by Hank Hanegraaff
February 01, 2008

"I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!" - Revelation 1:17-18

When Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples the mother of all questions, "Who do you say I am?" (Matthew 16:15; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20). Mormons answer this question by saying that Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer; Jehovah's Witnesses answer by saying that Jesus is the archangel Michael; New Agers say Jesus is an avatar or enlightened messenger. Jesus, however, answered by claiming that He was God.

First, Jesus claimed to be the unique Son of God. As a result, the Jewish leaders tried to kill Him because in "calling God his own Father, [Jesus was] making himself equal with God" (John 5:18 NIV). In John 8:58 Jesus went so far as to use the very words by which God revealed Himself to Moses from the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). To the Jews this was the epitome of blasphemy, for they knew that in doing so Jesus was clearly claiming to be God. On yet another occasion, Jesus explicitly told the Jews: " 'I and the Father are one.' Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, 'I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?' 'We are not stoning you for any of these,' replied the Jews, 'but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God' " (John 10:30-33).

Furthermore, Jesus made an unmistakable claim to deity before the Chief Priests and the whole Sanhedrin. Caiaphas the High Priest asked him: " 'Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?' 'I am,' said Jesus. 'And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven' " (Mark 14:61-62 NIV). A biblically illiterate person might well have missed the import of Jesus' words. Caiaphas and the Council, however, did not. They knew that in saying he was "the Son of Man" who would come "on the clouds of heaven" he was making an overt reference to the Son of Man in Daniel's prophecy (Daniel 7:13-14). In doing so, He was not only claiming to be the preexistent Sovereign of the Universe but also prophesying that He would vindicate His claim by judging the very court that was now condemning Him. Moreover, by combining Daniel's prophecy with David's proclamation in Psalm 110, Jesus was claiming that He would sit upon the throne of Israel's God and share God's very glory. To students of the Old Testament this was the height of "blasphemy," thus "they all condemned him as worthy of death" (Mark 14:64-65).

Finally, Jesus claimed to possess the very attributes of God. For example, He claimed omniscience by telling Peter, "This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times" (Matthew 26:34); declared omnipotence by not only resurrecting Lazarus (John 11:43) but by raising Himself from the dead (see John 2:19); and professed omnipresence by promising He would be with His disciples "to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). Not only so, but Jesus said to the paralytic in Luke 5:20, "Friend, your sins are forgiven". In doing so, He claimed a prerogative reserved for God alone. In addition, when Thomas worshiped Jesus saying "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28), Jesus responded with commendation rather than condemnation.

What Credentials Back Up Jesus' Claim to Deity?

"When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?' Jesus replied, 'Go back and report to John what you hear and see; The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.'" - Matthew 11:2-5

Jesus not only claimed to be God but also provided many convincing proofs that he indeed was divine.

First, Jesus demonstrated that he was God in human flesh by manifesting the credential of sinlessness. While the Qur'an exhorts Muhammad to seek forgiveness for his sins, the Bible exonerates Messiah saying Jesus "had no sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21). And this is not a singular statement. John declares, "and in him is no sin" (1 John 3:5), and Peter says Jesus "committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth" (1 Peter 2:22). Jesus himself went so far as to challenge his antagonists asking, "Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?" (John 8:46)

Furthermore, Jesus demonstrated supernatural authority over sickness, the forces of nature, fallen angels, and even death itself. Matthew 4 records that Jesus went throughout Galilee teaching, preaching "and healing every disease and sickness among the people" (v.23). Mark 4 documents Jesus rebuking the wind and the waves saying, "Quiet! Be still!" (v.39). In Luke 4 Jesus encounters a man possessed by an evil spirit and commands the demon to "Come out of him!" (v.35). And in John 4, Jesus tells a royal official whose son was close to death, "Your son will live" (v.50). In fact, the four Gospels record how Jesus demonstrated ultimate power over death through the immutable fact of his resurrection.

Finally, the credentials of Christ's deity are seen in the lives of countless men, women, and children. Each day, people of every tongue and tribe and nation experience the resurrected Christ by repenting of their sins and receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives. Thus, they not only come to know about Christ evidentially, but experientially Christ becomes more real to them than the very flesh upon their bones.

Thanks NM - I really enjoyed your post.

I'd like to point out two things about this:

1.  The speaker in your first text (Revelation 1:17) says I am the Alpha and Omea (the first and last) and I DIED.  Who is the Alpha and Omega?  Who died?  The text is identifying the Alpha and Omega as being the same person who died.

2.  When Jesus replied 'I am' in your second text, he was not using the present perfect tense, but rather a tense that we do not have in English - I suppose it is like a present continuous tense.  A more correct translation would be "I AM-ing'.  It means that the speaker is in a constant state of unchannging 'am-ing'.

Dear brother Leon, thank you for your response.

May I begin by drawing your attention to the question asked here pls? It reads, “Did Jesus claim to be God?” It doesn’t read, “Did Jesus claim to be God the Father?”  It doesn’t ask whether Jesus ever claimed to be the same as God the Father/God the Holy Spirit, it doesn’t read that Jesus wasn’t the son of God/the Son of Man. Scriptures prove that Jesus is God, only he isn’t God the Father, or God the Holy Spirit. I do think that one can't better talk abt  Jesus being equal with God the father/God the Holy Spirit, without looking at the Trinity. One can also look at God as a Tri-unity, within which every Person of the Godhead is indeed fully and equally and eternally, God.( Isa. 48:16 - pls see to who’s talking there, Jhn. 1:1-3, Col. 1:15-17)

The same men that had fallen backward in Gethsemane were present when the council worked seemingly hard to come up with some false witnesses against Jesus, so that they could have him done with. But, they couldn’t find any.(Mat.26:60, Jhn.18:4-9)

Why couldn’t they find any? Because it wasn’t against the Roman Law for one to claim to be the I AM . It would have been laughable if anybody objected  that Jesus is God, since many of them Romans believed that they were 'gods', Caesar’s family in particular. But of course, it was against the Hebrew Law, before which therefore his claims to be the I AM, were  a warrant enough to arrest him. What was missing, was a religious and a more tangible, convincing proof before the Romans, to have him put to death.
  
My brother, what occasion befits the Lord’s announcement, that he was God, and who had to better decide when to say that? Is it our expectations or his will and wisdom? Would it have to have been in the manger, or when the wise men visited him, or when he had gone to the Temple whilst his parents where looking for him or when he fed the hungry or heal the sick, when he turned water into wine, when he forgave sins, when he promised to send the Holy Spirit, or before Pilate or  when he was taking the whipping ... when? I’m not sure of whether I could decide for him of where he had better do that. I’m ever grateful that he said it at the face of such adversity and where a persecuted believers/Church needed to hear that, from his own mouth and to know him or whom he really is, he in whom they had put their trust. I like all other witnesses given of him of the fact that he is God. Infact, I’m ever grateful that though he is God, he stepped up to the plate for a person like me.
 
I believe your heart is right. I’ve no doubt abt that. If you don’t mind, I’d really appreciate if you’d share your extensive research abt this subject, with us, pls.

"Christ was not half a God and half a man; he was perfectly God and perfectly man." C.H. Spurgeon


May you abound in every good thing, in Christ Jesus our Lord,

NEWMERCIES

NM,

Sorry this is taking so long. I have three surgeries coming up one after the other, and it is really tough getting everything in order. My Dr. is not a surgeon, so everything has to include at least two Doctors and their opinions. I will get everything together tonight or tomorrow and post it here for you.

Be blessed,
Leon

Thank you Music. God will take care of me, He always does.

Blessings,
Leon

Thanks again ladies and may God grant you the desires of your hearts. There is no date set yet for them, we are still hashing out details like where to rehab. I live in the middle of nowhere and it is a two hour dive to any city. One surgery is my knee and another back, so the rehab is very important. They wanted to put me in a nursing home for a couple of months to make sure I didn't miss any of it. I am still hoping that I don't have to do that. My Grand Kids come by every day to visit now, I would sure miss them for those couple of months. Besides, I am only 47, I would be bored to death. LOL.

Okay, let me throw out a few verses about Jesus and His relationship to the Father within the Trinity.
Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
1Co 1:3  Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ; ( Jesus didn't just have a Father, He had a God).
1Ti 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

There are hundreds more verses if I can find my notes. I gave these off the top of my head, but I think there is a good range of them there. Most of the others would only be repeating these anyway.

Have a blessed day, and may God be forever with you,
Leon