Did Jesus Claim To Be God?

The Two Powers In Heaven and Implicit Claim (Part 1)

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Over the past few months, I've seen more interviews and Instagram reels either denying the deity of Christ or calling into question the validity of Christianity as a whole because of this simple but far from simplistic question:

Did Jesus claim to be God?

And to make things more precise, did he claim to be God in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke)? We will deal with John a bit later.

I want to try to respond to this question with a bit of theological clarity and consideration. But before I jump into Scripture, I want to pose another question. Who is the greatest of all time when it comes to basketball? There are really only two options and one right answer. You are either team LeBron (wrong answer) or you are Team MJ (obviously the right answer).

(Image Source: Horne, Charles, and Julius Bewer. The Bible and Its Story: Prophets–Gospels, Ezekiel to Matthew Family Record. Vol. 8. New York, NY: Francis R. Niglutsch, 1909.)

In order to answer this question, there is a subset of criteria that has to be considered. Questions like:

• How many championship rings did they win?

• How many MVPs?

• How long did they play and at what level?

• How did they do with basic athletic endurance?

• What about their global impact on the game of basketball?

• How many teams did they play for and did they have to chase rings?

• How many first round draft picks did they have on the teams they played for?

• How many Hall of Fame players did they play with?

Ok, before I lose you, I want to draw a connection. There are a set of predetermined and preunderstood criteria that help answer the question.

At the time of Jesus, there were a set of preunderstood and self-evident criteria that were intricately connected to not only divine claims, but also exclusive characteristics associated with Yahweh.

The Implicit vs. Explicit Claims of Jesus

So back to our question. Did Jesus claim to be God? Let me ask you this question: Did Michael Jordan ever claim to be the GOAT? The answer is no, because by doing so it would fundamentally undermine the very claim. So, did Jesus claim to be God in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke)? You may be surprised to hear me say, no; he didn't. And the reason why he didn't has nothing to do with the fact that he wasn't God or that he didn't believe himself to be God.

But it's because Jesus wasn't an idiot!

All throughout the gospel of Mark we find Mark portraying Jesus in a hurry. The repeated phrase is "immediately/εὐθύς" and it points to the fact that Jesus is on a journey. He has a mission, and he is determined to see it fulfilled. Therefore, for Jesus to make a direct claim to divinity would in fact undermine that mission. Jesus was very well aware that to make an explicit statement of his own divinity would derail the path that the Father had set before Him. So in the synoptic Gospels, Jesus doesn't make an explicit claim, but he does make a series of implicit claims. These implicit claims are grounded in a Jewish understanding of the "two powers in heaven."

First, we will need to uncover this understanding. Then we will cover the implicit claims of Jesus in the synoptic Gospels. We will then end with the explicit claims in the Gospel of John. Some may wonder why I leave John as a discussion on the horizon. Because in scholarship, John is viewed as being written much later. Also, the theological aims of John are different than Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The synoptic Gospels are types of ancient biographies as Dr. Craig Keener has pointed out brilliantly in his book, "Christobiography." Therefore, the synoptics detail the claims of Christ well and fit the cultural and social setting and the sensitivities of Jesus to that time period as would be normative for anyone. John is less concerned with those sensitivities and is doing more theological work to explain what Jesus is doing, therefore we get explicit claims from John.

The Two Powers in Heaven: Old Testament Foundation

A significant aspect of our Christian theology is "monotheism." Within this framework we (orthodox Christians) believe in the Triune God. The Triune God is one in essence and distinct in three persons (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit). What may interest many of us is that the ancient Israelites already had a conception of Yahweh being ontologically one, and yet economically distinct. This idea is often referred to as the "Two Powers In Heaven." The most prominent scholarship in this area is from Alan Segal's "Two Powers in Heaven: Early Rabbinic Reports about Christianity and Gnosticism."¹ The main idea, as Heiser states, is that "Judaism's two powers theology had its roots in an ancient Israelite co-regency notion whereby Yhwh and a second visible Yhwh figure occupied both roles of the co-regency in the biblical writers' conception of the divine council."²

The "co-regency" concept is akin to language we would use to describe the Triune God, both one and distinct. In the context of the two powers theology of Judaism, there was the presence of the invisible Yahweh, and His very tangible and real corporeal presence on earth. An important example of this is found in Deuteronomy 4:36-38.

"He let you hear his voice from heaven to instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard his words from the fire. Because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by his presence and great power, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is now taking place." (Deuteronomy 4:36–38, CSB, emphasis mine)

Notice Moses says that the people of God heard the voice of God from the fire that led and protected the Israelites in the wilderness. Now, notice what takes place in Exodus 23:20-23.

"I am going to send an angel before you to protect you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. Be attentive to him and listen to him. Do not defy him, because he will not forgive your acts of rebellion, for my name is in him." (Exodus 23:20–21, CSB, emphasis mine)

The Angel of the Lord = Yahweh

As you can see, this is kind of mind-blowing. The Angel of the Lord is explicitly identified with the fire and the presence of God. Even more so, the presence and fire and voice of God is co-equal with the Angel of the Lord. Simply put:

The Angel of the Lord (corporeal expression on earth) = Yahweh (invisible and enthroned in the heavens)

This point is made even more clear in the story of Moses and the burning bush. Moses has an incredible encounter with Yahweh while he was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro. As Moses comes to the mountain Horeb, something amazing happens.

"Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. So Moses thought, 'I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn't the bush burning up?'" (Exodus 3:1–3, CSB, emphasis mine)

Take note that the angel of the Lord appears from within the burning bush. Then we read:

"When the Lord [yahweh] saw that he had gone over to look, God [elohim] called out to him from the bush, 'Moses, Moses!' 'Here I am,' he answered." (Exodus 3:3–4, CSB, emphasis and hebrew transliteration mine)

So, who called out to Moses? The Angel of the Lord or Yahweh? The answer is, yes.

The Angel of the Lord = Yahweh.

The Divine Name Revealed

It is in fact this context that Yahweh (and the Angel of the Lord) reveals the divine name—"I am/Yahweh."

The Hebrew here is important. The phrase "I am" is "ehyeh"—and it means the one who was, who is, and will always be. This God who always was, is also personal because this is the God of the forefathers—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is not a new "god"; this is the one true God that has always been with His people.

When Moses goes and tells the people, he has to grammatically change the name. He can't say ehyeh/"I am" because Moses is not that person. So instead he says yahweh/"He is." This is where we get the intimate name of God, Yahweh. He is the one who was, who is, and who will always be. So, when you see LORD in all caps in English, you know this is a reference to the intimate name of God, Yahweh. Why is this so important? Because of the intentional conflation of the disclosure of the divine name with the Angel of the Lord.

There are over 7,000 references to Yahweh in the Old Testament. The biblical authors of the Old Testament also use the Hebrew phrase, "ha shem/The Name" as an alternative way to refer to the intimate name of God. You will recall the story of the Israelites in the wilderness and how God told them to follow the Angel of the Lord because "his name" is in him!

All of this is actually pretty important. In Hebrew, Yahweh is translated into Greek as Kurios, which is the term used to reference Jesus. So when the Israelites begin to associate ha shem/The Name with Yahweh, they are actually setting the stage for something spectacular. They will in fact connect "The Name" with a person, who is in fact Christ. And Jesus himself is fully aware of this because he, along with the other Jews of the time, were aware of the two powers in heaven.

Daniel 7: The Son of Man and the Ancient of Days

But this isn't the only place. There is another text that is of significance for Jesus and his implicit claim in the New Testament Gospels that he is God. In Daniel 7 we find two divine figures. The first is named, "Ancient of Days" and the second has the title, "Son of Man/ The human." Daniel 7:9-14 says:

"As I watched, thrones were set in place, and an Ancient One took his throne, his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and flowed out from his presence. A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him. The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. I watched then because of the noise of the arrogant words that the horn was speaking. And as I watched, the beast was put to death, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed." (Daniel 7:9-14, NRSV, emphasis mine)

Of importance in this text is the epithet given to the "human one/בר אנשׁ" as, "coming with the clouds of heaven." Another way to phrase it is that this "Son of Man/human one" was a "cloud rider" and we only ever find this title given to Yahweh in the Hebrew Bible (Deut 33:26; Psalm 104:1; Isaiah 19:1).

Thus, this "Son of Man/the human" is seen in the same co-regency and co-equal status as Yahweh. This is where things get really interesting. It is from this very concept both theologically and lexically that Jesus makes the implicit claim in the New Testament Gospels that he is in fact this 2nd throne room figure.

Jesus' Implicit Claim: The Cloud Rider

Take a look at these passages:

"The high priest stood up and said to him, 'Don't you have an answer to what these men are testifying against you?' But Jesus kept silent. The high priest said to him, 'I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.' 'You have said it,' Jesus told him. 'But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.' Then the high priest tore his robes and said, 'He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? See, now you've heard the blasphemy.'" (Matthew 26:62–65, CSB)

Remember what I said about Michael Jordan never having to claim himself as the GOAT? Well, the same scenario presented itself here with Jesus. The High Priest charges Jesus with claiming to be the Messiah, the Son of God. Therefore, this is a claim that Jesus never even has to make. Rather, Jesus simply affirms it by saying, "yeah, you said it." Jesus takes it a step further and says, not only am I the "son of God," he makes the connection that he is, "The son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven." The High priest was well aware of the two powers in Heaven and Daniel 7 and understood in context what this implicit claim meant. Jesus was naming himself as God. Therefore, the High Priest cries out, "Blasphemy."

Six Additional Implicit Claims

Now, this is only one of the implicit claims of Jesus. There are in fact at least six more that I want to cover.

Let's turn to these six implicit claims of Jesus being God in Part 2.

Conclusion

This is the end of Part 1. Don't forget to subscribe for free to get notified when I release part 2. Also, I'd love for you to consider upgrading to a paid subscription. Your support enables me to continue my research and writing!

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1. Alan F. Segal, Two Powers in Heaven: Early Rabbinic Reports about Christianity and Gnosticism (Leiden: Brill, 1977).

2. Michael S. Heiser, “Co-Regency in Ancient Israel’s Divine Council as the Conceptual Backdrop to Ancient Jewish Binitarian Monotheism,” Bulletin for Biblical Research 26, no. 2 (2016): 195.