This issue matters. It matters because the number of people in our country who believe Jesus is God is declining to near 50%, (https://www.barna.org/barna-update/culture/714-what-do-americans-believe-about-jesus-5-popular-beliefs). Clearly, more than half of Americans believe they are Christians.
Why is that an issue? Because Jesus claimed to be God. That means he either is God, or he was lying and his whole ministry was aimed at taking advantage of people for his own gain, or he was insane. No one should follow Jesus if he was either the second or third. On the other hand, if he really is God, everyone should follow him.
It also matters when it comes to trusting the Bible. The single best reason to trust that the Bible is God's Word is that Jesus told us so. If Jesus is God, then we know he was right. If he was lying or insane, then we know he was wrong about the Bible, because the Bible would be wrong about what it claims about Jesus.
So, did Jesus really claim he was God? Jesus did not run around routinely proclaiming "I am God!"However, in the first century Jewish world, it was shocking to think of the one true God taking on human form. In fact, during much of his ministry Jesus did not even want people proclaiming him to be the Messiah, the divinely appointed Savior and future ruler of Israel, because he knew that would bring about his crucifixion before the appointed time. So we should expect him to avoid public and direct declarations of being God.
What Jesus did do in many instances was to indirectly or subtly make claims to deity. In a strict monotheistic religion (belief in only one God), this was to claim full equality with God, and the point was not lost by his followers or opponents.
Consider Mark 2, when Jesus heals the paralytic, he says, "My son, your sins are forgiven." The religious leaders who were there reacted by thinking, "Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Indeed, people can forgive sins committed against themselves, but who can forgive someone else's sins against someone else- except God?
In John 20:28, Jesus' disciple Thomas exclaims, "My Lord and my God!" Rather than correcting Thomas, Jesus expresses a blessing on those who will reach the same conclusion in the future.
In John 8:58, Jesus proclaimed, "Before Abraham was born, I am." "I am" was a reference to the very name of God in the Old Testament. His statement was so offensive that the people tried to stone him to death on the spot.
This happened again in John 10:33. After Jesus said, "I and the Father are one," the religious leaders tried to stone him saying, "because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
In John 10:11 Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd." The good shepherd is a description given to God in Psalm 23, the Jewish hymn book of the day. John also records Jesus saying things like "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25).
Jesus tells his disciples they will "be his witnesses...to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). In the Old Testament God said that his followers were his witnesses (Isaiah 43:10).
Jesus also accepted the worship of other individuals, at a time when worship was strictly reserved for God alone. Examples include the leper in Matthew 8:2 and the disciples in Matthew 14:33.
These are a few examples of many of Jesus' statements and actions that, when understood in the context of his day, must be taken not only a claim to some sort of divine status, but to be equal with the one true God.
The disciples also clearly understood that the mission Jesus gave them was to preach a message that included the divinity of Jesus. Examples in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the writings of Paul are too numerous to list here. However, the point is that Jesus' claim to deity was unmistakable to the people who knew him and lived in his day.
Jesus did claim to be God, and he was not lying or insane. He proved this through the resurrection. Jesus, who is God, has told us that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God, all of it, we can trust it.
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