Equal With God?

Did Jesus really claim to be God in human form?  Did His followers later invent such a claim?

As I read the biblical account of the life and ministry of Jesus, there was no doubt in my mind who Jesus declared Himself to be. As I share the gospel more and more with people I run into many who are skeptics and argue that Jesus never made such claims. I thought I would put together a few notes which may help you with your own encounters with such skeptics. Always keep in mind that faith comes by way of the Word of God, according to Romans 10:17.  Clever arguments never won a soul for Christ so you will find none attempted here. 

You may wish to have your Bible ready because if I write out each verse I refer to, this will be far too long. Jesus often spoke of His unique origin; from above.  John 6:62, 8:23.  In His priestly prayer in John 17, verse 5 he speaks to this. In John 16:28 He told His disciples He came from His Father, and would return. Most noteworthy is the way John begins his gospel account, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

How about Jesus assuming the perogatives of deity?  We see His control over the eternal destinies of people in John 8:24. Compare with Luke 12:8, 9; John 5:22, 27-29, to have power of answered prayer (John 14:13, 14; 14:24; cf. (means 'compare with' and I will hereafter use this) Acts 7:59; 9:10-17).  Jesus assumed right over receive worship due only to God Himself (Mt. 21:16; John 14:1; cf. John 5:23). Jesus forgave sins (Mark 2:5-11) which those who opposed Him clearly understood only God could do (look at verse 7).

Here are some interesting points: Jesus called God's Kingdom, His Kingdom (Mt. 13:41; 16:28; cf. Luke 1:33; II Tim 4:1). He called God's angels His angels (Gen. 28:12; Lu. 12:8, 9; 15:10; John 1:51). Jesus called God's elect, His elect (Lu. 18:7; Ro. 8:33).

Jesus said to Philip in John 14, “He that has seen Me has seen the Father” (Vs. 9). How would you explain away John 10:30 where Jesus says, “I and my Father are one.”?  Notice in the next verse it says they picked up stones to stone Him. Why?  They understood precisely what He was saying. And they stated it plainly in verse 33.

The Jews would not even use the name of God, “I Am” (Yahweh) and refused to even pronounce it for fear of taking it in vain and violating Ex. 20:7. In John 8:24 Jesus warns that those who refuse to believe “...that I am he...” would die in their sins. The “he” in greek is added.

What about the issue of worship? Exodus 34:14 tells us worship belongs exclusively to God and yet Jesus did not rebuke worship offered to Him by His disciples (Mt. 14:33; 28:9, 10; John 20:28).

Jesus claimed absolute equality with God.  In Colossians 2:9, Paul talks about the fullness of the Godhead bodily and plainly called Him “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” in Titus 2:13.

Equal with God?   The biblical evidence is clear and undeniable!