Who is Jesus?

We will see that Jesus is God

John 20:24-29 – Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 20:24-25a – Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

v. 25b – But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

40% of Gen Z (non-Christians and Christians) believes that Jesus was human and sinned.

Do you ever experience doubt about Jesus?  

52% of U.S. Adults & Teens Have Experienced Religious Doubts in the Past Few Years

Exactly half of those who are Christian or who have some Christian background or experience (50%) say they have gone through a “prolonged” period of doubt at some point in their life.

New Life is a safe place to ask questions about God and faith

“A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.”

Can you imagine what Thomas’s week of doubting felt like?

“…his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.”

Application: If you are experiencing doubt right now, do what Thomas did:

Evidence: v. 26b-27 – “Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Hard evidence from Scripture that Jesus is God

But if you understand the 1st century Jewish context Jesus clearly claimed to be God and the Bible clearly claims that Jesus is God

Jesus gets God’s Honors

    1. Jesus expected people to honor him “just as they honor the Father” (Jn 5:23).
    2. He accepted worship from his disciples (Mt 14:33; 28:17).
    3. He encouraged them to have faith in him as they did in God (Jn 14:1).
    4. He invited them to pray to him: “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” (Jn 14:14).

Jesus has God’s Attributes

    1. Jesus claimed to be just like God the Father—so much so that if you saw him you had seen the Father (Jn 14:7–10).
    2. He revealed himself to be omnipresent when he asserted that he would be present with his disciples wherever they gathered in his name (Mt 18:20).
    3. He even said that he had existed before creation (Jn 17:5).

Jesus has God’s Names

    1. Although Jesus never called himself “God” directly, the way he spoke of himself as “the Son” implied that he was on a par with the Father (Mt 11:27; Jn 5:17–18).
    2. His “I am” sayings echoed the way God identified himself in the Old Testament (cp. Is 43:10 with Jn 8:24, 28, 58).
    3. Jesus’s favorite title for himself, “the Son of Man,” refers to prophetic visions of a divine yet human figure (Ezk 1:26–28; Dn 7:13–14).

Jesus does God’s Deeds

    1. Jesus did things, and claimed to do things, that only God could do.
      1. 37 miracles by one count are recorded in the Gospels
    2. He calmed a raging storm with a simple word, walked on the sea, and fed thousands of people with one boy’s lunch (Mt 8:23–27; 14:13–33).
    3. He claimed the right to forgive people of all their sins (Mt 9:1–8; Mk 2:1–12).
    4. Jesus said that he would raise the dead (Jn 5:28–29; 11:25–26) and be the final Judge of all humanity (Mt 25:31–46; Jn 5:22–23).
    5. Miracles
    6. Jesus’s resurrection

Jesus sits in God’s Seat

  1. Jesus claimed that he would sit on the seat of God’s own throne, the place from which God rules over his entire creation (Mt 25:31; Mk 12:36; Lk 20:42–43).
  2. He will rule over absolutely everything in creation (Mt 11:25–27; 28:18; Lk 10:21–22).

Jewish leaders understood Jesus’s claim of divinity (and crucified him for it)

John 10:27-33 – ‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”

“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

Other examples: Mk 2:7; Jn 5:17-18

Others in early church claimed Jesus was God

Titus 2:11-14 – For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Other examples include: Col 1:15-20; Tit 2:13; 1 Jn 5:20; Rom 9:5; Jn 1:1

Liar, Lunatic, Lord

Liar

Many would say that Jesus was a good man.

If he is a good man, then he cannot be a liar.

Lunatic

Jesus doesn’t show the signs of the divinity complex

Lord

If:

  1. Jesus could only be liar, lunatic, or Lord;
  2. and he not a liar or a lunatic;

Then:

  1. He is who he claimed to be, namely our Lord and God, as Thomas confessed

We mask our emotional wounds or fears with intellectual doubts

If you are experiencing any of these emotions –  bring them to Jesus

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

It is impossible to truly encounter Jesus and come away the same person

If you are feeling discouragement or doubt, seek after Jesus

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

What is your next step?

Doubt your doubts

Method:

    1. Write down your doubts and questions
    2. Pray about them daily and ask God for direction
    3. Keep pursuing God
    4. Pray every day for an encounter with Jesus
    5. Investigate your doubts:
    6. Discuss your ongoing thoughts with godly people
    7. Stop doubting and believe