Who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus?

If you ask non-Christians (and some Christians) who Jesus is/was you'll get anything from moral teacher to homeboy.

What did Jesus say about himself, though?

Jesus claimed to be God.

I know, I know, he never said the words, "I am God".  But, if you look at the responses of the people he said these things to it's obvious that they understood he was claiming to be God.  This is why it's important to look not just at how we would understand the words in the Bible, but look for clues by seeing how the original audience responded.

I'll give you some examples of Jesus claiming to be God, but we need some background understanding first.  In Jewish law there are crimes punishable by stoning, but nobody could be put to death without a trial and the testimony of at least two witnesses.

In John 8:31-59 Jesus is speaking to the Jews and he references Abraham.  The Jews prided themselves on being the "children of Abraham".  In the course of the discussion Jesus says, "Before Abraham was even born, I AM!"  The Jews immediately picked up stones to kill him.  There was no trial, but they planned to execute him on the spot.  

One important thing to understand about this situation is that Jesus used one of the names of God in reference to himself.  In Exodus 3:13-15 Moses asks God who Moses should say sent him to the Jews enslaved in Egypt.  God said, "I AM that I AM.  Tell them that I AM sent you."  The Jews understood that Jesus was claiming to be God by saying this.

In John 10:22-40 Jesus is again confronted by Jews and asked if he was the Messiah.  In the course of their conversation Jesus said, "The Father and I are one."  When he said this the Jews around him immediately picked up stones to stone and kill him with.    Jesus asked them for what good work they were going to kill him for, and they said it was because he was claiming to be God.  To their ears he claimed to be God.  Another interesting thing about this is that the Greek word used in the original manuscripts doesn't imply one in purpose, or one in spirit, but one in essence.

In "More Than a Carpenter" Josh McDowell says that because Jesus claimed to be god, he only gives three options: Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or is Lord.  If you believe that Jesus was a good moral teacher, but don't believe what Jesus said about himself you're going to have to consider whether he was lying or was crazy.

I'm sticking with Lord.

God bless you.

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