Jesus indeed was a man. He was fully human. But the Gospel writers proclaim Him to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world. These gospels present Jesus as divine-God in human flesh.
You might think it outrageous for any human being to claim he or she is God, and consider such a person to be a lunatic or mentally deranged. But is it a possibility?
Some would say that Jesus never claimed to be God. True, He never said the words, I am God. But He did give some clear indications by what He said that He considered himself to be divine.
For example, in John 10:30 He said, The Father and I are one. The people who heard Him say that began taking up stones to kill Him. Why? We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God (John 10:33).
On another occasion Jesus, during an interactive teaching time, said Before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:58). The people there also took up stones to stone Him, because the name I AM is the personal name of God in the Old Testament.
And possibly the most notable passage of all is this: In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him…the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son (John 1:1-3, 14).
At his trial before the high priest, just before his crucifixion, the high priest asked Jesus directly, Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One? Jesus said, I AM. And you will see the son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven. (Mark 14:61-62)
More indirectly, Jesus often put himself in the position of God by doing things only God had a right to do, such as forgive sins. People worshipped Him and He did not discourage them from doing so. Thomas, the skeptic disciple, called Him my Lord and my God (John 20:28). Jesus didn’t contradict him.
So there’s no question that Jesus thought of himself as God and the New Testament clearly presents Him as the divine Son of God.
But was He? How can we know for sure?
Well, there are several logical possibilities. Either He was not God and He knew it, in which case He would have been a liar; or He thought He was God but was deluded, which would make Him a mental case, a lunatic; or He was an evil person masquerading as the Son of God; or He was who He said He was.
When you consider Jesus’ teaching-some of the greatest teachings ever to fall from the lips of a human being; when you look at the quality of his life, and at how He intellectually interacted with people; and when you consider his willingness to die for what He claimed, it is difficult to buy into some of the options. In fact the only plausible option is that Jesus is who He said He was.
This has been a brief summary of this topic, so check out some of the books listed below that will help you delve further into this important discussion. Everything in the rest of this app hinges on who you believe Jesus Christ to be.
Be sure to read the gospel accounts for yourself by clicking the “Bible” link below. The books called Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all tell the life story of Jesus.