Does the Bible teach that Jesus is God?

The Bible has been used, or rather mis-used, as the basis for a wide variety of false teaching. Throughout the centuries people have taken some small sections of scripture and ignored larger portions to teach almost anything. Small obscure passages have been quoted, whilst the plain and clear has been avoided, to propagate all sorts of error. In this article we will look at the evidence in the Bible to show that Jesus is God.

Old Testament

There is clear evidence in the Old Testament about the Lord Jesus and in particular His deity.

The book of Isaiah is sometimes called the fifth gospel, as it has so many prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus. One of the most well-known ones is found in chapter 9 verse 6, ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ Jesus would, amongst other the titles in Isaiah 9 v6, be called ‘mighty God’. This is considered, by many, to be a clear reference to the deity of the Lord Jesus. However some people in conceding that Jesus is called a ‘mighty God’ would make a distinction and emphasise that He is not referred to as ‘Almighty God’ and would claim that he is a lesser or inferior god. Whilst it is true that Jesus is not called ‘Almighty God’ it is very important to remember that Jehovah is given the title ‘Mighty God’ in Isaiah 10 v21 and Jeremiah 32 v17-18. Thus, the argument that the term ‘Mighty God’ refers to a lesser deity than ‘Almighty God’ cannot stand when the whole of scripture is studied.

We now turn to the New Testament gospel accounts to consider what they have to say about the Lord Jesus.

New Testament

The four gospel accounts highlight the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In John’s gospel the deity of the Lord Jesus has particular emphasis and in chapter 8 verse 58 the Lord Jesus takes the very name of God ‘I AM’ for himself. This statement refers back to the time recorded in Exodus chapter 3 when God called to Moses from a burning bush giving him a commission to appear before the Pharaoh. When Moses asked “who should I say sent me?”, God replied "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" This name ‘I AM’ declared God to be self-existent, self-sufficient, eternal and sovereign and it was this name that the Lord Jesus took to himself. When the Lord Jesus used the term ‘I AM’ He was revealing His identity as the one who is eternally self-existent, His existence never began. The original hearers of this statement understood exactly what he meant, because they sought to stone Him for this blasphemy of declaring himself to be God (John 8 v59).

One of the most remarkable accounts, to affirm that the Bible teaches that Jesus is God, is found in Mark chapter 2. Four men having carried a paralytic man to a house where Jesus was teaching found that they could not near him because of the crowd. Their determination to bring their friend to Jesus caused them to remove some of the roof and lower him down. The first recorded words of Jesus in verse 5 are quite stunning, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Some scribes, on hearing these words, thought “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”. They knew, as perhaps we all do, that only God can forgive sins. Their logic was correct, as anyone who professed to forgive sins was therefore claiming to be God. There could be no doubt that by his words about forgiving sin Jesus was claiming to be God. The scribes rather than bowing down and confessing that Jesus was truly God accused Him of blasphemy.

Along with His words Jesus proved His deity by means of the many miracles He performed during His earthly ministry. The apostle John, an eye-witness of the Lord Jesus’ ministry, reminds us that not all of the miracles Jesus performed are recorded in scripture as he concludes his gospel with the words, ‘Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written’. However, we do have over 35 recorded miracles in which Jesus proved He had authority and power over disease, creation, demons, the devil and even death itself. The miracles were performed to clearly demonstrate the deity of the Lord Jesus. Sadly, the vast majority rejected Him despite the evidence supplied in the miracles.

Conclusion

“Who is Jesus?” is an extremely important question that deserves a considered and careful answer. The Bible does contain a vast amount of information so that this question can be answered. Whilst we acknowledge that this article has covered a limited number of references we do trust the reader will carefully and prayerfully consider the scriptures that have been discussed. Knowing that Jesus is God is necessary but knowing Jesus as your Lord and Saviour is essential.