Did Jesus Really Claim to Be God?

Is Jesus God? Certainly the New Testament writers claimed on several occasions that Jesus was God. For example, in the opening chapter of his Gospel, John says “the Word was God” and “the Word became flesh” (John 1:1, 14). Paul says that Christ is “God over all” (Rom. 9:5), “in him [Christ] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9), and Christ is “in the form of God” (Phil. 2:6), the one to whom “every knee should bow” (Phil. 2:10). Peter declares that believers receive righteousness from “our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:1). Matthew applies deity to Jesus when he quotes Isaiah 7:14: “ ‘The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Matt. 1:23). The writer of Hebrews says, “He [the Son] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3). He also quotes Psalm 45:6 in claiming that God says of the Son, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Heb. 1:8). Virtually all of the New Testament writings refer to Jesus with the divine title “Lord.” Even the demons acknowledged that Jesus was God (Matt. 8:29; Luke 4:34, 41)! T...