The Proof That Jesus Is God

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This is the central question of the Christian faith. Jesus's followers did not begin as philosophers; they were Jewish monotheists who believed that there is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4). Yet within a few years they were worshipping Jesus as Lord. What led them to do so? The Bible offers several lines of evidence, which taken together form a cumulative case.

1. His Own Claims

Jesus claimed more than any prophet. He did not say, "Thus saith the LORD," but "I say unto you." He made explicit statements:

• Unity with the Father. "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30). His hearers understood: "For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God" (John 10:33).
• Pre-existence and the divine name. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). The phrase echoes God's name at the burning bush: "I AM THAT I AM" (Exodus 3:14), and again the Jews took up stones.
• Equality with the Father. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). John says the Jews sought to kill him because he was "making himself equal with God" (John 5:18).
• Equal honor. "That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father" (John 5:23).
• Before the council. Asked, "Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" he said, "I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (Mark 14:61-62). It was for this that he was condemned.

2. He Did What Only God Can Do

• Forgive sins. To a paralyzed man: "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." The scribes reasoned: "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?" (Mark 2:5, 7). Jesus did not correct them; he healed the man to demonstrate his authority (2:10-12).
• Give life and judge. "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son" (John 5:22).
• Receive worship. Peter refused worship (Acts 10:25-26), and so did angels (Revelation 22:8-9). Jesus accepted it. After he walked on the water, the disciples "worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God" (Matthew 14:33). After the resurrection, the women "held him by the feet, and worshipped him" (Matthew 28:9).
• Command nature. The wind and the sea obeyed him (Mark 4:39-41).

3. His Character

Jesus asked his opponents: "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" (John 8:46) and no one answered. Pilate said: "I find no fault in this man" (Luke 23:4). His closest friends testified that he "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" (1 Peter 2:22; see also Hebrews 4:15; 2 Corinthians 5:21). The greatest moral teacher in history, who taught that all have sinned, never confessed sin or asked forgiveness for himself.

4. His Miracles

As Chapter 8 showed, his works "bear witness of me" (John 10:25). His enemies did not deny them (John 11:47).

5. Fulfilled Prophecy

Centuries earlier, the prophets spoke of a coming one whose name would be "The mighty God" (Isaiah 9:6), who would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), pierced (Psalm 22:16), and raised (Psalm 16:10). David wrote: "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool" (Psalm 110:1). Jesus asked the Pharisees how David could call his own descendant "Lord" (Matthew 22:41-46), a question that has an answer if the Messiah is both David's son and David's God.

6. The Resurrection

Paul writes that Jesus was "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4). Jesus had claimed to be the resurrection and the life (John 11:25) and had predicted his own rising (Matthew 12:40; John 2:19-21). The resurrection is God's vindication of the claims for which he was condemned.

7. The Witness of the Apostles

The apostles, all Jews, soon spoke of Jesus in the language reserved for God:

Such language appears in the earliest Christian writings, within a generation of the crucifixion. The scholar Larry Hurtado has argued that devotion to Jesus as divine arose remarkably early and among Jewish believers, which is hard to explain if it were a later invention [14].

8. Witness Outside the New Testament

Writers who were not Christians confirm the main outline and show how early Christians regarded him [15]:

• Josephus, the Jewish historian (about AD 93), mentions "James, the brother of Jesus who was called Christ," and, in a passage whose original form is debated, describes Jesus as a wise teacher who was crucified under Pilate.
• Tacitus, the Roman historian (about AD 116), reports that "Christus" was executed under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius.
• Pliny the Younger, a Roman governor (about AD 112), wrote that Christians met before dawn to sing a hymn to Christ "as to a god."

9. A Lord, a Liar, or a Lunatic?

C.S. Lewis put the choice sharply. Jesus cannot be dismissed as merely a good teacher, since no mere good teacher would make the claims he made. Either he was telling the truth, or he was deceiving others, or he was deluded. His character, his sanity, and his wisdom make the first option the most reasonable [13]. Critics have objected that this leaves out a fourth option, that the Gospels exaggerated his claims. This is addressed in the next chapter.

Summary

The case rests on a combination: claims that no mere man could make, actions only God can perform, a character without fault, miracles witnessed in public, prophecies fulfilled, a resurrection attested by eyewitnesses, and the worship of the earliest believers. The Council of Nicaea (AD 325) later confessed him as "of one substance with the Father," and the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) as "truly God and truly man." Believers agree with Thomas: "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

CHAPTER 14