Did
Jesus Claim to be God?
By Dr. Ken
Matto
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
Probably one of the greatest questions ever posed to a
Christians is “Did Jesus claim to be God?”
Normally, you would hear it like this.
“Jesus never claimed to be God.”
The reason that Christians get so stymied and silenced by this is because
there is no specific verse in the New Testament which states, “I am Jesus and I
am God.” That would be easy and the
question would be settled and it would never come up until the modern versions
would probably delete it.
To arrive at biblical truth, it is imperative that we
use the method God gave us.
Which things also we speak, not in the
words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing
spiritual things with spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:13)
We are to compare spiritual with spiritual which means we are to compare
Scripture with Scripture because the Bible is its own interpreter and
dictionary. There are some Bible
verses which can stand alone in their meaning such as John 3:16:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. (John 3:16)
John 3:16 is a declarative verse which teaches that
those who believe in Christ according to election which are those who are in the
world will have everlasting life.
The subject at hand is whether Christ claimed to be God or not.
Did he? The answer is an
astounding YES!
By using the
divine method of comparing Scripture with Scripture it will straighten out the
confused beliefs of many Christians and giving them another tool to be brave in
the presence of false teaching.
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Before Abraham was, I am. (John 8:58)
In John 8:58 Jesus was answering the Pharisees and
Scribes. Jesus finally ended up the
confrontation by stating that before Abraham existed Christ was already in
existence. By using the term “I Am”
Jesus was claiming to be God and the Jews knew it, that is why in the next verse
they took up stones and wanted to stone him to death because they thought he was
blaspheming.
Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid
himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so
passed by. (John 8:59)
In John 8:59 Jesus performed a miracle by passing
through their midst and they did not even see him especially since they wanted
to stone him. So they were blinded
to him and Jesus left the area,
through them not around them. Now
we look at how God revealed himself to Moses.
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said,
Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
(Exodus 3:14)
So the Jews would have known that Jesus was referring to
God when he made the statement of “I Am.”
That phrase also connects Jesus with being the Great “I AM” of Sinai.
Now we plainly see a biblical connection between Jesus and the Great “I
AM” of Sinai. What does that tell
you? It tells you that Jesus is the
Great “I AM” of Sinai.
This means that everything written in both the Old and
New Testaments were penned by holy men of old through the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit being
eternal God, the third person of the Trinity.
Jesus, not only being the eternal Son of God, is also the Great “I AM” of
Sinai who gave the law to Moses and through the Holy Spirit, gave us the
complete Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.
Therefore everything written in both the Old and New Testaments were
given under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This means that John 8:58 compared with Exodus 3:14 is
irrefutable evidence that the Lord Jesus Christ claimed to be God.
When Christians use that comparison, they will never lack the biblical
evidence they need to silence the unbelievers and skeptics.
Even if the person you are speaking to rejects it, you have proven your
case.
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Before Abraham was, I am.
(John 8:58)
And God said unto Moses,
I AM THAT I AM: and he said,
Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel,
I AM hath sent me unto you.
(Exodus 3:14)
Now you can confidently say that Christ did indeed claim to be God!