Jesus Claimed to Be God

2018-11-03

Jesus’ Clearest Declaration

The quintessential passage of Jesus claiming to be God is in John 8:

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. (John 8:56-59)

Here are three main points to consider from this passage:

  1. Abraham knew Jesus Christ. Abraham saw the LORD a few different times, such as in Genesis 18. It makes perfect sense that he was speaking to the Son of God before His incarnation. Jesus was referring to times such as these.
  2. Jesus called Himself by the name of God. In John 8:58, Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” This is a very strange sentence grammatically. However, Jesus was referring to a name of God and applied it to Himself. In Exodus 3:14, God told Moses, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Jesus Himself clearly declared Himself to be God here.
  3. Jesus declared Himself to be eternal. Related to the previous point, the phrase “Before Abraham was, I am” also refers to the eternality of Christ. Jesus always was; He was not a created being; therefore, He is God.
  4. The audience understood what Jesus was saying. The Jewish leaders understood that Jesus claimed to be both God and eternal, and therefore tried to stone him to death for blasphemy (John 8:59). There was no mistake that Jesus clearly declared Himself to be God.

Jesus Claimed to Be Eternal

In His High Priestly Prayer, Jesus referred to His eternality:

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. (John 17:5)

Before the creation of the world, Jesus already was, and was with the Father in perfect glory. Jesus recalled this time to God the Father.

Jesus Accepted Worship

Jesus was worshipped by many different people, whether in truth or in mockery. Here are the references: Matthew 2:11; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 28:9, 16-17; Mark 5:6; 15:19; Luke 24:52. Other servants of God stopped other people from worshipping them, such as in Acts 10:25-26 and Revelation 19:10; 22:8-9. If Jesus were not God, but wanted to honor God, He would have stopped them from worshipping Him. After the resurrection, Thomas, one of the twelve, called Jesus God, and Jesus did not stop him:

And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. (John 20:26-29)

If Jesus were not God, He would have been sinning to allow Thomas and all of these others to worship Him and call Him God.

Jesus Used Titles for Himself Only Applied to God

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:8)
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. (Revelation 1:10-11)
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6)
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. (Revelation 22:12-13)

In Revelation 1:8, the Almighty refers to Himself as the Alpha and Omega. The other three times, it is the Lord Jesus Christ that refers to Himself with this title.

Son of God is a Divine Title

Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. (John 5:18)

The Scriptures tell us that to be the Son of God is to be deity. Therefore, every time the Scriptures refer to Jesus Christ as the Son of God, they refer to His deity. Jesus Himself also claimed to be the Son of God:

I and my Father are one. (31) Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. (32) Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? (33) The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. (34) Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? (35) If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; (36) Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? (37) If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. (38) But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. (John 10:30-38)

Let us consider this passage in detail:

  1. Jesus is one with the Father. He has a unity with the Father (John 10:30), though this does not mean that they are the same (see John 17:11). He was always with the Father, and always will be. The Jews understood what He meant because they wanted to stone Him for blasphemy (John 10:31-32).
  2. Those to whom the word of God was sent were called children of God. Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6, but not in entirety. Here is the whole verse: “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.” These were called the children of the most High, but they were to perish (Psalm 82:7). Since Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, there is no blasphemy in such a title.
  3. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. Those others in Psalm 82 may have been called children of God, but Jesus’ literal Father was God the Father; there was no human father at all.
  4. Jesus’ works show that He is divine. The works show that Jesus is the divine Son of God.

God the Father Calls the Son “God”

God said this about Jesus:

But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. (Hebrews 1:8)

If God called His Son Jesus “God,” what further evidence do we need?

Conclusion

There are plenty of parts of the Bible that show that Jesus Christ is God. However, less often, we see that Jesus Himself claimed to be God. This is important because many non-Christians, including Muslims, want to see where Jesus claimed to be God. These verses show us exactly where He declared Himself God.