Did Jesus claim to be God?

It's been a popular claim by skeptics (I've heard this more recently than I used to) that Jesus never claimed to be God. Their argument is that the only place where Jesus claims divinity is in John's Gospel. Since John's Gospel is relatively late, the argument goes that the divinity of Jesus was later imposition by Christians upon the person of Jesus.

This simply reveals ignorance of the actions, and words, of Jesus. Speaking the name of God was verboten in Jewish culture. To simply come out and say, "I'm God," would have been taken as a hollow and blasphemous claim. It's true, Jesus never steps up and says, "Hello, God, here!"

But if you understand his actions combined with His words and read them through the lens of a first century Jewish person... it's undeniable.

Most modern scholars believe that Mark's Gospel is the earliest of the four. While written by Mark, it's really Peter's Gospel. At that early date, Peter (who was a fisherman) wasn't likely much of a writer. While Peter is the primary source, Mark actually wrote the text.

Contrary to claims made by skeptics, you can make a case that Jesus claims divinity in literally every chapter of Mark. Granted, at times the claim is tied to the author of Mark, rather than an explicit statement by Jesus.

It's worth nothing, that the "big" question in Mark is "who do people say that I am?" (Mark 8). It's been argued by many commentators that this question is the organizing principle of the book. Thus, it's no surprise that in each and every chapter, the clues are there. Some of these claims ore more direct than others, and some aren't as clear. Taken as a whole, though, it's undeniable that in Mark's Gospel, in a Jewish way of presenting the case, He clearly claims to be God. The question at the end is, do you have the eyes to see it?

• Mark 1: Mark's account begins with a startling declaration. The prophecy from Isaiah, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" (Mk 1:3), is applied to Jesus. In the original Hebrew, "Lord" is יהוה (YHWH, pronounced Yahweh), the divine name. By attributing this prophecy to Jesus, Mark implicitly identifies Him with YHWH, setting the stage for a profound exploration of Jesus' divine nature.

• Mark 2: Jesus forgives sins (2:5-10). In Jewish understanding, only God can forgive sins. By claiming this authority, Jesus is implicitly claiming divinity. The scribes' reaction ("Who can forgive sins but God alone?") confirms this interpretation.

• Mark 3: Jesus claims authority over the Sabbath (3:28). The Sabbath was a sacred institution established by God. By claiming lordship over it, Jesus is placing himself in a position of divine authority. In fact, the first Sabbath was God's rest, the seventh day of Creation itself. If this isn't enough, later in the chapter (3:22-30) Jesus casts out a demon, and the scribes accuse him of being possessed by Beelzebul. Jesus explains that he both has the power to bind Satan (who else could do that) but he accuses the scribes of blaspheming the Holy Spirit by calling the Spirit by which He casts out demons an "unclean" spirit, or Beelzebul.

• Mark 4: Jesus calms the storm (4:39). In the Old Testament, God controls the forces of nature. Jesus' command, "Peace! Be still!" echoes the psalmist's description of God's power: "He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed" (Ps 107:29). The disciples' question, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" reflects their recognition of Jesus's divine power.

• Mark 5: Jesus demonstrates power over demonic forces and death (5:1-43). These acts of power were seen as divine prerogatives.The demons recognize Him as "Son of the Most High God" (Mk 5:7), and His ability to raise the dead demonstrates a power attributed to God alone in the Old Testament (1 Sam 2:6). Certainly, there are examples of other people in the Bible raising the dead (Elijah/Elijah in the OT, Peter raises Dorcus in Acts) but in those instances, the miracle is preceded by prayer, asking God to do the resurrecting. When Jesus raises Jarius' daughter, he simply speaks to her, "Arise," and she does. Only the Creator can speak life that way.

• Mark 6: Two good examples here. (1) The feeding of the five thousand in a remote place calls to mind the imagery of God who fed the people of Israel in the wilderness with bread from heaven. (2) Jesus walking on water. This is an action that in the old testament is only performed by God. The act alludes to Job's description of God as the one who "treads on the waves of the sea" (Job 9:8). This parallel invites us to see Jesus' action as the action of God, Himself. The Jewish disciples would have made this connection immediately.

• Mark 7: Jesus declares all foods clean (7:19). This action is that of overturning old testament law. This action shows a divine level of authority.

• Mark 8: After Peter's confession that Jesus is the "Christ," and he begins to foretell his death and resurrection, Jesus emboldens His disciples to likewise take up their crosses and follow Him. To those who do, who bear the cross in the face of persecution, Jesus says will be saved. Yet those who are "ashamed of me and my words"... "of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels" (v. 38). The reference to the "Son of Man" is connected to Daniel 7:13-14 which describes "one like a son of man," coming on the clouds of heaven, who is given dominion, glory, and a kingdom that will never end. Here, though, Jesus explicitly connects His glory (not yet fully revealed) to a glory equal to that of the Father.

  Lenski writes of this verse: "Jesus shall appear in his Father’s glory as possessing that glory equally with the Father. The reference is to the human nature of Jesus which was unglorified when he spoke but was soon to be glorified when he would arise from the dead. That human nature would undergo suffering and death (v. 31), yet by virtue of its union with the divine nature and person of the Son it possessed the divine attributes (the glory of the Father) and would thus be rendered glorious and refulgent in its exaltation and enthronement in heaven." R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Mark’s Gospel (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 354–355.

• Mark 9: The Transfiguration (9:2-8). Jesus's appearance alongside Moses and Elijah, and the voice from heaven declaring, "This is my Son, whom I love," confirms his divine identity. But more than that, there are two figures in the Old Testament who go up a mountain and talk to God. It's Moses (Ex. 24:16-19; 34) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:8-18). When they appear, some commentators think that time itself collapses, and what they witness are the actual Old Testament events... Jesus standing as God, conversing with Moses and Elijah back in time. Even if that's not what's happening, it can't be missed that Moses and Elijah appearing on a mountain, speaking to one whose appearance is transfigured (Jesus), would be understood as an absolute affirmation of Jesus' divinity.

• Mark 10: Jesus's teaching on divorce (10:1-12) and his statement that "what God has joined together, let no one separate" (10:9) shows his understanding that he is acting with Gods authority. While Moses had allowed for a certificate of divorce, Jesus declares this was only on account of the hardness of their hearts. Who could superseded Moses' provision, or declare it null, except the very one from whom Moses received the commandments? Also in verses 17-18, when Jesus is called good, he replies by saying only God is good. This shows that Jesus is accepting that he is God.

• Mark 11: Jesus comes to Jerusalem and cleanses the temple, overturning tables, and chasing out the money changers. Later, the high temple court calls Jesus to account and asks him what authority he claims to have the right to do such things (vv.27-33). He responds with a question pertaining to their view of John the Baptist. This is noteworthy. For, we're told that this particular group recognized John was a prophet. Mark 1:3 made it clear that John's message was as the one who was crying out in the wilderness to "prepare the way of the LORD." That's God--YHWH--the Lord. If the court agreed that John was a prophet, the one prophesied to "prepare the way of the LORD," Jesus was making the claim here that he was the one John was preparing them to receive... the LORD/YHWH Himself.

• Mark 12: vv. 35-37 would have made it clear in the eyes of Jesus' Jewish audience. He is reciting Psalm 110, and asks how David, from whom the Messiah was supposed to be descended it also called Lord. Jesus simply asks the question: how can the Christ come from the line of David, but still be His Lord? This all at once upholds both Jesus' divinity and humanity.

• Mark 13: Jesus' eschatological discourse (Mk 13:1-37) demonstrates His divine knowledge of future events. His words, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away" (Mk 13:31), attribute to His teachings the same permanence as God's words. What words endure forever in the Scriptures? "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever" (Isa 40:8).

• Mark 14: Jesus's trial before the Sanhedrin (14:61-64). When the high priest asks, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?" Jesus responds, "I am." This was understood as a claim to divinity, and the high priest's reaction ("You have heard the blasphemy!") confirms this. They wouldn't accuse Jesus of blasphemy (that's what blasphemy is) if Jesus' claim was merely to be the Messiah. If that was all he was claiming, they'd have questioned him further. They might accuse him of claiming a false messiahship, but they wouldn't have accused him of blasphemy. It was blasphemous in their eyes to claim to be God.

• Mark 15: Even in his crucifixion, the Centurion of all people recognizes who Jesus is. What would a Roman think when he said someone was a "Son of God?" Just before that, v. 38, we're told the temple curtain was torn in two. In Matthew's Gospel we hear there was a great earthquake. We also hear, "At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon." (v. 33). These signs, while not explicit declarations of Jesus' divinity, certainly link the death of Jesus to an event of great cosmological significance.

• Mark 16: The resurrection of Jesus. This act, confirms all of his claims of divinity. Only God has the power over death.

Ultimately, which certain arguments can be made about some of these explanations above, taken as a whole each lends greater credence to the next. Each instance, every sing, every statement, builds on everything that came before into a chorus that leaves the reader without question at the end of the Gospel. Jesus was Divine. He didn't just have a little "God juice" in him, but He was God in the flesh, the same Christ later confessed at Chalcedon's Christology is the only Christ who can truly fit into the narrative of Mark's Gospel.

In short, skeptics and those opposed to the faith tend to make unsubstantiated claims. They say them in such a matter-of-fact way that you get the impression that if you think otherwise, they're going to think you're unintelligent. The truth is, they have an agenda. The Scriptures are clear. Jesus not only was God in the flesh, but He claimed it through actions and words that could be attributed to no one other than the one true God, the same God who brought Israel out of Egypt, the same God who created the universe.

In Christ,

Judah