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Was Jesus God, about one third of the people walking our planet identify themselves as Christians, followers of Christ. Many, perhaps a majority of those would answer that question. Yes he is, but that leaves a whole lot of people who call themselves Christians and the other two thirds who don't. Who would answer that question? No. In a recent poll in America reported by Newsweek, 52% of adults in America answer that question. No. They believe Jesus was a great moral teacher and nothing more. For the next few Bible questions, I want to dig into this very important question. Who is Jesus anyway in this Bible?
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Questions I wanna ask the question, did Jesus claim to be God? We start with the title that's often attached to his name, Jesus Christ. Christ is not a last name. It's a title. It would be better to say Jesus the Christ. What does the word Christ mean? Christ means anointed one. Christ comes from the Greek word that's translated from the Hebrew word Messiah, the anointed one. To understand that title, we need to start at the far left side of your Bible. In episode 21 of Word pictures, we looked at Genesis three 15, the first promise of the Bible there in Genesis three, God is addressing the initial sin of mankind after stating the consequences.
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He gives this promise. Someone would come from a woman, the seed of a woman who had crush Satan's head. In episode 25, we looked at the life of Abraham and Sarah. In Genesis 12, God states another promise this time, a three part promise to Abraham. He'd give him a special land, lots of kids and through Abraham something or someone would come that would bless all nations. In episode 33, we looked at Jacob blessing his sons before his death. There at the end of Genesis, he says to Judah his son, A scepter will arise from your tribe, someone who will rule.
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As we get deeper into the Old Testament that gets fleshed out more. One of those places is Second Samuel seven. We studied this in episode 55 after King David tells God he wants to build him a special house. God says, no, David, tell you what, I'm going to build a special house out of you. In the ensuing commentary from God, someone would arise out of David's line who would rule forever. David's knees buckled. What kind of a person would rule forever? When we get to the back of the Old Testament, the prophets, God gets more specific.
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We looked at these prophets in episodes 65 through 77. As you pick up the clues, it sounds like this, someone would be a king to rule with righteousness and justice and a lamb who would die for the sins of his people. Along the way in the Old Testament, God dropped in some vivid illustrations of who this someone would be. You get the idea that Abraham and his descendants didn't really catch the idea as these events passed, but looking back at them from a New Testament perch, their unmistakable clues. For example, God sparing Abraham from sacrificing his son Isaac on Mount Mariah.
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We looked at that in episode 28. God provides an alternative, a ram to die in Isaac's place and on Mount Mariah where one day Solomon's temple would be built. When we get to Exodus, we find another clue about this anointed one, the Passover lamb sparing the people of Israel in Egypt from the angel of death taking the firstborn son. We looked at that in episode 36, and then we get this bizarre incident in numbers Vipers breaking out in the camp of the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness and God telling Moses to fashion a snake and put it on a tall pole commanding that anyone bitten who looked upon that snake would be healed.
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We looked at that in episode 44, and Jesus himself refers vividly to that as stating it was an illustration of what he was about to do close to that temple mount in Jerusalem. You can read about this in John chapter three. As we transitioned to the New Testament in episode 79, we looked at the Galatians passage that said, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, born of a woman. Did you catch that born under the law in order that he might redeem those who are under the law? Did you catch that redeem? Then an episode 83, we looked at Jesus' cousin John, his miraculous birth and the prophecy that he was the forerunner of the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one.
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By the time we get to the New Testament and Jesus comes along, the Jewish people in God's promise land are at a fever pitch on tiptoes as it were for the Messiah who had come to rule and deliver. As we discovered in our study of the gospels, they didn't quite get that whole lamb who would die in their place thing, which sets us up for our Bible question, did Jesus claim to be God? As I mentioned, there are a majority of adults in America and clearly of people on this planet who would answer that question? No. Jesus was a great moral teacher. An example, perhaps even a high order of human, but he wasn't God.
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Further, they would say he never claimed to be God, that the public's been duped into believing that he did claim to be by his disciples or apostles. Those who believed in him and wrote about his life to honor him. They might say they made a legend outta him. Further, they might add no legitimate great moral teacher has ever claimed to be God, not Moses, not Mohamed, not Confucius, and they might end by saying it's only wackos that make such claims, but others would say, not so fast to say that Jesus of Nazareth was a great human teacher and nothing more betrays some of the evidence.
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They would say Jesus never meant that to be a conclusion you could come to. They would respond. Jesus in sound mind claimed to be God in human flesh and further his Jewish audience clearly understood that he claimed to be God in human flesh and that's the reason they executed him. So let's take a look at the gospels and the case the New Testament makes that Jesus claimed to be that Christ that anointed one, that appointed one, that sacrificial lamb and eternal king. First the disciple John reports Jesus claimed to be equal with God. We find this in John 10 versus 30 through 33.
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Read the context here. Jesus says, I and the Father are one. This is a direct claim to be God because the word one is used in a way that normally means of one essence. You get the idea that Jews all understood this by their immediate reaction, they picked up rocks to stone. Jesus stoning was the punishment prescribed for blasphemy, lowering the holy reputation of God, and in this case by claiming to be God. Now you might push back, couldn't I and the Father are one mean one in purpose or similar to two becoming one flesh in marriage, two very different and distinct people, but linked together well from the language, probably not the way John used it, from the way John used it.
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He either made a mistake in his words. After all, he was a fisherman, not a college professor, or he deliberately lied as to the deliberate lying. John stuck to his testimony even while being boiled in oil by the Romans and banished to a barren rock called Pat Mos for the remainder of his life. I ask you, would you go through all that for a purposeful fabrication about Jesus? Another thing we must weigh is Jesus called himself by God's special personal name. John reports this as well in John chapter 10. Jesus said before Abraham was, I am.
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This is likely an incredible direct claim. I am God. The term I am is the name Jehovah or Yawe. The Jews so highly revered this name, this Im name that when ascribe copying the scriptures came to that name, he would only write the consonants and then only after washing his hands here in John chapter 10, the Jews try to stone Jesus for blasphemy. I mean, every Jew in earshot of this statement knew immediately that Jesus had made a direct claim to be God. Some might push back. Isn't it possible the Jews who heard Jesus misinterpreted these claims? After all, lots of these folks in the crowd were uneducated.
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Well, I suppose that's possible, but the religious authorities standing there certainly were educated. A third thing we must weigh is this. Jesus was sentenced to death for blasphemy, for lowering God's reputation and clearly from the statements in the text claiming to be God. We find in Mark 1461 through 64, Jesus before Anus, the high priest of the Sanhedrin Anus was the leader of this group, the Sanhedrin. These were the top 70 religious authorities among the Jews at Jesus trial anus files one charge blasphemy. Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God.
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These 70 top educated religious leaders of the day agreed that Jesus was openly claiming to be God, and since they didn't believe his claims were true, they put him to death. Those are direct statements of Jesus that one who believes he's just a great moral teacher have to consider, but there's some actions of Jesus that also are disconcerting to a skeptic. First, Jesus willingly received and even commended others when they worshiped him. For example, Thomas the Disciple, we read about this in John's report, chapter 20, when Thomas sees Jesus 10 days after he was put to death and risen, his response is my Lord and my God, that statement is worship ascribing worth an adoration?
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What was Jesus' response? Well, if Jesus didn't think he was God, it should have been. Good heavens, Thomas, get off your knees. You idiot, before God strikes us both dead. Haven't you read Exodus 23 and four Instead, Jesus accepted the worship and blessed others who would conclude what Thomas had just concluded. By the way, Thomas was killed later for hanging onto his claim that Jesus was God. There are other incidents of Jesus receiving worship and adoration, a healed leper in Matthew eight, a healed man, born blind. In John chapter nine, the disciples in Matthew 14, there's also the matter of Jesus claiming the same honor due to God was due to him.
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We see this in John chapter five, verses 23 and 24, that to see him was to see God, see John 14, nine. That to believe in him was also to believe in God. John 14 one and that to know him was to know God. John eight 19, those who claimed Jesus claimed to be God would add more evidence from scripture. We see in Mark chapter two, Jesus claimed to be able to forgive sins committed against God. Jesus audience in that chapter shook their heads in disgust saying, who can forgive sins but God alone?
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Indeed, Jesus claimed to hold the key to God in eternal life. We see this in John 14, six. He didn't say he knew the way to get to God or have life. He said He was the way Jesus called God my Father or Abba. But to any first century Jew referring to God as my father was way too personal. Presumptuous, see their reaction to Jesus saying, my father in John five 17 and 18, but the word ABA was even more startling. ABA was one of the first words learned by toddlers. It's papa daddy.
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No Jewish man would have dared call God his daddy. Jesus also called himself the Son or son of God. In Jewish culture, a father-son relationship was more than a like father-like son kind of thing. It was closer to Father, equal son and last consider. Jesus called himself the son of man over 80 times. While at first this may seem to weaken his claim to be God. In fact, it strengthens his claim to be a special anointed messenger from God. The son of man was the common term Jews used for the coming Messiah.
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If you wanna know what the Jews expected in their Messiah, take a look at Daniel seven 13 through 14. The Messiah was to be sent by God from his throne to have everlasting authority as king over all people and nations sounds like more than a man to you. Yeah, me too. The New Testament word for this son of man is Christ. Did Jesus claim to be the Messiah or Christ? The gospel record clearly shows that Jesus directly and indirectly claim to be God in human flesh, and you get the sense he knew what he was saying. His audience certainly knew what he was saying.
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Unless the gospel writers were universally ignorant or intentionally lying, their record makes it pretty clear. Jesus claimed to be God. But that leads to another critical question. Was Jesus claim true? Approximately 2.3 billion people on this planet, including myself, believe those claims were true? Were they? We'll examine that in our next Bible. Questions.
