By Pastor Rob -

In several, recent discussions I’ve been involved in with my contemporaries concerning Biblical doctrines, the doctrine of the Deity of Christ has been one of the re-occurring subjects. Through the last 16 years the study of the Word of God, (The Holy Bible) has become one of the greatest passions of my life. During these years of study I’ve discovered, through the Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, the unfolding of redemptive history. That is, God’s plan, established before the foundation of the world, began to unfold at the creation of the world. He carried out His plan through covenants, which He established with His people, beginning with Adam and Eve. To have any meaningful discussion of a history of redemption, we must presuppose a fall. That historical event occurred in Genesis 3, the same chapter in which the promise of redemption was given concerning His first creatures, the Promise of The Seed of the woman.

Through the progressive nature of His covenant with His people, we see it re-established through redemptive history as it unfolds finding it’s culmination in the person of Jesus Christ, the promised Seed of the woman. This event in redemptive History is called the incarnation. The Second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God “became flesh and dwelt among His people”. (John 1:1-3,14) As the “Last Adam” (1Cor.15:45) He satisfied the elements of the preceding covenants and established the “New Covenant” in His Blood. (Luke 22:20) There is a passage in Hebrews, I think best outlines redemptive History, particularly regarding the Nature and work of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 1:1-4 (ESV)

“ Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, [2] 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. [3] 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, [4] having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

The Deity of Jesus Christ is an essential doctrine of the Christian faith, without it there is no Christianity. In my recent discussions of the deity of Jesus Christ a point I often hear to disregard His deity, is that Jesus Himself never claimed to be God, it was a concoction of His followers that developed over time to keep His legacy going. However, there are many examples, in the Gospel accounts, of Jesus Himself teaching His followers that He is divine in nature. These Gospels are historical documents, their type of literature is historical narrative and should be interpreted as such. Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity, knew He was fully God and fully man and He clearly taught this fact.

The goal I have to accomplish in this writing is to show from Jesus’ own words, recorded in history, His claims to be God. There are three ways I’ll point this out from Jesus’ teaching. First, the implicit claims to deity. Second, the explicit claims to deity. And third, the response of the religious rulers of His day to His claims of deity. Not only did Jesus understand what He was doing in claiming to be God, but His listeners also understood His claims. It is one thing to disbelieve that Jesus’ claims of deity were true, but it is gross malpractice of biblical interpretation to say that He did not make such claims.

There are six phrases and words that Jesus uses in the context of the synoptic Gospels and John to refer to His divine nature. He has the ability to forgive sins, an attribute that only God has as a merciful Judge. He describes Himself as The Son of God, specifically referring to His co-eternal existence with His Father, eternality being a divine attribute. Jesus’ favorite description of Himself, The Son of Man, not only refers to what He came to do in the incarnation, but it is a reference pulled from the Old Testament as a reference to a divine Being that is presented before the Ancient of Days (God) and is described with great authority and is worshipped by people out of every nation. Only God is to receive worship. Jesus also describes Himself with the word Lord, which He used in the context of the Divine position only God holds in relation to His people. He includes Himself in unity with the other Divine Persons of the Trinity. Lastly, he describes Himself through affirmations of being God.

With these six uses of Divine description by Jesus Himself, I’ll establish each of my three points.

First, Jesus Christ implicitly claims to be God. There is a passage in Luke where Jesus Heals a paralytic man, forgives his sin and then describes Himself as the Son of Man.

Luke 5:17-26 (ESV)

“ On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. [18] And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, [19] but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. [20] And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” [21] And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” [22] When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? [23] Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? [24] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—”I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” [25] And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. [26] And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

Here Jesus heals this man, surely a miracle, and a person would think that was the most astonishing event that took place in this context. But in the process of this miracle Jesus tells the man “your sins are forgiven” which it turns out, is the most astonishing event in the presence of these religious leaders. They understood two things about what Jesus said. He said He was the Son of Man, which is an explicit claim to Deity that I will explain in my second point. Jesus also, claimed to forgive this man of his sins. The religious leaders understood that as an action only God could perform. For a man to claim it was blasphemy. This is certainly a fact that every Jewish boy would have known. So the answer to their rhetorical question “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” is of course, no one! Jesus knew that, the text also reveals He knew their thoughts, so He re-affirmed His implicit claim to being God by establishing His authority. He was certainly not looking to make friends with these religious leaders.

A second example of Jesus Christ implicitly claiming to be God is found in my personal favorite Gospel, the Gospel of John. Toward the end, after the resurrection, Jesus meets with His disciples again. This time Thomas was there. We commonly know him as doubting Thomas. But here when Jesus makes it empirically clear to Thomas that He has risen from the dead, Thomas makes one of the strongest statements of faith in the New Testament. The account reads like this;

John 20:26-29 (ESV)

“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.” [27] 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.” [28] Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” [29] Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

“My Lord and My God.” Thomas said it, but we see Jesus’ implicit claim of Deity in His affirmation of Thomas’ words and action. Jesus says, “Have you believed because you have seen me?”

These are only two of many implicit claims to be God that Jesus made. It is not a wise practice however, to develop a Biblical Doctrine from implicit claims of Jesus Christ. Next I would like to look to a few of the many passages where Jesus explicitly refers to Himself as Divine.

My first example, also found in the Gospel of John, is within the context of what is known as Jesus’ High Priestly prayer. In this prayer we get an incredible glimpse into the intimate relationship The Son of God has with God the Father. In the first few verses of John 17 Jesus explicitly refers to Himself as the eternal Son of God. Let’s take a look;

John 17:1-5 (ESV)

“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, [2] since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. [3] And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. [4] i glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. [5] And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

Jesus begins His address by identifying God as His Father as He refers to Himself as God’s Son. The prayer includes the Fathers plan for the Son in the world, revealing the purpose of His incarnation, the Glory of God in the salvation of His people. Though Christ has a subordinate role in carrying out this plan of redemption, His statements regarding His Divine nature are clear. He is to receive Glory as the Son of God, with the same Glory He had before creation. That is, within the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the same majestic radiance belongs to each Member. This Glory is attributed to God alone, and is therefore, shared only by The Father, Son and Holy Spirit eternally.

The second explicit example I’ll use considering Jesus’ claim to be God is in His favorite description of Himself as the “Son of Man”. Now you may be thinking “that sounds like a description of His humanity”, and it does but within a context. The context is the incarnation. That is God the Son becoming a Man to carry out this plan of redemption. The Son being fully God, eternally divine by nature, at a point in human history also took on a human nature. Hence, we have the dual nature of Christ.

Due to God’s eternal nature and omniscience, we cannot properly speak of a beginning point of God’s plan of redemption. But we would expect to see some clues concerning the role of the Son of Man in the plan of redemption revealed in the Old Testament as God’s revelation unfolds.

The phrase “the Son of Man” comes from a passage in the book Daniel. Before we can know what Jesus meant as He used this term to describe Himself, let’s see how Daniel defines this phrase.

Daniel 7:13-14 (ESV)

“I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven

there came one like a son of man,

and he came to the Ancient of Days

and was presented before him.

[14] And to him was given dominion

and glory and a kingdom,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him;

his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom one

that shall not be destroyed.”

This Heavenly Being which is described as “one like a son of man” is before the throne of God “The Ancient of Days”. The depiction is to be understood as, upon this Son of Man is bestowed everything that belongs to God alone. Glory, Power and Dominion. It is as if the Father was bestowing an inheritance upon His Son. This inheritance includes the plan of redemption that is to be carried out by Him. The outcome of that plan is that God, including God the Son and will receive worship from people out of every tribe nation and tongue, in the establishment of the Kingdom of God.

Though there is a tie to the earthly kingship of David, David is an earthly figure. The Son of man is a heavenly figure.

This look at Daniels passage is to be kept in mind as we look at this example of Jesus’ claim to be the divine Son of Man.

Matthew 16:13-17 (ESV)

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” [14] And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” [15] He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” [16] Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” [17] 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.”

Here we find Peter’s great confession within the context of Jesus explicitly describing Himself as the Son of man to His Disciples. It is clear that Jesus understood what He was teaching by describing Himself as Daniel’s Son of Man, that He was Divine. It is clear that Peter understood what Jesus was teaching because of His confession, “You are the Christ Son of the Living God.” Then Jesus affirms His Confession by saying “Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”

It turns out that Jesus’ favorite description of Himself is the clearest reference to His Divinity. We find this phrase, The Son of Man, used by Jesus several times in at least nine historical events through the Gospel accounts.

There are many examples of Jesus’ Claim to be God both implicit and explicit. I’ve only been able to cover a few. One last way to see from Jesus’ own words that He taught He was God, is the response of those religious leaders that heard Him make such claims. I found four examples in the Gospel of John. I will use one passage.

Jesus’ Claim to be God was clear enough for His listeners to understand. The religious leaders that heard Him cried blasphemy and called for the sentence of death, which was the penalty under Jewish law for blasphemy. Their accusation was that Jesus, being a man, was making Himself God. We’ll look at one passage to see what He said to get such a hostile response from these religious leaders.

John 10:25-33 (ESV)

“Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, [26] but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. [27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. [28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. [29] My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. [30] I and the Father are one.”

[31] The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. [32] Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” [33] The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

Jesus taught in this account that He was the Son of God by referring to God as His Father. He taught that He has the ability to give His people eternal life. He taught that He was of the same nature as God the Father, omnipotent, “I and the Father are one”. Jesus knew what He was teaching, that is clear. It is also clear that these religious leaders knew what He was teaching by their response. They wanted to kill Him because of His claims to be God, The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

In this short space, and with limited understanding, I have attempted through three means to prove from the Scriptures that Jesus claimed to be God. In His words He taught that He was God through implicit means and explicit means. Through the Gospels there are at leased 26 historical events where Jesus Himself claimed to be God. I’ve shared with you a few. Then, lest their be any doubt of how Jesus’ claims were perceived in His day, I gave an example where His claims got Him the death penalty by the religious rulers who heard Him and understood exactly what He was saying.