Lesson 8: Jesus' Claim to Be God

VERY IMPORTANT: Before beginning Lesson 8, do the debate assigned at the end of Lesson 7.  Depending on the size of your class, this debate may take an entire meeting. Please do not rush through this activity. This is your chance to make sure you can apply the information in Lesson 7.

“Jia,” Lee said hesitantly, “I have been thinking a lot about our talk. If Jesus truly rose from the dead, that is pretty powerful! I must admit, you gave good evidence for the Resurrection as historical fact instead of a myth. All of that is impressive. I hope you won’t be offended that I still have another question.”

“Of course not,” Jia responded. “I’m not trying to win an argument. I am trying to share the most important thing in my life. What is your question?”

“Everything you have said makes sense. But how does that prove that Jesus is God? A great man? Sure! A great teacher? Sure! Maybe even greater than the Buddha. But, God? Why can you not accept that he was just a great teacher? Why must you say that Jesus was God?”

► How would you answer Lee? How do we know that Jesus was God?

Kenneth Copeland is a leading teacher in the prosperity gospel movement. According to Copeland, Christ came to him in a vision and said:

"Don’t be disturbed when people put you down and speak harshly of you. They spoke that way of me. Should they not speak that way of you? The more you get to be like me, the more they’re going to think that way of you. They crucified me for claiming that I was God. But I didn’t claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with him and that he was in me."[1]

Copeland says that Jesus did not claim to be God. Many others agree with Copeland; they say that Jesus did not claim to be God. Is this true? Or did Jesus claim to be divine?

► How would you answer Kenneth Copeland? Did Jesus claim to be God?

If Jesus claimed to be God, he was the only leader of a major world religion to make this claim. Mohammed never claimed to be God; Buddha never claimed to be God. If Jesus claimed to be God, this sets Christianity apart from any other major religion. We will look at Jesus’ claims in two parts – his claims during his ministry and his claims during his trial.

What Did Jesus Say During His Ministry?

(1) Jesus claimed to be the “I AM” of the Old Testament.

Jesus said, “…before Abraham was, I AM.”[2] When a Jewish audience heard those words, they knew that Jesus was pointing to Jehovah’s revelation at the burning bush. Moses asked, “Who shall I say sent me?” God responded, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”[3] When Jesus said, “I AM,” his listeners knew that he was claiming to be Jehovah.

(2) Jesus claimed to be One with God the Father.

Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” When he said this, the Jews picked up stones to stone him. Why? Because they knew that he was claiming to be God. They said, “…you, being a man, make yourself God.”[4] They did not try to stone him because he was a great teacher; they did not try to stone him for his good works; they tried to stone him because he claimed to be God.

When Kenneth Copeland says, “Jesus never claimed to be God,” it shows that Copeland does not understand Jesus’ teaching as well as Jesus’ Jewish listeners understood him! Even Jesus’ enemies knew that he was claiming to be God.

The Buddha insisted that he would point his followers to “the way.” But Jesus did not say, “I will show you the way.” Instead, Jesus said, “I am the way.”[5] Even if you reject Jesus’ claim to be God, you should not deny that he made the claim. Jesus claimed to be God.

(3) Jesus claimed to possess divine attributes.

► Read each of these verses and list the attribute that Jesus is claiming.

• Matthew 18:20 __________________
• John 17:5, 24 ___________________

Jesus claimed the attributes, or characteristics, of God. He claimed to be omnipresent; he claimed to be eternal. These are qualities that are only true of God. When Jesus made these statements, his audience knew that he claimed to have attributes that belong only to God.

(4) Jesus claimed power to perform divine acts.

Jesus claimed power to forgive sins. In Mark 2, Jesus told a paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” The Jewish listeners complained, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” In response, Jesus did something to prove that he had power to forgive. He healed the paralytic.[6] The healing was a testimony to Jesus’ divine power.

Jesus claimed power to give eternal life to those who believe in him. Jesus told his listeners that he had “come down from heaven.” He said that “everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”[7]

When the Jews asked Jesus to “tell us plainly” who he was, he said, “I told you, and you do not believe.” But, for those who believe, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.”[8] Only God can give eternal life. By promising eternal life, Jesus claimed to be God.

What Did Jesus Say at His Trial?

At Jesus’ trial, he claimed to be God. After witnesses testified, the high priest asked Jesus, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus answered, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

The high priest immediately knew that Jesus was claiming deity. The high priest “tore his garments” and said, … ‘You have heard his blasphemy.”[9]

Jesus’ answer included three parts:

• “Are you the Christ?” “I am.”
• “Are you the Son of the Blessed?”  “I am.”
• “You will see the Son of Man…”

“Are you the Christ?” Jesus claimed to be the Messiah.

The word “Christ” is a translation of the Greek word for “Messiah.” By claiming to be Messiah, Jesus claimed to be God. Jeremiah promised a day when Messiah’s name will be “The Lord (Jehovah) is our righteousness.”[10] Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be called “Mighty God.”[11] When Jesus testified, ‘I am the Christ,” he claimed these titles (“The Lord our Righteousness” and “Mighty God”) for himself.

“Are you the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus claimed to be the Son of God.

Jesus often referred to God as his “Father.” Was Jesus claiming to be a son of God in the sense that we are all sons of God? No. Jesus claimed to be the only Son of God.

Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.”[12] For Jesus to be the Son of God means that he had a one-of-a-kind relationship with the Father. Jesus also said that he dwelt in the bosom of the Father.[13] This was a very special Father-Son relationship.

Jesus said that he and the Father were one.[14] In fact, Jesus said that we must honor the Son as we do the Father.[15] When Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, he was claiming to be one in essence with God the Father. It means that he is God the Son, possessing the same nature as the Father. This is why Jewish leaders were upset at Jesus’ affirmation that he was the Son of God.

“You will see the Son of Man.” Jesus claimed to be the Son of Man.

In response to the high priest’s question, Jesus said, “You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” This was a reference to the Old Testament book of Daniel.

Daniel said, “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven.”[16] The term “Son of Man” was a messianic title. When the high priest heard Jesus’ answer, he knew that Jesus was claiming to be Messiah.

Conclusion

Jesus was not convicted for what He did; he was not crucified for healing people or for teaching people to love their neighbor. Jesus was crucified for who he said he was. The people who heard Jesus speak knew that he was claiming to be God. Those who say, “Jesus never claimed to be God” do not understand Jesus’ words as well as the Jewish people who heard him speak during his earthly ministry.

Jesus certainly claimed to be God. And he backed up those claims with his actions. Not only did Jesus heal the paralytic to show he had the power to forgive him; but he also did many other miracles, showing his power over nature and even death itself. He raised Lazarus from the dead, calling himself the "Resurrection and the Life." Jesus' own resurrection especially proved that he was who he said he was, which was God in the flesh.

[1] Kenneth Copeland, quoted in Hank Hanegraaff, Christianity in Crisis, (Oregon: Harvest House, 1993), 137-138

[2] John 8:58

[3] Exodus 3:14

[4] John 10:30, 33

[5] John 14:6

[6] Mark 2:1-12

[7] John 6:40

[8] John 10:24-28

[9] Mark 14:61-64

[10] Jeremiah 23:6

[11] Isaiah 9:6

[12] John 3:16

[13] John 1:18

[14] John 10:30

[15] John 5:23

[16] Daniel 7:13, King James Version

1. List four statements during his ministry showing that Jesus believed he was God.
2. List three statements at his trial showing that Jesus believed he was God.

Chuck Colson (1931-2012) was a member of President Richard Nixon’s White House staff. However, Mr. Colson began to realize that his life was empty. As he sat in his White House office one day, he asked himself, “What is life about? There must be more to life than this.” That day, Chuck Colson realized that he did not know the true meaning of life.

[2]

In 1972, after he left his White House job, Chuck Colson had a meeting with Tom Phillips, the president of a large company. Colson noticed that Tom seemed more at peace than in the past.  When he asked why, Tom said he had given his life to Christ.

Two years later, Chuck Colson’s world was turned upside down. Because of some of his actions while he worked in government, Colson learned that he would be sent to prison. In the midst of this turmoil, he visited with Tom Phillips again. Phillips shared the gospel with Chuck Colson. Driving home that night, Colson stopped his car and prayed for God to forgive his sins.

After completing his prison sentence, Chuck Colson continued to serve God faithfully. In fact, he devoted his life to ministering to people in prison. He spent nearly forty years in ministry. He traveled around the world visiting prisoners in some of the worst prisons in the world; he founded Prison Fellowship, an organization that continues to reach prisoners with the gospel.

In 1984, Chuck Colson gave a speech at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in which he testified to the evidence for the truth of the Gospels.  In his speech, Mr. Colson said that Watergate convinced him that the Resurrection happened just as the Gospels report it. This is part of Mr. Colson’s speech:

"What is the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection? The eyewitness accounts of the apostles. The eleven apostles and Paul went about the then-known world for 40 years proclaiming that Jesus had risen from the dead. Never—though they endured persecution, beatings, prison and ultimately, all but one, a martyr’s death—did they renounce the fact of the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What has all this got to do with Watergate? Ehrlichman, Haldeman, Mitchell, and myself (the leaders in the Nixon White House) believed passionately in the President. We had at our fingertips every imaginable power and privilege. Yet even with the privileges of the most powerful office in the world, the threat of jail was so overpowering that one by one, those involved deserted their leader to save their own skin.

How does this support the truth of the Resurrection? Simply this: Watergate demonstrates human nature. No one can ever make me believe that eleven ordinary human beings would endure beatings, prison, and death without renouncing that Jesus Christ was risen from the dead.

Only an encounter with the living God could have kept those men steadfast. Otherwise, the apostle Peter would have denied Jesus to save his own life. He had already done it three times.

The evidence is overwhelming. Those men held to that testimony because they had seen Christ raised from the dead. And if he was resurrected, that affirms his deity."[1]

[1] This is adapted from a speech delivered by Chuck Colson at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in February, 1984.

[2]Image: "Chuck Colson", Nixon Presidential Library, retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chuck_Colson.jpg, public domain.

Another way to approach the claims of Christ is to consider the alternatives. The New Testament portrays Jesus as a man who claimed to be God. What are we to do with this? There are five options, only one of which could be true: Jesus was either a Legend, a Guru, a Liar, a Lunatic, or Lord.

Was Jesus a Legend?

Could Jesus have been a legend? Some skeptics argue that Jesus did not exist, or that the historical Jesus did not say or do the things the New Testament claims.

► Is it possible that the New Testament is unreliable and that the Gospels are mere legends?

The stories of Jesus cannot be legend. We have seen that the New Testament is historically reliable. The trustworthiness of the New Testament is confirmed by the Bibliographical Test, the Internal Evidence Test, and the External Evidence Test. The New Testament gives an accurate picture of Jesus - who he was, what he did, and what he said. Jesus was not a legend.

Was Jesus a Guru?

Could Jesus be a guru or Eastern mystic? Some skeptics say that Jesus was similar to teachers of Hindu theology. They say that Jesus taught that we are all gods.

► Is it possible that Jesus was an Eastern guru who believed that every human is a god?

Jesus was a Jew raised in a strictly monotheistic culture.[1] He became a teacher of the Jewish scriptures. No Jew would believe that we are all gods. Every Jewish child memorized the Shema: ““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”[2]

Jesus’ teaching was not the teaching of an Eastern mystic, but the teaching of a Jewish rabbi who believed in one transcendent Creator.

Was Jesus a Liar?[5]

Could Jesus be a liar? Some skeptics say that Jesus knew he was not divine. They say that he lied to his followers. They say that he was like Jim Jones, an American cult leader who led 900 people to commit suicide in Guyana; or Shoko Asahara, a Japanese cult leader who led his followers in a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway.

► Is it possible that Jesus was a liar who deceived his followers?

Peter Kreeft said that Jesus could not be a liar because of his character. He was “unselfish, loving, caring, compassionate, and passionate about teaching truth.”[3] Even Jesus’ opponents could find nothing to say against him. At his trial, they had to find false witnesses.

Kreeft said that Jesus could not be a liar because he had no motivation to lie. “Liars lie for selfish reasons, like money, fame, pleasure or power. Jesus gave up all worldly goods, and life itself.” Instead, Jesus’ claim to be God “brought him hatred, rejection, misunderstanding, persecution, torture and death.”[4]

Jesus could not be a liar because of the Resurrection. If we accept the Bible as historically reliable, we must accept Christ’s Resurrection as true. Only God can raise the dead, and God would not have raised Jesus from the dead if he were a liar.

Was Jesus a Lunatic?

Some people would say that Jesus did not lie, but that he mistakenly believed he was the Son of God. In the quote above, C.S. Lewis showed that an ordinary human who believes that he is God must be insane.

► Based on the life of Jesus portrayed in the Gospels, is it possible that Jesus was a lunatic who falsely believed he was God?

Only a person who is mentally ill would believe that he is the Almighty Creator. Imagine that you met someone on the street who said and truly believed, “I am Napoleon” or “I am Alexander the Great.” You would know that this person was mentally ill.

If Jesus was an ordinary person who believed he was God, he must have been mentally ill. But psychologists say that Jesus had no marks of mental illness. He was perfectly balanced in his personality.

Jesus’ teaching showed his practical wisdom. His care for those who were suffering showed a love for others that you do not expect from a mentally ill person. Jesus was certainly not a lunatic.

Was Jesus Lord?

If Jesus was not a legend, a guru, a liar, or a lunatic, the only remaining option is that he was exactly who he said; Jesus was Lord. Like his disciples after the Resurrection, we must worship Jesus as Lord and God!

Our conclusion from looking at these five options is consistent with the general argument for Christianity that we learned earlier. Since the New Testament is historically accurate, we have sufficient reason to believe that Jesus rose from the dead and fulfilled dozens of messianic prophecies. These two things show that Jesus is who he claimed to be—the Son of God, God come in the flesh.

In this lesson, we have seen that Jesus is the divine being he claimed to be. Since Jesus is God, we must accept him as an infallible authority. He is absolutely trustworthy. We must therefore accept his claim to be the only way to God. We must also accept his claim that the Bible comes from God. Christianity is true. How we respond to that truth is crucial.

[1] Monotheistic means to believe in only one transcendent God.

[2] Deuteronomy 6:4

[3] Peter Kreeft, Handbook on Christian Apologetics, (IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), 160

[4] Ibid.

[5]“I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God; but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

1. What are the five options to consider for Jesus’ claim to be God?
2. Briefly state the problem for each of the first four options.

“Lee,” Jia said, “We are at a crucial point. We have seen evidence for the existence of God; we have seen evidence for creation; we have seen evidence for the reliability of the New Testament; we have seen evidence that Jesus is who he said he was.

“Lee, in our conversations, we have seen that:

• The New Testament is historically reliable and trustworthy.
• Jesus rose from the dead, and he fulfilled dozens of Messianic prophecies.
• Jesus’ Resurrection and fulfillment of prophecy show that he was who he claimed to be—the Messiah, the Son of God, God come in the flesh.
• As the Son of God, Jesus is an infallible authority.
• Jesus Christ taught that the Bible is the Word of God and that he is the only way to God.

“Since all of this is true, there is only one possible conclusion. If Jesus was God, we must believe what he said: The Bible is the Word of God, and Jesus is the only way to God. Therefore, Christianity is true.

“Lee, my question is, ‘Will you believe? Are you willing to surrender your life to the authority of Jesus, the only begotten Son of God?’”

With tears in his eyes, Lee responded, “Jia, do you remember telling me about ‘Doubting Thomas?’ That is who I am; I need a lot of evidence. But last week, I read more about Thomas in your Bible. After he saw the evidence, Thomas said, ‘“My Lord and my God!’[1] Thomas’ eyes were opened, he saw the evidence, and he believed.

“Jia, I have seen the evidence – and I believe. As I read about Thomas, God opened my eyes to the truth of the Bible. I was blind, but now I see! I am ready to surrender my life to Jesus. Will you pray with me?”

[1] John 20:28

(1) Apologetics and the Head: You will begin the next class with a test over the review questions from Lesson 8. Study these questions carefully in preparation for the test.

(2) Apologetics and the Heart: Many professed Christians say, “I believe,” but it is only a mental decision.  In John, the word “believe” implies a willingness to obey. If we do not obey, we do not believe. Do you believe? Are you living in full obedience?  If you are not, commit yourself to complete and total obedience to God.

(3) Apologetics and the Hands: Talk to an unbeliever about Jesus’ claim to be God. Before you show them what Jesus said, ask, “What do you think about Jesus? If he was not God, who do you think he was?” Show them that the only reasonable option is that Jesus was the Son of God (God the Son), just as he said. Take notes about your conversation to share with the class at your next meeting.

(1) List four statements during his ministry showing that Jesus believed he was God.

(2) List three statements at his trial showing that Jesus believed he was God.

(3) What are the five options to consider for Jesus’ claim to be God?

(4) Briefly state the problem for each of the first four options.

(5) Write the six premises and conclusion for the general argument for Christianity.

(6) Write John 20:30-31 from memory.