Did Jesus claim to be God?

Most scholars agree that the Gospel of John portrays Jesus claiming to be God's uniquely divine Son and that the apostle Paul made similar claims. However, there is no agreement among scholars that Jesus actually claimed to be divine. In this lecture, Mike Licona provides a simple yet powerful historical case that Jesus claimed to be divine.

[christianfrommuslim]

Excellent presentation! Helpful insights.
Good point that atheists and skeptics are an extremely important, overlooked field we must prepare to address.
The other essential that the church must address is Islam.
We often encounter Islamic apologists claiming that Jesus never claimed to be God, and saying that Paul invented Christianity. I think using Polycarp and Clement to counter that is very good.

[astralscholar]

Just got the free book. Thank you very much. God Bless.

[RoyceVanBlaricome]

Well done, Brother. ((fist bump!)) I take it you must've been on some kind of a tour because I've heard the same thing in about 4 of these now BUT each and every time there has been something new I've learned.

What I love most about these vids is that they are EXACTLY on target with what the Church, The Body, needs most today, I think. I'm talking about training in how to know your Bible.

Yes, there's nothing wrong with "God said it so that settles it." But ONLY if you can logically and rationally show WHY you believe God said it. Why the Bible is the Word of God.

If you are gonna fall back on "the Bible says so" then you MUST be ready to obey the command to always be ready to give a defense for that. (1st Pet. 3:15) What with Textual Criticism, "Q", and everything else thrown at it, I don't know that the Bible has ever been attacked and under as much scrutiny as it is today. And rather than run from such, in the likes of Andy Stanley and his ilk, your "historical approach" adds new information that anyone should be able to recognize as cogent.

That is why I will be sharing this. I mean, really, should it surprise anyone that Writers today do not write in Shakespearian style and vernacular? And he did not write like us today. So it is logical and makes perfect sense that the Writers of Scripture would write according to the vernacular of their time. So why are you the only one I've seen/heard bringing that to light?

[rjv]

Matthew 4:7.Jesus said to him again it is written you shall not put the "lord your god" to the test

[BTBdrummerBTB]

Thank you Mike! You are an exellent scholar! Solid believer, solid scholar it can be done!

[joh]

Revelation 2:8
8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.

[lisaaghdami]

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, ………………

[charbelbejjani]

Hi Mike,

How do we know that Clement of Rome was Peter's disciple? 18:31

I think we only have Irenaeus saying that Clement knew and was conversant with the apostles, and we also have Origen and Eusebius saying that the Clement mentioned by Paul in Philippians 4:3 is indeed Clement of Rome.

That is very interesting stuff to be fair, but how can we conclude that he was Peter's disciple?

[realsh]

If Jesus himself came and told the Christians I'm not God but sent by God they will say

Shut up Jesus you don't know our religion better than us

[julioduarte]

Never claimed to be God!!!! He did admonish us to be one in the father, one in purpose like Jesus was.

[tcukzhc]

Creator and ruler should be greatest of all . If this is the case he can do everything, nothing is impossible to god, god should be most respectful.

If this is the case, he has right to forgive people without being hurt by stones for forgiving people and believers. If god thinks it should be done because he is the creator .

God is god not jesus
Because in bible he is saying according to present books which are available he will not do anything on his own, whatever is insisted to him he will do that .

There is no other question of being god .
Jesus is not claims
But people for their interest created a hypothesis that he is god .
But it is not reality
God is god
God is creator
God has right to forgive anybody
God have all powers
Nobody can hurt god
God is almighty
God is greatest
God is powerful
I think we can't see god because we can't see flame and sun . God is greater than sun and we can't see god .
God is god
God is neither created nor destroyed .

[mitchellc]

Jesus died, God can’t die!
God raised him from the dead!

[cbooth]

Did Jesus claim to be God? NO! Instead, Jesus said:


1. "I am the Son of God." (John 10:36)


2. "My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me." (John 7:16)

[Itsatz]

Please answer the most important spiritual question. Was Batman sent to save us?

[hillsongbest]

Amen. Yes, Jesus is God .
But how do we reply to those who ask " what Abt the part Bible says, for us there's only one God, the father, and one Lord Jesus " ? They imply Jesus is Lord, but not God. How do we explain ?

[bobfree]

Of course HE claimed to be GOD. when the devil tempted HIM, jesus said do not Tempt the lord they GOD, or Do not put the Lord your God to the test.

[michaelbriefman-iwuc]

Here is where Jesus actually uses the word GOD to refer himself as GOD. Check out Luke and Matthew, chapter 4 in both Gospels. This is where Satan is tempting Jesus and Jesus answered the devil by saying Thou shalt not tempt the Lord your GOD! It is obvious here that Jesus was referring to himself as both Lord and God. Satan was tempting Jesus, not God the Father in heaven. Again, look at Jesus's reply to Satan. This is very clear and profound! You can see the same in verse 8 in Luke where Satan tempts Jesus to worship him and again Jesus is referring to himself as both Lord and God saying Thou shalt worship the Lord your GOD and him only shall you serve. Satan was tempting Jesus-GOD!!

[olivergrass]

The original greek texts of the book of Mathew when jesus is dying on the cross he looks up and says god why you forsaken me ? Only does jesus realize he is mortal and god is not coming to help him because there us no god. The additional text about his ressurection were added later on.Why the Romans would allow jews to take down their dead from a crucifixion for proper burial is beyond me. When you got crucified by the Roman your body was meant to be defiled and eaten by wild animals, it was an effective and grusome deterrent to anyone who resist the authority of Rome. Pull your head out the sand and think logically.

[DBCisco]

Thousands of people in history (and fiction) claimed to be God. So what ?

[paulnavarro]

What I get from this teaching is, "God made God to be God." What would be so great or unusual about such an "anointing" even if that were possible? Anoint God to be God? What's THAT mean?

Also, if the video is entitled, "Did Jesus claim to be God", then shouldn't he have said, "I, Jesus of Nazareth, am God", or something as unambiguous as this? The teacher in the video never cites any "straight from the horse's mouth" actual CLAIM from Jeaus to be Yahweh God Himself.

The fact is that Jesus claims to be, not God Himself, but the Messiah/Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Son of David, all perfectly good Titles for a Royal Man, whom Jesus definitely was. He was begotten by God and was of the Royal lineage of King David. How much more "blue blood" can someone be?

God GAVE AITHORITY to a Human Being, a Man who was God's own Son and Heir, to SPEAK things into being. That Man was Jesus of Nazareth who was begotten by God in the womb of a virgin. That Man was the Messiah, who was Publicly made known by John the Baptist. God's ANOINTED Man would be MADE the highest ranking Created Being, the Lord over ALL of God's Creation, including the Angels of God. This "crowning" of the Man Jesus was done in Heaven after Jesus had been resurrected by God and "taken into Heaven" by the Angel's.

This CROWN was "the glory" which had been in God's hands which was finally given to His Human Son after his "obedience unto death."

The Bible does not record, "God made God to be God." Rather it records that God made the Man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord over all of God's Creation. Wow!!

If you supposedly "make" someone or something INTO Someone or Something he or it ALREADY IS, then you have not "made" anything. Such would be "double talk", nonsense. However you can "make" one thing into another thing which had NOT BEEN BEFORE. The Man Jesus HAD NOT BEEN Lord over all of Creation BEFORE he was "made" or appointed as Lord by God the Father.

You cannot "have your cake and eat it too". Either you believe that "God made God to be God", which I do not believe is backed by Scripture, OR "God made the Man Jesus to be Lord." The two are mutually exclusive; either one is true and the other is false or both are false, but the two cannot be true. Only one makes sense.

A Colonel can promote someone lower in command to a higher position other than Colonel. A Colonel cannot promote someone to be a Colonel nor can he, "in some mysterious way", promote someone who ALREADY IS a Colonel to be a Colonel.

The Language needed to justify this idea that Jesus IS God is the Language of Gnosticism. It is the Language which states that out of God can come other "Dvine Beings", in essence "God from God, true God from true God" 4th Century philosophy which is so CONFUSING that it needs "theologians" to EXPLAIN what is meant. The Scriptures say nothing about "God from God" but it has plenty to say about "Man from God". Adam was "from God" and Jesus was "from God"; both Men had a beginning; neither had existed before he was created; both Men died because OF sin but only one Man died despite his sinlessness; one Man is still in the Grave and one Man has been resurrected from the Grave and is Alive and has been "highly exalted", i.e. promoted, in Heaven. Is he sitting on God's Throne? According to Scripture, he sits "at the right hand" of God, another Throne of lesser rank.

Messiah is Identified WITH Yahweh God; he is not identified as God Himself. He possesses a Godlike Character instead of an Adamic Character and possesses Power and Authority GIVEN to him BY God because he did not innately possess such Power. To be GIVEN Power, as my military rank comparisons address, means Someone Higher in Authority has done the GIVING. An Equal is not "Given" Power by another Equal, only Subordinates.

Joseph was Promoted by Pharaoh. A Superior promoted a subordinate. Joseph was "Pharaohlike" because he had Pharaoh's Signet Ring. He was NOT Pharaoh because he had Pharaoh's power. He was just Joseph, not Pharaoh.

Jesus was and still is IN OBEDIENCE to God; he is not His "equal"; he is not God nor did he ever claim to be God. The Scriptures which are cited as "proof texts" of Jesus's claim to Divinity are simply INTERPOLATIONS, a forcing of presuppositions INTO the text. The ASSUMPTION is, "Wherever God is mentioned, Jesus must be there and wherever Jesus is mentioned, God is there, because Jesus is God", which is simply called "circular reasoning".

Jesus had/has Godlike qualities, that which reflects God; God has God qualities which MAKE Him God alone, and no other.