Question:

How do we show those that think Jesus is Michael that he is not? How might you use Jesus’ prehuman existence to bring this out?

 Answer: I do not think that "we" need to show that Jesus is not Michael the Archangel.  I believe that surely the burden of proof is on those who try to teach this.  Jesus certainly did not say he was an angel, never mind that he was Michael.  Jesus should know who he is, and there is not the slightest shred of evidence that he ever identified himself as an angel.  For this reason, I do not feel as a Christian I need to defend the fact that he is not the Archangel Michael. To really do your question justice, I need to see the argument someone is using to defend this rather obviously bogus claim that Jesus is Michael.  What group is making this claim?  What scriptures are they using to support this idea?   I would think that Hebrews 1:1-14 would pretty much nail this rather self-obviously false claim that Jesus is an angel.  Here the Hebrew writer describes the deity of Jesus: "The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word…"  Can anyone imagine an angel described this way?  Then the Hebrew writer continues to describe Jesus in this way:  He is "as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.  For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’?"  This passages continues on to describe how vastly superior Jesus is to any angel.   To go from there and conclude that Jesus is an angel is just about the most obvious possible contradiction of the Bible. But, like I already said, I believe that Christians do not need to defend the idea that Jesus is NOT an angel.  Clearly, the burden of proof is on those who say he is Michael.  So, unless you can describe the argument being used, I do not really know how to respond. John Oakes, PhD