ANSWERED: Where Jesus Said He Is God

Every budding Muslim apologist is taught to ask this question:

Where Did Jesus Say That He Is God?

In this article, I’m going to show all Muslims, in just one sentence, how you can answer this question yourself and never need to ask it ever again, whether you’re a newbie Muslim apologist or a veteran dawah-hardened scholar.

How?

Here it is. LOOK FOR TEXT WHERE JESUS WAS THREATENED TO BE STONED!

That’s it!

Stoning to death was the punishment prescribed in the Torah for blasphemy, and of course, this includes claiming to be God. There were various sins that resulted in stoning, but blaspheming was one of the most serious offenses for Jews. (cf. Leviticus 24:16).

Now let’s dive into the Bible and take a look at three instances.

“I and the Father are one.”

John 10:30

Jesus is claiming to be God. How do I know?
Look at the next verse, “At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.”

Why were they doing that? Read on. They tell you exactly why Jesus must be stoned.
“We are…stoning You…for blasphemy because You…declare Yourself to be God.” (John 10:33)

Did you see that? As clear as day!

OBJECTION

Muslims are taught to respond, “No, no, no. Jesus said ‘I and the Father are one…...IN PURPOSE.’

Actually, no.
That is not what Jesus said. And that is not what is written in the verse.
The Jews didn’t go, “Oh, Jesus said that he is one with the Father IN PURPOSE, guys, so let’s do the opposite of throwing stones at him.”

No. The Jews were there. They heard what Jesus said. They knew what Jesus meant. Unfortunately, Muslims who were not there are forced to ADD WORDS that are not there, because they realize this is a “dangerous” verse that not only destroys their arguments but is also detrimental to the whole of Islam!

If you cannot grasp why I say this verse is “dangerous”, just imagine if Muhammad had said, “I and Allah are one.”

For argument’s sake, let’s assume that Jesus DID say, “I and the Father are one in purpose.”
This isn’t any kind of a refutation. This would not disprove the trinity or deny the divinity of Jesus in any way! The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are always one in purpose, of course!
(Also Christians have never argued that the Father and the Son are one and the same Person (this is false teaching known as Sabellianism). Father and Son is one God, but distinct in their Persons.)

If we go back just a few verses, we see Jesus declaring that He gives eternal life! (cf John 10:28). Who gives eternal life but God? How can Jesus claim to be able to give eternal life if He was a mere man and not also God? Can a man give eternal life to other me? The very thought is preposterous! The Jews knew exactly what Jesus was claiming and that is why they reacted the way they did.

Let’s look for another instance recorded in the gospels when the Jews tried to stone Jesus.

“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!

John 8:58

Jesus is claiming to be God. How do I know?
Look at the next verse, “At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him.”

Abraham had lived more than 2000 years earlier. By saying, “Before Abraham was born, I am,” Jesus was saying that He had existed before Abraham!
But there’s something even more serious here that no Jew would have missed. Jesus was not just saying that He existed before Abraham, but He identified His existence by using the divine name of God, I AM. (cf YHWH as revealed in the Torah Exodus 3:14).
In other words, Jesus was claiming to be the One who revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush incident!

The translation of John 8:58 in the Aramaic Bible in Plain English makes this clear.

This was what the Jews heard from Jesus’ lips. This is an unambiguous, unequivocal and very blasphemous claim to be God. The penalty was stoning!

OBJECTION

Muslims are taught to respond. “No, no, no. Everyone also existed before they were born.”

This response makes no sense. You mean, everyone existed except for Abraham? Poor guy.
And if everyone existed before Abraham, except for poor ol’ Abraham, then why were the Jews upset, since they too would have existed before Abraham? And why is Abraham the only one who did not exist?

Some Muslims will point to Jeremiah 1:5, where God speaks to the prophet Jeremiah saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…”
“See? Jeremiah existed before he was born!”
Look carefully at the verse again. It does not say Jeremiah existed. It says God KNEW him before he was born. This is about God’s OMNISCIENCE, not about Jeremiah’s existence. No one exists before they are born. Your existence begins when you are conceived. But God, who is All-Knowing knows you even before you are conceived or born. That is what it means.

Let’s look at one final example. Sometimes, Jesus’ claim of divinity is not immediately apparent to us 21st-century folks, who are so far removed from 1st-century Jewish context and thinking.

Let me show you what I mean.

But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

John 5:17

Jesus is claiming to be God. How do I know?
Look at the next verse, “Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him…..He was….making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:18)

But wait. How is this a claim that Jesus is God when all He said was, “My Father is working and I am working.” The Jewish leaders who heard this from Jesus’ lips knew what Jesus meant.

Jesus was saying that He partook of the same nature and work as the Father. This involved equality! It’s like saying, “I do the same work that the Father does.”

How can an ordinary man say this? Even the most extraordinary prophet could never dare to make such a claim. Imagine if Muhammad said, “I do the same work that Allah does.” Jesus did say it. This is why the Jews rightly judged it to be a claim of equality with God.

Just a couple of verses later, Jesus confirms it again, and this time our 21st-century ears can make it out. “Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.” (see John 5:19)

What does it mean when Jesus said, “Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise”?
Does it mean that since the Father creates and gives life, Jesus also creates and gives life?
That is exactly what it means!

Reading on, just two verses later, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.” (John 5:21). Here is another unmistakable and remarkable claim to deity, showing that Jesus says and does only what God can do!

Now, it’s your turn Muslims. Go ahead and read the gospel for yourselves and discover the many instances where Jesus claimed to be God.


Thank you for reading this article all the way up to the end here.
As a bonus, I’m going to show you another way where you can see exactly where Jesus claimed to be God. This is especially for all devout Muslims who are familiar with the 99 names of Allah

Muslims teach that the 99 names of Allah are a revelation of Allah and his attributes. But what many Muslims are not aware is that many of these divine names were already in the Bible and used in reference to Jesus 500 years before Muhammad was even born!

I’ll give you a couple of examples here below but I’m sure you will come across many examples as you begin to prayerfully read the gospels to discover who Jesus really is.

Al-Awwal & Al-Akhir – The First and The Last

Revelation 1:8
Revelation 22:13


Al-Haqq – The Truth

John 14:6


Al-Baeth – The Resurrector

John 11:25


Read more
What Did Jesus Say About Himself?
Did Jesus Claim Equality With God

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