I Am God

I AM The Messiah

The people pinned Jesus down and asked Him a question he had been answering the whole time. They asked Him to plainly tell them if He was the Messiah.

He answered by saying that He already told them, but they refused to believe His answer. He answered their question by doing the works of God and telling them that He was the good shepherd. They simply did not want to believe His answer.

He did the works of God

In their presence He healed a man that was blind. Isaiah 35:4-5

Isaiah 35:4–5 NASB95

Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

Isaiah 42:6–7 NASB95

“I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.

Prior to this He fed the five thousand men, healed the paralytic, turned the water into wine, walked on water, healed the rulers son from death, cast out demons, healed the leper and taught with significant authority. He had fulfilled the rabbinic qualifications for being the Messiah. He had done things that had never been done before.

His works demonstrated who He is. Even if they didn’t believe His words, they had to believe his works. They were indisputable

Jesus Works Today

The same Jesus that performed miracles back then, continues to do miracles today. I have heard stories of miraculous healings and personally experienced them myself. I have personally experienced the protection of the Lord. When we were in Guatemala, bandits pinned us in an alley with intentions of robbing us. Our driver got out and confronted the robbers and they simply let us go. Tatum in China story! I have been taught the truth of scripture by the authority of Holy Spirit. The Lord’s provision is nothing short of a miracle! We are in better financial position with 2 kids in college on half of what we were making prior to becoming a pastor. This is the hand of the Lord!

The reason I share all of this with you is to say that Jesus is the Son of God. He has done the miraculous in our lives. I am sure that you can testify about the miracles Christ has done in your life. It is in the sharing of the miracles of your life that others can come to know that Jesus is the Son of God.

He claim to be the good shepherd

Jesus came to share that He came to lead the lost sheep of Israel and give them eternal life. He proclaimed that He was the one to deliver them from their sin. He also claimed that in spite of their unbelief their were some who would believe and that nothing was going to stop them from receiving eternal life. He said that no one would snatch them out of His hand. He was basically saying that their unbelief did not change the fact of who He was or what He came to do.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd today

Jesus is the one who continues to save today. I believe it is fair to say that their is a lot of unbelief in our world today. Even so, people are being added to the fold of Jesus sheep today. Nothing can stop that from happening.

Also, the fact that no one can snatch us out of the good shepherds hand means that He is the one who preserves us for eternal life. A true believer hears the voice of Christ and follows Him. Those who don’t cannot hear his voice and will not follow.

I and the Father Are One

This is the boldest claim Jesus has made. He just told the people that He is God. It was at this point that the people picked up stones to kill Him. They were enraged at His claim. They refused to listen and consider whether or not His claim was true. They had already made up their mind of who they thought He was and what they wanted to do with Him. They thought He was a crazy trouble-maker and they wanted to kill Him. So Jesus defended His claim with a question of works and law.

Works

Jesus asked them for which of His works were they going to kill Him. Notice that they recognized His works in their answer. They even admitted that His works were good. They said that they were not stoning Him for His good works, but for blasphemy. This doesn’t make sense! They recognize His miracles, yet they want to kill Him.

I believe the real matter here is not ma matter of fact, but a matter of submission. They were perfectly fine with Jesus doing miracles, but don’t claim to be God. If you claim to be God then they must submit their lives to Him and follow Him. This would mean they would have to turn away form everything they had been taught, give up every thing they had, and even submit their personhood to Jesus. They were too comfortable in where they were to believe Jesus.

Jesus did the works of the Father so that the people would know who He was. His works demonstrated that the Father was in Him and He was in the Father. There is no way He could have done the things He did without the Father being in Him.

People refuse to believe in spite of Jesus works today

People are perfectly fine with the miracles and blessings of Christ today, but they do not want to submit to Him. They want the blessing without the relationship. What they don’t realize is that the true blessing is in the relationship! People today are too comfortable with their lifestyle. They don’t want to submit to Christ and follow Him because it will require change that will be sacrificial.

Law

Jesus also defended His claim using the Old Testament and the Pharisaical law.

34 Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

Jesus is referring both to the Psalms 82 and Deuteronomy 6 where God calls the judges of Isreal gods.

Psalm 82:6 NASB95

I said, “You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High.

Deuteronomy 1:16–17 NASB95

“Then I charged your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your fellow countrymen, and judge righteously between a man and his fellow countryman, or the alien who is with him. ‘You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not fear man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’

Jesus is basically telling them that even their own law says that people that stand as judges over Israel are called gods. However we know that they are not the true God. The Pharisees knew they could incriminate Jesus by Him claiming to use the word God and associating Himself with Him. Jesus said you have already done this with your very own judges.

Jesus also knew that those judges were corrupt and they still called them gods. If they were willing to do that then why would they not be willing to call Jesus who is incorruptible and shown himself to be the Messiah to be called God. He proved this by doing the works of the Father.

Many people use legal and logical reasons to discredit Jesus as God today.

If Jesus is real, then why is their so much evil in the world today.

If Jesus really loves people, then how could he ever send anyone to hell.

If God is One then how can there be Father , Son, and Holy Spirit

If Jesus is real, then why did He not answer my prayer.

If Jesus is real, why did he allow this to happen to me.

Jesus is the Son of God. Futile human arguments do not change the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. Death is the proof. All die and will stand before the Son of God. You can stand in His grace and mercy or you can stand in His wrath and Judgement.

Many Believed Him There

When Jesus finished His discourse with them, many believed in Him. They based there belief on what Jesus said, what Jesus did, and the testimony of John.

What Jesus Said

Jesus said, “I and the Father are One”. He proclaims to be God. A person must do something with this proclamation. You can ignore it, determine that Jesus is a crazy man, or believe it. Anything less than the latter brings judgment.

What Jesus Did

Jesus performed many miracles. He did things that have never been done by anyone else. Not even pillars of the old testament, prophets, or John the Baptist did the things that Jesus did. He did these things because He is the Son of God

John’s Testimony

19 This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. 27 It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

29 The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ 31 I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” 32 John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

John said that He was not the Messiah.

John said He was not worthy to untie the Christ’s sandal

John said, “Behold the lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world.”

John Said Jesus existed before Him even though Jesus was bor after him.

John said, He saw the confirmation of the Christ by the Spirit of God descending and remaining on Him.

John , “ this is the Son of God!”