Did Jesus Say He Was God?

Who was Jesus? Was he a wise teacher? Was he a prophet? Or was he God? Here are the facts you should know before you decide.

In 1947, a young man named Ahn began attending a Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Korea. He later renounced the religion he was born into and was baptized into the church.

In time, Ahn found many things in the church that he did not agree with. In 1964 he started his own church, which he led for more than 20 years.

On February 24, 1985, Anh had a heart attack. The next day he died in the hospital. Shortly after Ahn’s death, the church he started split into two groups.

One group said Ahn was a prophet.

The other group said that Ahn is God.

Anh Sahgn-hong never claimed to be God. He didn’t perform miracles. And he didn’t make accurate predictions about the future. His prediction that the world would end in 1988 didn’t happen. But in spite of all this, some of his followers began to worship him as God after his death.

What about Jesus? Did Jesus ever claim to be God? If so, did he do anything to prove that he was God? Or did his followers misunderstand him?

Who Was Jesus?

Jesus was born near Jerusalem, in the Roman province of Judea, about 2000 years ago. When he was about 30 years old, he began traveling and preaching to crowds about the Kingdom of God. His fame spread quickly, and he became popular. But he was not popular among the leaders of the Jews, whom he frequently criticized.

Jesus chose 12 men from among his followers to travel with him and help him preach. Three-and-a-half years after Jesus began preaching, one of his 12 disciples, named Judas, helped the Jewish leaders capture Jesus in exchange for money.

The religious leaders judged that Jesus should die because he claimed to be the Son of God, but they were not allowed to put anyone to death. So they brought Jesus to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, and told him that Jesus claimed to be a king who would lead a rebellion against the Romans.

The governor ordered for Jesus to be beaten and crucified. He was buried later that day.

Later, many of his followers claimed that they saw him alive again. The news about Jesus spread quickly, and people began calling his followers Christians. Today more than 2 billion people claim to be Christians and recognize Jesus as God.

But did Jesus claim to be God? Is there any proof that he died and rose from the dead? Or is the story of Jesus’s resurrection a myth? How can you know what really happened?

How We Know about Jesus

Most of the details we know about Jesus’s life come from four biographies written by his followers. These four biographies are called by the names of the people who wrote them: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These four books are part of the Christian Bible.

(For detailed information about the sources that mention Jesus, read Was Jesus a Real Person?)

The first person to write a biography of Jesus was Matthew.¹ Matthew was one of Jesus’s 12 disciples. He wrote about the things he saw and heard while he traveled with Jesus. He also recorded information from other people who knew Jesus, like Jesus’s mother, brothers, and other disciples.

Mark was the next to write a biography of Jesus. Mark was an early follower of Christianity who wrote down things he learned about Jesus from Jesus’s disciple Peter² and other people who had been with Jesus.

The third writer, Luke, was also an early Christian who interviewed many of the people who knew Jesus and wrote a detailed biography of his life. Luke wrote his biography of Jesus less than 32 years after Jesus died.

John was the last to write a biography of Jesus’s life. He probably wrote less than 40 years after Jesus died. John was one of Jesus’s 12 disciples and his best friend.

Jesus said that truth would be the characteristic that made those who followed him different than others. His early followers were committed to telling the truth, regardless of the consequences.

This is what Luke wrote at the beginning of His biography of Jesus:

Since many have undertaken to set in order a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus; that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed. (Luke 1:1-4)

This is what John wrote at the end of his biography about Jesus:

“This is the disciple who testifies about these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his witness is true. (John 21:24)

These men did their best to accurately record what they heard and saw and what they learned from others who knew Jesus. The four biographies of Jesus in the Bible are accurate accounts of Jesus’s life, written by people who knew the facts. We can read these biographies to find out what Jesus did and taught.

Who Did Jesus Think He Was?

One Saturday, Jesus told a crippled man to pick up the mat he was lying on and walk. John wrote about this in chapter 5 of his biography of Jesus. The man immediately picked up his mat and started carrying it. When some of the Jewish leaders saw the man carrying his mat, they told him,

“It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry the mat.” (John 5:10)

The Jews do not work on Saturday, because the Bible says that God created the 7-day weekly cycle and commanded people not to work on the seventh day.

The Jews also added many rules that further limit what people are allowed to do on the Sabbath. For example, one rule forbids carrying items more than a specific weight on the Sabbath. When the man picked up his mat, he broke one of these extra rules about the Sabbath.

When the Jewish leaders found out what Jesus had done on the Sabbath, they wanted to kill him. When they confronted Jesus about what he had done, he told them,

“My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” For this reason therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. Jesus therefore answered them, “Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise. For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does. He will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires. For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.” (John 5:17-23)

When Jesus said that God was his Father, the Jews believed he was claiming to be equal with God. Jesus also said that he could raise dead people, just like God. He also said that everyone should honor him, just like they honor God.

Who did Jesus think he was?

Later Jesus told his followers that he had come down from heaven, and that he was going back to heaven (John 6:51, 62). Some of the people who knew Jesus since he was young thought he was crazy when they found out what Jesus was doing and saying (Mark 3:21). His brothers also did not believe him (John 7:5).

Another time, when Jesus was preaching to a crowd in Capernaum, some people brought a paralyzed man to him. Jesus said to the paralyzed man,

“Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:5-7)

Another day, when Jesus was in the temple, he told people that he had visited a man who had lived about 2000 years earlier:

“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it, and was glad.”

The Jews therefore said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”

Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM” (John 8:56-58)

When the Jews heard Jesus call himself “I AM,” they tried to kill him, because “I AM” is one of the names of God in the Bible (Exodus 3:14).

Another time, Jesus told the Jews,

“I and the Father are one.”

Therefore Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?”

The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10:30-33)

Many people say that Jesus was a wise teacher or a prophet. But do normal people say things like Jesus said?

Did Jesus Do Anything to Prove His Claims?

When some of the religious leaders heard what Jesus was teaching, they said,

“Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

But He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, likewise the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.” (Matthew 12:38-40)

This was the only sign that Jesus gave. He predicted that he would be buried for three days and he would rise from the grave at the end of three days.

Matthew recorded other details about Jesus’s prediction:

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will hand him over to the people of other nations to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up.” (Matthew 20:17-19)

Before Jesus died, the people were divided about him. Some said he was crazy because of the things he said. But others believed he was from God (John 10:19-21).

What would you have thought about Jesus, if you had heard what he said?

What Happened?

When Jesus was about 33 years old, he went to Jerusalem to keep the Passover Festival. After he had eaten the Passover meal with his disciples, Judas left, and Jesus and the 11 other disciples went to a garden on the Mount of Olives, which is on the east side of Jerusalem.

Matthew reports that in the middle of the night,

“Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he who betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, “Whoever I kiss, he is the one. Seize him.” Immediately he came to Jesus, and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

Jesus said to him, “Friend, why are you here?” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. Look, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest, and struck off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place, for all those who take the sword will die by the sword. Or do you think that I couldn’t ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels? How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so?”

In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to seize me? I sat daily in the temple teaching, and you didn’t arrest me. But all this has happened, that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.”

Then all the disciples left him, and fled.

Those who had taken Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. But Peter followed him from a distance, to the court of the high priest, and entered in and sat with the officers, to see the end. Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death; and they found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward, and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.‘”

The high priest stood up, and said to him, “Have you no answer? What is this that these testify against you?” But Jesus held his peace. The high priest answered him, “I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.”

Jesus said to him, “You have said it. Nevertheless, I tell you, after this you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of the sky.”

Then the high priest tore his clothing, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard his blasphemy. What do you think?”

They answered, “He is worthy of death!” Then they spat in his face and beat him with their fists, and some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who hit you?” (Matthew 26:47-68)

The Execution

Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: and they bound him, and led him away, and delivered him up to Pontius Pilate, the governor. …

Now Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

Jesus said to him, “So you say.”

When he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear how many things they testify against you?”

He gave him no answer, not even one word, so that the governor marveled greatly. Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the multitude one prisoner, whom they desired. They had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. When therefore they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus, who is called Christ?” For he knew that because of envy they had delivered him up.

While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him.” Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitudes to ask for Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. But the governor answered them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”

They said, “Barabbas!”

Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do to Jesus, who is called Christ?”

They all said to him, “Let him be crucified!”

But the governor said, “Why? What evil has he done?”

But they cried out exceedingly, saying, “Let him be crucified!”

So when Pilate saw that nothing was being gained, but rather that a disturbance was starting, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person. You see to it.”

All the people answered, “May his blood be on us, and on our children!”

Then he released to them Barabbas, but Jesus he flogged and delivered to be crucified. Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and gathered the whole garrison together against him. They stripped him, and put a scarlet robe on him. They braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. When they had mocked him, they took the robe off him, and put his clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him. (Matthew 27:1-31)

While Jesus was dying on the cross, his mother, friends, disciples, and enemies stayed nearby to see what would happen. In John chapter 19, John records what Jesus said to his mother and to John:

there were standing by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Therefore, when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, look, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Look, your mother!” From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.

After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.” Now a vessel full of vinegar was set there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on oregano, and held it at his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.

Therefore the Jews, because it was the Preparation Day, so that the bodies wouldn’t remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Therefore the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with him; but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. However, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe. (John 19:25-35)

John saw Jesus die. He saw a soldier stab Jesus with a spear. He saw the blood come out.

There were many others who also saw Jesus die. Luke wrote what happened right after Jesus died:

When the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous man.” All the crowds that came together to see this, when they saw the things that were done, returned home beating their breasts. All his acquaintances, and the women who followed with him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. (Luke 23:47-49)

A large crowd of people saw Jesus die, including his friends, followers, and relatives.

Some people suggest that maybe Jesus didn’t really die—maybe he just fainted and woke up later. However, when the Romans crucified someone, they would nail the person’s arms and legs to the cross. When a person was hanging from their arms, it was impossible for him to get enough air to breathe. So the person on the cross had to push himself up on the nail that held his feet a couple of times a minute in order to breathe. This painful up-and-down motion continued until the person on the cross was too exhausted to continue lifting himself up again to breathe. That is why the Jews asked the soldiers to break the legs of the other two men who were crucified at the same time as Jesus. After their legs were broken, they could no longer push themselves up to breathe, and they would die within a few minutes.

The Burial

A rich man named Joseph owned a tomb nearby that was carved into a rock, and he buried Jesus in this tomb. This is what Matthew wrote:

When evening had come, a rich man from Arimathaea, named Joseph, who himself was also Jesus’ disciple came. This man went to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given up. Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock, and he rolled a great stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb. (Matthew 27:57-61)

John tells us that another man named Nicodemus also helped Joseph bury Jesus (John 19:39-42). It probably took at least two men to roll the heavy stone against the door of the tomb. Mark mentioned that the stone was “very large,” and that a group of women knew that they were not strong enough to remove the stone (Mark 16:3-4).

That evening was the beginning of a high day, one of the annual holy days of the Jews (John 19:31). So Jesus’s followers returned to the places they were staying and rested on the holy day. But even though Jesus was dead and buried, his enemies were still worried about him.

This is what Matthew wrote:

Now on the next day, which was the day after the Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Command therefore that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest perhaps his disciples come at night and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He is risen from the dead;’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”

Pilate said to them, “You have a guard. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone. (Matthew 27:62-66)

The chief priests made sure Jesus was in the tomb, and for the next several days, Roman soldiers guarded the tomb to make sure no one took the body.

How did Matthew know what the chief priests and the governor discussed secretly? Later many of the priests in Jerusalem became followers of Jesus (Acts 6:7). Like often happens in a scandal, people who heard and participated in these secret discussions later revealed what happened.

The Women Return

The day after the holy day, “Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint him” (Mark 16:1). They prepared the spices, and then rested the next day, which was a Saturday (Luke 23:56). Early Sunday morning they took the spices to the tomb.

This is what Matthew says happened:

Now after the Sabbaths, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. Look, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky, and came and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men. The angel answered the women, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified. He is not here, for he rose, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying. Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead, and look, he goes before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ Look, I have told you.”

They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. (Matthew 28:1-8)

Luke wrote:

Then they returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them told these things to the apostles. These words seemed to them to be nonsense, and they didn’t believe them. (Luke 24:9-11)

Peter and John decided to go to the tomb to see what really happened. This is what John wrote about what he and Peter saw:

Peter and the other disciple went out, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran together. The other disciple outran Peter, and came to the tomb first. Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying, yet he didn’t enter in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying, and the cloth that had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. So then the other disciple who came first to the tomb also entered in, and he saw and believed. For as yet they didn’t know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes.

But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping. So, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”

She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”

Jesus said to her, “Don’t touch me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.‘”

Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her. (John 20:3-18)

Mary Magdalene was the first person to see Jesus alive on Sunday morning. But when she told the disciples that she had seen Jesus, they didn’t believe her (Mark 16:11).

Next Jesus appeared to several women (Matthew 28:9). Then, that afternoon he appeared to two others while they were walking to a village near Jerusalem. When they realized it was Jesus, they went back to Jerusalem and told the others that they had seen Jesus too, but nobody believed them either (Luke 24:13-33; Mark 16:12-13). But then, as they were talking, Jesus appeared to everyone in the room.

Luke records what happened:

As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”

But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. He took them, and ate in front of them. He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.”

Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures. He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:36-48)

One of the 12 disciples was not there at that time. John wrote:

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, wasn’t with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord!”

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

After eight days again his disciples were inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being locked, and stood in the middle, and said, “Peace be to you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.”

Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.”

Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:24-31)

Jesus continued to appear to the disciples during a 40-day period (Acts 1:3). During that time he appeared to more than 500 people, including his brother James (1 Corinthians 15:5-7). James did not believe Jesus before Jesus died (John 7:5), but when he saw Jesus alive again, he became a believer. Later he also became a leader in the Church (Galatians 1:19).

How Early Christianity Spread

Before Jesus returned to heaven, he told his disciples,

“Go into all the world, and preach the good news to all the creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will expel demons; they will speak with new languages; they will take up snakes; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:15-18)

The miracles that Jesus promised began to come a few days later when the followers of Jesus gathered in the temple on the Festival of Pentecost. The people in the temple heard a noise like a loud wind. When they heard the noise, many ran over to find out what was happening. Then each person heard in his own language what Jesus’s followers were saying (Acts 2:1-12). As the crowd wondered what this meant, Peter, one of the 12 disciples, explained that he and the other followers had all seen Jesus alive again after he was crucified. That day 3000 people were baptized and joined the Church.

Luke writes that a little while later,

Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. A certain man who was lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, whom they laid daily at the door of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask gifts for the needy of those who entered into the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive gifts for the needy. Peter, fastening his eyes on him, with John, said, “Look at us.” He listened to them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ the Natzerean, get up and walk!” He took him by the right hand, and raised him up. Immediately his feet and his ankle bones received strength. Leaping up, he stood, and began to walk. He entered with them into the temple, walking, leaping, and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God. They recognized him, that it was he who used to sit begging for gifts for the needy at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. They were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. As the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

When Peter saw it, he responded to the people, “You men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Why do you fasten your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up, and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had determined to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses. By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which is through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. (Acts 3:1-16)

As they spoke to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came to them, being upset because they taught the people and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. They laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was now evening. But many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

In the morning, their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and as many as were relatives of the high priest. When they had stood Peter and John in the middle of them, they inquired, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”

Then Peter, filled with the holy spirit, said to them, “You rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, if we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ the Natzerean, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in him does this man stand here before you whole. He is ‘the stone which was regarded as worthless by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.’ There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved!”

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus. Seeing the man who was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, “What shall we do to these men? Because indeed a notable miracle has been done through them, as can be plainly seen by all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we can’t deny it. But so that this spreads no further among the people, let’s threaten them, that from now on they don’t speak to anyone in this name.” They called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves, for we can’t help telling the things which we saw and heard.”

When they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people; for everyone glorified God for that which was done. For the man on whom this miracle of healing was performed was more than forty years old. (Acts 4:1-22)

As the miracles continued, and the disciples preached what they had heard and saw, the Church grew. As the Church grew, the Jews and Romans persecuted the Christians. When they were threatened, they refused to stop preaching what they had seen with their own eyes. Eventually, most of the original 12 disciples were killed for preaching about Jesus.

So who was Jesus?

Was he a wise teacher? A prophet? Or was he the Son of God?

Look at the evidence, and decide for yourself.

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