Did Jesus Say He Was God?

At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus went to His home Synagogue and read from the Book of Isaiah.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

“After he finished reading, He said to the congregation, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." ‘And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" And he said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself.' What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well." And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."

“When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.” (Luke 4:16-30 ESV)

The audience understood the passage that Jesus read was about the promised Messiah of Israel, and they became furious at Him because He had just proclaimed He was the anointed one of God. The word ‘messiah’ means "anointed" and refers to installing a person in an office in a way that they will be regarded as accredited to speak directly for Israel’s God.

THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST

The High Priest Melchizedek in the Bible was before Abraham (Hebrews 7:1-4). He was “without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever” (Hebrews 7:3 ESV). He was introduced without any identification of his lineage (Genesis 14:17-20).

Jesus was considered a priest in the order of Melchizedek because He was not a descendant of Aaron and did not qualify for the priesthood under the Law of Moses (Hebrews 7:13-17). The Creator of the Universe has no beginning and no end and is the light that shines in the darkness, which cannot be overcome by anyone or anything (John 1:1-5 ESV).

THE GREAT "I AM"

“Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM who I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14 ESV – emphasis is mine)

The Hebrew word translated as “I AM” is ‘hayah’ and was considered so holy that the people of Jesus’ day would never have said it out loud. The word is used 72 times in the Bible. It is a primitive root that means to exist, be or become, come to pass. It is always emphatic.

The Hebrew word translated as “who” is ‘asher’ and is more correctly translated as the word “that” (“I AM that I AM”). It is a primitive relative pronoun used to show the connection

Jesus used the words “I AM” (Gk: ‘eimi’) multiple times in the New Testament, referring to Himself. It is in the first person singular present indicative that has the force of a predicate to be; to exist. It is used to express the present state of the person. He spoke primarily in Aramaic so He did not use the holy Hebrew word "hayah." “The Greek word “eimi” means the same as the Hebrew word ‘hayah.’

Jesus had a conversation with some religious leaders about Abraham, and they said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:57-58 ESV – emphasis mine).

Jesus made two incredible claims. He said that He existed before Abraham, who had died 2000 years before His own birth. He also equated himself to God, taking the holy name that God revealed to Moses in the burning bush. As soon as He said that, the religious leaders picked up rocks to stone and kill Him because He had committed blaspheme by declaring He was co-equal with God (John 8:59 ESV – see also Exodus 3:14).