Is Jesus Christ Really Who He Said He Is?

By Adam Malin Date: December 16, 2025

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All Scripture citations are from the King James Version (KJV).

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) “These were more noble… and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

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TL;DR

Claim. Jesus of Nazareth did not present Himself as a mere moral teacher. In word and deed, He claimed divine prerogatives, accepted divine honor, identified Himself as the promised Christ, and foretold that God would publicly vindicate Him—supremely by the resurrection.

Method. Exegesis first: read Jesus’s claims in context, track how His hearers (especially His enemies) understood Him, and let Scripture interpret Scripture—promise → fulfilment in Christ.

Payoff. If Jesus is truly “Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36), then the only sane response is repentance and faith, and a willing submission to His Word in the ordinary means of grace (the preached Word, prayer, and the sacraments in Christ’s church).

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Thesis

Having established that Jesus is a real figure of history, the next question is identity: Is Jesus Christ really who He said He is? The Gospels present Jesus claiming divine authority (forgiving sins, ruling the Sabbath, judging mankind), divine identity (oneness with the Father; “I am”), and messianic fulfilment (Christ; Daniel’s Son of man). The apostles then preach the resurrection as the Father’s public verdict: “declared to be the Son of God with power… by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4).

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1) The Question Isn’t “What Do Later Christians Say?”

It’s this:

1. What did Jesus claim—by His words and deeds?
2. How did His contemporaries understand Him (especially opponents)?
3. What did the earliest apostolic witness proclaim as God’s confirmation of those claims?

This is “apologetic through catechesis”: we teach what Scripture says, and we defend it by careful reading—because truth can bear examination.

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2) A Summary Grid of Jesus’s Identity Claims

Claim cluster	What Jesus does/says	Key KJV anchors	How hearers respond
Divine prerogative	Forgives sins	Mark 2:7, 10	“blasphemies” (God alone forgives)
Divine authority over God’s day	Lord of the Sabbath	Matthew 12:8	He places Himself above a divine ordinance
Divine role as Judge	Judgment committed to the Son; equal honor	John 5:22–23	Implies equality of honor with the Father
Divine unity with the Father	“I and my Father are one.”	John 10:30, 33	“makest thyself God” (blasphemy charge)
Eternal “I am”	“Before Abraham was, I am.”	John 8:58	Violent reaction (seen as blasphemy)
Messianic fulfilment	“Thou art the Christ…” affirmed	Matthew 16:16–17	Jesus receives the confession as God-revealed
Daniel 7 Son of man	Enthroned at God’s right hand; coming in clouds	Matthew 26:64–65	Explicit “blasphemy” verdict
Public vindication	Predicts resurrection; apostles proclaim it	John 2:19–21; Acts 2:24, 36; Romans 1:4	God’s public declaration of Jesus’s identity

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3) Jesus Claimed Divine Prerogatives

A) Authority to forgive sins

When Jesus forgives the paralytic, the scribes react immediately:

“Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?” (Mark 2:7)

Jesus does not back away from the implication. Instead, He heals the man and says:

“But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins…” (Mark 2:10)

Exegetical point: The scribes are correct that sins, in the final sense, are against God; only God can forgive. Jesus’s response is not, “You misunderstood me.” It is: “You’re going to know I have this authority.”

B) Lord of the Sabbath

Jesus claims authority over the Sabbath itself:

“For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.” (Matthew 12:8)

Exegetical point (tightened): The Sabbath is a holy ordinance rooted in creation (Genesis 2:2–3) and enshrined in the moral law (Exodus 20:8–11). Under Moses it also functioned as a covenant sign (Exodus 31:13–17). For Jesus to call Himself “Lord” of it is not a small claim. He locates final authority for Sabbath meaning and use in Himself.

C) The Judge of all, worthy of equal honor with God

Jesus teaches that final judgment belongs to Him, and that the honor due to the Father is due to the Son:

“For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.” (John 5:22–23)

Exegetical point: This is not merely “Jesus is important.” It is a claim to a divine office (Judge of all) and divine honor (“even as they honour the Father”).

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4) Jesus Identified Himself with God in Direct Ways

A) Unity with the Father

Jesus states:

“I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30)

His opponents interpret this as a divine claim:

“For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” (John 10:33)

Why this matters: Hostile interpretation is not automatically correct—but here it is decisive evidence of how Jesus’s words landed in real time. If Jesus meant something harmless, this reaction makes no sense.

B) Eternal “I am”

Jesus says:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:58)

Exegetical point: He does not say, “Before Abraham was, I was.” He uses “I am,” presenting Himself as more than a man bounded by time.

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5) Jesus Claimed to Fulfil the Old Testament as the Christ and Son of Man

A) Jesus receives the confession “Thou art the Christ”

Peter says:

“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16)

Jesus responds:

“Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17)

Exegetical point: Jesus treats this confession as heaven-given truth—not as an overstatement needing correction.

B) The trial: Daniel 7 language and the blasphemy verdict

Before the high priest Jesus says:

“Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” (Matthew 26:64)

The response is explicit:

“Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy…” (Matthew 26:65)

Exegetical point: This is crucial. The council hears Jesus claiming enthronement at God’s right hand and “coming in the clouds”—language tied to divine dominion and judgment. Their verdict (“blasphemy”) shows they understood Jesus was placing Himself on God’s side of reality.

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6) The Triune God and the Mediator: Why These Claims Are So Weighty

Jesus is not presented as a religious genius who later followers upgraded. The Bible presents one God who reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and presents Jesus as the promised Mediator who brings sinners to God.

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (Matthew 28:19)

John opens with Christ’s divine identity and incarnation:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14)

So when Jesus receives divine honor, speaks of unity with the Father, and claims final judgment, the issue is not mere “status.” It is the revelation of who God is and how God saves through His Christ.

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7) The Early Apostolic Witness: Jesus as Lord within Israel’s Monotheism

Christianity did not begin as “a nice ethical movement” that later deified its founder. The apostolic message is “Jesus is Lord” from the start.

Paul summarizes the “received” gospel as death, burial, resurrection:

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4)

And Paul places Jesus inside the confession of the one God of Israel:

“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” (1 Corinthians 8:6)

Theological point (still exegesis-first): Scripture does not allow a “safe middle”: Jesus is not treated as merely a messenger pointing away from Himself. He is confessed as “Lord” in a way tied to creation, providence, and worship.

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8) The Resurrection as the Father’s Public Verdict

Jesus foretells His own resurrection as a public sign:

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19) “But he spake of the temple of his body.” (John 2:21)

Peter preaches the resurrection as God’s act and verdict:

“Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” (Acts 2:24)

And he concludes:

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36)

Paul frames the resurrection as divine declaration:

“And declared to be the Son of God with power… by the resurrection from the dead:” (Romans 1:4)

Clarifying point (added): Acts 2:36 does not mean the eternal Son only “became Lord” after rising. Rather, it proclaims God’s public verdict and royal installation of the crucified Jesus as the promised Messiah-King—His identity and office openly vindicated before the world.

Logic you can’t dodge: If Jesus stayed dead, His self-claims collapse. If God raised Him, then God Himself has testified who Jesus is.

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9) Common Objections Answered

Objection 1: “Jesus never claimed to be God.”

This objection often assumes Jesus must use a modern formula (“I am God”) to count as claiming deity. But in a first-century Jewish setting, divine prerogatives and divine honor are the categories that matter.

• Jesus claims authority to forgive sins—provoking “blasphemies” language (Mark 2:7, 10).
• He claims that all must honor the Son “even as” the Father (John 5:22–23).
• His enemies explicitly interpret His words as “makest thyself God” (John 10:33).

Bottom line: The text does not present Jesus as merely “misunderstood.” It presents Him as making claims that demand a verdict.

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Objection 2: “Those divine claims are only in John.”

Even if one granted (for the sake of argument) that John emphasizes Jesus’s identity more explicitly, the claim clusters are present across the Gospels:

• Forgiving sins and the blasphemy charge is in Mark (Mark 2:7, 10).
• “Lord of the sabbath day” is in Matthew (Matthew 12:8).
• The trial claim—Son of man enthroned and coming in clouds—is in Matthew (Matthew 26:64–65).

John gives bright, concentrated beams; the Synoptics give the same sun through a slightly different lens. The same Jesus stands behind both.

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Objection 3: “Son of God just means ‘king,’ not God.”

Scripture can use “son” language in more than one way, yes. But the decisive issue is how Jesus’s sonship functions in context:

• Jesus claims divine honor: “honour the Son, even as they honour the Father” (John 5:23).
• His opponents call it blasphemy and interpret it as making Himself God (John 10:33).
• The trial language ties Messiah/Sonship to enthronement at God’s right hand and coming in clouds (Matthew 26:64–65).

A merely human “king” claim does not explain “blasphemy” as the verdict. The texts press beyond that.

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Objection 4: “The resurrection is legend.”

The apostolic preaching places the resurrection at the center, not the margin:

• “Whom God hath raised up…” (Acts 2:24)
• “God hath made that same Jesus… both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36)
• “declared to be the Son of God with power… by the resurrection” (Romans 1:4)

This document is not the full historical case (that can be its own article). But biblically, the resurrection is not an optional add-on—it is the hinge by which God publicly vindicates Jesus’s identity.

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Objection 5: “Miracles aren’t historical.”

Often this is not an argument from evidence but an argument from a closed worldview (“miracles can’t happen”). Scripture’s posture is different: God made heaven and earth; therefore God can act within His creation.

This returns us to the central question: if the resurrection is true, then the “miracle” category has already been crossed, and Jesus’s other mighty works become coherent as signs of His identity.

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10) What This Requires of Us

Jesus’s identity claims do not leave room for a merely “admiring” response. If He is Lord, then He is Lord of you and me.

Scripture’s invitation is clear and personal:

“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” (John 20:31)

And Scripture is equally exclusive about salvation:

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

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Practical Next Steps

1. Read one Gospel straight through (KJV).

   • Mark (fast, action-oriented) or John (directly focused on identity).

2. Read Acts 2 and Romans 1–5 (KJV). Watch how the apostles connect Jesus’s resurrection to His Lordship and to justification.

3. Join the church’s worship on the Lord’s Day. Sit under the preaching of the Word, and begin learning Christ through the ordinary means of grace—Word, prayer, and sacraments.

4. Speak with a faithful pastor/elder. Bring your sharpest objections and “prove all things” with an open Bible (1 Thessalonians 5:21; Acts 17:11).

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Handoff in the Walkthrough

• If you’re still unsure Jesus existed historically, read: “Is Jesus Christ a Historical Figure?”
• If you want a fuller, evidence-focused defense of the resurrection, the next logical document is: “Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?” (a dedicated resurrection case)
• If you’re ready to see how all Scripture centers on Christ, read: “Apostolic Hermeneutic.” (Luke 24:27, 45)