This question is one that brings great disagreement among people of the world. Some do not believe that Jesus is God. Some don’t want Jesus to be God because of what it would mean. Others are convinced that He is; yet they are unmoved and do nothing about it. And finally, there are many who know Jesus is God because they know Him personally!
What is your response to this eternally important, life-and-death decision? Let’s be fair and look at the evidence of which we can be sure.
The Bible says, “The common people heard Him gladly.” Mark 12:37. The simple, common people welcomed Jesus’ words and teachings. But, it also says, “…the people were astonished at His doctrine: For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Matthew 7:28-29. Even though He was loved and respected by the common people, it was very clear that He was so much more than just a teacher of their law and religion. He had power. And for this, the religious leaders hated Him.
Early in His ministry people mistook Jesus to be one of the famous prophets from the past. Even King Herod thought that Jesus was John the Baptist, really a powerful preacher that he had ordered to be put to death only a few months before! Yes, these people recognized that Jesus was not just a regular man.
When Jesus Himself asked one of His followers who he thought Jesus was, that man, Peter, cried out, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16. Even demons that encountered Jesus cried out in fear of Him because they knew He had power to order them into hell.
The religious leaders of that day hated Jesus and sought to kill Him. He healed the sick, worked miracles, and delivered people enslaved to sin. But when Jesus asked these leaders which one of His good works was the reason they wanted to kill Him, their answer was clear. “We’re not stoning You for doing a good work. We’re stoning You for blasphemy and ‘…because that Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God.’” John 10:33. They wisely realized that Jesus, by His words, was claiming to be God.
And what did Jesus Himself say? He frequently referred to God in Heaven as “My Father.” He even was bold enough to say, “I and My Father are one.” John 10:30. In John 14:7 Jesus said, “If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also…” Then Jesus told one of His followers a short time later, “…He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father…” Jesus’ own testimony was that He was equal to the Father in Heaven.
So, dear friend, I ask you this most important question, “Was Jesus God?” Yes, from all testimony of those who knew Him, He was God and He claimed to be God. But many claim to be a god. What makes Jesus different from them, you ask? Jesus declared, “I AM the way, the truth and the life: No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” John 14:6.
This fact alone is what separates Jesus from the “many others” who claim to be divine. Jesus said there was no other way to be saved except by Him. The gods of the sun, the moon, the stars, gods of stone, of ivory or gold – NONE of these can save you! Jesus is the one and only true source of eternal life. Your good deeds, your hard work, and your ceaseless efforts to “be good enough”, will never earn you eternal life or the forgiveness of your sins. You must trust in Jesus and ask Him to forgive your sins.
After Jesus rose from the dead and ascended up into Heaven with God His Father, his disciples gave this testimony: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
