The
Bible gives Jesus divine names, titles, attributes; but as actions are said to
speak louder than words, is there any concrete evidence to back up these
claims? Yes! The Bible also speaks of Jesus doing things that only God could
do.
1. His act of creation
John’s
Gospel says of Jesus, “All things were made through Him, and
without Him nothing was made that was made”
(John 1:3). Elsewhere it is written, “For by Him (Jesus) all
things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things
were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him
all things consist” (Colossians
It is written of Jesus: “You, Lord,
in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work
of Your hands” (Hebrews
God alone is the creator of all things!
2. His being the source of life
In speaking of Jesus,
John writes, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men” (John
1:4). Jesus Himself made the following statements: “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John
14:6). “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John
God alone is the source of life!
3. His reception of prayer and worship
The
worship of anyone but God is idolatry. The Apostle Peter refused worship. The
Bible tells us: "As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down
at his feet, and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him
up, saying, ‘Stand up; I myself am also a man’" (Acts 10:25, 26).
Peter refused worship in light of the Law that said, "You shall worship
the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve."
An angel also refused
worship (Revelation 22:8,9), yet,
Jesus told His disciples, “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that
the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will
do it” (John
Jesus restored the sight of a blind man, who returned later and
“worshiped Him” (John
After
the resurrection, the disciples returned to
By promising that He will hear and answer
prayer, and by accepting worship, Jesus directly claimed to be God. Therefore
He is able to satisfy the spiritual needs of all who trust in Him.
God alone is offered worship and prayer!
4. His authority to forgive sins
The Word of God describes how the religious
leaders grew increasingly opposed to Jesus, questioning His divine authority.
It tells the story of a paralysed man Jesus healed, showing that Jesus is equal
to God in his authority and power to forgive sins: “He [Jesus] said to
the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” Some of
the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts said, “Why does
this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God
alone?” Immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus
within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in
your hearts? “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are
forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may
know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the
paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and
went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified
God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
(Mark 2:5–12).
Now let me ask you a question. Imagine that
I had done something wrong against you, but someone else approached me saying:
‘I forgive you for what you have done to that person!’ Would that seem normal
to you? Of course not! Only you would have the right to forgive me. So when
Jesus forgave sin He was therefore declaring Himself to be God, otherwise it
would be strange for Him to do that. It is against God that all of us, without
exception, have sinned. Therefore only God can pardon us and declare us
forgiven.
No
person, priest or prophet can forgive sins. The religious leaders were right in
saying that only God can forgive sins. Moses said, “The Lord is longsuffering
and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression” (Numbers
Yet,
when the prophet John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him, he declared,
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”
(John
God alone can forgive people’s sins!
5. His being the Saviour
The Bible says that only Jehovah, God, is
our Saviour. For example, God said through the prophet Isaiah, “I, even I, am
the Lord (Jehovah), and beside Me there is no saviour”
(Isaiah 43:11). Also God spoke through another prophet called Hosea, “Yet I am
the Lord your God, ever since the
Yet Jesus Christ is identified as our
Saviour! When Joseph was engaged to Mary, an angel appeared to him and said,
“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, and she will bring forth a Son
and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people
from their sins” (Matthew 1:20,21).
Later the baby (Jesus) was born in
Just
before His crucifixion, Jesus made it plain that the pardon of sins would be
accomplished through His death (Matthew 26: 28). He gave up His own sinless
life in order to act as a substitute, taking the punishment we deserve.
God alone is the Saviour!
6. His Being the Judge of the world
Jesus
claims that He will one day return and judge the world. He said, “as the lightning comes from the east and flashes
to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be...Then the sign of
the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will
mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a
trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one
end of heaven to the other” (Matthew
24:27, 30, 31).
In
the parable of the sheep and goats, Jesus says: “When the Son of Man comes in
His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne on
His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He
will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. And the King
will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit
the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world...Then He will
also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the
everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Matthew 25:31-33).
One of the surprising things here is that the criterion by which people will be
judged on the day of judgement is the way they have responded to Him.
God alone is the Judge!
In
His actions, therefore, Jesus did things that only God could do, and in
speaking about Himself He claimed to be able to do things that Jewish people
would associate only with God.