Someone recently asked me why I think that Jesus is God.  Let me first say that I believe that the Bible teaches the concept of the Trinity even though it may not use the word “trinity” to describe the concept.  The Bible presents a picture of the Trinity at Jesus’ baptism.  Luke’s Gospel records that when Jesus was baptized “the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased. (Luke 3:22).”  In this passage we have God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit all present at the same time.

Perhaps the main reason I believe that Jesus is God is because Jesus claimed to be God.  The gospels record four us that this claim of His was recognized by the Jewish leaders.  They understood that through His words and His teachings, Jesus was claiming to be God.  When Jesus healed the crippled man in John chapter 5, He also forgave the man of his sins.  The Jews understood that only God can forgive sins and they understood that Jesus was claiming to be God.  The Bible says in John 5:18 “For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”

Jesus was very clear about His Deity in John chapter 10 as He spoke about being the Good Shepherd.  The Jewish leaders pressed Christ further on His Messianic claims and Jesus said in John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”  When Jesus declared Himself to be God, the Jews picked up stones to kill Him for His blasphemy.  They had no doubt about who Jesus was claiming to be.

Two of my favorite verses (and there are others!) that speak to this truth are in the gospel of John and in Paul’s letters to the Philippians.

John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

 John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Philippians 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 Jesus, who claimed to be God, performed miracles of healing, cast out demons, showed His power over nature by calming the wind and the waves, He lived a sinless life and He predicted His own death, burial and resurrection.  Jesus willingly gave His life on the cross and then demonstrated the power and authority to take it back up again.  He rose on the third day.  All of these things are evidence and testify to the fact that we can trust what Jesus says.  We can trust that He is God incarnate, the second person of the Trinity. We can trust that He can and will forgive us of our sins if we ask. We can trust that Jesus is God.  I pray that you have accepted Him as yours.