BOLD WORDS

By Clara Prince, Key Radio intern

This is part 4 of a series discussing, Who Is Jesus?
Read part 1 - The Ultimate Question,
          part 2 - Flawless Character,
          part 3 - His Revolutionary Ministry

I’m doing an internship at Key Radio through Timpview High School, right now. Before the school year started, my internship class would practice answering interview questions. One of the questions I dreaded answering the most was, “How would you describe yourself?” I don’t know about you, but I am not a fan of talking about myself. What would you say about yourself? If someone were to draw a conclusion of you, you would not want them to only examine your grades in school or how well you played in high school sports. You would want them to look at the entirety of your identity, including what you say about yourself. So why wouldn’t we do the same when trying to draw a conclusion about Jesus?
What did Jesus say about Himself? Jesus forgave sins, led a sinless life, accepted worship, taught and spoke with divine authority, claimed a divine relationship with the Father, and claimed divine titles - conveying Jesus claimed He was God (Tackett, The Truth Project).
In Jewish law, only God could forgive sins, and throughout Jesus’ ministry He publicly forgave sinful people. Luke 7:44-49 (NIV) says,
“He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.’ Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ The other guests began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’”
To forgive sin is an attribute of God that Jesus possessed. This upset the Pharisees because they believed Jesus was not God and He was committing blasphemy.
Jesus also accepted worship, implying that He was worthy of worship. This is interesting. People don’t usually like to be worshiped because we know that we are only human. Because Jesus accepted worship, we can infer the opposite about Him; He is God.
Additionally, Jesus had an extraordinary character; He was sinless. Jesus’ disciples spent 24 hours with Him, every day for three years. His disciples knew Jesus extremely well and they declared that He was without sin. On Focus on the Family’s Truth Project, Lee Strobel said, “I can’t think of another human being whose reputation was actually enhanced, the closer that you peered into their life.” Paul the apostle describes Jesus in Hebrews 4:15 (NIV) as “a high priest who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet did not sin.” Those who knew Jesus closely, called Him the Messiah.
Jesus also taught and spoke with divine authority. No one had taught like Jesus before; He claimed He was “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6, NIV). To support His teachings and His authority, Jesus performed miracles including His resurrection. Del Tackett states in The Truth Project, “Jesus is either Almighty God or He is arrogant beyond belief.” 
Jesus also claimed a divine relationship with the Father, “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32, NIV). No one has a divine relationship with God except Jesus. He manifested divine attributes. We have already discussed two of these attributes: to forgive sin and to be worshiped.
He also claimed to be God, Lord, Messiah. For example, in John 4 when Jesus visited the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, they discussed the coming of the Christ. John 4:25-26 reads, “The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you-I am he.’”
We can only conclude one of three things based on what Jesus said about Himself: Jesus was delusional (He thought He was God, but He really wasn’t), Jesus was a deceiver (He knew He wasn’t God, but He let people worship Him), or Jesus really is God. Friend, Jesus really is God.

Clara Prince is a high school intern at Key Radio and has been a volunteer since 2018. She currently resides in Provo, Utah and enjoys being on the Timpview Marching Band Drumline.