Did Jesus Really Claim to Be God?

Is Jesus God?

Certainly the New Testament writers claimed on several occasions that Jesus was God. For example, in the opening chapter of his Gospel, John says “the Word was God” and “the Word became flesh” (John 1:1, 14). Paul says that Christ is “God over all” (Rom. 9:5), “in him [Christ] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9), and Christ is “in the form of God” (Phil. 2:6), the one to whom “every knee should bow” (Phil. 2:10).

Peter declares that believers receive righteousness from “our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:1). Matthew applies deity to Jesus when he quotes Isaiah 7:14: “ ‘The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Matt. 1:23). The writer of Hebrews says, “He [the Son] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3). He also quotes Psalm 45:6 in claiming that God says of the Son, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Heb. 1:8). Virtually all of the New Testament writings refer to Jesus with the divine title “Lord.” Even the demons acknowledged that Jesus was God (Matt. 8:29; Luke 4:34, 41)!

The belief that Jesus is God (called “high Christology”) was held by the earliest Christians. It did not evolve over time, as some have suggested, but was proclaimed immediately after the resurrection appearances (resulting in a “Christological Big Bang”). Those appearances were “impact events” that woke up the disciples to the truth of Christ’s divine claims and deeds.

I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist

Frank Turek, Norman L. Geisler

In this updated edition of the bestselling I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, written for those interested in examining the Christian faith,  Frank Turek and Norman L. Geisler argue that Christianity requires the least faith of all worldviews because it is the most reasonable.

“The earliest Christology was already the highest Christology,” explains Richard Bauckham.¹ And that’s not just the conclusion of Christian scholars. As Brant Pitre observes, “The existence of early high Christology is agreed upon by Jewish, Christian, and nonreligious scholars alike.”² Some of the evidence for early high Christology is from the creeds—which included early hymns used in worship³—and the first epistles of Paul, who refers to Jesus as preexisting, sharing God’s nature, seated at God’s right hand, receiving prayer, being worshiped, and forgiving sins. Gary Habermas writes, “That Paul uses these lofty expressions so easily in his initial epistles without introductions, definitions, or further explanations of his meanings most likely indicates that they were already well-known and well received in these communities.”⁴ The Gospel of Mark also shows Jesus is God very early. Mark was likely written between AD 42 and 45, yet virtually every chapter displays high Christology. In the first nine chapters of Mark, Jesus is depicted as God and/or does only what God can do:

1. When John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus, Mark quotes an Old Testament passage (Isa. 40:3) that says he is preparing the way for Yahweh (Mark 1:2–3).

2. Jesus forgives sins, and his opponents rightfully think, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7). He also claims to be the divine “Son of Man” (Mark 2:10) and “Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28).

3. Jesus heals diseases and drives out demons (Mark 1:21–34).

4. Jesus calms the storm and brings the boat to safety (Mark 4:35–41), which Yahweh does in Psalm 107.

5. Jesus raises the dead, not by praying to God as other prophets had done, but by his own power (Mark 5:35–43).

6. Jesus produces bread from heaven and feeds thousands like Yahweh did with manna (Mark 6:30–44). He then walks on water (Mark 6:45–52) as Yahweh is said to do in Job 9:8.

7. Jesus heals the deaf and mute (Mark 7:31–37), which, according to Exodus 4:11, is a power of Yahweh.

8. Peter declares Jesus is the Christ, after which Jesus claims he will later come in his Father’s glory with the holy angels (Mark 8:27–30, 38).

9. Jesus is transfigured on a mountain with the only two men in the Old Testament to ascend a mountain to meet God: Moses and Elijah (Mark 9:2–13).

We could go on, but you get the point.⁵ In Mark, Jesus proves to be God by demonstrating authority over sin, disease, demons, nature, and death. He is also declared the Christ and can transfigure himself. Then, at his trial, he directly claims to be God.

Direct Claims to Be God

Perhaps no claim is more direct than Jesus’s response to Caiaphas’s pointblank interrogation, as recorded in Mark:

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. (Mark 14:61–64)

Notice that Jesus responded to the direct question with a direct answer: “I am.” Referring to himself as the “Son of Man,” Jesus then added that he would be coming back on the clouds of heaven. Caiaphas and his onlookers knew the implication. This was a reference to the vision the Old Testament prophet Daniel had of the end times: The Messiah—the Son of Man—would come to earth to judge the world on the authority given to him by God the Father (“the Ancient of Days”), and all the world’s people would worship him (Dan. 7:13–14 NIV). Of course, no one is to be worshiped but God himself. Yet here was Christ claiming that he would be the one to judge the world and receive worship from its people. He was claiming to be God, and everyone knew it.

Bart Ehrman maintains that Jesus claims to be God only in the Gospel of John, not the other Gospels. When challenged by Brant Pitre during a question-and-answer session with this very claim of Jesus recorded in Mark 14—an event also recorded by Matthew and Luke—Ehrman said that while it is a divine claim by Jesus, Mark invented the claim.⁶

How does Ehrman know Mark invented it? Did Matthew and Luke invent the claim too? Ehrman revealed no evidence, but he did reveal his bias. It’s easy to assert that Jesus didn’t declare himself to be God in the Synoptic Gospels if you dismiss where he actually does!

Jesus proves to be God by demonstrating authority over sin, disease, demons, nature, and death.

As mentioned above, Ehrman does admit Jesus directly claims to be God in the Gospel of John. This occurs during a tense exchange with some Jews. After several volleys back and forth about the identity of Jesus, the conversation culminates with Jesus declaring

“Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (John 8:56–59)

Skeptics may say, “‘Before Abraham was, I am’ is not even good English! It’s the wrong tense.” Exactly. Jesus wasn’t worried about grammar because he was quoting the very name God gave to Moses at the burning bush:

Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” (Ex. 3:13–14)

“I am” is the self-existent one. He has no past or future because he is eternal. He’s not in time. Jesus was claiming to be that eternal, self-existent one. And the Jews knew it. That’s why they picked up stones to stone him.

Notice that Jesus didn’t correct the Jews by denying he was God. Instead, he pointed to his works as evidence for his deity (see John 10:34–39).

For those who continue to say, “No, Jesus never claimed to be God,” we have a question: If Jesus didn’t claim to be God, then why was he killed? Jesus’s crucifixion, which is probably the most well-attested fact from ancient history, is difficult to explain unless he claimed to be God. He certainly wasn’t killed for urging people to love their neighbor!

The unbelieving Jews certainly knew he claimed to be God. Otherwise, why did they on several occasions seek to punish him for blasphemy and then urge Pilate to kill him? Why was it obvious to first-century people that Jesus claimed to be God, but it’s not obvious to some present-day skeptics?⁷

This article is adapted from I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Frank Turek and Norman L. Geisler.

Norman L. Geisler (1932–2019) cofounded Southern Evangelical Seminary and wrote over one hundred books, including his four-volume Systematic Theology. He taught at the university and graduate levels for nearly forty years and spoke at conferences worldwide.

Frank Turek (DMin, Southern Evangelical Seminary) is the president of CrossExamined.org, where he presents evidence for Christianity at churches, high schools, and secular college campuses. He is also an author and a speaker, participating in debates with prominent atheists. 

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