DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE GOD

Did Jesus Claim to be God?

Clearly, from the earliest years of the church, Jesus was called Lord and regarded by most Christians as God. Yet his divinity was a doctrine that was subjected to great debate . So the question—and it is the question—is this: Did Jesus really claim to be God (the Creator), or was his divinity something invented or assumed by the New Testament authors? (See “Did Jesus Claim to be God?”)

Some scholars believe Jesus was such a powerful teacher and compelling personality that his disciples just assumed he was God. Or maybe they just wanted to think he was God. John Dominic Crossan and the Jesus Seminar (a fringe group skeptical of scholars with presuppositions against miracles) are among those who believe Jesus was deified in error.

Although books like The Da Vinci Code argue that Jesus’ divinity was a later doctrine of the church, evidence shows otherwise (See “Was there a Da Vinci Conspiracy?”). Most Christians who accept the gospels as reliable insist that Jesus did claim deity. And that belief can be traced all the way back to Jesus’ immediate followers.

But there are those who accept Jesus as a great teacher, but are unwilling to call him God. As a deist, Thomas Jefferson had no problem accepting Jesus’ teachings on morals and ethics while denying his deity.⁶ But as we’ve said, and will explore further, if Jesus was not who he claimed to be, then we must examine some other alternatives, none of which would make him a great moral teacher.

Even a superficial reading of the Gospels reveals that Jesus claimed to be someone more than a prophet like Moses or Daniel. But it is the nature of those claims that concern us. Two questions are worthy of attention.

• Did Jesus actually claim to be God?
• When he said “God,” did Jesus really mean he was the Creator of the universe spoken of in the Hebrew Bible?

To address these questions, let's consider Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:18: “I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth.” What does it mean that Jesus has been “given” authority?

Prior to Jesus taking on human form, we are told that he eternally coexisted with his Father, and as God he had all authority. But Philippians 2:6-11 tells us that even though Jesus had existed in the form of God, he “stripped himself” of God’s powers to be born a human being. Yet the same passage tells us that after his resurrection Jesus was restored to his former glory, and someday “every knee will bow to him as Lord.”

So, what did Jesus mean when he claimed to have complete authority in heaven and on earth? Authority” was a well-understood term in Roman-occupied Israel. At that time, Caesar was the supreme authority in the entire Roman world. His edict could instantly launch legions for war, condemn or exonerate criminals, and establish laws and rules of government. In fact, Caesar’s authority was such that he himself claimed divinity.

So, at the very least Jesus was claiming authority on a par with Caesar himself. But He didn’t just say he had more authority than the Jewish leaders or Roman rulers; Jesus was claiming to be the supreme authority in the universe. To those he spoke to, it meant that he was God. Not a god—but the God. Both their words and actions testify to the fact that they truly believed Jesus is God. (See "Did the Apostles Believe Jesus is God?")

Click here to continue reading about "Is Jesus God?"