Step 5 of 9 · The claims of Jesus

Who did Jesus claim to be?

In brief

More than a teacher or a prophet. In the earliest Gospel, Jesus forgives sins on his own authority, calls himself lord of the Sabbath, and answers the high priest by claiming a place at God's right hand. John's Gospel makes the same claim in more explicit language.

The 2-minute version

People sometimes ask why Jesus never simply said “I am God; worship me”. A first-century Jew was unlikely to speak in a modern slogan, and the Gospels show his identity mostly through what he did and the scriptures he drew on. In Mark, the earliest Gospel, Jesus declares a man's sins forgiven, and the onlookers ask who can forgive sins but God alone. He calls himself lord of the Sabbath, which God instituted. He stills a storm, echoing the God of Israel who rules the sea. At his trial he answers the high priest with words from Psalm 110 and Daniel 7 about the Son of Man at the right hand of Power, and he is condemned for blasphemy. John's Gospel makes the claim explicit, as in Jesus' “I am” saying about Abraham (John 8:58). The caution is that John is the most theological Gospel, so a careful case leans first on Mark. And Paul's letters, earlier than any Gospel, already speak of the one Lord Jesus Christ alongside the one God the Father.

The strongest objection

The explicit divine self-claims appear mainly in John, the latest and most theological Gospel. In the earlier Gospel traditions Jesus mostly proclaims God's kingdom rather than his own divinity, so the claims may be the early Church's convictions placed on his lips.

A response

The caution is fair, and a good argument does not rest on John alone. The earlier Gospels make the claim indirectly but strongly, through actions and titles that Israel's Scriptures associate with God, and through the trial scene that ends in a charge of blasphemy.

The development theory also has a timing problem: Paul, writing in the 50s, already places Jesus within the confession of the one God (1 Corinthians 8:6), and writes of his divine status in a passage many scholars think was an earlier hymn (Philippians 2:6–11). Historians still debate how much of this goes back to Jesus himself, and the site's article treats that as a real question.

The evidence

From Scripture
  • Mark 2:1–12 — Forgiving sins and healing “that you may know”.
  • Mark 2:28 — Lord of the Sabbath.
  • Mark 14:61–64 — Mark 14:62, World English Bible.

    “Jesus said, “I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky.””

  • John 8:58; 10:30 — The explicit sayings in John.
  • 1 Corinthians 8:6; Philippians 2:5–11 — Paul's early confession of Jesus as Lord.
From history
  • Authority to forgive sins. Jesus pronounces forgiveness on his own authority and is challenged for it: the scribes ask who can forgive sins but God.
  • The Son of Man. The title draws on Daniel 7, where “one like a son of man” receives everlasting dominion, not merely on the idea of being human.
  • The charge at the trial. In Mark, the claim to sit at God's right hand is what the high priest treats as blasphemy.
  • Early worship. Within decades, Christians prayed to Jesus. A Roman governor's report from the early second century describes it (see step 7).

Primary sources

1 source for this step
  1. Gospel of Mark, Mark 14 (World English Bible) — Public domain.

    “Jesus said, “I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky.””

Read the full case

Did Jesus Actually Claim to Be God?

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