Reason for Hope

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Who Is Jesus?

The central question of the Christian faith is the one Jesus asked his disciples: "Who do you say I am?" (Matthew 16:15). The New Testament's answer is that Jesus of Nazareth is not merely a prophet, teacher, or created being, but God the Son, who became fully human without ceasing to be fully God. This section gathers what the Bible claims about him, with references you can read for yourself, and answers to the most common challenges.

Called God

Scripture gives Jesus the names and titles that belong to God alone.

Called "God" directly

The New Testament writers, all Jewish monotheists, call Jesus "God" (Greek: theos) in several places. In Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1, the Greek grammar joins "God" and "Savior" as one person. In Hebrews 1:8 the Father himself addresses the Son as God.

"I AM": God's own name

God revealed his name to Moses as "I AM." Jesus applied this to himself in a way his audience understood as a claim to deity; they picked up stones to stone him. At his arrest, his "I am he" made the soldiers fall back.

Immanuel and "Mighty God"

Isaiah foretold a child who would be called "Mighty God," the same title Isaiah uses for the LORD himself in the next chapter. Matthew identifies Jesus as Immanuel, "God with us."

  • Isaiah 9:6 "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
  • Isaiah 10:21 The same title, "Mighty God," used of the LORD.
  • Isaiah 7:14 The virgin will give birth to a son, Immanuel.
  • Matthew 1:23 "Immanuel (which means 'God with us')."

"Lord" in the sense of God's name

In the Greek Old Testament used by the early church, "Lord" (kyrios) translates God's personal name, YHWH. The apostles call Jesus "Lord" and then apply YHWH passages to him, making clear which sense they mean.

  • Romans 10:9-13 Confess "Jesus is Lord"; "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Joel 2:32).
  • 1 Corinthians 12:3 "No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit."
  • Luke 2:11 "A Savior… he is the Messiah, the Lord."
  • 1 Corinthians 2:8 "The Lord of glory" (compare Psalm 24:10, "the LORD Almighty, he is the King of glory").

The First and the Last

In Isaiah, the LORD declares that he is "the first and the last" and that apart from him there is no God. In Revelation, Jesus takes these exact titles for himself.

The only Savior, King of kings

God says there is no savior besides him, and that he is "God of gods and Lord of lords." The New Testament gives both titles to Jesus.

John's Gospel: Jesus is God

Every major passage in the Gospel of John that shows Jesus is God, gathered in one place. John wrote "that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God" (John 20:31).

Called "God" outright

John calls Jesus "God" directly at the beginning, the climax of the prologue, and the climax of the Gospel.

  • John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
  • John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." The Word is Jesus.
  • John 1:18 "The one and only Son, who is himself God… has made him known."
  • John 20:28 Thomas: "My Lord and my God!"
  • John 20:29 Jesus accepts the confession and blesses those who believe.

He existed before creation and made all things

Jesus did not begin at his birth. John says all things were made through him, and Jesus speaks of coming from heaven and sharing the Father's glory before the world began.

  • John 1:2-3 "Through him all things were made."
  • John 1:10 "The world was made through him."
  • John 1:15 John the Baptist, born first: "He was before me."
  • John 1:30 "He was before me."
  • John 3:13 "The one who came from heaven—the Son of Man."
  • John 3:31 "The one who comes from heaven is above all."
  • John 6:38 "I have come down from heaven."
  • John 6:62 "Ascend to where he was before."
  • John 8:23 "I am from above… I am not of this world."
  • John 16:28 "I came from the Father and entered the world."
  • John 17:5 "The glory I had with you before the world began."
  • John 17:24 "You loved me before the creation of the world."

"I AM": God's own name

God revealed his name to Moses as "I AM" (Exodus 3:14) and said through Isaiah, "that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he" (Isaiah 43:10). In John, Jesus uses the same words (Greek: egō eimi) about himself.

  • John 4:26 "I, the one speaking to you—I am he."
  • John 6:20 Walking on the sea: "It is I; don't be afraid."
  • John 8:24 "If you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins."
  • John 8:28 "Then you will know that I am he."
  • John 8:58-59 "Before Abraham was born, I am!" They picked up stones.
  • John 13:19 "You will believe that I am who I am."
  • John 18:5-6 "I am he." They drew back and fell to the ground.

Equal with the Father

Jesus claims a unity with the Father that no creature could claim, and his opponents repeatedly understand him as claiming to be God.

  • John 5:17-18 "Calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God."
  • John 8:19 "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."
  • John 10:30 "I and the Father are one."
  • John 10:33 "You, a mere man, claim to be God."
  • John 10:37-38 "The Father is in me, and I in the Father."
  • John 12:44-45 "The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me."
  • John 14:7-11 "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father."
  • John 16:15 "All that belongs to the Father is mine."
  • John 17:10 "All I have is yours, and all you have is mine."
  • John 17:21-22 "Just as you are in me and I am in you… that they may be one as we are one."
  • John 19:7 The charge at his trial: "He claimed to be the Son of God."

He does what only God does

In John, Jesus gives life, raises the dead (including himself), judges the world, answers prayer, and sends the Holy Spirit.

  • John 2:19-21 "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days"—his body.
  • John 5:21 "The Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it."
  • John 5:22 "The Father… has entrusted all judgment to the Son."
  • John 5:25-29 The dead will hear his voice and come out of their graves.
  • John 5:26 "Life in himself," as the Father has.
  • John 10:17-18 "Authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again."
  • John 10:28 "I give them eternal life."
  • John 11:25-26 "I am the resurrection and the life."
  • John 11:43-44 He raises Lazarus.
  • John 14:13-14 "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."
  • John 14:23 "My Father… and we will come to them and make our home with them."
  • John 15:26 "The Advocate, whom I will send to you from the Father."
  • John 16:7 "I will send him to you."

He knows what only God knows

Scripture says God alone knows every human heart (1 Kings 8:39). In John, Jesus knows people's hearts, histories, and futures.

  • John 1:47-49 He saw Nathanael under the fig tree.
  • John 2:24-25 "He knew all people… He knew what was in each person."
  • John 4:17-19 He knew the Samaritan woman's history.
  • John 6:64 He knew from the beginning who would betray him.
  • John 16:30 "Now we can see that you know all things."
  • John 21:17 Peter: "Lord, you know all things."

He receives worship, faith, and honor due to God

Worship and saving faith belong to God alone. In John, Jesus receives both, and says he must be honored just as the Father is.

Old Testament passages about the LORD fulfilled in him

John takes passages that speak of the LORD (YHWH) and applies them to Jesus.

  • John 1:23 "Make straight the way for the Lord" (Isaiah 40:3: the LORD, our God).
  • John 12:37-41 Isaiah "saw Jesus' glory" when he saw the LORD on his throne (Isaiah 6:1-5).
  • John 19:37 "They will look on the one they have pierced" (Zechariah 12:10: the LORD speaking).
  • John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd" (Psalm 23:1; Ezekiel 34:11-15: God shepherds his people).

The seven "I am" sayings

Each saying echoes what the Old Testament says God himself is and gives to his people.

  • John 6:35 "I am the bread of life" (compare God's manna, Exodus 16).
  • John 8:12 "I am the light of the world" (compare Psalm 27:1: "The LORD is my light").
  • John 10:9 "I am the gate."
  • John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd" (Psalm 23:1).
  • John 11:25 "I am the resurrection and the life."
  • John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life."
  • John 15:1 "I am the true vine" (Israel was God's vine, Psalm 80:8).

John's other writings

The same apostle says the same thing in his letters and in Revelation.

Old Testament passages about the LORD applied to Jesus

The apostles repeatedly took passages that speak of the LORD (YHWH) and applied them directly to Jesus.

Prepare the way of the LORD

Isaiah announces a voice preparing the way for the LORD, our God. All four Gospels say this was John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus.

  • Isaiah 40:3 "Prepare the way for the LORD… a highway for our God."
  • Mark 1:1-3 Applied to John the Baptist and Jesus.
  • John 1:23 John: "Make straight the way for the Lord."

Every knee will bow

In Isaiah, the LORD swears that every knee will bow to him alone. Paul says every knee will bow at the name of Jesus.

Isaiah saw his glory

Isaiah saw the LORD on his throne in the temple. John says Isaiah saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.

  • Isaiah 6:1-5 "My eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
  • John 12:37-41 "Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him."

Creator of the heavens

Psalm 102 praises the LORD who laid the foundations of the earth and never changes. Hebrews says these words are spoken "about the Son."

The one they pierced

In Zechariah, the LORD himself says, "They will look on me, the one they have pierced." John applies this to the crucified Jesus.

Jesus inside the Shema

Israel's great confession is "The LORD our God, the LORD is one." Paul restates it as "one God, the Father… and one Lord, Jesus Christ," placing Jesus within the one God's identity rather than beside it.

The LORD to be revered, the stone of stumbling

Isaiah says the LORD Almighty is the one to regard as holy, and he will be a stone that causes people to stumble. Peter applies both to Christ.

  • Isaiah 8:13-14 "The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy… a stone that causes people to stumble."
  • 1 Peter 2:7-8 Christ is "a stone that causes people to stumble."
  • 1 Peter 3:15 "In your hearts revere Christ as Lord."

The one who searches hearts

Only the LORD searches the heart and repays each person according to their deeds. In Revelation, Jesus says this of himself.

  • Jeremiah 17:10 "I the LORD search the heart… to reward each person according to their conduct."
  • 1 Kings 8:39 "You alone know every human heart."
  • Revelation 2:18-23 The Son of God: "I am he who searches hearts and minds."

What Jesus said about himself

Jesus' own words, and how his listeners understood them.

He forgave sins

Jesus forgave sins committed against God, not just against himself. The religious teachers immediately objected: "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Jesus healed the man to prove he had that authority.

  • Mark 2:5-12 "The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins."
  • Luke 7:48-49 "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

"I and the Father are one"

His hearers understood exactly what he meant: "You, a mere man, claim to be God." Earlier, they wanted to kill him because he was "making himself equal with God." Jesus did not correct their understanding.

To see him is to see the Father

Jesus claimed to reveal the Father perfectly in himself, and to be the only way to the Father.

He shared God's glory before creation

God says he will not give his glory to another. Jesus prayed for the glory he had with the Father before the world began.

  • Isaiah 42:8 "I will not yield my glory to another."
  • John 17:5 "The glory I had with you before the world began."

He must be honored as the Father is

Jesus said all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father, and that refusing to honor him is refusing to honor God.

  • John 5:22-23 "Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father."

The Son of Man at God's right hand

At his trial, Jesus combined Daniel 7 and Psalm 110: he would sit at God's right hand and come on the clouds of heaven. In Daniel, this figure receives everlasting dominion and the worship of all peoples. The high priest called it blasphemy.

  • Mark 14:61-64 "I am… you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One."
  • Daniel 7:13-14 All nations worship him; his dominion is everlasting.
  • Psalm 110:1 "Sit at my right hand."

He spoke with his own authority

Prophets said, "This is what the LORD says." Jesus said, "But I tell you," placing his word on the level of God's law, and declared his words would outlast heaven and earth.

Lord of the Sabbath, greater than the temple

God gave the Sabbath and dwelt in the temple. Jesus claimed authority over the one and greater dignity than the other.

Present everywhere with his people

Jesus promised to be present wherever his followers gather and with them always, which only an all-present God can do.

He answers prayer and sends the Spirit

Jesus said he himself would answer prayers made in his name, and that he would send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God.

  • John 14:13-14 "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."
  • John 15:26 "The Advocate, whom I will send to you from the Father."
  • John 16:7 "I will send him to you."

He has the attributes of God

Qualities that belong only to God are said to belong to Jesus.

Eternal: he existed before all things

Jesus did not begin at Bethlehem. He was with God in the beginning, existed before all things, and his origins are "from ancient times."

  • John 1:1-2 "In the beginning was the Word."
  • Micah 5:2 The ruler from Bethlehem, "whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
  • Colossians 1:17 "He is before all things."
  • John 17:24 "You loved me before the creation of the world."

Creator of everything

God alone created the universe, by himself. The New Testament says everything that was created was made through Jesus. If he made everything that was made, he is not himself a created thing.

  • Isaiah 44:24 "I am the LORD… who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself."
  • John 1:3 "Without him nothing was made that has been made."
  • Colossians 1:16 "In him all things were created… all things have been created through him and for him."
  • Hebrews 1:2 "Through whom also he made the universe."

He holds the universe together

Jesus does not merely live within creation; he sustains it.

The fullness of God in bodily form

Paul and the author of Hebrews describe Jesus as sharing God's very nature, not just reflecting it.

Unchanging

God says, "I the LORD do not change." The same is said of Jesus.

He knows all things and every heart

Jesus knew people's thoughts and hearts, which Scripture says God alone knows.

  • John 2:24-25 "He knew what was in each person."
  • Mark 2:8 He knew in his spirit what they were thinking.
  • John 21:17 Peter: "Lord, you know all things."
  • Colossians 2:3 "In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

All authority and power

Jesus claimed all authority in heaven and on earth, and Paul says he has the power to bring everything under his control.

  • Matthew 28:18 "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."
  • Philippians 3:20-21 "The power that enables him to bring everything under his control."

He has life in himself

Creatures receive life; Jesus has life in himself, as the Father does. He said he had authority to lay down his life and take it up again.

  • John 5:26 "As the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself."
  • John 11:25 "I am the resurrection and the life."
  • John 10:17-18 "I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again."

Without sin

Jesus challenged his enemies to prove him guilty of any sin, and the apostles who lived with him testified that he never sinned.

He does what only God does

The works that Scripture reserves for God, Jesus performs.

He commands wind and waves

The Psalms praise the LORD who stills the sea and walks on its waves. Jesus calmed the storm with a word and walked on the water, and his disciples asked, "Who is this?"

He gives life and raises the dead

Only God gives life to the dead. Jesus said he gives life to whom he wishes and will raise all the dead on the last day.

  • 1 Samuel 2:6 "The LORD brings death and makes alive."
  • John 5:21 "The Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it."
  • John 5:28-29 All who are in their graves will hear his voice.
  • John 10:28 "I give them eternal life."

He will judge the world

God is "the Judge of all the earth." Jesus said the Father has entrusted all judgment to him, and he will sit on his glorious throne to judge the nations, with "his angels."

He saves

Salvation belongs to the LORD. The New Testament says salvation is found in Jesus alone, and that he saves completely.

He receives worship and prayer

Worship belongs to God alone. Good people and angels refuse it. Jesus accepts it, and the early church prayed to him.

Worship is for God alone

Jesus himself taught that only God may be worshiped. When people tried to worship Peter, Paul, and Barnabas, or an angel, they refused immediately.

Jesus accepted worship

Jesus was worshiped by his disciples, by a man he healed, and by the women at the empty tomb, and he never refused it.

Angels and all creation worship him

God commands the angels to worship the Son, and in Revelation every creature gives the same praise to the Lamb as to the one on the throne.

The first Christians prayed to him

From the beginning, believers called on Jesus in prayer, including Stephen as he was dying and the Aramaic-speaking church's prayer "Maranatha" ("Come, Lord!").

Glory to him forever

Doxologies, giving eternal glory, are addressed to Jesus just as they are to God.

One name: Father, Son, and Spirit

Jesus told his followers to baptize in the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and to trust in him as they trust in God.

  • Matthew 28:19 "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
  • John 14:1 "You believe in God; believe also in me."

What those who knew him said

The people closest to Jesus, and the earliest Christians after them, confessed him as God.

The apostles

Thomas, John, Peter, and Paul each confessed Jesus as God. These were devout Jews, raised to recite daily that God is one, who would have considered worshiping a mere man the worst kind of idolatry.

The Father

At Jesus' baptism and transfiguration, the Father's voice declared him to be his beloved Son. In Hebrews, the Father addresses the Son as God.

The early church

Ignatius of Antioch, who knew the apostles' generation, wrote around AD 110 of "our God, Jesus the Christ." A Roman governor, Pliny, reported around AD 112 that Christians sang hymns "to Christ as to a god." This was long before any church council.

  • Jude 3 "The faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people."

Common challenges