JESUS IS GOD
Did Jesus ever claim to be God? Does the Bible claim that Jesus is God?
Did anyone in the Bible directly or indirectly claim Jesus to be God?
Note – Parenthesis added in some verses
THE PHARISEES UNDERSTAND JESUS IS CLAIMING TO BE GOD.
John 10:30-33, “I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”
John 5:18, “For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”
JESUS IS CALLED “GOD”, “MIGHTY GOD” AND “ETERNAL FATHER”
Hebrews 1:8, “But of the Son (Jesus) He (the Father) says, “YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER”
Isaiah 9:6, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (which means, God with us)”
Romans 9:5, “…and from whom (the Israelites) is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever.”
I John 5:20, “…and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”
ANGELS CALL JESUS “GOD” AND ETERNAL IN HIS REIGN
An angel said to Joseph, who was betrothed to Mary – Matthew 1:23, “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”
The angel Gabriel to Mary – Luke 1:33, “and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” (This eternal kingdom is a proclamation of divinity)
DEMONS SUBMIT TO JESUS AS GOD
Jesus casts out demons under His own power, deferring to nobody – Mark 5:7, “The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine”
Demons are otherwise cast out by mere humans, but in Jesus’ name – Luke 10:17, “The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
SATAN SUBMITS TO JESUS AS GOD
Luke 10:18-19, “And He (Jesus) said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy (Satan), and nothing will injure you.”
JESUS’ FOLLOWERS CLAIM THAT JESUS IS GOD
John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”
John confirms that the above verses refer to Jesus – John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 20:28, “Thomas answered and said to Him (Jesus), “My Lord and my God!”
Colossians 2:9, “For in Him (Jesus) all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form”
Titus 2:13 “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus”
JESUS RECEIVED WORSHIP AS GOD
Luke 24:52, “And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy”
Matthew 14:33, “And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”
JESUS CLAIMS THAT HE IS GOD
Jesus claims equality with God in power/ability as he further verifies the security that His sheep have with Him – John
10:27-29, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
John 4:25-26, “The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
Jesus further claims equality with the Heavenly Father – John 14:9, “Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?”
Luke 24:27, Jesus is talking with His disciples, “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” Continuing on in verse 44, “Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Mark 14:61-62, “The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”
Jesus, soon to ascend back to heaven, prays to the Heavenly Father, speaking of their shared divinity – John 17:5, “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
John 8:58, “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”
Matthew 28:18, “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Here, Jesus continues to declare His equality with God, claiming divinity.
John 13:13, “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.” Jesus says this to His disciples.
ONLOOKERS TO JESUS’ MINISTRY CLAIMED HE WAS GOD
Luke 7:15-16, “The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!”
THE ROMANS WHO CRUCIFIED JESUS LATER ADMITTED THAT HE WAS GOD
Matthew 27:54, “Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
WHO THEN UNDERSTOOD THAT JESUS WAS GOD?
The Father – Hebrews 1:8. Angels – Matthew 1, Luke 1. Satan – Luke 10:18-19. Demons – Mark 5. Jews who followed Him – John 1:1, 14. Jews who rejected Him – John 10:33. Romans who killed Him – Matthew 27:54. Prophets – Isaiah 7:14
WHY THEN IS THERE CONFUSION?
It’s understandable that people can mistake Jesus as simply being a created man. Here are some common misunderstandings from the Bible.
1) Jesus spoke of Himself as the “Son of Man” (Mark 2:10, Matthew 8:20, Luke 19:10); a name he often called Himself in his state of humility. This self-identity was well known to the Jews from verses such as Psalm 80:17, “Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.”, and Daniel 7:13, “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven, One like a Son of Man was coming”. By this self-given name, Jesus gives Himself equality with God, thus claiming to be God.
2) Jesus is called the “firstborn of all creation” in Colossians 1:15. Does this mean He was created? No, this was a common expression, a term of endearment, given to show position and authority. This title was similarly given to David is Psalm 89:20,27, “I also shall make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” As well, God says of Ephraim in Jeremiah 31:9, “With weeping they will come, and by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, on a straight path in which they will not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.” All together there are two cities and two people called God’s firstborn in the Scriptures. Secondly, on this point, we read in the Bible that all creation came into being, or was made, through Jesus. If Jesus was a creation Himself, then not everything could have been created by Him. A creation cannot be the creator of all things…this is self-contradictory. Colossians 1:16 clarifies that Jesus’ name, “the firstborn of all creation” is a title of power and position, because verse sixteen declares Jesus as the one by whom all things were created. This verse says, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” In addition, 1 Corinthians 8:16 confirms that all things are created for God the Father and all creation was spoken into being through the second person of the trinity, the Son. By the Fathers design and will he is sovereign over all creation, and Jesus the Son was the conduit by which creation was made. This verse clarifies, “yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”
3) Jesus is called the Son of God, a name that can seem to insist that He was created by God, even birthed of God. However, when Jesus, who is God in the form of a man, came to earth to live a life as a man (a term known as incarnate or “in the flesh”), Jesus was conceived within a virgin, Mary, by the work of the Holy Spirit and not because of Mary’s relations with a man so that Jesus would not be called the son of Joseph, but rather the son of God. This is clarified in Luke 1:34-35, “Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”
WHO WILL YOU SAY THAT JESUS IS? IF YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT JESUS IS GOD, THEN GOD HAS REVEALED HIS TRUTH TO YOU!
Matthew 16:15-17, “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
WILL YOU TRUST THAT JESUS IS WHO HE CLAIMED TO BE?
He was either a liar and should be discredited.
Or, He was a lunatic and should be discredited.
Or, He was telling the truth and is Lord and should be submitted to as such.