus and why it powerfully undermines the claims of higher critics who attempt to strip the Gospels and epistles of their high view of Christ.

The Discovery at Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley

Ancient Megiddo guards one of the most important passes along the route that links Egypt with Syria and Mesopotamia. The Jezreel Valley opens like a broad corridor through northern Israel, and Megiddo sits at a strategic point along that corridor. Scripture remembers Megiddo as the place near which King Josiah fell and as a symbol of decisive conflict. In later prophecy, the name becomes part of the term “Har–Magedon,” the mountain or hill of Megiddo, connected with the climactic events of the time of the end.

In the Roman period, the area around Megiddo included a military camp known as Legio, home base for a legion of Roman soldiers. Near this camp, on land that in modern times was occupied by a prison complex, archaeologists carried out rescue excavations. Under layers of earth and later occupation, they uncovered a Roman-era building whose interior floors were decorated with mosaics. Among these floors was a particularly well-preserved panel containing Greek inscriptions and simple geometric designs.

It soon became clear that this was no ordinary domestic floor. The arrangement of the building’s interior, the orientation of the space, and the content of the inscriptions showed that this was a Christian gathering place—a house-church or prayer hall—used by believers living and working in and around the Roman camp. What makes the discovery especially significant is its date. The style of the architecture and the inscriptions point to the early third century C.E., long before Christianity received legal recognition from the emperor Constantine.

Within this context, one inscription stands out. It records the gift of a woman who donated funding for the mosaic and then states that the donation was made “to God Jesus Christ.” For the first readers, this was not a museum label. It was a living, functional dedication in the space where they met to worship, pray, and hear the Scriptures read.

Reading the Greek: “To God Jesus Christ”

The key phrase in the Megiddo mosaic is written in Greek, the same language in which Jehovah inspired the New Testament writers to record the life, teachings, and saving work of Jesus Christ. The phrase appears in a dedication that can be translated in essence: “The table [or mosaic] was offered as a gift by [name of donor] to God Jesus Christ.” The words “to God Jesus Christ” represent Greek dative forms, showing the direction or recipient of the dedication.

The crucial element is the combination of “God” and “Jesus Christ” with no separating word such as “of” or “for.” The inscription does not say “to God, on behalf of Jesus Christ,” or “to God, through Jesus Christ.” It very plainly directs the dedication “to God Jesus Christ.” In Greek, the words follow one another as a single phrase: “the God Jesus Christ” or “God Jesus Christ,” depending on how the article is used in context.

This is not casual language. In the first three centuries of our era, Jews and Christians alike were deeply conscious of the reality that there is only one true God, Jehovah. The Greek-speaking world was filled with “gods many and lords many,” but faithful Jews and Christians held fast to the confession that Jehovah alone is the Most High. For a group of believers from that background, to give a formal dedication “to God Jesus Christ” shows an exalted understanding of who Jesus is. They did not see Him merely as a wise teacher or a prophet. He is the One whom they were willing to call “God,” the One in whose presence they worshiped, and the One to whom they offered a permanent, costly gift.

The wording recalls expressions in the New Testament itself. Thomas addresses the risen Jesus as “my Lord and my God.” Titus speaks of waiting for the appearing of “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Hebrews records the Father addressing the Son with the words, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” The Megiddo inscription does not create anything new. Rather, it reflects the same high confession that Jehovah Himself guided the inspired writers to record in Scripture.

A House-Church in a Roman Military Setting

The building that housed the Megiddo mosaic appears to have been part of a larger complex associated with the Roman camp. Its shape and size suggest that it was not a grand basilica but a more modest meeting hall. Evidence of benches or simple seating arrangements, along with the placement of inscriptions, indicates that this space was adapted for Christian gathering. In other words, it was likely a house-church, a converted room used by a local congregation of holy ones.

What is striking is where this house-church stood. The Roman camp at Legio was a center of imperial power. Legions did not represent gentle neighborhood policing; they were the instrument through which Rome projected its authority. And yet, within or alongside this environment, there were men and women who had come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the One whom Jehovah raised from the dead and exalted to His right hand. These believers gathered for worship in a space that, at first glance, looked ordinary—a room with low walls and a simple roof—but beneath their feet lay a mosaic that recorded their devotion to Christ.

The mosaic inscriptions also mention donors by name, including a woman who is described as honoring the memory of her relative and dedicating the work “to God Jesus Christ.” Another inscription appears to reference a Roman officer who gave funds for the construction, calling him a “centurion.” This suggests that believers included members of the Roman military, just as the New Testament describes centurions who responded in faith to Jesus and to the message of the apostles.

Such details remind us that the Gospel penetrated every layer of society. Slaves, merchants, soldiers, and local officials all heard the message that Jesus is the Christ, that His sacrificial death brings forgiveness of sins, and that Jehovah raised Him from the dead as Lord. In response, they formed congregations, however small, that met regularly to hear the inspired Scriptures read and to pray in the name of Jesus.

The Megiddo house-church was one such congregation. Its mosaic floor captures not only the words but the lives of those who walked across it. With each step they took, they were reminded that their communal life as believers, their waking and sleeping, their work and their worship, were all under the lordship of “God Jesus Christ.”

Early Confession of Jesus’ Deity

The Megiddo mosaic is particularly important because of its date. Many higher critics claim that the idea of Jesus as “God” developed slowly, only solidifying centuries after the New Testament period. According to this view, the earliest Christians supposedly thought of Jesus merely as a human teacher or at best a prophet, and only later did church leaders “exaggerate” His status and attribute deity to Him.

The New Testament itself contradicts this theory. The Gospel of John opens with a majestic confession: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John goes on to identify the Word with Jesus Christ, who became flesh and lived among us. When Thomas sees the risen Jesus and touches His wounds, he exclaims, “My Lord and my God.” The prologue to Hebrews states that Jehovah created the ages through the Son and that the Son is the exact imprint of His being. Paul, writing to the Colossians, declares that in Christ “all the fullness of the divine nature dwells bodily.”

The Megiddo mosaic’s phrase “to God Jesus Christ” is a clear echo of this inspired teaching. It shows that by the early third century, believers in northern Israel were not merely reading New Testament writings but also expressing their theology in stone in harmony with those writings. They addressed Jesus with a title that in the Old Testament is used only of Jehovah. At the same time, they did not abandon the truth that Jehovah is the one true God. Instead, they recognized that the Father and the Son share a unique relationship and that the Son shares fully in the divine status and glory given Him by His Father.

This early confession is not a philosophical abstraction. For the believers at Megiddo, calling Jesus “God” meant acknowledging His authority over their lives, trusting His sacrificial death as the basis for their forgiveness, and looking for His future return in glory to establish His Kingdom. Their understanding of Jesus was firmly rooted in Scripture and in the apostolic message, not in later speculation.

Jesus as “God” within Biblical Monotheism

The inscription at Megiddo also helps us think carefully about how early Christians understood Jesus as “God” while still upholding biblical monotheism. The Old Testament is crystal clear: “Jehovah our God, Jehovah is one.” From Genesis to Malachi, Jehovah declares that He alone is the Creator, the Sovereign, and the only true God. Any confession of Jesus that would contradict this would be unfaithful to the Scriptures that Jesus Himself affirmed as the Word of God.

The New Testament does not set aside this truth; it deepens it. Jesus repeatedly distinguishes Himself from the Father. He prays to the Father, submits to the Father’s will, and acknowledges that the Father is greater than He is. Yet at the same time, He claims prerogatives that belong to Jehovah alone. He forgives sins on His own authority. He declares Himself to be the One who will judge all nations. He identifies Himself as the One in whom people must place their faith for eternal life. The apostles worship Him, address prayers to Him, and speak of Him in terms reserved for Jehovah in the Old Testament.

The phrase “to God Jesus Christ” fits within this biblical framework. Early Christians confessed that Jesus shares the divine identity while still recognizing that He is the Son, distinct from the Father. When they called Him “God,” they were not dividing the Godhead into rival deities. Rather, they were acknowledging what the Father Himself revealed: that He sent His Son into the world, that the Son existed with Him before the world was, and that the Son shares the Father’s divine glory.

For believers who know that Jehovah is one, the mosaic is not a threat but a confirmation. It shows that the early holy ones at Megiddo had a robust understanding of who Jesus is. They understood Him as the One through whom Jehovah created all things, the One to whom every knee will bow, and the One whom the Father has appointed judge of the living and the dead. To address Him as “God Jesus Christ” was to confess His exalted status in the clearest possible way.

Archaeology, Text, and the Reliability of the New Testament

The Megiddo mosaic is one piece of stone evidence among many that, taken together, show the remarkable accuracy of the Bible’s picture of early Christian belief. The New Testament was written between about 41 and 98 C.E. by men who either walked with Jesus or worked closely with those who did. These writings were copied and circulated widely, and we possess thousands of Greek manuscripts showing that the text is preserved with astonishing accuracy—99.99 percent agreement with the inspired originals.

Higher criticism often approaches these texts with a naturalistic bias, assuming that divine revelation does not occur and that miracles cannot happen. From that starting point, critics claim that stories about Jesus’ deity and resurrection must be legends. But archaeology repeatedly shows that the world described in the New Testament is historically real and that beliefs reflected in the inspired writings also appear in early Christian material remains.

The Megiddo inscription supports this in several ways. First, it is geographically close to the settings of the Gospels. This is not Rome, Alexandria, or a far distant province. It is in the land where Jesus lived, taught, died, and rose. Second, it is chronologically close to the apostolic age. A gap of about one hundred and fifty years separates the last New Testament writing from the Megiddo mosaic. That is not much time at all when one considers how quickly beliefs can spread, settle, and be inscribed in public places.

Third, the content of the inscription mirrors New Testament doctrine. The apostles preached that Jesus is Lord and that He is rightly addressed in divine terms. The Megiddo believers lived out this truth, not only in words but in stone. They did not treat Jesus as a distant historical figure. They worshiped Him, prayed to Him, and dedicated their meeting place to Him as “God Jesus Christ.”

Because of this, the mosaic becomes a powerful line of evidence against the claim that belief in Jesus’ deity was a late theological invention. Here, in the floor of a small house-church in a Roman camp, we see that by the early third century, believers were already expressing in material form a high Christology that matches the New Testament. The archaeological record, therefore, reinforces the conclusion that the New Testament accurately reflects early Christian belief, rather than reshaping Jesus centuries after the fact.

The Holy Ones at Megiddo: Faith under Empire

It is helpful to imagine, in a historically responsible way, the lives of the men and women who walked across that mosaic floor. Some were likely local villagers from the Jezreel region, descendants of Jews and Gentiles who had heard the Gospel preached by those who came after the apostles. Others may have been soldiers or family members connected to the Roman camp. They would have spoken Greek in public and probably another language at home. They lived under the power of Rome, with its demands of loyalty and its expectations of participation in imperial cults.

Yet these believers gathered in a simple hall to worship “God Jesus Christ.” For them, acknowledging Jesus as God was not an abstract concept. It meant recognizing His authority above that of Caesar. It meant refusing to offer worship to idols. It meant accepting the possibility of opposition, slander, or worse from those who saw their confession as a threat to imperial unity.

The donors listed in the inscriptions show that their faith was not merely verbal. A woman gave a significant sum to pave the floor of the hall with a mosaic. A centurion contributed to the building itself. These acts required real sacrifice. Money spent on the meeting place could not be used for other purposes. In a world without modern conveniences, this was a major commitment.

At the same time, their lives were undoubtedly filled with the ordinary struggles that believers face in every age. They had families to care for, work to perform, illnesses to endure, and the constant pressures of living in a world that does not honor Jehovah. Yet in the midst of those challenges, they invested in a place where the Scriptures could be read, where prayer could be offered, and where the name of Jesus could be exalted.

Every time the congregation gathered, the floor beneath them silently repeated their confession. Children growing up in that meeting place would have learned to read the Greek letters and to recognize the phrase “to God Jesus Christ.” Thus the mosaic not only reflected the faith of one generation but helped instruct the next. It was a permanent reminder that Jesus is worthy of worship, that His sacrificial death opens the way to reconciliation with Jehovah, and that He will return to judge and to bless.

The Bible Beneath Our Feet at Megiddo

The Greek mosaic inscription “God Jesus Christ” at Megiddo fits perfectly with the theme of the Bible beneath our feet. The land itself continues to yield stones that speak with the same voice as Scripture. The apostles wrote under inspiration that Jesus is the Word who was with God and was God, that He is the radiance of the Father’s glory, and that He is worthy of worship from every creature. The believers at Megiddo responded to that revelation not just with their lips but with their resources and their craftsmanship, embedding their confession into the floor of their meeting hall.

For modern readers of the Bible, this discovery is both encouraging and challenging. It encourages us by confirming that early Christians in the land of Israel held a high view of Jesus that matches the New Testament. They did not gradually “promote” Him from a mere teacher to a divine figure. They recognized from the beginning that He is the Christ, the Son of God, and that He can rightly be addressed as “God” while still being distinct from His Father Jehovah.

It challenges us because it confronts us with the question of our own confession. The early holy ones at Megiddo lived in a world that often opposed their faith, yet they were willing to be known publicly as people who dedicated their gathering place “to God Jesus Christ.” In many parts of the world today, believers have far greater freedom, yet can be hesitant to identify openly with Christ or to invest materially in the work of the congregation.

The mosaic at Megiddo is long since lifted from the floor where it lay for centuries, and the house-church itself has vanished as a living congregation. But the confession preserved in those tiny stones still speaks. It calls us to read the Scriptures carefully, to accept the New Testament’s testimony about who Jesus is, and to respond with the same wholehearted devotion shown by those early believers. Above everything, it points us back to the inspired Word, where Jehovah reveals His Son and where the Spirit-inspired writers teach us to confess with joy and reverence that Jesus is indeed “our Lord and our God,” the One through whom Jehovah will bring His purposes to their fullness.

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