What Jesus Said About Himself

Start with a question What did Jesus actually claim about Himself? List what you think He said. Then we'll check.

He claimed divinity, and we must not shrink from it Let's be clear about what Jesus claimed. The Gospels do not present a mere human prophet; they present a divine Being.

He called God His own Father in a way that His hearers took as claiming equality. He asked for the same faith that is given to God. And He used the words "I am" of Himself, at which "took they up stones to cast at him" (John 8:59). This course doesn't pretend these words aren't there. The Gospels present Jesus as divine, and Thomas says to Him, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

"I AM": what did Jesus mean? Many conclude that "Before Abraham was, I am" means Jesus is the same as the God who said to Moses: "I AM THAT I AM... I AM hath sent me unto you" (Exodus 3:14).

Let the Bible answer.

Use what we found in Lesson 14. At the burning bush, "the angel of the LORD appeared unto him" (Exodus 3:2), and he speaks as the LORD. We saw that God said of His Angel: "my name is in him" (Exodus 23:21). So the Angel carries the Father's name and speaks for the Father. Now listen to Jesus: "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not." (John 5:43) "Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me." (John 17:11)

He comes in His Father's name. And "the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works" (John 14:10), and "whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak" (John 12:49–50).

As The Indwelling Hope highlights, Jesus is the Word of God. He doesn't just speak for God; He is the Father's thoughts made audible. He is the Voice of Jehovah from the Old Testament. So there is a consistent reading: Jesus is the one who spoke to Moses, who carries the Father's name and speaks the Father's words, and who existed before Abraham. This makes sense of "I am" without making Him the Father.

Read all of His words A principle from Lesson 6: a doctrine must account for all the relevant statements, not just those that fit. Look at how the same speaker says things that seem to pull in two directions:

If we quote only the left column, we end up with one picture. If we quote only the right, we get another. A sound reading must hold both.

Two divine Beings give life The Son is the "author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2), and He gives life. The Father gives life too. Both are involved in redemption. Yet one received what He has from the other. "As the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself" (John 5:26). That is the pattern we saw in the Old Testament: two divine Beings, one the Source and the other the Son who comes from Him.

"Jesus was speaking as a man" We met this objection in Lesson 15. Notice what Jesus said after He rose, and what He says from heaven: "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20:17) And in Revelation, from glory, to the overcomer: "I will make a pillar in the temple of my God... and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God... and I will write upon him my new name." (Revelation 3:12) Four times in one verse, "my God." If this were only the language of His earthly weakness, why does He use it from heaven?

Witnesses to who He is Many testify that Jesus is the Son of God:

1. The Father: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17; 17:5).
2. Demons: "Jesus, thou Son of God most high" (Luke 8:28).
3. Martha: "I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God" (John 11:27).
4. Peter: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16).
5. A Roman soldier: "Truly this was the Son of God" (Matthew 27:54).
6. The disciples in the boat, who "worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God" (Matthew 14:33).
7. Jesus Himself: when asked "Art thou then the Son of God?" He answered, "Ye say that I am" (Luke 22:70).

So why is He called God? This is the core of the matter. The Gospels give Jesus the language of deity. And they tell us why:

1. He is the Son of God (John 10:36).
2. He is the Word of God (John 1:1; 12:49).
3. He has God's name in Him (John 5:43; 17:11).
4. He is one with the Father (John 10:30).

And look at what Jesus never says. He never says "I am the Father." He never says "I am the only true God," a title He gives to the Father (John 17:3). He doesn't even use the phrase "God the Son."