FROM HYBERNIAHO

I don't get why you say Jesus claimed to be God. He never claimed that. He just said he was a son of god and a son of man. Aren't we all? I just think it's bad when people put words in his mouth that he never said. Jesus was a good man, but people like you make him sound insane. I think you do more harm to your cause than good.

RESPONSE

Sorry, to disagree, but Jesus claimed to be God ALL the time. In fact, that's exactly why the Jewish leaders crucified Him. He claimed to be God, and they crucified Him under the charge of blasphemy. But listen, why don't we just enter the time machine and take a little walk with my friend John about two thousand years ago? Let's hear Jesus's words for ourselves.

KA-ZINGA-FRATZA-ZAP!

Ah, here we are. The scene is the temple court in Jerusalem. Jesus has just spent a good amount of time verbally sparring with Jewish leaders, but it's about to come to an abrupt end. Let's eavesdrop, shall we?

"I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”

At this, the Jewish leaders exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

“You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

Now, I'm sure to you, it might seem a little odd that they wanted to stone Jesus. After all, what did He say that was so all-fired terrible? To answer that, we need to enter the time machine again and travel back 1600 years more to the time of Moses.

BRRRRZIPPA-CRAK!

Good. We're at Mount Sinai, and Moses kneels before a burning bush from which emanates the voice of God. God has just outlined His plan to send Moses to Egypt, but Moses has his doubts and expresses them.

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Alrighty, now...did you hear that? Did you hear the name God called Himself? I AM. Now where have we heard that name before? It sounds so familiar...wait, I know! Quick, back into the time machine!

ZINGZIT-SHRAK!

“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

In using God's name to identify Himself, Jesus was saying something like this to those Jewish leaders: "You know that God Who brought you out of Egypt, the One Who turned the water to blood, and brought the frogs, the locusts, the lice, and all the other plagues? The one who parted the Red Sea for you and destroyed the Egyptians, then led you through the wilderness for 40 years by a cloud during the day and fire at night? You know that God? Well, that's ME! I AM that God!"

Now, of course, you might say, "He didn't say any of that, and that's not what He meant! He was just being figurative in His language."

But stones don't lie.

The Jews were intimately acquainted with that name. They'd prayed to and worshipped that name for over 1600 years. They knew exactly what Jesus's words meant, and the proof was in each of their hands. They would've carried out the penalty for blasphemy had God not prevented it.

This is just one instance where Jesus identifies Himself as God. He does it throughout the book of John and all the other gospels. So the question is not whether Jesus claimed to be God. He plainly did...OFTEN...and claimed to have the power to give people who believed in Him eternal life. No, the question is this: "Is it true?" And if it is true, then an even more important question presents itself.

What are you going to do about it?