TEN PROOFS WHY JESUS IS GOD
1). INTRODUCTION
At a crucial point in his ministry, Jesus asked his disciples,“Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). The answer to this question is more important than any other question or challenge anyone can face in life.
Nevertheless, today, just as in Jesus’ day, when Christians ask people the question “who do you say Jesus is?” there are various answers given concerning his identity. But what does the New Testament tell us about who Jesus is?
Understanding the deity of Jesus is fundamental in unlocking the door to eternal life and to defending the truth of the Christian faith.
All major religions and cults are united about one thing. They all reject the doctrine of the deity of Christ. That fact alone should tell us something. Some of these objections are a result of rationalism (“reason” is supreme, not God) over revelation or a misunderstanding of what the doctrine teaches. Another more common objection results from revisionist history, which claims that Christ’s deity was invented at the Council of Nicaea in the 4th century and not something believed by the early church.¹
The reason Christians believe in the deity of Jesus is that we are forced to come to this conclusion by the clear teaching of Scripture. It is important to get Jesus’ identity because if we deny the deity of Jesus then we do not have the Father (1 John 2:23; cf. John 5:23). Worse than that we are dead in our sins.
Here are 10 Scriptural proofs for the deity of Jesus Christ.
2). THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD
# JESUS’ DIVINITY DOES NOT MAKE HIM ANOTHER GOD. IT IS THE FOUNDATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.
This is vital to understand because many objectors to the deity of Jesus misunderstand and misrepresent what Christians believe about the Trinity. Christians believe what the Bible teaches — that there is only one true and living God (Deuteronomy 6:4; cf. Mark 12:29 & 1 Corinthians 8:6). However, we must not confuse monotheism (belief in one God) with Unitarianism (the belief that the being of God is shared by one person). Jesus’ divinity is part of the doctrine of the Trinity, which states that within the one Being that is God, there exists eternally three co-equal and co-eternal persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each is a distinct person, yet each is identified as God: the Father (1 Corinthians 8:6), the Son (John 1:1–3; Romans 9:5), and the Spirit (Acts 5:3–4). We must also remember that it wasn’t the Father or the Spirit who became incarnate; it was the Son (John 1:14) and He was born under the Law (Galatians 4:4). This is why, in His humanity, Jesus prays to the Father (Matthew 26:39, 42).
The doctrine of the Trinity is revealed throughout the Bible, but what is largely inferred in the Old Testament becomes explicit in the New through the incarnation of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God did not change between the Old and New Testaments, being a Unitarian God in the Old and a Trinitarian God in the New. God has always been Triune, the only thing that changed was revelation became completed only with the New Testament; specifically revelation of the divinity of Jesus, while foreshadowed in the Old Testament, is only completed in the New Testament.
The Old Testament clearly teaches that there is a plurality in the Godhead. This fact which was accepted by the ancient Jewish church and early Rabbinic thought.² For the purposes of this post it is sufficient to state that the Hebrew Bible clearly teaches the Messiah would be God. (eg Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Micah 5:2; Zechariah 2:10-11)
3). THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT JESUS PRE-EXISTED CREATION
The New Testament in several passages clearly teaches that Jesus existed in eternity past before his birth in Bethlehem.
Genesis 1:1 tells us, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In John 1:1 we read the same words, “In the beginning.”8 John informs us in John 1:1 that in the beginning was the Word (logos) and that the Word was not only with God but was God. This Word is the one who brought all things into being at creation (John 1:3). John 1:1 teaches that the Word is eternal, the Word has had an eternal relationship with the Father, and the Word as to His nature is deity. The clincher is John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Jesus applied God’s title “I am” to Himself and identifies as God who appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18:
“Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it and rejoiced.” The Jews replied, “You aren’t 50 years old yet, and You’ve seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:56-58)
In his prayer in John 17 Jesus both refers to his pre-existence and uses terminology that can only be used about deity:
“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with THE GLORY THAT I HAD WITH YOU BEFORE THE WORLD EXISTED.” (John 17:3-5)
“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for YOU LOVED ME BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.” (John 17:24)
To have eternal life is to know two persons: both the Father and Jesus (see John 14:6-7; John 16:3). But notice, Jesus is distinguished from the Father because Jesus is the one speaking to the Father. The personal pronouns (me, your, you) clearly show that this is one person speaking to another, (elsewhere collectively as “we” and “our” when Jesus addressed the disciples, as in John 14:23). In John 17, the Son is speaking of the glory He has shared with the Father before the world was; the words “in your own presence” refer to their sharing of divine glory. John 17:3–5 is not an example of the “human side” praying to the “divine side” but of a divine, yet incarnate (John 1:14) person, the Son, communicating with a divine, but non-corporeal person, the Father in heaven.
Paul’s words in Philippians 2:5–8 teach not only the deity of Jesus but also the distinct personhood of the Son prior to His incarnation. In this passage, Paul exhorts the Philippians to have the same attitude as Christ Jesus who “existed in the form of God.” These words come before the verbs emptied, taking, and becoming and point to the pre-existence of the one “existing in the form of God.” Moreover, Jesus did not regard the equality He had with God the Father, in eternity past, something to be held on to. Instead He “made himself nothing” by doing two things: taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men. Having entered into human existence He humbled himself to death on the Cross. Because of this, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord” (Philippians 2:10–11); it is only God who is to be worshipped as Lord (see Isaiah 45:23).
4). JESUS IS CREATOR NOT CREATURE
Jehovah’s Witnesses (and Muslims) hang on to Paul’s statement in Colossians 1:15 that the “firstborn of all creation” teaches that Jesus was a created being. However, this JW false teaching resembles the view of the ancient Colossian heresy that Paul had to combat. It’s another example of mistakenly trying to make a doctrine from a single verse, when no core doctrines are ever established in isolated verses, and it ignores a fundamental rule of interpretation that Scripture must harmonise.
The Colossian false teachers advocated the idea that Jesus was the first of many other created mediators between God and men. By using the specific Greek word prōtotokos, “firstborn,” Paul rules out the idea of Jesus as a created being. “Firstborn” does not mean “first created.” Rather, Paul uses a term that was based on the ancient designation of the authority, or pre-eminence, metaphorically given to the firstborn (Genesis 49:3–4; Exodus 4:22). In the same way, David, the youngest of Jesse, was named “firstborn” (Psalm 89:20–27) who ruled Israel. Manasseh was born to Joseph first, but Ephraim, his younger brother, was “firstborn” due to his position as given by Jacob/Israel (Genesis 48:13–20, Jeremiah 31:9).
# BY DESCRIBING JESUS AS THE “FIRSTBORN OVER ALL CREATION,” PAUL IS SAYING THAT HE IS THE ABSOLUTE RULER OVER ALL CREATION.
If Paul had wanted to describe Jesus as a created being, he could have used the Greek word ‘protoktistos’, which means “first created.” So why didn’t he use it? Because Paul did not believe Jesus was created. By describing Jesus as the “firstborn over all creation,” Paul is saying that he is the absolute ruler over all creation.
The evidence that Jesus is supreme over all creation is found in Colossians 1:16. Here, Paul absolutely rules out the idea that Jesus is a created being because he presents Jesus as the Creator of the entire universe which exists by his creative power (John 1:1–3; Hebrews 1:2, 8–10). The reason Jesus can “create all things” is that “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). The Greek word for “Godhead,” theotēs, refers to “the state of being God.” It is only God who can create (Isaiah 42:5, 44:24, 45:18).
Commentary on Colossians 1:15 to note:
“.. among the Hebrews and other nations, firstborn, heir, and lord, were synonymous terms.” (Benson)
“He that “created all things that are in heaven and that are in earth,” was not himself created. That the apostle did not mean to represent him as a creature, is also manifest from the reason which he assigns why he is called the first-born. “He is the image of God, and the first-born of every creature, for – ὅτι hoti – by him were all things created.” That is, he sustains the elevated rank of the first-born, or a high eminence over the creation, because by him “all things were created in heaven and in earth.” (Barnes)
5). JESUS SELF IDENTIFIES AS GOD
At the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths in his encounter with the Pharisees (John 8:13), Jesus told them, “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). The Jewish people reacted to Jesus’ statement by asking him, “Who are you?” (John 8:25).
Jesus told the Jews exactly who he is: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). This “I am” (ego eimi) statement was Jesus’ clearest example of His proclamation, “I am Yahweh,” from its background in the book of Isaiah (Isaiah 41:4; 43:10–13, 25; 46:4; 48:12; cf. John 13:19).
These are the very words (ego eimi) ) that caused the Roman soldiers to fall to the ground after they came to arrest Jesus (John 18:6). Jesus’ explicit identification of himself with Yahweh of the Old Testament is why the Jewish leaders wanted to stone Him for blasphemy (see John 5:18; 10:33).
6). THE APOSTLES IDENTIFIED JESUS AS DIVINE (AND GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR WITNESS)
Both Jesus and His apostles identified Jesus as divine. The Apostle Peter described Jesus as “our God and Savior” (2 Peter 1:1; cf. Titus 2:13) and called on believers to “honor Christ the Lord as holy” (1 Peter 3:15). Jesus’ own half-brother James, who was an unbeliever at first (John 7:5), described him as “the Lord of glory” (James 2:1; cf. 1 Corinthians 2:8; Psalm 24:7–8). What mere man or prophet could or was ever described in this way?
The Apostle John also attributed titles to Jesus that were used only of God by describing him as the “Alpha and Omega” and the “First and the Last” (Revelation 22:13; 1:8, 17–18; cf. Isaiah 44:6).
The writer of Hebrews also gives insight into the identity of Jesus In Hebrews 1, Jesus (the Son) is identified as superior to any prophet (vv. 1–2), above the angels (v. 5), worthy of our worship (vv. 6–8; cf. Psalm 45:6–7), and the creator of all things who is unchangeable (vv. 2–3, 10; cf. Psalm 102:25). Hebrews further states that Jesus is “seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2; cf. Acts 2:30).
7). THE JEWS RECOGNISED JESUS CLAIM TO DIVINITY
The clearest evidence for the deity of Jesus is the Jewish leaders’ reaction to Jesus’ words and actions. (This is where Jews are at least more honest than Muslims with their blank denials that Jesus ever displayed any claims to deity). In Mark 2, Jesus not only heals a paralytic but also forgives his sins (Mark 2:5). This is the reason that the scribes cry blasphemy, for it is God alone who can forgive sins. (Mark 2:7)
Time and again, the charge of blasphemy is brought against Jesus:
“Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” (John 10:32-33)
In his trial before the Sanhedrin Jesus is once again charged with blasphemy because of his response to the high priest’s question: “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (Mark 14:61) Jesus responded, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62). Then the high priest tore his clothes, charged Jesus with blasphemy, and condemned him to death (Mark 14:64). Why did the high priest respond that way? Because Jesus quoted from Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13–14 and applied the words to himself. In Daniel 7 the divine Son of Man comes before the Ancient of Days, and all peoples and nations serve him. The Pharisees recognize Jesus’ divine claim here and charge him with blasphemy, intending to put him to death.
For more on Mark 14;62 see Post:
□ THE DEITY OF CHRIST PART 2 — FOUR WAYS JESUS SAID HE IS GOD IN ONE SENTENCE 3 July 2023
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8). THE EARLY CHURCH PRAYED TO JESUS
Prayer (a particular form of worship), is something that should be addressed to God alone, but Jesus calls his disciples to pray to him (John 14:13–14; 16:26). When Stephen is being stoned to death, he calls out to the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit (Acts 7:59).
The term for “calling on” (epikaloumenon) recalls the appeal of Peter to the people in Acts 2:21 to “call on” (epikaleshtai – Strongs G1941) the Lord to be saved. Paul uses the same word to describe the Corinthians as those who “call upon [epikaleo] the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:2). In the Old Testament, people “called on” on the name of Yahweh (Joel 2:32). The Corinthians were people who addressed Jesus as Lord in prayer.
According to Paul, New Testament Christians were everywhere praying to Jesus.
“Paul. . . to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours.” (1 Corinthians 1:1–2).
It appears that Paul includes himself among those who called upon the name of Jesus. These prayers directed to Jesus were universal. And the present tense of “call” suggests that the prayers were on-going.
Again in Romans we find: “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). What is that name if not Jesus?
The very last prayer in the New Testament is addressed to Jesus by the Apostle John: “Even so come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20). If it were wrong to petition Christ, John the inspired writer might have said, “Father, may the Son come.” But instead he gave us these words to also cry out to Jesus: “Even so, come!”
And in John 14:14 Jesus claims that He will answer our petitions. Jesus here says that He would answer prayer when we asked him anything in His name. So Jesus authorizes us to address Him in prayer when we come in His name—in His own authority, and in His will. And He promised that He would answer. Muslims who alone hears and answers prayers?
Prayers to Jesus are permitted and encouraged by Christ’s teaching in John 14:14, and by any passage in which Jesus says that we are to pray in His name. When Jesus told us to pray in His name, He wasn’t asking us to use a particular phrase at the end of each of our prayers, though the expression “in Jesus’ name, Amen” is certainly appropriate, and God-honoring. Jesus was actually asking us to come to God (any person of the Trinity) in His authority. We have the right to come to God and receive grace and help because of who Christ is, what He did for us, and what He promised. Indeed it is ONLY because of Christ that we have access to God at all.
“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) Those words apply just as much to our prayers as to our eternal destiny.
In John 10, Jesus claims that He knows His followers, His “sheep,” and that He calls them all by name. If our Shepherd calls us by our name (a most comforting thought), then why shouldn’t we also call upon Him by His name? At the very least, this passage indicates that real Christians have a personal, one-on-one, intimate relationship with Jesus. This enables us to talk to Jesus and listen for His voice.
Again, can we be at “at home” with Jesus and not be able to talk to Him directly?
“Jesus answered, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14:23)
And lest anyone suppose that praying to God as a man is a New Testament novelty, there is Old Testament precedent. Abraham did it when confronted by God who appeared to him as three men:
“My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant” (Genesis 18:3 KJV)
9). THE EARLY CHURCH WORSHIPPED JESUS
Jesus accepted and never refused worship from people (Matthew 2:2, 14:33, 28:9). One of the greatest examples of this comes from the lips of Thomas when he exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). If Jesus was not divine, then Thomas made a serious error; but Jesus made no effort to correct Thomas in his worshipful accolade. On the contrary He marked it as a point of blessing to all who believe. Yet Peter (Acts 10:25–26), Paul and Barnabus (Acts 14:14–15), and the angel in Revelation (Revelation 22:8,9) all corrected others for trying to worship them, something Jesus never did.
The confession of deity here is unmistakable, clearly demonstrating that worship belongs only to God (Revelation 22:9) because Jesus accepted Thomas’s worship of him (John 20:29). Again Jesus accepts John’s worship in Revelation 1:17-18.
Also in Revelation, the elders and every creature in heaven and upon earth ascribe universal worship to “him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb” (Revelation 5:11–14; cf. John 1:29).
10). JESUS MADE CLAIMS THAT NO ORDINARY HUMAN BEING COULD EVER MAKE.
Jesus not only identified as God, but He also indicated His deity through His words and actions. Jesus said that to enter the Kingdom of Heaven we must first acknowledge and call him Lord (kurios, Romans 10:9; cf. Matthew 7:21). Just saying that Jesus is Lord does not get you into the Kingdom, but to enter the Kingdom you must confess Him as Lord. The entrance into God’s Kingdom, according to Jesus, is dependent upon a person’s knowledge of Him and His reciprocating knowledge of the person (Matthew 7:23).
Many times Jesus self identifies as our Lord and applies the title “Lord” to Himself. None more so than in the phrase “the Lord of the Sabbath” which is found in Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:28, and Luke 6:5. In all three instances Jesus is referring to Himself as the Lord of the Sabbath or, as Mark records it, “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28). In these verses, Jesus is proclaiming that He is the One who exercises authority even over the rules and regulations that govern the Sabbath day.
As such, Jesus was proclaiming to the world, especially to the legalistic Pharisees, that He was greater than the Law and above the laws of the Mosaic Covenant because, as God in flesh, He is the Author of those laws.
Jesus even promised rest to all those who come to Him (Matthew 11:28). Could Moses have ever made a claim like this? No! How could a human being give anyone rest from the Law? Jesus also claimed, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). God never gave any man or prophet all authority in heaven and on earth, but this same authority was given to the Son of Man in Daniel 7:13–14 (see also Matthew 26:64).
Other examples:
“Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say? (Luke 6:46)
“You call Me Teacher and Lord. This is well said, for I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:13-14)
11). JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD
Muslims often point out that the words “Son of God” are not an exclusive title for Jesus. For example, in the Old Testament Israel was called God’s son (Exodus 4:22–23; Hosea 11:1), the king was called God’s son (Psalm 2:7), and the angels were called God’s sons (Job 38:7). Even in the New Testament, Adam and believers are referred to as son/s of God (Luke 3:38; Romans 8:14).
There is, however, a fundamental difference between an adopted son and the relational Son of God, the latter being a deity by nature. More than anyone else who has walked this earth, Jesus the Messiah is uniquely entitled to be called the Son of God (John 1:49, 11:27) – “the unique One, who is himself God” (monogenēs theos – see John 1:18 NLT). [2]
In the way He describes His Oneness with the Father, His exact likeness and His obedience in transmitting and doing only what His Father does, Jesus is reinforcing that unique father/son filial relationship.
The Father in like fashion also gives us a unique endorsement of His Son. Twice Matthew records at defining moments, God the Father in heaven saying of Jesus “This is My beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17 and 17:5).
Whatever Jesus said about Himself was so provocative that it led the Jewish leaders to call for his death for blasphemy.
In Jesus’ trial before Pilate, the Jewish leaders clearly understood that Jesus’ use of this term was not just generic, for they wanted him put to death: “We have a law, and according to that law He ought to die because He has made Himself the Son of God” (John 19:7; cf. John 10:36).
According to the Law, it was blasphemy to use God’s name (Leviticus 24:16). Therefore, by referring to himself as “the Son of God”, Jesus was claiming to share “the rights and authority of God himself (cf. [John] 1:34; 5:19–30).”
Muslims who say that Jesus never claimed to be God or the Son of God, must answer why He was crucified on the charge of blasphemy. Whatever Jesus said and the way He conducted Himself, must have been sufficiently provocative enough for the Jewish leaders to call for capital punishment on that charge of blasphemy.
Mark’s account is unambiguously clear and bears repeating:
“But He kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the BLASPHEMY! What do you think?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.” (Mark 14:61-64)
See Footnote ³ for a comprehensive list of verses for Jesus as The Son of God.
CONCLUSIONS
The debate about the identity and status of Jesus is not some mere debating point or matter of semantics. It has profound significance — its deeply personal because Jesus made it so. It is not anything we can be indifferent to. The point of all this is that failure to believe in Jesus as the Son of God brings judgement because we are already dead in our sins (see John 3:18, Ephesians 2:1), but believing in Jesus as the Son of God who died for sins, brings eternal life (see John 3:15–17, 6:40, 20:31).
Although there may be many questions and objections raised to Jesus’ deity, the New Testament, in particular the Gospel accounts clearly provides eye-witness testimony to the words, actions, and teachings of Jesus that prove His deity beyond doubt.
Make no mistake: “Another Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:4), a false Messiah based upon apocryphal gnostic sources, such as presented by Islam, cannot save you. Quite simply, if we do not get the identity of Jesus right, we will die in our sins (John 8:24).
Notice the substantive determining issue is NOT what Jesus taught, but who He is. Muslims your destiny is determined by how you will answer Jesus question which we must all answer — “Who do you say that I am?”
Footnotes:
¹ This claim is clearly contradicted not only by the Scripture but by the statements of the early Church. For example, the early church Father Ignatius Bishop of Antioch (AD 35–108, who was a disciple of John the Apostle) taught the divinity of Jesus: “There is one Physician who is possessed both of flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing in flesh; true life in death; both of Mary and of God; first possible and then impossible, even Jesus Christ our Lord. . . . But our Physician is the only true God, the unbegotten and unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the only-begotten Son. We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin.” The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians (Chapter VII “Beware of False Teachers,”
www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ignatius-ephesians-longer.html).
² See post: □ THE TRINITY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND EARLY JEWISH WRITINGS 16 May 2023
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³ Jesus as The Son of God references:
□ Firstly, the angel Gabriel in announcing the birth of Jesus to Mary:
“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)
□ Then Jesus specifically referred to Himself as ‘The Son of God’ on at least 2 occasions:
“Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.” (John 9:35-38)
Again in the next chapter of John:
“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?” (John 10:36)
And a third example where Martha the sister of Lazarus uses the title Son of God of Him and Jesus did not rebuke or correct her, on the contrary He affirmed it by declaring He had the power over life and death and is THE LIFE AND RESURRECTION which power belongs to God the giver of life alone:
“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” (John 11:25-27)
□ Peter’s confession blessed by Jesus
“When Jesus came to the region 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, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” And Jesus responded, “Simon son of Jonah, you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-17)
□ Psalm 2:7:
“I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.”
□ Quoted by the writer of Hebrews in 1:5 (See also Hebrews 5:5 below)
“For to which of the angels did He ever say, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”? And again, “I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME”?”
□ Matthew 3:17:
“and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
□ Matthew 17:5:
“While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”
□ “Son of God” references in the Gospel of Mark:
“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1)
“And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11)
“and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” (Mark 1:24)
“Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” (Mark 3:11)
“and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” (Mark 5:7)
“Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)
“Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son,the Beloved; listen to him!” (Mark 9:7)
“He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ (Mark 12:6)
“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Mark 13:32)
“He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” (Mark 14:36)
“But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” (Mark 14:61)
“Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” (Mark 15:39)
□ John 1:14:
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
□ 1 John 4:10:
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
□ John 14:13:
“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
□ John 5:19:
“Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”
□ John 5:22-23:
“The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
□ John 5:26
“For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;”
□ Luke 8:28:
“Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.”
□ Acts 13:33:
“that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’ ”
□ Hebrews 5:5:
“So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.” ”
□ Luke 3:22:
“and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
□ 2 Peter 1:17
“For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”-”
□ Luke 9:35:
“Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!””
□ Romans 1:4:
“who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,”
□ Matthew 2:15:
“He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON.”
□ Luke 20:13 -14:
“The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenant farmers saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, so the inheritance will be ours!’ ” (See also Matthew 21:33-41)
□ Hebrews 1:8 (quoting Psalm 45:6-7):
“But of the Son He says, “YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.”
□ 1 John 5:9:
“If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.”
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1). INTRODUCTION
At a crucial point in his ministry, Jesus asked his disciples,“Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). The answer to this question is more important than any other question or challenge anyone can face in life.
Nevertheless, today, just as in Jesus’ day, when Christians ask people the question “who do you say Jesus is?” there are various answers given concerning his identity. But what does the New Testament tell us about who Jesus is?
Understanding the deity of Jesus is fundamental in unlocking the door to eternal life and to defending the truth of the Christian faith.
All major religions and cults are united about one thing. They all reject the doctrine of the deity of Christ. That fact alone should tell us something. Some of these objections are a result of rationalism (“reason” is supreme, not God) over revelation or a misunderstanding of what the doctrine teaches. Another more common objection results from revisionist history, which claims that Christ’s deity was invented at the Council of Nicaea in the 4th century and not something believed by the early church.¹
The reason Christians believe in the deity of Jesus is that we are forced to come to this conclusion by the clear teaching of Scripture. It is important to get Jesus’ identity because if we deny the deity of Jesus then we do not have the Father (1 John 2:23; cf. John 5:23). Worse than that we are dead in our sins.
Here are 10 Scriptural proofs for the deity of Jesus Christ.
2). THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD
# JESUS’ DIVINITY DOES NOT MAKE HIM ANOTHER GOD. IT IS THE FOUNDATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.
This is vital to understand because many objectors to the deity of Jesus misunderstand and misrepresent what Christians believe about the Trinity. Christians believe what the Bible teaches — that there is only one true and living God (Deuteronomy 6:4; cf. Mark 12:29 & 1 Corinthians 8:6). However, we must not confuse monotheism (belief in one God) with Unitarianism (the belief that the being of God is shared by one person). Jesus’ divinity is part of the doctrine of the Trinity, which states that within the one Being that is God, there exists eternally three co-equal and co-eternal persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each is a distinct person, yet each is identified as God: the Father (1 Corinthians 8:6), the Son (John 1:1–3; Romans 9:5), and the Spirit (Acts 5:3–4). We must also remember that it wasn’t the Father or the Spirit who became incarnate; it was the Son (John 1:14) and He was born under the Law (Galatians 4:4). This is why, in His humanity, Jesus prays to the Father (Matthew 26:39, 42).
The doctrine of the Trinity is revealed throughout the Bible, but what is largely inferred in the Old Testament becomes explicit in the New through the incarnation of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God did not change between the Old and New Testaments, being a Unitarian God in the Old and a Trinitarian God in the New. God has always been Triune, the only thing that changed was revelation became completed only with the New Testament; specifically revelation of the divinity of Jesus, while foreshadowed in the Old Testament, is only completed in the New Testament.
The Old Testament clearly teaches that there is a plurality in the Godhead. This fact which was accepted by the ancient Jewish church and early Rabbinic thought.² For the purposes of this post it is sufficient to state that the Hebrew Bible clearly teaches the Messiah would be God. (eg Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Micah 5:2; Zechariah 2:10-11)
3). THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT JESUS PRE-EXISTED CREATION
The New Testament in several passages clearly teaches that Jesus existed in eternity past before his birth in Bethlehem.
Genesis 1:1 tells us, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In John 1:1 we read the same words, “In the beginning.”8 John informs us in John 1:1 that in the beginning was the Word (logos) and that the Word was not only with God but was God. This Word is the one who brought all things into being at creation (John 1:3). John 1:1 teaches that the Word is eternal, the Word has had an eternal relationship with the Father, and the Word as to His nature is deity. The clincher is John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Jesus applied God’s title “I am” to Himself and identifies as God who appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18:
“Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it and rejoiced.” The Jews replied, “You aren’t 50 years old yet, and You’ve seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:56-58)
In his prayer in John 17 Jesus both refers to his pre-existence and uses terminology that can only be used about deity:
“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with THE GLORY THAT I HAD WITH YOU BEFORE THE WORLD EXISTED.” (John 17:3-5)
“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for YOU LOVED ME BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.” (John 17:24)
To have eternal life is to know two persons: both the Father and Jesus (see John 14:6-7; John 16:3). But notice, Jesus is distinguished from the Father because Jesus is the one speaking to the Father. The personal pronouns (me, your, you) clearly show that this is one person speaking to another, (elsewhere collectively as “we” and “our” when Jesus addressed the disciples, as in John 14:23). In John 17, the Son is speaking of the glory He has shared with the Father before the world was; the words “in your own presence” refer to their sharing of divine glory. John 17:3–5 is not an example of the “human side” praying to the “divine side” but of a divine, yet incarnate (John 1:14) person, the Son, communicating with a divine, but non-corporeal person, the Father in heaven.
Paul’s words in Philippians 2:5–8 teach not only the deity of Jesus but also the distinct personhood of the Son prior to His incarnation. In this passage, Paul exhorts the Philippians to have the same attitude as Christ Jesus who “existed in the form of God.” These words come before the verbs emptied, taking, and becoming and point to the pre-existence of the one “existing in the form of God.” Moreover, Jesus did not regard the equality He had with God the Father, in eternity past, something to be held on to. Instead He “made himself nothing” by doing two things: taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men. Having entered into human existence He humbled himself to death on the Cross. Because of this, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord” (Philippians 2:10–11); it is only God who is to be worshipped as Lord (see Isaiah 45:23).
4). JESUS IS CREATOR NOT CREATURE
Jehovah’s Witnesses (and Muslims) hang on to Paul’s statement in Colossians 1:15 that the “firstborn of all creation” teaches that Jesus was a created being. However, this JW false teaching resembles the view of the ancient Colossian heresy that Paul had to combat. It’s another example of mistakenly trying to make a doctrine from a single verse, when no core doctrines are ever established in isolated verses, and it ignores a fundamental rule of interpretation that Scripture must harmonise.
The Colossian false teachers advocated the idea that Jesus was the first of many other created mediators between God and men. By using the specific Greek word prōtotokos, “firstborn,” Paul rules out the idea of Jesus as a created being. “Firstborn” does not mean “first created.” Rather, Paul uses a term that was based on the ancient designation of the authority, or pre-eminence, metaphorically given to the firstborn (Genesis 49:3–4; Exodus 4:22). In the same way, David, the youngest of Jesse, was named “firstborn” (Psalm 89:20–27) who ruled Israel. Manasseh was born to Joseph first, but Ephraim, his younger brother, was “firstborn” due to his position as given by Jacob/Israel (Genesis 48:13–20, Jeremiah 31:9).
# BY DESCRIBING JESUS AS THE “FIRSTBORN OVER ALL CREATION,” PAUL IS SAYING THAT HE IS THE ABSOLUTE RULER OVER ALL CREATION.
If Paul had wanted to describe Jesus as a created being, he could have used the Greek word ‘protoktistos’, which means “first created.” So why didn’t he use it? Because Paul did not believe Jesus was created. By describing Jesus as the “firstborn over all creation,” Paul is saying that he is the absolute ruler over all creation.
The evidence that Jesus is supreme over all creation is found in Colossians 1:16. Here, Paul absolutely rules out the idea that Jesus is a created being because he presents Jesus as the Creator of the entire universe which exists by his creative power (John 1:1–3; Hebrews 1:2, 8–10). The reason Jesus can “create all things” is that “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). The Greek word for “Godhead,” theotēs, refers to “the state of being God.” It is only God who can create (Isaiah 42:5, 44:24, 45:18).
Commentary on Colossians 1:15 to note:
“.. among the Hebrews and other nations, firstborn, heir, and lord, were synonymous terms.” (Benson)
“He that “created all things that are in heaven and that are in earth,” was not himself created. That the apostle did not mean to represent him as a creature, is also manifest from the reason which he assigns why he is called the first-born. “He is the image of God, and the first-born of every creature, for – ὅτι hoti – by him were all things created.” That is, he sustains the elevated rank of the first-born, or a high eminence over the creation, because by him “all things were created in heaven and in earth.” (Barnes)
5). JESUS SELF IDENTIFIES AS GOD
At the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths in his encounter with the Pharisees (John 8:13), Jesus told them, “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). The Jewish people reacted to Jesus’ statement by asking him, “Who are you?” (John 8:25).
Jesus told the Jews exactly who he is: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). This “I am” (ego eimi) statement was Jesus’ clearest example of His proclamation, “I am Yahweh,” from its background in the book of Isaiah (Isaiah 41:4; 43:10–13, 25; 46:4; 48:12; cf. John 13:19).
These are the very words (ego eimi) ) that caused the Roman soldiers to fall to the ground after they came to arrest Jesus (John 18:6). Jesus’ explicit identification of himself with Yahweh of the Old Testament is why the Jewish leaders wanted to stone Him for blasphemy (see John 5:18; 10:33).
6). THE APOSTLES IDENTIFIED JESUS AS DIVINE (AND GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR WITNESS)
Both Jesus and His apostles identified Jesus as divine. The Apostle Peter described Jesus as “our God and Savior” (2 Peter 1:1; cf. Titus 2:13) and called on believers to “honor Christ the Lord as holy” (1 Peter 3:15). Jesus’ own half-brother James, who was an unbeliever at first (John 7:5), described him as “the Lord of glory” (James 2:1; cf. 1 Corinthians 2:8; Psalm 24:7–8). What mere man or prophet could or was ever described in this way?
The Apostle John also attributed titles to Jesus that were used only of God by describing him as the “Alpha and Omega” and the “First and the Last” (Revelation 22:13; 1:8, 17–18; cf. Isaiah 44:6).
The writer of Hebrews also gives insight into the identity of Jesus In Hebrews 1, Jesus (the Son) is identified as superior to any prophet (vv. 1–2), above the angels (v. 5), worthy of our worship (vv. 6–8; cf. Psalm 45:6–7), and the creator of all things who is unchangeable (vv. 2–3, 10; cf. Psalm 102:25). Hebrews further states that Jesus is “seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2; cf. Acts 2:30).
7). THE JEWS RECOGNISED JESUS CLAIM TO DIVINITY
The clearest evidence for the deity of Jesus is the Jewish leaders’ reaction to Jesus’ words and actions. (This is where Jews are at least more honest than Muslims with their blank denials that Jesus ever displayed any claims to deity). In Mark 2, Jesus not only heals a paralytic but also forgives his sins (Mark 2:5). This is the reason that the scribes cry blasphemy, for it is God alone who can forgive sins. (Mark 2:7)
Time and again, the charge of blasphemy is brought against Jesus:
“Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” (John 10:32-33)
In his trial before the Sanhedrin Jesus is once again charged with blasphemy because of his response to the high priest’s question: “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (Mark 14:61) Jesus responded, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62). Then the high priest tore his clothes, charged Jesus with blasphemy, and condemned him to death (Mark 14:64). Why did the high priest respond that way? Because Jesus quoted from Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13–14 and applied the words to himself. In Daniel 7 the divine Son of Man comes before the Ancient of Days, and all peoples and nations serve him. The Pharisees recognize Jesus’ divine claim here and charge him with blasphemy, intending to put him to death.
For more on Mark 14;62 see Post:
□ THE DEITY OF CHRIST PART 2 — FOUR WAYS JESUS SAID HE IS GOD IN ONE SENTENCE 3 July 2023
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8). THE EARLY CHURCH PRAYED TO JESUS
Prayer (a particular form of worship), is something that should be addressed to God alone, but Jesus calls his disciples to pray to him (John 14:13–14; 16:26). When Stephen is being stoned to death, he calls out to the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit (Acts 7:59).
The term for “calling on” (epikaloumenon) recalls the appeal of Peter to the people in Acts 2:21 to “call on” (epikaleshtai – Strongs G1941) the Lord to be saved. Paul uses the same word to describe the Corinthians as those who “call upon [epikaleo] the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:2). In the Old Testament, people “called on” on the name of Yahweh (Joel 2:32). The Corinthians were people who addressed Jesus as Lord in prayer.
According to Paul, New Testament Christians were everywhere praying to Jesus.
“Paul. . . to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours.” (1 Corinthians 1:1–2).
It appears that Paul includes himself among those who called upon the name of Jesus. These prayers directed to Jesus were universal. And the present tense of “call” suggests that the prayers were on-going.
Again in Romans we find: “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). What is that name if not Jesus?
The very last prayer in the New Testament is addressed to Jesus by the Apostle John: “Even so come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20). If it were wrong to petition Christ, John the inspired writer might have said, “Father, may the Son come.” But instead he gave us these words to also cry out to Jesus: “Even so, come!”
And in John 14:14 Jesus claims that He will answer our petitions. Jesus here says that He would answer prayer when we asked him anything in His name. So Jesus authorizes us to address Him in prayer when we come in His name—in His own authority, and in His will. And He promised that He would answer. Muslims who alone hears and answers prayers?
Prayers to Jesus are permitted and encouraged by Christ’s teaching in John 14:14, and by any passage in which Jesus says that we are to pray in His name. When Jesus told us to pray in His name, He wasn’t asking us to use a particular phrase at the end of each of our prayers, though the expression “in Jesus’ name, Amen” is certainly appropriate, and God-honoring. Jesus was actually asking us to come to God (any person of the Trinity) in His authority. We have the right to come to God and receive grace and help because of who Christ is, what He did for us, and what He promised. Indeed it is ONLY because of Christ that we have access to God at all.
“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) Those words apply just as much to our prayers as to our eternal destiny.
In John 10, Jesus claims that He knows His followers, His “sheep,” and that He calls them all by name. If our Shepherd calls us by our name (a most comforting thought), then why shouldn’t we also call upon Him by His name? At the very least, this passage indicates that real Christians have a personal, one-on-one, intimate relationship with Jesus. This enables us to talk to Jesus and listen for His voice.
Again, can we be at “at home” with Jesus and not be able to talk to Him directly?
“Jesus answered, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14:23)
And lest anyone suppose that praying to God as a man is a New Testament novelty, there is Old Testament precedent. Abraham did it when confronted by God who appeared to him as three men:
“My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant” (Genesis 18:3 KJV)
9). THE EARLY CHURCH WORSHIPPED JESUS
Jesus accepted and never refused worship from people (Matthew 2:2, 14:33, 28:9). One of the greatest examples of this comes from the lips of Thomas when he exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). If Jesus was not divine, then Thomas made a serious error; but Jesus made no effort to correct Thomas in his worshipful accolade. On the contrary He marked it as a point of blessing to all who believe. Yet Peter (Acts 10:25–26), Paul and Barnabus (Acts 14:14–15), and the angel in Revelation (Revelation 22:8,9) all corrected others for trying to worship them, something Jesus never did.
The confession of deity here is unmistakable, clearly demonstrating that worship belongs only to God (Revelation 22:9) because Jesus accepted Thomas’s worship of him (John 20:29). Again Jesus accepts John’s worship in Revelation 1:17-18.
Also in Revelation, the elders and every creature in heaven and upon earth ascribe universal worship to “him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb” (Revelation 5:11–14; cf. John 1:29).
10). JESUS MADE CLAIMS THAT NO ORDINARY HUMAN BEING COULD EVER MAKE.
Jesus not only identified as God, but He also indicated His deity through His words and actions. Jesus said that to enter the Kingdom of Heaven we must first acknowledge and call him Lord (kurios, Romans 10:9; cf. Matthew 7:21). Just saying that Jesus is Lord does not get you into the Kingdom, but to enter the Kingdom you must confess Him as Lord. The entrance into God’s Kingdom, according to Jesus, is dependent upon a person’s knowledge of Him and His reciprocating knowledge of the person (Matthew 7:23).
Many times Jesus self identifies as our Lord and applies the title “Lord” to Himself. None more so than in the phrase “the Lord of the Sabbath” which is found in Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:28, and Luke 6:5. In all three instances Jesus is referring to Himself as the Lord of the Sabbath or, as Mark records it, “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28). In these verses, Jesus is proclaiming that He is the One who exercises authority even over the rules and regulations that govern the Sabbath day.
As such, Jesus was proclaiming to the world, especially to the legalistic Pharisees, that He was greater than the Law and above the laws of the Mosaic Covenant because, as God in flesh, He is the Author of those laws.
Jesus even promised rest to all those who come to Him (Matthew 11:28). Could Moses have ever made a claim like this? No! How could a human being give anyone rest from the Law? Jesus also claimed, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). God never gave any man or prophet all authority in heaven and on earth, but this same authority was given to the Son of Man in Daniel 7:13–14 (see also Matthew 26:64).
Other examples:
“Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say? (Luke 6:46)
“You call Me Teacher and Lord. This is well said, for I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:13-14)
11). JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD
Muslims often point out that the words “Son of God” are not an exclusive title for Jesus. For example, in the Old Testament Israel was called God’s son (Exodus 4:22–23; Hosea 11:1), the king was called God’s son (Psalm 2:7), and the angels were called God’s sons (Job 38:7). Even in the New Testament, Adam and believers are referred to as son/s of God (Luke 3:38; Romans 8:14).
There is, however, a fundamental difference between an adopted son and the relational Son of God, the latter being a deity by nature. More than anyone else who has walked this earth, Jesus the Messiah is uniquely entitled to be called the Son of God (John 1:49, 11:27) – “the unique One, who is himself God” (monogenēs theos – see John 1:18 NLT). [2]
In the way He describes His Oneness with the Father, His exact likeness and His obedience in transmitting and doing only what His Father does, Jesus is reinforcing that unique father/son filial relationship.
The Father in like fashion also gives us a unique endorsement of His Son. Twice Matthew records at defining moments, God the Father in heaven saying of Jesus “This is My beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17 and 17:5).
Whatever Jesus said about Himself was so provocative that it led the Jewish leaders to call for his death for blasphemy.
In Jesus’ trial before Pilate, the Jewish leaders clearly understood that Jesus’ use of this term was not just generic, for they wanted him put to death: “We have a law, and according to that law He ought to die because He has made Himself the Son of God” (John 19:7; cf. John 10:36).
According to the Law, it was blasphemy to use God’s name (Leviticus 24:16). Therefore, by referring to himself as “the Son of God”, Jesus was claiming to share “the rights and authority of God himself (cf. [John] 1:34; 5:19–30).”
Muslims who say that Jesus never claimed to be God or the Son of God, must answer why He was crucified on the charge of blasphemy. Whatever Jesus said and the way He conducted Himself, must have been sufficiently provocative enough for the Jewish leaders to call for capital punishment on that charge of blasphemy.
Mark’s account is unambiguously clear and bears repeating:
“But He kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the BLASPHEMY! What do you think?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.” (Mark 14:61-64)
See Footnote ³ for a comprehensive list of verses for Jesus as The Son of God.
CONCLUSIONS
The debate about the identity and status of Jesus is not some mere debating point or matter of semantics. It has profound significance — its deeply personal because Jesus made it so. It is not anything we can be indifferent to. The point of all this is that failure to believe in Jesus as the Son of God brings judgement because we are already dead in our sins (see John 3:18, Ephesians 2:1), but believing in Jesus as the Son of God who died for sins, brings eternal life (see John 3:15–17, 6:40, 20:31).
Although there may be many questions and objections raised to Jesus’ deity, the New Testament, in particular the Gospel accounts clearly provides eye-witness testimony to the words, actions, and teachings of Jesus that prove His deity beyond doubt.
Make no mistake: “Another Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:4), a false Messiah based upon apocryphal gnostic sources, such as presented by Islam, cannot save you. Quite simply, if we do not get the identity of Jesus right, we will die in our sins (John 8:24).
Notice the substantive determining issue is NOT what Jesus taught, but who He is. Muslims your destiny is determined by how you will answer Jesus question which we must all answer — “Who do you say that I am?”
Footnotes:
¹ This claim is clearly contradicted not only by the Scripture but by the statements of the early Church. For example, the early church Father Ignatius Bishop of Antioch (AD 35–108, who was a disciple of John the Apostle) taught the divinity of Jesus: “There is one Physician who is possessed both of flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing in flesh; true life in death; both of Mary and of God; first possible and then impossible, even Jesus Christ our Lord. . . . But our Physician is the only true God, the unbegotten and unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the only-begotten Son. We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin.” The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians (Chapter VII “Beware of False Teachers,”
www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ignatius-ephesians-longer.html).
² See post: □ THE TRINITY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND EARLY JEWISH WRITINGS 16 May 2023
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³ Jesus as The Son of God references:
□ Firstly, the angel Gabriel in announcing the birth of Jesus to Mary:
“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)
□ Then Jesus specifically referred to Himself as ‘The Son of God’ on at least 2 occasions:
“Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.” (John 9:35-38)
Again in the next chapter of John:
“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?” (John 10:36)
And a third example where Martha the sister of Lazarus uses the title Son of God of Him and Jesus did not rebuke or correct her, on the contrary He affirmed it by declaring He had the power over life and death and is THE LIFE AND RESURRECTION which power belongs to God the giver of life alone:
“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” (John 11:25-27)
□ Peter’s confession blessed by Jesus
“When Jesus came to the region 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, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” And Jesus responded, “Simon son of Jonah, you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-17)
□ Psalm 2:7:
“I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.”
□ Quoted by the writer of Hebrews in 1:5 (See also Hebrews 5:5 below)
“For to which of the angels did He ever say, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”? And again, “I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME”?”
□ Matthew 3:17:
“and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
□ Matthew 17:5:
“While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”
□ “Son of God” references in the Gospel of Mark:
“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1)
“And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11)
“and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” (Mark 1:24)
“Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” (Mark 3:11)
“and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” (Mark 5:7)
“Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)
“Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son,the Beloved; listen to him!” (Mark 9:7)
“He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ (Mark 12:6)
“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Mark 13:32)
“He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” (Mark 14:36)
“But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” (Mark 14:61)
“Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” (Mark 15:39)
□ John 1:14:
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
□ 1 John 4:10:
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
□ John 14:13:
“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
□ John 5:19:
“Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”
□ John 5:22-23:
“The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
□ John 5:26
“For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;”
□ Luke 8:28:
“Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.”
□ Acts 13:33:
“that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’ ”
□ Hebrews 5:5:
“So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.” ”
□ Luke 3:22:
“and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
□ 2 Peter 1:17
“For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”-”
□ Luke 9:35:
“Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!””
□ Romans 1:4:
“who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,”
□ Matthew 2:15:
“He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON.”
□ Luke 20:13 -14:
“The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenant farmers saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, so the inheritance will be ours!’ ” (See also Matthew 21:33-41)
□ Hebrews 1:8 (quoting Psalm 45:6-7):
“But of the Son He says, “YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.”
□ 1 John 5:9:
“If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.”
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