Did Jesus really claim to be God??? He didn’t stand on a stage and recite the line, “I am God,” but He didn’t need to! In fact, that’s not even how God works…you have to put some effort into finding Him:
“But from there you shall seek the LORD your God, and you shall find him, when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.” –Deut 4:29, NHEB
“You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.” — Jeremiah 29:13
Did you catch that? Seek God with ALL YOUR HEART! So no, Jesus wasn’t going to make it super obvious, but He did make the claim. Let’s take a look:
He made a show of doing things that only God can do.
For example, He claimed to forgive sins, and then backed up that claim by performing a miracle:
“And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you reason these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to tell the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your bed, and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”, he said to the paralytic, “I tell you, arise, take up your mat, and go to your house.” And he arose immediately, and took up the mat, and went out in front of them all; so that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this.”
–Mark 2:5-12
The only motivation the Jews at the time had for getting Jesus killed was that He claimed to be God.
They absolutely understood His indirect claims to be God, and they even killed Him for it. And, in case there was any misunderstanding as to what Jesus was claiming, He would have had all kinds of opportunities to correct any misunderstanding, but not only did He keep on repeating the claims, He affirmed them when under the threat of arrest and death. So, there wasn’t really any question as to what His intentions were. Here are just a few examples:
Existed Before Abraham
He told his opposers in John 8:58 that He existed before Abraham and identified himself again as I AM, the name God used to Moses in the burning bush:
“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.” 59Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was concealed, and went out of the temple.”
–John 8:58-59
Messiah as God
The prophet Isaiah foretold that the Messiah would indeed be God (Isaiah 9:6), and Jesus claimed to be that Messiah:
“The high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is it which these testify against you?” But he stayed quiet, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky.” The high priest tore his clothes, and said, “What further need have we of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him to be worthy of death.”
–Mark 14:60-64
If Jesus weren’t God, He wouldn’t have accepted worship the way only God does.
Or, if a mere human DID do that, then he’d be a blasphemer for having done so.
His disciples worshipped Him after he calmed the storm in Matthew 14:33, and again after the resurrection in Matthew 28:9. There are so many more that there’s no point in listing them all here.
The Early Church: “Jesus is God!”
The disciples and early church affirmed his deity, saying:
- He deserves the honor due to God (John 5:23)
- He is the creator (Col 1:16)
- And, flat out, His divinity (Titus 2:13)
We actually have a full post on evidence that the earliest Christians believed Jesus is God.
Jesus states that He is God in Revelation by affirming for Himself the very things that the Old Testament says are true of God alone.
In Isaiah, God speaks, saying He is the first and the last, the alpha and omega: Isaiah 41:4, 43:10, 44:6, 48:12.
Then, in Revelation, Jesus says that *He* is the first and the last, the alpha and omega: Rev 1:17-18, Rev 2:8. There can only be one.
So, Jesus didn’t come out and make an obvious statement that He was God, no…but He didn’t have to. People got the point, and we know that indeed His not-so-subtle references to the fact that He is God were intentional, and understood properly, by the events that ensued.
Do you believe Jesus is God?
What are the implications of that? Read on to find out…
