Was Jesus God?

When I first began studying apologetics, I wanted to figure out the one thing that if proven false would break Christianity. After much thought, I decided that everything hinges on Jesus being who He says He is. If Jesus is not the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, and the Savior, then all hope in Christianity is lost.

First, what did Jesus say about Himself? He calls Himself “The Son of Man” 82 times in the gospels. That title seems odd for someone that claims to be the Son of God. However, after a quick search one can easily see that Jesus is referring to Daniel 7:13-14. The book of Daniel is loaded with prophecies about the coming Messiah. When Jesus gives Himself that title, He is making a claim of being the Messiah humanity had longed for since the Garden of Eden.

Jesus also refers to Himself as “I Am”. That is the name God told Moses to call him way back in Exodus. It was the personal name of God. In John 8:58 Jesus says, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” This statement is incredibly unique and the people hearing it most certainly would have noticed what He was claiming. Abraham had been dead for over 1,000 years. Jesus was saying before Abraham was born, He was already there. The religious leaders of the day knew exactly what He was saying and wanted to kill Him for it.

Jesus also has other “I Am” statements in John and Mark. This gives the modern Christian assurance that Jesus is not making that claim in one off hand comment. He consistently uses this phrasing to point to His deity.

Jesus also does things only God could do. For example, Jesus forgives sins. In Matthew 9:1-8, Jesus forgives a man of his sin. The Jewish leaders instantly realize the claim He is making. Only God can forgive sin, and He thinks of Himself as equal to God. He immediately supports this claim by performing a miracle. The physical miracle demonstrated Jesus power over the natural world. However, Jesus didn’t just perform one miracle, He performed numerous miracles including raising a dead man back to life.

Jesus also speaks differently than a normal teacher of the Torah. The difference is notable and Matthew 7:28-29 references the difference. Jesus speaks with authority, like He is the one who said it to begin with. Additionally, His resurrection provides even more evidence to the claim He was indeed God incarnate. Paul uses resurrection appearances as evidence for Jesus claim in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8.

Also, Jesus fulfilled every Old Testament prophecy. There were over 300 prophecies written by more than 33 authors over the course of more than 1000 years. Just to fulfill 48 of the over 300 has been calculated to be around 10157, that’s a lot.[1] There are only 1080 atoms in the observable universe.

Lastly, did others think that Jesus was God? The authors of the New Testament began writing the New Testament within 17 years of His death, resurrection, and ascension and those authors refer to Him with exalted titles over 500 times. They also demonstrate that Christ is worthy to be praised, He is to be trusted in, believed in, and worshipped. They clearly believe Jesus was who He said He was.

All the evidence points to Jesus being exactly who He says He is. Jesus claimed to be God, others realized His deity and worshipped Him. He fulfilled every OT prophecy. The world likes to say Jesus was a great moral teacher, that He never claimed to be God, and it’s all legend. This makes Jesus easy for people to swallow. That’s shallow and Jesus didn’t leave us that option.

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either 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. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse.”[2]

[1] The Mathematical Probability that Jesus is the Christ. n.d. https://empower.global/the-mathematical-probability-that-jesus-is-the-christ/ (accessed June 27, 2022).

[2] Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. New York: Macmillan, 1960.