Always Be Ready To Explain It (IV)

PART IV

“Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” (1 Peter 3:15)

The idea that Jesus never claimed to be God is a popular lie, and some recent disturbing data points to the effectiveness of this lie. A survey published on September 10th of this year by The Ligonier Ministries’ State of Theology found that 30% of Evangelicals agree with the statement that “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.” Let that sink in. This same survey also found that 65% believe that “Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.” I don’t blame you if you don’t believe what you are reading, so I encourage you to click through to the link to read the survey yourself, but it is devastatingly clear that lies about Jesus are infecting people, even those who claim belief in Him. The Truth is, Jesus was constantly identifying Himself as not merely a man, but as God. The most common way Jesus referred to Himself was as the “Son of Man,” which is a reference to this passage from the book of Daniel.

“As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14)

Jesus was identifying Himself as this one that Daniel saw in his vision, the one that approached the Ancient One (that is, God) and who was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world. Jesus was identifying Himself as the one to whom every people of every race, nation, and language would obey, whose rule is eternal and whose Kingdom will never be destroyed. Does that sound like just a man? Jesus was being very obvious in identifying who He is. The charge laid against Jesus was blasphemy—the very fact that He claimed to be this Son of Man, God in the flesh, is why the Jewish leaders had Him killed.

“But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to him, ‘I demand in the name of the living God—tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.’ Jesus replied, ‘You have said it. And in the future 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.’ Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, ‘Blasphemy! Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?’ ‘Guilty!” they shouted. ‘He deserves to die!’” (Matthew 26:63-66)

Jesus again identified Himself as the Son of Man and He was sentenced to die because of it. The next time you encounter someone who claims that Jesus never claimed to be God, ask them, if Jesus never claimed to be God, why was He killed? The truth of the matter is that Jesus was constantly claiming divinity. When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus replied by saying:

“Jesus replied, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?’” (John 14:9)

If you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father. They are one and the same, two parts of the Trinity.

“Jesus continued, ‘You are from below; I am from above. You belong to this world; I do not. That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I AM who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.’” (John 8:23-24)

“Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!’” (John 8:58)

Jesus is being very clear in identifying Himself as God. The name Jesus is using, “I AM,” is the name God told Moses to give to the people of Israel to identify God as the God of their ancestors.

“But Moses protested, ‘If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?’ God replied to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:13-14)

Bethany Verrett has a great article that explains the significance of this name, “I AM” on biblestudytools.com. This name of God, I AM, was so sacred that in Judaism, the name was not to be spoken. In fact, up until this point in history, God’s people had referred to God as Elohim or El Shaddai, meaning God Almighty. God’s people had been living amongst Egyptians for generations and they had grown up in a culture that had many gods with many names that reflected specific characteristics about them. Verrett writes: “When God gives a name for His people to call Him it conveys His dominion over all things, the source of His power, and His eternal nature: I AM. He is the self-sufficient, self-sustaining God who was, who is, and who will be. (…) This eternal nature is conveyed better in the Hebrew than in the English. The first time God says I AM (“I AM WHO I AM”), the Hebrew says, ‘Ehyeh asher Ehyeh’, which translates as “I will be what I will be.” When God then tells Moses, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent you’ (Exodus 3:14), it is ‘Yahweh.’ Yahweh is the third person version of Ehyeh, which is first person. Yahweh could also be translated as He will be.”

The statement that Jesus never claimed to be God is, at best, an ignorant statement and, at worst, an intentional lie. Jesus did not hide who He is; in fact, in John 8:59, after Jesus said, “before Abraham was even born, I AM,” the people in the crowd Jesus was speaking to picked up stones to throw at Him. Jesus’ claims of divinity angered those who did not believe Him to the point where they eventually killed Him for it. Jesus was very obvious about who He is, so the next time you hear someone purport the lie that Jesus never claimed to be God, point them to these Scriptural truths. Jesus was never shy about who He is, and we shouldn’t be shy about it either.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—Redeemed