That is an interesting question, isn’t it? Did Jesus say that
he was God? Did he say, “I am God; worship me?” Well, in the OT, you know that
Yahweh, God of Israel, declares at least 164 times that He is God. Moses starts
the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1 with God declaring Himself, “I am the LORD
your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” He goes
on to say that they shall have no other God beside Him. Well, the critics ask,
where in the NT Jesus has said that he was God. Hmm, good question!
His distracters further say, Jesus never said that he was
God, but it was his followers, his disciples, especially Paul, who made a God
out of him. Jesus not only did not say that he was God, but silenced the demons
when they declared that He was the Holy One of God.[1]
Why did he do that? Again when Simon Peter made his Nazarene declaration that Jesus
was the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus though he appreciated this
bold declaration, told his disciples not to tell anyone that he was Jesus the
Christ.[2]
Why so? When the rich young ruler came running and addressed him ‘Good
Teacher,’ Jesus told him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One,
that is God.”[3]
Why this denial? Well, my friends, we will try and systematically examine the
issue to understand the reason behind all these. Come with me, let’s explore
the Scriptures!
Jesus always referred to himself by the title the ‘Son of
Man,’ at least 48 times. What does it mean? Jewish Rabbis traced the ‘Son of
Man’ reference directly to Daniel 7:13-14, where it pointed out to the much
awaited Messiah, Christ. But others have been called by similar names. For
example the prophet Ezekiel is called ‘son of man,’ at least 90 times in his
book of prophecy, starting with Ezekiel 2:1! What do you day to that! Again,
Luke calls Adam the son of God, while tracing the genealogy of Jesus![4]
God calls King Solomon “My son!”[5]
Daniel himself is called the ‘son of man,’ by the angel.[6]
In such cases, ‘son of man’ referred to their humanity as mortal beings.
So what is so special about the “Son of Man” of Daniel
7:13-14? For one thing it is in capital letters, so does not refer to ordinary mortals.
Secondly Daniel in his vision saw “One like the Son of Man, coming with the
clouds of heaven!” He was brought before the Ancient of Days, God, and was
given an everlasting dominion, glory and indestructible kingdom, that all the
people of the world would serve him. Now this is a pointer of the Messiah, the
Christ, no doubt. While describing the end time happenings to his disciples,
Jesus paints himself in a similar picture. He says, “Then the sign of the Son
of Man will appear in heaven and … they will see The Son of Man coming on the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”[7]
Jesus is confirming the prophecy of Daniel and is applying it to himself, as
the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven to whom dominion and kingdom were
given, whom everyone worshiped. Is this direct enough for you?
Second confirmation of Jesus’ deity-ship is the ‘I Am’
statements of Christ in the Gospel of John. More importantly, Jesus said,
“Before Abraham was, I AM.”[8]
Jesus is claiming god-ship here because he is using the same title that God gave
to Himself in front of Moses before sending him to Egypt to face the Pharaoh. God
tells Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and that Moses should tell the children of
Israel, “I Am has sent me to you.”[9]
The moment Jesus said he was I AM, the Jews took up stones to pelt him, because
he dared to equate himself to God! That was blasphemy and the punishment was
death by stoning! Jesus just hid himself and went out, passing right in the
midst of them and escaped.[10]
So Jesus did consider himself as God, it was the Jews who had problems with that!
Third, Jesus declared that he had the authority to forgive
sins! That was blasphemy, for Jews considered only God can do that! When the
paralytic was let down with the bed on his was lying, Jesus heals him and says
“Son, your sins are forgiven you.” The ever vigilant scribes present on that
occasion murmured, why is this man speaking blasphemies like this? Who can
forgive sins but God alone? Jesus replies them saying he said thus so that they
may know that “the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.”[11]
Well, the scribes couldn’t take it because they considered Jesus as a mere
mortal, arrogating to himself godly prerogatives!
Fourth, the way Jesus taught was different from all the other
prophets amidst Israel. Prophets always used the formula, “Thus says the Lord,”[12]
thus acting as the spokespersons of God. But Jesus taught with authority, he
usually said, “I say unto you,” giving his own interpretation of Moses’ Law,
and setting aside many of the commands given by Moses.[13]
People wondered who this could be![14]
He was not only the Lord of Sabbath[15]
but also of the Law!
Fifth, Jesus categorically stated people needed to believe in
him to obtain salvation. He said, “If you do not believe that I am He, you will
die in you sins.”[16]
Clearly Jesus addresses himself as “He,” here, indicating his divinity. Faith
in Jesus Christ is crucial to salvation of the souls. Without our sins being forgiven,
we can never hope to get to heaven and inherit eternal life. For that faith in
Christ is essential, and faith that He died for us on the cross and has the
authority to forgive our sins, if we repent and ask him.
Sixth, Jesus said “I and my Father are One.” Again the Jews
took up stones to stone him, because of blasphemy, for being a man, he dared to
make himself God![17]
The Jews just couldn’t believe that Jesus, a mere carpenter could be the
Messiah. They had expected the Messiah to be a military leader, who would break
the yoke of Roman rule and liberate them. Here, Jesus was showing no signs of
such activity but instead was claiming to be equal to God. Total
misunderstanding of the Messiah and his role by the Jews! And that led them to
reject him and crucify him in the end.
Seventh, Jesus performed many miracles and to the skeptics of
his time, he said even if they will not believe him when he declared himself as
“Son of God,” they should at least believe in his works.[18]
He also told the same to the disciples of John the Baptist who came questioning
on behalf of John, whether he is the “Coming One” or are they to look for
another. ‘See the things I am doing, the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are
cleansed, deaf hear, dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to
them.’[19]
These are the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies of Isaiah 35:4-6; 61:1. On
seeing and hearing what he was doing, there should be no doubt left in the
hearts of God’s people that he was what he was claiming to be, the Son of Man.
Lastly, after resurrection, when Thomas acclaimed Jesus
Christ to be “My Lord, my God,”[20]
he realized the ultimate truth. His disciples saw his resurrection as the proof
of his divinity and worshiped him.
We will quickly see why Jesus silenced demons calling the Son
of the Holy One and instructed his disciples not to tell others that he was the
Christ. In case he had been open about his identity, with the misunderstanding
the Jew had about the role and identity of Messiah, they would have stoned him
to death long time back. Jesus’ ministry time on earth, which was just three
and a half years, would have been further cut short. He would have hardly had
time to train his disciples, deliver his teachings, perform the miracles and
all the things he did, if he had died earlier. So he was being more prudent and
waited till God’s time. In the end he did reveal his identity before the
authorities during his trial. When the high priest asked him, “Are you the
Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus answered in the affirmative, “I am.” He
alluded directly to Daniel 7:13-14, when he further said, “And you will see the
Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds
of heaven.”[21]
This made the high priest exclaim, what more proof we need, he is blaspheming
and is worthy of death. That nailed him to the cross.
So you see my friend, the skeptics are wrong all the way
through. Jesus knew he was Son of God, the Messiah and the Christ. He was
conscious of his deity-ship and was fulfilling the Will of God by sacrificing
himself on the cross or our sins. He was being careful of revealing his
identity early and spoiling his earthly ministry. And so, his disciples didn’t
make him God; he was and is God, God eternal. Disciples from day one preached
that Jesus was Lord and Christ.[22]
It was not invented later after a few decades.
Are you clear about these facts my dears? Never stumble on the
divinity of Jesus Christ and never be ashamed of proclaiming Him as God, worthy of worship. Like Thomas
declared, Jesus Christ is our Lord and God. Never let go of that truth.
[1]
Mark 1:24-25
[2]
Matthew 16:15-17, 20
[3]
Mark 10:17-18
[4]
Luke 3:38
[5] 1
Chronicles 28:6
[6]
Daniel 8:17
[7]
Matthew 24:30
[8]
John 8:58
[9]
Exodus 3:14
[10]
John 8:59
[11]
Mark 2:5-7,10
[12]
Ezekiel 11:15
[13]
Matthew 5:18, 20, 22, 26, 28, 32, 34,
39, 44, etc.
[14] Matthew
7:28-29
[15]
Mark 2:28
[16]
John 8:24
[17]
John 10:30, 31, 33
[18]
John 10:37-38
[19]
Matthew 11:3, 4-6; (my paraphrasing!)
[20]
John 20:27-29
[21]
Mark, 14:61-62
[22]
Acts 2:36
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