More on Jesus’ Identity

January 10

Have you ever heard a skeptic claim, “Jesus never claimed to be God.”?

I agree. Jesus never claimed to be God in so many words. He didn’t have to make the claim outright. Look at how people around Him responded to what He said and did.

Look at John 8:48-58. The Jewish leaders were very proud of the fact that they were descendants of Abraham. (John 8:33) Jesus told them that they were enslaved by sin. (John 8:34) They responded by claiming they had always been free, and had never been enslaved by anyone. Uhmmm, what about those four hundred years in Egypt? I digress.

This “children of Abraham” claim is seen throughout Jesus’ ministry, as well as the book of Acts where the Judaizers insisted that if you want to be a good Christian, you have to be a good Jew. Jesus demonstrates that these Jewish leaders are acting more like children of the devil than children of Abraham. (John 8:33–45)

Jesus made an audacious claim that He had seen Abraham and the Jewish leaders scoffed. Jesus’ next statement evoked outrage. “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.’” (v. 58)

Now, look at how they responded: they picked up stones to throw at Jesus. (They’ll do the same thing in John 10:33.) “Why would they do that?” one might ask. Well, in Leviticus 24:16, God commanded the Jewish people to stone blasphemers:

“Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him. If he blasphemes the Name, he is to be put to death, whether the resident alien or the native.”

Notice that God commands—not the Jewish leaders—but the entire Jewish community to execute anyone who blasphemes against Him. God built accountability into His system. (Naturally, any person who was told to help stone someone to death would probably have a few questions first.)

So, what’s a blasphemy? Simply stated, blasphemy is to slander; to blaspheme is to speak disparagingly against someone. To blaspheme the Name of God then is to slander God Himself.

The Jewish leaders felt that in claiming to have seen Abraham, He was speaking against God because only God is eternal. The basis of blasphemy against God is seen in the Third Commandment. (Exodus 20:7)

Jesus’ claim in John 8:58 doesn’t make sense grammatically. Before Abraham was born (past tense), I am (present tense). In saying, “I am”, Jesus is reaching way back into the Old Testament where God introduced Himself to Moses as the eternal, “I am”. (Exodus 3:14-15)

So, Jesus didn’t need to say, “I am God.” The Jewish leaders here and elsewhere knew exactly what Jesus was claiming! Otherwise, they would not have begun looking for rocks.

God told His people that some sins were so horrendous, including blasphemy/slander against Him, that those sins could not – and would not – be tolerated in the community of faith. And in the case of blasphemy against God, the entire Jewish community was to participate in executing the person blaspheming against the Name of God. The good news is that under the New Covenant, the sin of blasphemy is forgivable. But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not forgivable. But more on that when we get there in Matthew. (Matthew 12:31)

Application

Jesus made other claims to deity. We’ll look at those as we get to them in our New Testament readings this year. But for now, think about the consequences of what you have just read.

Jesus is completely unlike all other religious figures. Other religious figures taught principles and rules. They said, “Follow this way.” But no other religious figure claimed to be God. No other religious figure didn’t just say, “follow this way”, but “Follow me, because I am the way.”

If Jesus is God, should that affect anything in the way you live your life? I suggest that it should affect your life. So, what differences should it make?

If Jesus is God, then He has authority over your life. He gets to call the shots in every area of your life. Areas such as finances. Relationships. How you spend your time.

What changes do you need to make in your beliefs, attitudes, and behavior?

© Copyright 2026 Craig Beaman