Is Jesus Christ God? from Compelling Truth
Is Jesus Christ God? This question has been asked ever since Jesus walked the earth. First, are we sure that Jesus claimed to be God, or is that something His followers came up with? From Scripture, we find that Jesus Christ did unequivocally proclaim himself to be God, and though the Bible does not record Him ever saying “Yes, I’m God!” there are plenty of examples of Jesus identifying Himself as equal to Yahweh. One very good instance of this is John 10:30, where Jesus said “I and the Father are one.” If this statement leaves any room for doubt, the reaction of the Pharisees (the Jewish religious leaders) to this statement obliterates that doubt. They were so enraged by His words “I and the Father are one” that they were ready to stone Him, saying “… you, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33 NIV). The Jews understood exactly what Jesus was claiming—deity.
Furthermore, even when he sees they plan to harm Him for His statement, Jesus does not deny His claim, or tell them He mis-spoke. He doesn’t say “No, wait! You don’t understand my meaning.” Instead, He takes it a step further. He tells them again in John 8:58, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” The Pharisees again respond with death threats because when Jesus said “I am” He was using the name and nature of Yahweh to describe Himself (Exodus 3:14). This, had it not been true, was the worst kind of blasphemy a Jew could commit, and the Mosaic Law commanded the Pharisees to stone any person who committed that offense (Leviticus 24:15). Since that is what they were planning to do to Jesus when He said “before Abraham was, I am”, we can see that Jesus was clearly claiming deity.
