Did Jesus claim deity?

 Did Jesus claim deity?

By Richard P. Joseph

I just got done reading a book by Jabeel Qureshi who was born in the United States to a devout Pakistani Muslim family.  His mission in life was to proselytize for Islam and did it with a passion, oftentimes using scripture to fool christians into questioning their own faith.  Unfortunately, most Christians did not have a strong hold on scripture and were bamboozled by Qureshi.  The problem for Qureshi is that he finally ran into someone who actually knew scripture and a long friendship ensued culminating in Qureshi becoming a Christian.   One of Qureshi’s go to topics was that of Jesus’ divinity.  He would quote the scriptures about Jesus simply claiming to be “the son of God”, not actually God himself.  Unfortunately, many Christians have a hard time defending their position that Jesus is God in the flesh.  So, did Jesus actually claim to be God incarnate?

Personally, I have a hard time finding where Jesus didn’t claim to be God.  While all cults, including Islam, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and others all deny the deity of Jesus, I am the complete opposite.  Either you are new to studying the bible and haven’t yet grasped the meaning of scripture yet or you are spiritually blind and simply cannot see the truth if it smacks you in the face, but you will soon see that Jesus is indeed God in the human flesh. 

While reading the gospels you will find that Jesus never used the Old Testament term “Thus says the LORD” like many of the prophets used.  Jesus said that he only does what he “sees” the father do.  This implies that he is not receiving messages, he is actually in such close proximity to the father that he sees what God is doing.  That is how the Trinity works.  The priests often questioned Jesus’ authority to do what he was doing.  The Jews in his day were only allowed to advance by virtue of authority given to them by a more senior priest.  Only those at the top of the heap could actually expound on scripture, the others lower down could only quote scripture.  Jesus not only quoted and expounded on scripture, he actually spoke scripture.  In Matthew 9 the priests scolded Jesus for forgiving a crippled man’s sin.  The priests actually had a right to do this as it is true that only God can forgive a man his sins.  Jesus’ answer and action on this occasion was monumental leaving no question about the fact that he is truly God incarnate.  Jesus answered them by saying:

Matthew 9   5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

Everyone there knew that both were impossible.  So, in order to prove that He is truly God and could forgive sins, He told the crippled man to stand up and walk.  The man immediately got up, took hold of his bed, and walked.  

This is just one of many clear stories that prove Jesus’ deity. 

Another one is in the first chapter of John;

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In John chapter 8 the pharisees were once again questioning Jesus’ authority and he answered:

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”

Calling yourself by God’s character name would have been a clear case of blasphemy in those days but Jesus once again claimed that he was the Eternal Being with clear and unambiguous language.  Jesus clearly told them that he existed before Abraham and that he is the eternal “I Am”. 

In Revelation 22:13 Jesus made the same statement that he is the Eternal One (YHVH):

  

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Or in other words again; I am the Eternal Existent One. 

Jesus constantly made statements and performed miracles that only God can do such as walking on water, healing the sick, commanding the natural elements what to do, creating fish and loaves and rising from the dead.  

 Jesus was 100% human and 100% God.  Anyone who has trouble finding that in the New Testament probably hasn’t even read it.  In fact the Old Testament called him Immanuel, which means God is with us.  Jesus even claimed that he was heir to the throne of God and that he would sit at the right hand of the power of God.  If this isn’t clear enough, I saved the best for last.  Revelation 21:23 is a verse that most people do not grasp.  

And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Envision an actor on a stage.  It is dark except where the actor is because the person in the control room above the audience is flashing a spotlight on the actor.  The power is not in the actor, it is in the light.  The light is merely shining on the actor reflecting off of him.  However, when John was describing the New Jerusalem he said that he saw that power and it wasn’t coming from a spotlight, it was coming from the Lamb.  In other words,  the power and glory of God was not shining onto Jesus, it was coming from Jesus.  He is God.  The Shekinah glory of God illuminates from Jesus Christ because he is divine.   

The entire New Testament is packed with proof that Jesus is God incarnate.  To miss it almost proves you are illiterate, or in the case of the Muslim, completely brainwashed.  In the end, Jabeel Qureshi became an evangelical Christian but unfortunately was diagnosed with stomach cancer and passed away at a young age.  His testimony lives on and his books have had a huge impact on many Muslims seeking the truth.  Glory be to God in the highest.