Did Jesus Claim to Be God?
If Jesus claimed to be God, we have a sticky situation on our hands.
And he did claim to be God. Let’s look at how.
First, recall that we have outstanding evidence that the New Testament is historically reliable. This means we have an accurate record of the things that Jesus said. And we find that, in fact, there are a quite few ways that Jesus claimed to be God. In this post, we will look at two different occasions, because they are definitely sufficient.
In the first, Jesus is at the temple in Jerusalem talking with some of the Jewish leaders. At one point he implied that he knew Abraham. Immediately they challenged him on that, saying, “You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?” (John 8:56-57).
Jesus answered and said, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!” (John 8:58).
This is arguably one of the most powerful statements made by Jesus. First, he is claiming that he existed before Abraham. Then, in saying “I AM” Jesus is using the name that God gave for himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14. It refers to the self-existence of God. Jesus is claiming to be God.
That message was loud and clear to the Jewish leaders because they immediately picked up stones to kill him (John 8:59). They knew perfectly well that Jesus was claiming to be God, which was a capital offense.
The second time is when Jesus was on trial. The Jewish high priest asked him point blank: “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the blessed one?” Jesus replied, “I AM. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:61-62).
Jesus once again affirms that he is the great “I AM” of Exodus 3:14. But also, he is claiming to be the Jewish Messiah by quoting from Daniel 7:13. Old Testament teaching tells us that the Messiah was going to be God himself. For example, Isaiah calls the Messiah “Mighty God, Eternal Father.” (Isaiah 9:6).
After this exchange, the high priest tore his clothes in “horror” and said, “Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” (Mark 14:63-64). This affirms for us that once again the message was loud and clear.
So, Jesus claimed to be God. Why does this put us in a sticky situation?
Well, I think I’ll let the great British scholar C.S. Lewis tell us in his own words, in our next post.
I can hardly wait for the next post!