Is Jesus God?

“Jesus never said he was God”. Have you ever had someone tell you that? Were you able to answer them, or were they able to turn to scriptures which ‘proved’ their assertion and which you were unable to counter? This hub is by no means exhaustive, but by the end of it I trust many believers will have a lot more answers under their belt to offer such cynics; answers based not on tradition, personal opinion or slanted interpretations of the Bible, but solidly founded on the inerrant, infallible and unvarnished Word of God, often as Jesus personally spoke it.

What many Christians fail to realize is that among the many religions of this world, Jesus is recognized and often revered as a great teacher or a good man, or even a prophet of God. But simply believing in the fact that Jesus existed does not make anyone a Christian. Muslims believe in Isa, which is the Qur’an’s name for Jesus, and Islam believes Jesus was God’s prophet and Messiah, born of a virgin called Mary. So, if that much made you a Christian, every Muslim on the planet would be one. Likewise, para-Christian sects such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and Christadelphians also share the Muslim belief that Jesus was not divine but merely created, and will oppose Christians who believe otherwise with precisely the objection we opened with: “Jesus never said he was God”. They even claim they can show this from Scripture, among which one particular favorite is found in Mark 10:17-22.

Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honour your father and your mother.’ And he answered and said to him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

At first sight this passage seems to corroborate the case for Jesus’ non-divinity, where he appears to challenge any suggestion to the contrary:

“Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God…”

However, those who seize on it this passage misunderstand Judaism and how the rabbis would teach, because here Jesus was demonstrating a common rabbinical teaching technique that he often employed, which is the rabbinical use of one question to reveal a deeper one. Jesus wasn’t saying: “I am not God”, but questioning the rich young man’s purported understanding of who he was. We see this same device repeated in John 18:33-38, during Jesus’ discourse with Pontius Pilate.

Here Pilate asks Jesus at one point whether he is “King of the Jews”, to which Jesus offers the rabbinical response: “Are you saying this of your own accord, or did someone else tell you this about me?” – Which, if you give it moment’s thought, is essentially the same question he put to the rich young ruler: ‘Do you know what you’re saying?’ Pilate’s answer is telling because he didn’t fully understand the issue.

Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world." Then Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, "I find no guilt in him”.

In fact Jesus, Pilate and the Jewish authorities all had different very understandings of the indictment laid before the procurator and of what ‘King of the Jews’ meant. To Pilate, it was a claim that Jesus was a political rebel against Imperial authority; to the Sanhedrin it was a religious claim of Messiahship, but to Jesus, it had a spiritual dimension to which his accusers were blind. In Hebrew, 'Jews' is 'Yehudim' or 'People of Praise', and just as when Paul says that “he is not a Jew who is one outwardly...but one inwardly” (Romans 2:28) Jesus alluded here to the same idea, because his claim to kingship of the ‘People of Praise’ did not simply refer to everyone in Judea, but only those who worship God in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

Another instance of this rabbinical style famously occurs in Matthew 16:13-18.

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say ‘John the Baptist’, others say ‘Elijah’, and others ‘Jeremiah’ or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Do you see the connection with Jesus’ challenge to the rich young man and Pilate? – effectively admonishing them: 'Never mind what others say about me, who do YOU say that I am?’ To which Simon Peter’s answer pleased Jesus enormously: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". And how does Jesus respond?

"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."

In other words: ‘Congratulations, Simon Son-of-the-Dove, because you didn’t acquire this understanding from human tradition, but directly from God’. And I translate Jonah as 'Dove' here, not only because that’s literally what it means, but because the Dove is symbolic in Scripture of the Holy Spirit, while ‘Simon’ literally means ‘Hearer’.

Now, join those dots: ‘Congratulations, Holy-Spirit-hearer…’ No wonder Jesus went on to say: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The similarity between Peter (petros) and rock (petra) here has long confused many to suppose that Jesus meant that Peter himself was the Rock upon which he would build his Church; when in fact, Jesus was telling Simon that he owed his petros-ness, so to speak, to the fact that he was founded on the Petra: the foundational principle that the believer can hear directly from God by the Holy Spirit.

Ok, some sceptics might concede. So Jesus was the Son of God and Messiah, and all right, maybe he didn’t specifically deny he was God, but when did he ever say that he was?

Let’s look at John 6:35-38 first:

“Do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."

Here, Jesus equates his claim to be the Son of God with blasphemy if it is false, but if that isn't conclusive enough, consider John 8:51-59.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."

The Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, 'If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.' Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?"

Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.' But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad."

So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?"

Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Readers uneducated in Judaism might be blind to Jesus’ claims during this discourse but not the Pharisees listening intently to his every word at the time. Even today, Jesus’ dramatic words in verse 58, resonate in any Jewish ear: "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am". That’s why they went to stone him, because his words were either true or they were utter blasphemy, because ‘I Am’ is none other than the name of God, and they knew perfectly well what Jesus was saying.

The term harks back to Exodus 3:13-14, where Moses encountered God in the Burning Bush:

Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I Am Who I Am." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I Am has sent me to you.'"

To this day in Israel, the verbal construction ‘I am’ is never used in the Hebrew language, lest any Jew inadvertently utter the divine name in vain. And that is what made so many of Jesus’ other claims, especially in John’s Gospel, so startling to so many. Here are just a few:

"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." (John 6:51)

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

"Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” (John 10:7)

“ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live”. (John 11:25)

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” (John 15:1)

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

These latter references made a double claim to deity because every devout Jew knew that in their Bible Israel was the Vine and God the Vinedresser, so Jesus is saying: ‘As I am to the Father, so are you to me’.

For the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! (Isaiah 5:7)

Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine? (Jeremiah 2:21)

Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved! You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. (Psalm 80:7-9)

Then there is Thomas’s famous post-resurrection confession, in John 20:26-29 -

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe."

Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"

And notice Jesus’ telling response, which is not ‘For goodness' sake, Thomas, you can’t say that’, but: Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Lastly, in this category I would point to Jesus’ betrayal by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane, in John 18:3-6.

So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I Am." Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, "I Am," they drew back and fell to the ground.

Many English translations render Jesus’ response as ‘I am he’, whereas 'he' is incorrectly added and is not present in the original Greek. Then, there are the direct third party claims of Jesus’ deity, by Isaiah, John, Paul, Peter, Titus and the writer of Hebrews:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

And the unequivocal claim in John 1:1-3, 14.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

In Romans 9:5 the Apostle Paul says:

To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

And in Philippians 2:5-8, Paul explains:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

And continues in Colossians 1:11-20 –

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Although many suppose the writer of Hebrews to be Paul, this is by no means certain, but either way, whoever did write it shared this much with Paul in Hebrews 1:1-8 –

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"? Or again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son"? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him." Of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire." But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of your kingdom.

In conclusion, we can say that just as belief in God is a matter of individual choice, so is belief in Jesus as the Son of God and full member of the Godhead. However, what cynics cannot do is appeal to the Scriptures to claim with any integrity that the Christian Bible does not say that he is, or that Jesus ever denied that he was.