Who Did Jesus Think He was Anyway?
There are only four options for the identity of Jesus Christ. He was a legend, a liar, a lunatic—or Lord and God.
Legend?
Those who support the legend hypothesis say that the claim to be God was a result of the religious imagination of the early church, and as such, was written back into the mouth of Jesus. The real Jesus, they say, said no such thing.
First of all, this view fails to take into account the fact that it takes more than two full generations for legendary traces to wipe out the hard core of historical fact (A.N. Sherwin White, Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament, Oxford U. Press, 1963, pp. 189-191). There is good evidence that Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts were written within one generation after Christ, but even if all the Gospels were written after 70 AD, as proponents of the legend theory suggest, this is still within the two generations that are needed before mystical tendencies can prevail over the historic core.
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Second there is no question that the earliest Christians believed in and worshipped one of their own countrymen as Lord and God. How does one explain this worship by monotheistic Jews of one of their own countrymen apart from some divine claims or behaviour? If the real Jesus never made any such claims, this early belief in a divine Christ is inexplicable.
C.S. Lewis, one of the great literary experts on ancient myths, says of the Gospel accounts: “I have been reading poems, romances, vision literature, legends, myths all my life. I know what they are like. I know that not one of them is like this” (C.S. Lewis, Christian Reflections, Walter Hooper, ed., Eerdmans, 1967, p. 155).
Claims to be God
Since, therefore, there is little likelihood that Jesus’ claim to deity is legend or myth, we should expect to find something in His words and actions that suggest He thought of Himself as divine. Jesus’ self-perception as God is clearly seen in the various Gospel accounts.
- He believed He had the power to perform miracles and cast out demons (Matthew 11:2-5, Luke 11:20).
- Jesus claimed to determine people’s eternal destiny (Luke 12:8-9).
- Jesus placed His personal authority over the Law of God (Matthew 5).
- In Mark 2:5-7, Jesus shows He believed He had the power to forgive sins. The scribes reacted by saying, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
- Jesus thought himself to be the Son of God in a unique and absolute sense in his use of the term ‘ABBA’ (daddy) to refer to God (Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22; Luke 20:9-18).
- Jesus claimed to be “The Son of Man” – a divine figure (Daniel 7:13-14)
- Jesus claimed to be the “I AM” of the Old Testament (Matthew 14:22-23; Mark 6:45-52; Exodus 3:14).
- Jesus formed the ‘Twelve’, but was distinct from them.
- The most explicit claims to deity are found in John’s gospel where Jesus claims, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30); “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9); “Before Abraham was born, I AM” (John 8:58); and Jesus accepts worship as God (John 20:23). There is no reason to hold that these passages are merely the result of the over-developed imagination of John, since Jesus’ self-conception as God is already evident in the earlier three gospels.
Liar or lunatic?
Therefore, since Jesus claimed to be God, His claims are either true or false. If false, He must have been a liar, deliberately misleading the multitudes. Or, He was a lunatic, sincerely believing Himself to be God, when in reality He was just a man.
Jesus’ brilliant moral character and His willingness to die for His claim to be God have convinced most people that He was not lying. Jesus’ humility, warmth and unselfish love, His quick and skilful thinking in dealing with His opponents, His intelligent communication with the multitudes, and His amazing self-control and composure in the midst of the tremendous physical and emotional stress of His betrayal and crucifixion, all point to His contact with reality. Jesus was no lunatic.
Lord
If Jesus was not a legend and He claimed to be God, then, as we’ve said, His claim is either true or false. If it is false, He must have been a liar or a lunatic. Since the evidence shows He is neither a liar nor a lunatic, then the only other alternative left is that His claim is true. Jesus is Lord and God.
Next steps: Tour Jesus’ Life: What was Jesus’ Life All About?
Revised October 03
39 Responses to “Who Did Jesus Think He was Anyway?”
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But was he a jew?
yes-a very serious jew
oh ma god jesus was a liar
yh he ws a serious jew
look at that picture man is he really jesus
yh as if
hes a liar
there is something wrong here no man can GOD
i dont like the way are insisting that jesus was a liar or a lunatic . when if you had read the bible properly u would c that jesus dose not think he is god but he knows hes the son of god ..so get ur facts right before you make judgements !!!
By the way you must have sin (jesus probably didnt ) so you cant judge anyone \!!!!!!
sabreena, thank you for your comments. I’m still a fairly new Christian myself (since about 6 years ago) so I’m interesting in hearing others’ perspectives.
I’m sorry to hear that you took offense because you feel that this article is judgmental. Why do you feel as if it is judgmental? And would you say that judging someone else is wrong? But if judging is wrong, then why are you judging the author of this article? Maybe instead of never judging anyone, what Jesus meant is that we shouldn’t make hypocritical judgments? When we read Acts and Paul’s letters we see Peter, Paul, and others routinely judging others when they act immorally or commit heresy.
About Jesus being God, I’ve come to the conclusion that Jesus did believe He is God. On this subject, C. S. Lewis, the author of the Narnia series of books, commented:
“Then comes the real shock. Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He claims to forgive sins. He says He has always existed. He said He is coming to judge the world at the end of time. Now let us get this clear. Among Pantheists, like the Indians, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with God: there would be nothing very odd about it. But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God in their language, meant that Being outside the world Who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simple, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips.” (Mere Christianity)
A decent resource on this can be found here: http://www.jimfeeney.org/deityofjesuschrist.html
Would you be willing to share your spiritual journey? Hope to hear from you again! Blessings on your future studies and spiritual walk!
My gran son asks, why did jesus go to jeruselem.
The son of God knew he was the son of God.He knew why he sent.He was killed byserious Jews and yes in fact he was a Jew…praise God for we have been grafted into the root he was and is and always will be the root,the tree ,the fruit .The truth ,the way and THE LIFE…Amen.
Anthony you can tell him…Because he loved us so much that he went to save us from ourselves.So that we may have Life and that Life would be forever…He gave his Life that we may have it.
Sabreena, Darren is not insulting our Lord Jesus! He is only trying to cause others to ponder over the claims of Jesus and decide for themselves Who this Jesus is! Practically all other world religions recognize Jesus as a respected ‘teacher’ or prophet, yet He claimed to be the Son of God, traveled the land forgiving sins, and spoke of eternal truths with authority. Either He is telling the truth, or He is a liar or a lunatic. As other world religions do not recognize Jesus as the Son of God, Lord and Savior of the world, then how do they reconcile their respect for Him as a teacher of great character and influence, with His outragous claims? Why would He be so respected if what He said was untrue? It is because what He said IS true that all other religions fail to disprove Him. As for our judging others, Sabreena, we are called to be discerning. This means we ought ‘judge’ behaviors, but not motives. Only God knows our hearts and He convicts us when our motives are impure. As we all sin, we must not condemn a sister or brother who falls, but help her/him back up and encourage toward restoration. Hope this helps! God bless! :)
There is nothing in the New Testament gospel sayings of Jesus to indicate that he believed or proclaimed that he was God. The context of John 10.30 indicates that Jesus meant that he and God the Father were unified regarding his mission. And this unity is confirmed by Jesus’ later use of “one” (Gr. hen) in John 17.11, 21-23).
Jesus doing miracles certainly does not prove that he was God because prior prophets had done miracles and Jesus’ apostles later did them too.
Jesus forgiving sins doesn’t indicate he innately possessed this authority as God because he explained that God gave him this authority (John 5.22, 27), which signifies that he is essentially subordinate to the Father and therefore is not God.
Jesus identified the Father as “the only true God” (John 17.3; cf. 5.44). And he called the Father “my God” (John 20.17; also on the cross), showing that he was not the one and only God and that the Father was his God.
Learn this and more in my new, 600-page book, The Restitution of Jesus Christ, available at my website–servetustheevangelical.com. It may be the most formidable, well-researched, biblically in-depth book to ever challenge the institutional church dogma that Jesus is God while affirming all other major church teachings about Jesus.
Jesus said if you have seen me you have seen the father.Of course Jesus was and is God,The Father also was and is God.In order to understand the Bible and it’s teaching the Holy spirit must instruct you with out the Holy spirit there can be n o understanding of God’s word.Study the Bible,let no man guide you but Jesus,and if you have no understanding please for your sake do not try to teach others what you do not understand yourself.If you do you do more harm than good. Again I say Jesus was God,of that there is no doubt…To non believes this means nothing but to the believers who do not believe this then they are not believers at all …only liars who do not know nor will they except the truth but they make up their own truth which means nothing to the living God.Read your Bible and let no man decieve you!And to the one who was and is and always will be I give “Praise and Honor”…
Kyisha, what you say is, indeed, truth, but the Scriptures warn us that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God!” (1 Corinthians 1:18) Servetus does not have eyes to see, nor ears to hear, what God has revealed to those who love Him in spirit and in truth. 1 Corinthians 2:14 declares, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The Bible exhorts us to be alert for false teachers, for many will claim to know the truth, but it eludes them. Servetus, I would take a sober look at what’s at stake here — your eternal destiny hinges on whether the claims of Jesus are true or not, and whether you choose to believe Him. Eternity is a long time, are you so sure of your “600-page, well-researched, biblically in-depth book” to stake your eternal destiny on it? I choose to believe Jesus IS Who He said He is! And, I have a 1700-page, Holy Spirit- inspired, love letter from God to prove it!
Note to Servitus the Evangelical…
There was no doubt in the mind of the Jews about Jesus’ claim to be God.
John 10:33
“We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
John 19:7
The Jews insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
It seems we hav forgotten what Jesus(the son of man and the son of God)NEVER se:” pray 2 me”, he sed prayer 2 OUR father-Jesus represents the power of the truth-the truth we r all inheritantly born with..It was Jesus that sed,’Y do u marvel about the things I do, YE r all God’s-meaning(to me) we r all God’s children-we are all God’s only begotten sons and daughters-Jesus sed no one can get 2 heaven but thru my me-well no 1 can find peace/joy/love(heaven) unless they accept the truth(Jesus) in their own hearts-He sed, I am the way..the light..the truth…I choose to believe Jesus not only listened to his heart, he believed..had faith..he chose to embrace everyone and preached not 2 judge..do unto others’-see it how u choose, Jesus is our savior!
Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life and no one goes to the father except through me” pretty powerful words right there. In his name we are to ask for anything. What does in his name mean? I think it means pray to God using the name of JESUS.
Hi Sandy! We pray ‘in Jesus’ Name’ because it is only under His banner, and in His righteousness, that we may come to the Father to offer Him praises and present our petitions! Without the blood of Jesus covering our sins, we are unworthy to approach the throne of grace, and God has no obligation to listen to our prayers. If He chooses to honor a prayer of an unregenerate heart, it is His sovereign prerogative, but His promises, laid out in the Scriptures, are for His beloved children, who have received His gift of salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary!
Jesus is Son and God both. Read The Bible it is in there
Dear frinds
You believe or no believe, ‘JESUS’ is the only one to heal our life.
If you want to know the tastes about his medicine have it now
Then only you will understand the power of JESUS
So please don’t criticize the theory
is jesus the son of god or is he god? a simple question, need a simple answer
The simple answer is that yes Jesus is the Son of God and He is God.
He is both God and Son
F: Now that you have your simple answer, would you like to know how the answer can be “yes?”
Somehow in spite of what the bible says, I’m not so sure Jesus ever claimed to be a god. If he actually knew he would be crucified for saying he was a god wouldn’t he have just performed miracles and bring as many people into the light of life as possible rather than being worried about a title and people worshiping him. Wouldn’t he have known by claiming to be a god he would be punished by the power hungry kings and rulers of the time because of their own selfishness and greed?
I thought the holy trinity – Father, Son, Holy Spirit, meant that Jesus WAS God in human form and IS God in death. At the end of the day, I believe that God didn’t make a particular religion – man did that. And isn’t this bordering on racism – or am I naive? God will answer all questions, there are some things we aren’t supposed to know and understand until our judgemnet day. Just be patient and loyal and all will be revealed. Blessings to you all, and Praise be to God, just for being!
Wende raises a good point, that Jesus is both fully man and fully God. It wasn’t as though Jesus was unaware of what would happen if he claimed to be God. At one point, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees (the self-righteous religious guys of his time) and they pick up stones to stone him: “We are not stoning you for any of these [good things],” [they said], “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” (John 10:33). Jesus didn’t correct them by saying “Woah guys you’ve got it all wrong, I’m not saying I’m God.” Jesus willingly gave up his own life on our behalf, as he told the disciples in advance when he said “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” (Matthew 20:18-19)
Yes, I’m quoting from the Bible, but without the Bible we would know very little about Jesus at all. It is extremely reliable (that link goes to my short e-book on the topic of reasons to believe the Bible is reliable) and tells us the amazing and wonderful and actually true story of how God gave Himself on our behalf. The question is what you will do with this information …
Wende, you are so right about man ‘inventing’ alternate religions, including humanism, in rebellion against God’s declared one ‘true’ way! If Jesus weren’t the only way to salvation, then His death on the cross would be meaningless, and the Father would have sacrificed His only Son in vain! Those who choose not to accept God’s payment for their sins (Jesus), reject His forgiveness. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:13-14 to “enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Therefore, it should not surprise us that man would ‘create’ his own ways to God, as he spurns God’s offer of eternal life through His only Son. In recognizing the magnitude of rejection that Jesus has faced over thousands of years, it should produce in us a well-spring of gratitude for His ‘opening our eyes’ to the truth, that we would ‘see’ Jesus as the ‘only way’ and “enter through the narrow gate!” Praise Him for His mercy and grace in changing our hearts! Hallelujah, what a Savior!
that didnt really answer my question. So in other words you really have no idea, just what the bible tell you? Hey who am I to say the bible is wrong, but just maybe the bible was created to give everyone a false truth about who and what jesus was, or at least eventually it was meant to mislead. Because weren’t there quite a few wars to cover up and kill people from saying things?
Another thing, everything you read about jesus coming back to save us says he will make miracles and promote peace and such. Then you read about the anti christ coming and apairently he does the exact same thing in order to gain peoples trust and may even claim to be jesus. How will we know the difference? Its my understanding that by having wars you can make lots of money to hide and do with as you please by saying its for the good of god. Is it at all possible that if jesus came back our authority figures would kill him again because hes a peace advocate yanno the whole they wont make money if the worlds peaceful thing?I hope I’m not giving the wrong impression by asking these things, I just want to know what other people think.
Joshua, I sense that you have a genuine desire to understand the truth, but it escapes you, for you are trying to use human logic to explain a supernatural God! Our capacity to understand and know Him is His gift to us, when we come to Him like a child, believing without necessarily seeing ‘proof’. I would encourage you, my friend, to spend time with those who have known the Lord for a time, who can share with you how He has changed their lives, from the inside out. It starts with a heart that is genuinely hungry to know God, not just know ‘about’ Him. You cannot know God without Him changing your life! He does not necessarily change the circumstances of your life (although sometimes He does that, too!), but He gives you a new, soft heart in place of a hardened one (our hearts naturally become hardened through the trials and disappointments of our lives), and He renews our minds (Romans 12:2) that we might see the world through His eyes! God bless!
YESHUA BEN YOSEPH aka Jesus the Rabbi. Was born a Human Being and not a GOD ! He never said he was God. Jesus Prayed to his God . many times once when he was in the Garden before he was arrested by temple Guards. If he was a GOD who was he praying to ??? Truth being he Was not a GOD his followers called him a son of God . it was only a title Most people gave to Kings & Holy Men. The Bible States God said—- I am the Lord thy God ! there is no other ! Iam not Man and no Man is God! so said the Lord.also Jesus was never Crusified on a Cross . He was Stoned to Death in LUD.by Pithus Who cast the first stone he was one of many that stoned him then they Hung his Lifeless Body on a Stake to Rot and the Vultures & Rats finished what was left then he was buried in a unmarked Grave as a Criminal.THE early church suppressed the true History of Jesus But Some records still survive today.
Thank you.
Paul Matthews,
That’s an interesting tale, I’d be interested in seeing these supposedly suppressed records that you speak of, since actual historians are unaware of them. There is no record of such a tale until much later, long after the records we find in the New Testament were completed, which was before the end of the first century. (As argued here among other places.) Anyone can spin a yarn, but what evidence do we have to trust the story you told instead of what the earliest historical documents tell? As far as I’m aware, neither the earliest Christian documents nor the earliest mentions of Jesus in non-Christian sources say anything like the story you tell above.
Regarding Jesus being God, I agree that Jesus was a rabbi, and that he was a man. Yet neither precludes Him from being God. He was, at once, man and God. As I’m sure you are aware, Christians believe God as being triune; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God, three persons. Jesus prayed to His Father in the garden because in his incarnate state (come to Earth to live as a man) although temporarily giving up certain privileges, He still maintained His relationship with the other members of the godhead. (Better to call it a tri-unity than a trinity, really.) Jesus also wanted to demonstrate for us how we should pray, and follow His example. Read more on the topic of Jesus’ prayer here.
For those curious about the topic of Jesus as both God and man, I can recommend the book Next Door Savior by Max Lucado … you can read a preview of it here. Here’s another link to ponder regarding the claim that Jesus never claimed to be God: Did Jesus claim to be God?
I would like to see them too, I’ve heard a similar story Paul. Since the records were suppressed prolly not easy to find, because to this day Christians claim they do not exist as well as most organized religious groups. After all I heard Jesus wasn’t a fan of organized religion so why would they favor him after they killed him?ha
james you can find some things on the internet look under lost books of the Bible
As far as I know, we’ve never seen them because they don’t exist. Look at how much publicity the “Gospel of Judas” received, if someone had these supposed documents Paul mentioned, they could reveal them for fame & fortune and prove a lot of people wrong. So I’m skeptical that such things exist, and even if they do, why would we trust them instead of the earliest records found in the New Testament?
paul were did you read any of what you wrote? i beleive in The Bible and The Trinty
ur all wacked
There have been many “lunatics” throughout history. To name a couple Einstein, Columbus..and many more. But you probably know that. I see Gods miracles everywhere and all the time. “You” are one of God miracles as am I. I am not smart enough to argue “scripture” and dates or whatever with you and thats ok i dont need to. Seems you are “looking” for “answers” that most of us dont have. Only God has and His Son Jesus. I hope you keep asking questions and stirring the “pot” so to speak What i really hope is that you really find Jesus and Gods “love”. I have felt this “love” and it dwarfs ..everything i feel as a human. It has made it hard to try to feel this with mere “other humans”. Which is ok with me. When God is ready for me to “come out” i can only pray it will be kinda slow and meandering like a stream. In the mean time I will pray for you and yours. I hope God sees how special you really are and comes to you.