Is Jesus God?

Great Moral Teacher?

Even those from other religions acknowledge that Jesus was a great
moral teacher. Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, spoke highly of Jesus’
righteous life and profound words.[1]
Likewise, Jewish scholar Joseph Klausner wrote, “It is universally
admitted … that Christ taught the purest and sublimest ethics … which
throws the moral precepts and maxims of the wisest men of antiquity far
into the shade.”[2]

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has been called the most superlative
teaching of human ethics ever uttered by an individual. In fact, much of
what we know today as “equal rights” actually is the result of Jesus’
teaching. Historian Will Durant, a non-Christian, said of Jesus that “he
lived and struggled unremittingly for ‘equal rights’; in modern times
he would have been sent to Siberia. ‘He that is greatest among you, let
him be your servant’—this is the inversion of all political wisdom, of
all sanity.”[3]

Many, like Gandhi, have tried to separate Jesus’ teaching on ethics
from his claims about himself, believing that he was simply a great man
who taught lofty moral principles. This was the approach of one of
America’s Founding Fathers, President Thomas Jefferson, who cut and
pasted a copy of the New Testament, removing sections he thought
referred to Jesus’ deity, while leaving in other passages regarding
Jesus’ ethical and moral teaching.[4]
Jefferson carried around his cut and pasted New Testament with him,
revering Jesus as perhaps the greatest moral teacher of all time.

In fact, Jefferson’s memorable words in the Declaration of
Independence were rooted in Jesus’ teaching that each person is of
immense and equal importance to God, regardless of sex, race, or social
status. The famous document sets forth, “We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights …”

But one thing Jefferson didn’t answer: If Jesus falsely claimed to be
God he couldn’t have been a good moral teacher. But did Jesus really
claim deity? Before we look at what Jesus claimed, we need to examine
the possibility that he was simply a great religious leader?

Great Religious Leader?

Surprisingly, Jesus never claimed to be a religious leader. He never
got into religious politics or pushed an ambitious agenda, and he
ministered almost entirely outside the established religious framework.

When one compares Jesus with the other great religious leaders, a
remarkable distinction emerges. Ravi Zacharias, who grew up in a Hindu
culture, has studied world religions and observed a fundamental
distinction between Jesus Christ and the founders of other major
religions.

“In all of these, there emerges an instruction, a way of living. It
is not Zoroaster to whom you turn; it is Zoroaster to whom you listen.
It is not Buddha who delivers you; it is his Noble Truths that instruct
you. It is not Mohammad who transforms you; it is the beauty of the
Koran that woos you. By contrast, Jesus did not only teach or expound
His message. He was identical with His message.”[5]

The truth of Zacharias’ point is underscored by the number of times
in the Gospels that Jesus’ teaching message was simply “Come to me” or
“Follow me” or “Obey me.” Also, Jesus made it clear that his primary
mission was to forgive sins, something only God could do.

In The World’s Great Religions, Huston Smith observed, “Only two
people ever astounded their contemporaries so much that the question
they evoked was not ‘Who is he?’ but ‘What is he?’ They were Jesus and
Buddha. The answers these two gave were exactly the opposite. Buddha
said unequivocally that he was a mere man, not a god—almost as if he
foresaw later attempts to worship him. Jesus, on the other hand, claimed
… to be divine.[6]

And that leads us to the question of what Jesus really did claim for himself; specifically, did Jesus claim to be divine?

Did Jesus Claim To Be God?

So what is it that convinces many scholars that Jesus claimed to be
God? Author, John Piper explains that Jesus claimed power which uniquely
belonged to God.

“…Jesus’ friends and enemies were staggered again and again by what
he said and did. He would be walking down the road, seemingly like any
other man, then turn and say something like, ‘Before Abraham was, I am.’
Or, ‘If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.’ Or, very calmly,
after being accused of blasphemy, he would say, ‘The Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins.’ To the dead he might simply say,
‘Come forth,’ or, ‘Rise up.’ And they would obey. To the storms on the
sea he would say, ‘Be still.’ And to a loaf of bread he would say,
‘Become a thousand meals.’ And it was done immediately.”[7]

But what did Jesus really mean by such statements? Is it possible
Jesus was merely a prophet like Moses or Elijah, or Daniel? Even a
superficial reading of the Gospels reveals that Jesus claimed to be
someone more than a prophet. No other prophet had made such claims about
himself; in fact, no other prophet ever put himself in God’s place.

Some argue that Jesus never explicitly said, “I am God.” It is true
that he never stated the exact words, “I am God.” However, Jesus also
never explicitly said, “I am a man,” or “I am a prophet.” Yet Jesus was
undoubtedly human, and his followers considered him a prophet like Moses
and Elijah. So we cannot rule out Jesus being divine just because he
didn’t say those exact words, anymore than we can say he wasn’t a
prophet.

In fact, Jesus’ statements about himself contradict the notion that
he was simply a great man or a prophet. On more than one occasion, Jesus
referred to himself as God’s Son. When asked whether he thought it
far-fetched for Jesus to be the Son of God, lead singer of U2, Bono,
answered:

“No, it’s not far-fetched to me. Look, the secular
response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great
prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the
lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or
Confucius. But actually Christ doesn’t allow you that. He doesn’t let
you off the hook. Christ says, No. I’m not saying I’m a teacher, don’t
call me a teacher. I’m not saying I’m a prophet….I’m saying I’m God
incarnate.” And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet
we can take.”[8]

Before we examine Jesus’ claims, it is important to understand that
he made them in the context of the Jewish belief in one God
(monotheism). No faithful Jew would ever believe in more than one God.
And Jesus believed in the one God, praying to his Father as, “the only
true God.”[9]

But in that same prayer, Jesus spoke of having always existed with
his Father. And when Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus
said, “Philip, have I been with you so long and you don’t know me?
Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father.”[10] So the question is: “Was Jesus claiming to be the Hebrew God who created the universe?”

Did Jesus Claim To Be The God Of Abraham & Moses?

Jesus continually referred to himself in ways that confounded his
listeners. As Piper notes, Jesus made the audacious statement, “Before
Abraham was, I AM.”[11]
He told Martha and others around her, “I AM the resurrection and the
life; he who believes in me, though he is dead, yet shall he live.”[12] Likewise, Jesus would make statements like, “I AM the light of the world,”[13] “I AM the only way to God,”[14] or, “I AM the “truth.”[15] These and several other of his claims were preceded by the sacred words for God, “I AM” (ego eimi)[16]. What did Jesus mean by such statements, and what is the significance of the term, “I AM”?

Once again, we must go back to context. In the Hebrew Scriptures,
when Moses asked God His name at the burning bush, God answered, “I AM.”
He was revealing to Moses that He is the one and only God who is
outside of time and has always existed. Incredibly, Jesus was using
these holy words to describe himself. The question is, “Why?”

Since the time of Moses, no practicing Jew would ever refer to
himself or anyone else by “I AM.” As a result, Jesus’ “I AM” claims
infuriated the Jewish leaders. One time, for example, some leaders
explained to Jesus why they were trying to kill him: “Because you, a
mere man, have made yourself God.”[17]

Jesus’ usage of God’s name greatly angered the religious leaders. The
point is that these Old Testament scholars knew exactly what he was
saying—he was claiming to be God, the Creator of the universe. It is
only this claim that would have brought the accusation of blasphemy. To
read into the text that Jesus claimed to be God is clearly warranted,
not simply by his words, but also by their reaction to those words.

C. S. Lewis initially considered Jesus a myth. But this literary
genius who knew myths well, concluded that Jesus had to have been a real
person. Furthermore, as Lewis investigated the evidence for Jesus, he
became convinced that not only was Jesus real, but he was unlike any man
who had ever lived. Lewis writes,

“Then comes the real shock,’ wrote Lewis: ‘Among these Jews there
suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He
claims to forgive sins. He says He always existed. He says He is coming
to judge the world at the end of time.”[18]

To Lewis, Jesus’ claims were simply too radical and profound to have
been made by an ordinary teacher or religious leader. (For a more
in-depth look at Jesus’ claim to deity, see “Did Jesus Claim to be God?”

What Kind Of God?

Some have argued that Jesus was only claiming to be part of God. But
the idea that we are all part of God, and that within us is the seed of
divinity, is simply not a possible meaning for Jesus’ words and actions.
Such thoughts are revisionist, foreign to his teaching, foreign to his
stated beliefs, and foreign to his disciples’ understanding of his
teaching.

Jesus taught that he is God in the way the Jews understood God and
the way the Hebrew Scriptures portrayed God, not in the way the New Age
movement understands God. Neither Jesus nor his audience had been weaned
on Star Wars, and so when they spoke of God, they were not speaking of
cosmic forces. It’s simply bad history to redefine what Jesus meant by
the concept of God.

Lewis explains,

Now let us get this clear. Among Pantheists, like the
Indians, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with
God….But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God.
God, in their language, meant the Being outside the world, who had made
it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have
grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply,
the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips.[19]

Certainly there are those who accept Jesus as a great teacher, yet
are unwilling to call him God. As a Deist, we’ve seen that Thomas
Jefferson had no problem accepting Jesus’ teachings on morals and ethics
while denying his deity.[20]
But as we’ve said, and will explore further, if Jesus was not who he
claimed to be, then we must examine some other alternatives, none of
which would make him a great moral teacher. Lewis, argued, “I am trying
here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people
often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral
teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’ That is the one thing
we must not say.”[21]

In his quest for truth, Lewis knew that he could not have it both
ways with the identity of Jesus. Either Jesus was who he claimed to
be—God in the flesh—or his claims were false. And if they were false,
Jesus could not be a great moral teacher. He would either be lying
intentionally or he would be a lunatic with a God complex.

Could Jesus Have Been Lying?

Even Jesus’ harshest critics rarely have called him a liar. That
label certainly doesn’t fit with Jesus’ high moral and ethical teaching.
But if Jesus isn’t who he claimed to be, we must consider the option
that he was intentionally misleading everyone.

One of the best-known and most influential political works of all
time was written by Niccolò Machiavelli in 1532. In his classic, The
Prince, Machiavelli exalts power, success, image, and efficiency above
loyalty, faith, and honesty. According to Machiavelli, lying is okay if
it accomplishes a political end.

Could Jesus Christ have built his entire ministry upon a lie just to
gain power, fame, or success? In fact, the Jewish opponents of Jesus
were constantly trying to expose him as a fraud and liar. They would
barrage him with questions in attempts to trip him up and make him
contradict himself. Yet Jesus responded with remarkable consistency.

The question we must deal with is: What could possibly motivate Jesus
to live his entire life as a lie? He taught that God was opposed to
lying and hypocrisy, so he wouldn’t have been doing it to please his
Father. He certainly didn’t lie for his followers’ benefit, since all
but one were martyred rather than renouncing his Lordship (see “Did the Apostles believe Jesus is God?” . And so we are left with only two other reasonable explanations, each of which is problematic.

Benefit

Many people have lied for personal gain. In fact, the motivation of
most lies is some perceived benefit to oneself. What could Jesus have
hoped to gain from lying about his identity? Power would be the most
obvious answer. If people believed he was God, he would have tremendous
power. (That is why many ancient leaders, such as the Caesars, claimed
divine origin.)

The rub with this explanation is that Jesus shunned all attempts to
move him in the direction of seated power, instead chastising those who
abused such power and lived their lives pursuing it. He also chose to
reach out to the outcasts (prostitutes and lepers), those without power,
creating a network of people whose influence was less than zero. In a
way that could only be described as bizarre, all that Jesus did and said
moved diametrically in the other direction from power.

It would seem that if power was Jesus’ motivation, he would have
avoided the cross at all costs. Yet, on several occasions, he told his
disciples that the cross was his destiny and mission. How would dying on
a Roman cross bring one power?

Death, of course, brings all things into proper focus. And while many
martyrs have died for a cause they believed in, few have been willing
to die for a known lie. Certainly all hopes for Jesus’ own personal gain
would have ended on the cross. Yet, to his last breath, he would not
relinquish his claim of being the unique Son of God. New Testament
scholar, J. I. Packer, points out that this title asserts Jesus’
personal deity.[22]

A Legacy

So if Jesus was above lying for personal benefit, perhaps his radical
claims were falsified in order to leave a legacy. But the prospect of
being beaten to a pulp and nailed to a cross would quickly dampen the
enthusiasm of most would-be superstars.

Here is another haunting fact. If Jesus were to have simply dropped
the claim of being God’s Son, he never would have been condemned. It was
his claim to be God and his unwillingness to recant of it that got him
crucified.

If enhancing his credibility and historical reputation was what
motivated Jesus to lie, one must explain how a carpenter’s son from a
poor Judean village could ever anticipate the events that would catapult
his name to worldwide prominence. How would he know his message would
survive? Jesus’ disciples had fled and Peter had denied him. Not exactly
the formula for launching a religious legacy.

Do historians believe Jesus lied? Scholars have scrutinized Jesus’
words and life to see if there is any evidence of a defect in his moral
character. In fact, even the most ardent skeptics are stunned by Jesus’
moral and ethical purity.

According to historian Philip Schaff, there is no evidence, either in
church history or in secular history that Jesus lied about anything.
Schaff argued, “How, in the name of logic, common sense, and experience,
could a deceitful, selfish, depraved man have invented, and
consistently maintained from the beginning to end, the purest and
noblest character known in history with the most perfect air of truth
and reality?”[23]

To go with the option of liar seems to swim upstream against
everything Jesus taught, lived, and died for. To most scholars, it just
doesn’t make sense. Yet, to deny Jesus’ claims, one must come up with
some explanation. And if Jesus’ claims are not true, and he wasn’t
lying, the only option remaining is that he must have been
self-deceived.

Could Jesus Have Been Self-Deceived?

Albert Schweitzer, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1952 for his
humanitarian efforts, had his own views about Jesus. Schweitzer
concluded that insanity was behind Jesus’ claim to be God. In other
words, Jesus was wrong about his claims but didn’t intentionally lie.
According to this theory, Jesus was deluded into actually believing he
was the Messiah.

Lewis considered this option carefully. He deduced that if Jesus’
claims weren’t true, then he must have been insane. Lewis reasons that
someone who claimed to be God would not be a great moral teacher. “He
would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a
poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell.”[24]

Most who have studied Jesus’ life and words acknowledge him as
extremely rational. Although his own life was filled with immorality and
personal skepticism, the renowned French philosopher Jean-Jacques
Rousseau (1712–78) acknowledged Jesus’ superior character and presence
of mind, stating, “When Plato describes his imaginary righteous man…he
describes exactly the character of Christ. …If the life and death of
Socrates are those of a philosopher, the life and death of Jesus Christ
are those of a God.”[25]

Bono concludes that a “nutcase” was the last thing one could label Jesus.

“So what you’re left with is either Christ was who He
said He was—or a complete nutcase. I mean, we’re talking nutcase on the
level of Charles Manson….I’m not joking here. The idea that the entire
course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate
changed and turned upside down by a nutcase, for me that’s
far-fetched….”[26]

So, was Jesus a liar or a lunatic, or was he the Son of God? Could
Jefferson have been right by labeling Jesus “only a good moral teacher”
while denying his deity? Interestingly, the audience who heard
Jesus—both believers and enemies—never regarded him as a mere moral
teacher. Jesus produced three primary effects in the people who met him:
hatred, terror, or adoration.

The claims of Jesus Christ force us to choose. As Lewis stated, we
cannot put Jesus in the category of being just a great religious leader
or good moral teacher. This former skeptic challenges us to make up our
own minds about Jesus, stating,

“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is,
the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up
for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon or you can fall
at his feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any
patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not
left that open to us. He did not intend to.”[27]

In Mere Christianity, Lewis explores the options regarding the
identity of Jesus, concluding that he is exactly who he claimed to be.
His careful examination of the life and words of Jesus led this great
literary genius to renounce his former atheism and become a committed
Christian.

The greatest question in human history is, “Who is the real Jesus
Christ?” Bono, Lewis, and countless others have concluded that God
visited our planet in human form. But if that is true, then we would
expect him to be alive today. And that is exactly what his followers
believe.

Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead?

The eyewitnesses to Jesus Christ actually spoke and acted like they
believed he physically rose from the dead after his crucifixion. If they
were wrong then Christianity has been founded upon a lie. But if they
were right, such a miracle would substantiate all Jesus said about God,
himself, and us.

But must we take the resurrection of Jesus Christ by faith alone, or
is there solid historical evidence? Several skeptics began
investigations into the historical record to prove the resurrection
account false. What did they discover?

Click here to take a look at the evidence for the most fantastic claim ever made—the resurrection of Jesus Christ!

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Did Jesus Say What Happens After We Die?

If Jesus really did rise from the dead, then he must know what is on
the other side. What did Jesus say about the meaning of life and our
future? Are there many ways to God or did Jesus claim to be the only
way? Read the startling answers in “Why Jesus?”

Click here to read “Why Jesus?” and discover what Jesus said about life after death.

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Can Jesus Bring Meaning To Life?

Can Jesus answer the big questions of life: “Who am I?” “Why am I
here?” And, “Where am I going?” Jesus made claims about life and our
purpose here on earth that need to be examined before we write him off
as uncaring or impotent. This article, “Why Jesus,” examines the mystery
of why Jesus came to earth, and what that means to us.

Click here to discover how Jesus can bring meaning to life.