Jesus’ Claim to Be God. In addition to Jesus’ claim about himself, his disciples also acknowledged his claim to deity. This they manifested in many ways, including the following:
Disciples Attributed the Titles of Deity to Christ. In agreement with their Master, Jesus’ Apostles called him “the first and the last” ( Rev. 1:17 ; 2:8 ; 22:13 ), “the true light” ( John 1:9 ), their “rock” or “stone” ( 1 Cor. 10:4 ; 1 Peter 2:6–8 ; cf. Pss. 18:2 ; 95:1 ), the “bridegroom” ( Eph. 5:28–33 ; Rev. 21:2 ), “the chief shepherd” ( 1 Peter 5:4 ), and “the great shepherd” ( Heb. 13:20 ). The Old Testament role of “redeemer” ( Ps. 130:7 ; Hos. 13:14 ) is given to Jesus in the New Testament ( Titus 2:13 ; Rev. 5:9 ). He is seen as the forgiver of sins ( Acts 5:31 ; Col. 3:13 ; cf. Ps. 130:4 ; Jer. 31:34 ) and “savior of the world” ( John 4:42 ; cf. Isa. 43:3 ). The apostles also taught of him, “Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead” ( 2 Tim. 4:1 ). All of these titles are unique to Jehovah in the Old Testament but are given to Jesus in the New.
Disciples Considered Jesus the Messiah-God. The New Testament opens with a passage concluding that Jesus is Immanuel (God with us), which refers to the messianic prediction of Isaiah 7:14 . The very title “Christ” carries the same meaning as the Hebrew appellation
Messiah (“anointed”
. In Zechariah 12:10 , Jehovah says, “They will look on me, the one they have pierced.” But the New Testament writers apply this passage to Jesus’ crucifixion ( John 19:37 ; Rev. 1:7 ). Paul interprets Isaiah 45:22–23 (“For I am God, and there is no other. . . . Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear”
as applying to Jesus: “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” ( Phil. 2:10–11 ). Paul says that all created beings will call Jesus both
Messiah (Christ) and
Yahweh (Lord).
Disciples Attributed the Powers of God to Jesus. Works and authority that are God’s alone are attributed to Jesus by his disciples. He is said to raise the dead ( John 5:21 ; 11:38–44 ) and to forgive sins ( Acts 5:31 ; 13:38 ). He is said to have been the primary agent in creating ( John 1:2 ; Col. 1:16 ) and sustaining ( Col. 1:17 ) the universe.
Disciples Associated Jesus’ Name with God’s. His followers used Jesus’ name as the agent for answering and the recipient of prayer ( Acts 7:59 ; 1 Cor. 5:4 ). Often in prayers or benedictions, Jesus’ name is used alongside God’s, as in, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” ( Gal. 1:3 ; Eph. 1:2 ). The name of Jesus appears with equal status to God’s in the so-called trinitarian formulas: Jesus commanded to baptize “in the name [singular] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” ( Matt. 28:19 ). This association is made at the end of 2 Corinthians ( 13:14 ): “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
Disciples Called Jesus God. Thomas saw Jesus’ wounds and cried, “My Lord and my God!” ( John 20:28 ). Paul calls Jesus the one in whom “all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form” ( Col. 2:9 ). In Titus, Jesus is “our great God and Savior” ( 2:13 ), and the writer to the Hebrews says of him, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever” ( Heb. 1:8 ). Paul says that before Christ existed in the form of man, which clearly refers to being really human, he existed in the “form of God” ( Phil. 2:5–8 ). The parallel phrases suggest that if Jesus was fully human, then he was also fully God. A similar phrase, “the image of God,” refers in Colossians 1:15 to the manifestation of God. This description is strengthened in Hebrews where it says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” ( 1:3 ).
The prologue to John’s Gospel states categorically, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word [Jesus] was God ” ( John 1:1 ).
Disciples Considered Jesus Superior to Angels. The disciples did not simply believe that Christ was more than a man; they believed him to be greater than any created being, including angels. Paul says Jesus is “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” ( Eph. 1:21 ). The demons submitted to his command ( Matt. 8:32 ). Angels that refused the worship of humans are seen worshiping him ( Rev. 22:8–9 ). The author of Hebrews presents a complete argument for Christ’s superiority over angels, saying, “For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’? . . . And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him’ ” ( Heb. 1:5–6 ).
Disciples’ Alleged Counter-claims to Jesus’ Deity. Critics offer texts to argue that Jesus’ disciples did not believe he was God. They need to be briefly examined in context. Jehovah’s Witnesses use John 1:1 to show that Jesus was “
a god,” not “
the God,” because no definite article
the appears in the Greek. This misunderstands both the language and the verse. In Greek, the definite article is normally used to stress “the individual,” and when it is not present the reference is to “the nature” of the one denoted. Thus, the verse can be rendered, “And the Word was of the nature of God.” In the context of the following verses and the rest of John (for example, 1:3 ; 8:58 ; 10:30 ; 20:28 ) it is impossible that John 1:1 suggests that Jesus is anything less than divine. The rest of the New Testament joins John in forthrightly proclaiming that Jesus is God (for example, in Colossians 1:15–16 and Titus 2:13 ).
Further, some New Testament texts use the definite article and clearly refer to Christ as “the God.” It does not matter whether John used the definite article in 1:1 . He and other writers of Scripture considered Jesus as God, not “a god” (see Heb. 1:8 ).
Critics also use Colossians 1:15 , where Paul classifies Christ as “firstborn of all creation.” This seems to imply that Christ is a creature, the first creature as the universe was made. This interpretation likewise is contrary to the context, for Paul in Colossians 1:16 has just said that Christ “created all things” and he is about to say that “the fullness of the Godhead” is in him ( 2:9 ). The term
firstborn frequently refers to a position of preeminence in the family which it clearly does in this context (cf. 1:18 ). Christ is heir of all things, creator and owner. He is before all things.
The same applies to Revelation 3:14 , another verse used to deny Christ’s deity. John refers to Christ as the “beginning of the creation of God.” This sounds as if Christ was the first created being. Here, though, the meaning is that Christ is the
Beginner of God’s creation, not the
beginning in God’s creation. The same Greek word for
beginning is used of God the Father in Revelation 21:6–7 : “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and
I will be his God and he will be my son.”
Force of the Testimony. There is manifold testimony from Jesus and from those who knew him best that Jesus claimed to be God and that his followers believed that he was. Whether this was the case, there can be no doubt that this is what they believed. As C. S. Lewis observed, when confronted with the boldness of Christ’s claims, we are faced with distinct alternatives.
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish things that people often say about Him: “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 sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would rather be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. [Lewis, 55–56]
Evidence That Jesus Is God. To say that Jesus and his disciples claimed that he was God in human flesh does not in itself prove that he is God. The real question is whether there is any good reason to believe the claims. To support his claims to deity, Jesus showed supernatural power and authority that is unique in human history.
Fulfilled Messianic Prophecies. There were dozens of predictive prophecies in the Old Testament regarding the Messiah (
see Prophecy as Proof for Bible ). Consider the following predictions, made centuries in advance, that Jesus would be:
1. born of a woman ( Gen. 3:15 ; cf. Gal. 4:4 ).
2. born of a virgin ( Isa 7:14 ; cf. Matt. 1:21f .) (
see Virgin Birth ).
3. cut off (would die) 483 years after the declaration to reconstruct the temple in 444 b.c . ( Dan. 9:24f .; this was fulfilled to the year. See Hoehner, 115–38).
4. The seed of Abraham ( Gen. 12:1–3 and 22:18 ; cf. Matt. 1:1 and Gal. 3:16 ).
5. of the tribe of Judah ( Gen. 49:10 ; cf. Luke 3:23 , 33 and Heb. 7:14 ).
6. a descendant of David ( 2 Sam. 7:12f .; cf. Matt. 1:1 ).
7. born in Bethlehem ( Micah 5:2 ; cf. Matt. 2:1 and Luke 2:4–7 ).
8. anointed by the Holy Spirit ( Isa. 11:2 ; cf. Matt. 3:16–17 ).
9. heralded by a messenger ( Isa. 40:3 and Mal. 3:1 ; cf. Matt. 3:1–2 ).
10. a worker of miracles ( Isa. 35:5–6 ; cf. Matt. 9:35 ;
see Miracles in the Bible ).
11. cleanser of the temple ( Mal. 3:1 ; cf. Matt. 21:12f .).
12. rejected by Jews ( Ps. 118:22 ; cf. 1 Peter 2:7 ).
13. die a humiliating death ( Ps. 22 and Isa. 53 ; cf. Matt. 27:31f .). His death would involve:
enduring rejection by his own people ( Isa. 53:3 ; cf. John 1:10–11 ; 7:5 , 48 ).
standing silence before his accusers ( Isa. 53:7 ; cf. Matt. 27:12–19 ).
being mocked ( Ps. 22:7–8 ; cf. Matt. 27:31 ).
having hands and feet pierced ( Ps. 22:16 ; cf. Luke 23:33 ).
being crucified with thieves ( Isa. 53:12 ; cf. Mark 15:27–28 ).
praying for his persecutors ( Isa. 53:12 ; cf. Luke 23:34 ).
the piercing of his side ( Zech. 12:10 ; cf. John 19:34 ).
burial in a rich man’s tomb ( Isa. 53:9 ; cf. Matt. 27:57–60 ).
the casting of lots for his garments ( Ps. 22:18 ; cf. John 19:23–24 ).
14. being raised from the dead ( Ps. 2:7 and 16:10 ; cf. Acts 2:31 and Mark 16:6 ).
15. ascending into heaven ( Ps. 68:18 ; cf. Acts 1:9 ).
16. sitting at the right hand of God ( Ps. 110:1 ; cf. Heb. 1:3 ).
These prophecies were written hundreds of years before Christ was born. They are too precise to have been based on reading trends of the times or just intelligent guesses, like “prophecies” in a supermarket tabloid.
They are also more precise than the so-called prophecies of Muhammad in the
Qur’an (
see Qur’an Alleged Divine Origin of ). Even the most liberal critics admit that the prophetic books were completed at least 400 years before Christ and the Book of Daniel no later than 165 b . c (
see Daniel, Dating of ). There is good evidence to date these books much earlier (some Psalms and early prophets to the eighth and ninth centuries b.c .). But any reasonable dating places these writings long before Jesus lived. It is humanly impossible to make clear, repeated and accurate predictions 200 years in the future. The fulfillment of these prophecies in a theistic universe is miraculous and points to a divine confirmation of Jesus as the Messiah.
Some have suggested that there is a natural explanation for what only seem to be supernatural predictions here. One explanation is that the prophecies were accidentally fulfilled in Jesus. He happened to be in the right place at the right time. But what are we to say about the prophecies involving miracles? “He just happened to make the blind man see?” “He just happened to be resurrected from the dead?” These hardly seem to be chance events. If a God is in control of the universe, then chance is ruled out. Further, it is unlikely that these events would have converged in the life of one man. The probability of sixteen predictions being fulfilled in one man has been calculated at 1 in 1045. If we go to forty-eight predictions, the probability is 1 in 10157. It is almost impossible to conceive of a number that big (Stoner, 108).
But it is not just a logical improbability that rules out this theory; it is the moral implausibility of an all-powerful and all-knowing God letting things get out of control so that all his plans for prophetic fulfillment are ruined by someone who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. God cannot lie, nor can he break a promise ( Heb. 6:18 ). So we must conclude that he did not allow his prophetic promises to be thwarted by chance. All the evidence points to Jesus as the divinely appointed fulfillment of the messianic prophecies. He was God’s man, confirmed by God’s signs. If God made the predictions to be fulfilled in the life of Christ, he would not allow them to be fulfilled in the life of any other. The God of truth would not allow a lie to be confirmed as true (
see Miracles as Confirmation of Truth ).