Jesus Proved He Was God In Six Ways In Matthew

**Photo credit**: cover of my book, *Theology of God* (2012).

This is the transcript of the video short with the same name (1-21-26).

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#1 SAVIOR

In Matthew 13:15 (RSV as throughout), Jesus cites Isaiah 6:9-10, where God said that His people ought to “turn for me to heal them” and applies the words to Himself. Only God is the savior of mankind: “I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11) (cf. 43:3; 45:15, 21; 49:26; 60:16, 63:8; Hosea 13:4; Jude 1:25).

#2 JUDGE OF MANKIND

Matthew 16:27 For the Son of man … will repay every man for what he has done (cf. Revelation 22:12; Psalm 62:12; Isaiah 40:10; Ezekiel 34:17; Matthew 25:32). The Old Testament plainly taught that God was the judge of men (see, e.g., 1 Samuel 2:10; Psalm 50:6; Isaiah 2:4)

#3 THE “DIVINE I”

Jesus teaches in his own authority (“I say to you”) in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:18-34, etc.), and many other passages. The prophets, in contrast, spoke as God’s messengers in the second person (“The Lord says…”). He often talks in a way in which only God could speak. The following is perhaps the most striking example of this:

Matthew 23:34, 37 “Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes… O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (cf. 2 Kings 17:13; 2 Chronicles 24:19; Jeremiah 7:25; 25:4; 26:5; 29:19; 35:15; 44:4; Haggai 1:12; Zechariah 7:12; Luke 11:51)

#4 ACCEPTANCE OF WORSHIP

Matthew 28:9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Hail!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. (cf. 28:17; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 20:20). God alone is to be worshiped — as Jesus Himself noted (Matthew 4:10; cf. Exodus 20:3; 34:14; Deuteronomy 8:19; Jeremiah 16:11)

#5 JESUS CLAIMED TO BE THE MESSIAH (WHOM HE TAUGHT WAS LORD [KURIOS] AND GOD)

Matthew 22:43-45 “He said to them, ‘How is it then that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, [44] “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I put thy enemies under thy feet”? [45] If David thus calls him Lord, how is he his son?’ ”

Every time the New Testament refers to Jesus as Christ, it is declaring that He is the Messiah, since Christ is the Greek for the Hebrew Messiah:

Matthew 16:16-17, 20 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” [17] And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”… [20] Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

#6 SECOND COMING

Matthew 24:30 then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; (cf. 16:27; 26:64)

The Old Testament presents God coming in judgment in an identical way (Isaiah 40:5, 10; 59:20; 66:156-16; Psalm 96:13; 98:9; Joel 2:11; Zechariah 2:10; 9:14; 12:10; 14:3-5).

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Photo credit: cover of my book, Theology of God (2012).

Summary: Many assert that Jesus only claims to be God in the Gospel of John, and not at all, or not nearly at much, in the other three Gospels. Six examples from Matthew disprove this.