Does The Bible Teach That Jesus Is God
By David Wood

Two thousand years ago a man called Jesus walked upon the earth. Since that time the world has given this man Jesus many titles and many names. Today if you were to ask ten different people who Jesus is, it’s quite possible you would get ten different answers. Jesus has been called only a great moral teacher, a cynic, a sage, a wise man blessed by God, and a political troublemaker. Islam teaches that Jesus was only a great prophet. Mormonism says that Jesus was the spirit brother of Lucifer. Jehovah Witnesses teach that Jesus was Michael the archangel. The New Age believes that Jesus was a mere human vessel that was enlightened by the “Christ-consciousness” which is available to every human, literally a “way-shower”. Even many Christians’ state that Jesus was only the Son of God and that Jesus never claimed to be God.

All of this leaves us with the questions: Does the Bible teach that Jesus was God in the flesh? Did Jesus ever claim to be God? And did the apostles believe that Jesus was God?

The Humanity of Jesus

One main objection used by those that believe that Jesus wasn’t God comes from the Scriptures that have Jesus saying things like “the Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). There are many Scriptures such as this that makes it sound as if Jesus couldn’t have been God if He said the Father was greater than He was. The Bible also states that Jesus didn’t even know the time and hour of His return, only the Father knew that. There is no doubt the Bible makes it clear that Jesus was 100% human. There are numerous Scriptures that attest to this fact:

(John: 19:28) Jesus got thirsty.

(Matt 4:2) He got hungry.

(Matt 3:5) He showed anger.

(John 11:35) Jesus wept.

(Luke 2:6-7) He was physically born of a woman.

(Luke 23:48-49) He died a human death.

These are just a few of the verses that speak about the humanity of Jesus. So when Jesus said “the Father is greater than I”, does this mean it is impossible that He was also God? No, it doesn’t. In many verses including John 14:28, Jesus was speaking from His humanity. As a man with a human nature, His position to the Father would have been different. But as we will see, this doesn’t mean that He didn’t have a divine nature.

The Deity of Jesus

Many skeptics believe that Jesus never claimed to be God because He never came right out and said the words “I am God”. If Jesus was God, why didn’t He just say so? Actually, He did. What we must do is read the Bible in the context it was written, meaning the culture it was written in, and also who was being spoken to at that time. Although Jesus never said the exact words “I am God”, the Jewish leaders certainly knew that Jesus was claiming to be God. The apostles certainly knew that He was claiming equality with God. And Jesus Himself knew He was claiming to be God. Lets take a look at the words of Jesus, the words of the apostles, and the reactions of the Jewish leaders.

The first thing we need to know is the name of God found in the Old Testament. This is extremely important because if Jesus ever claimed to be God, we need to know whom He was claiming to be equal to. The one name for the true God found in the Old Testament is Yahweh. Although God was also called Jehovah, the name Yahweh was the one name that God actually gave Himself. In Hebrew, it was written as YHWH. This name had to do with the self-existence of God and was given to Moses when God said, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). This name was so sacred and holy that the Jews would perform a special little ceremony before even writing the name. Some of the most devout Jews wouldn’t even verbally say the name because they considered it so holy.

In the Old Testament (O.T.), (1 Sam 2:6, Joel 3:12, Psalm 49:15), God was the only One that was the giver of life, the only Judge, and the only One to raise the dead. But in the New Testament (N.T.), (John 5:21;25-29), Jesus claimed these powers for Himself.

In the O.T., God is the only One to give and put commandments in place. But in the New Testament (John 13:34) Jesus said “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another.”

In the O.T. Yahweh God was the only forgiver of sins. But in (Mark 2:5) it says, When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” The Jews knew that Jesus was claiming to be God by forgiving sins, so to back up His claim, Jesus also healed this paralytic.

In the O.T., there were titles that were used for only God. Just a few examples are:

(Psalm 23:1) God is called “my Shepherd.” (Joel 3:12) God is called the “Judge.”

(Isaiah 62:5) God is called the “Bridegroom.” (Psalm 27:1) God is called “Light.”

(Isaiah 42:8) God is called the “First and the Last.”

Now look at the titles used for Jesus in the New Testament:

(John 10:11) Jesus is called “Shepherd.” (Matt 25:31,John 5:27) Jesus is called “Judge.”

(Matt 25:1) Jesus is called the “Bridegroom.” (John 8:12) Jesus is called “Light.”

(Rev 1:17) Jesus is called the “First and the Last.”

One of the main Scriptures that shows that Jesus claimed to be God is found in (John 8:58). Jesus was speaking with the Jews and the Jews had asked Jesus if He was greater than Abraham, who is dead. Then the Jews asked Jesus whom He was making Himself out to be. In verse 56 Jesus told the Jews that Abraham rejoiced to see His day. Then the Jews said to Jesus, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Then in verse 58, Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” The Jewish leaders then picked up stones to kill Jesus, but Jesus hid Himself and left the temple. So what was it that upset the Jewish leaders so much that they wanted to kill Jesus? Here we have the Jews asking Jesus who He was claiming to be. Then Jesus tells them that “before Abraham was, I AM.” The Jews knew the Old Testament Scriptures well and knew that Jesus was referring to (Exodus 3:14) where God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.” Here we have Jesus telling the Jews that He existed before Abraham, and when Jesus said “I AM”, the Jews wanted to kill Jesus because they knew He was claiming to be the God of the Old Testament.

In (Matt 28:18) Jesus said that “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” If God is the Creator and has all authority over everything, how is it that Jesus has all authority over everything in heaven and on earth?

In (Matt 22:43-44) Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1 where it says “The Lord says to my Lord, ‘sit at My right hand.’” This is a passage where Yahweh God calls Jesus God.

In (Psalm 45:6) the passage is directed toward the Messiah (Jesus) and says “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.” Here we have the coming Messiah Jesus being called God. (See also Hebrews 1:8)

(Colossians 1:15) says of Jesus, “He is the image of the invisible God.” Verse 16 goes on to say that Jesus was the Creator of the universe: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and earth..” (Colossians 2:9) says that “For in Him [Jesus] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”

(Philippians 2:5-8) talks about how God had came in the flesh to earth when it says of Jesus, “He was in the form of God, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men.”

In (Titus 2:13) Jesus is not only called Savior but He is also called God. “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

(Philippians 2:10-11) talks about how at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and that every tongue should admit that Jesus is Lord. But in (Isaiah 45:22-23) this is exactly what is said by God about Himself when He says, “For I am God, and there is no other. To me every knee will bow and every tongue will swear.”

Was Jesus worshipped? All through the Bible only the one true God Yahweh was to be worshipped. Men refused worship, angels refused worship, but Jesus never refused worship.

In (Matt 14:33) Jesus was worshipped after calming the storm. In (Matt 8:2) a leper worshipped Jesus. In (John 9:38) a blind man worshipped Him. In all of these events, not once did Jesus rebuke anyone for bowing down to Him.

Possibly the most well known account of when Jesus was worshipped and called God is when Thomas saw Jesus after the resurrection and exclaimed “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Many skeptics believe that Thomas didn’t literally mean that Jesus was God but instead, Thomas was just overjoyed and was expressing his excitement. But there is a problem with this view. First, Thomas was a devout Jew. If he were only using some type of figure of speech when he said “my God”, Thomas would have been guilty of using God’s name in vain, which is doubtful for a devout Jew. But more importantly, look what the response was of Jesus after Thomas called Him “my Lord and my God!” Jesus didn’t rebuke Thomas. Jesus was a Rabbi, and if Thomas were wrong to call Him “my Lord and my God”, as a Rabbi, Jesus would have quickly rebuked Thomas. Instead, look what Jesus said to him. “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Only a man that truly considered Himself to be God would have given Thomas a response like that.

The Bible makes clear that angels were to worship only God Himself. And yet in (Hebrews 1:5-6) the angels are told to worship Jesus.

In the Old Testament passage of (Zechariah 12:10), Yahweh God says “They will look on Me whom they have pierced.” This is a prophecy concerning the crucifixion of Jesus (John 19:37). Here we have in the O.T. God saying that it would be He that was pierced on the cross.

Another main verse that shows the deity of Jesus is (John 1:1). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Verse 16 goes on to say “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..” This one passage alone shows that Jesus was God in the flesh. The Word was God and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

I would like to conclude with the title that Jesus used for Himself that proves that He claimed to be God. As we have seen, Jesus never did say the exact words “I am God.” But also as we have seen, He didn’t need to use those exact words. The apostles knew what Jesus meant and certainly Jesus knew what He meant. But maybe the people that most recognized that Jesus was claiming to be God were the Jewish leaders and teachers. The Jews were well versed in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) which is why they were always accusing Jesus of blasphemy and trying to kill Him. They knew without a doubt that Jesus was claiming to be the Creator God of the Old Testament. One of the best examples of this is when Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of man.

Many people today miss the meaning behind this title that Jesus applied to Himself. Many believe that this was just a title attributed to Jesus because He was born of a woman, meaning the title “Son of man” is only referring to the humanity of Jesus. But the Jewish leaders knew exactly what it meant when Jesus always referred to Himself as the Son of man. The best example of this is found in (Mark 14:61-64). Here we see that Jesus was being questioned at His trial and He answered, “I am; and you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” After Jesus said this, the high Priest tore his robe and said “What further need to we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy!”

So what did Jesus mean when He always called Himself the Son of man? In Daniel chapter 7 there is a messianic prophecy that talks about the “Son of man” and the “Ancient of Days”. In (Daniel 7: 9&13) God Himself is called the “Ancient of Days”, and Daniels vision includes "one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven" and this "son of man" will have all authority over every nation and every person will worship him. The Jews knew that when Jesus called Himself the “Son of man“, He was refering to the prophecy from Daniel 7 and claiming equality with the "Ancient of Days" (God) of the Old Testament. (see also verse 22)

Although I haven’t included every verse that has Jesus being equated with Yahweh God, the above references are adequate to show that Jesus was indeed God in the flesh. Not only were His words and titles equal to God, but so was His actions. Jesus forgave sins, healed the sick, and even controlled nature. It wasn’t that a man took on a divine nature, but instead, God put on a human nature.

I would like to conclude with a quote from the great Christian author, C.S. Lewis. Mr. Lewis made this statement concerning people that see the claims that Jesus made of Himself but still deny that He was God.

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish things that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of thing Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would rather be a lunatic--on a level with the man that says he is a poached egg--Or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

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Copyright (c) 2001 David Wood All rights reserved.