Jesus claimed to have equal authority with God, which is clearly stated in Matthew 28:18 —
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
Jesus even requested prayer in His own name, which is a shocking thing to ask unless you really are God —
And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:13-14
Jesus’ claim to be God is startling. Was this a symptom of insanity or arrogance?
C.S. Lewis summarizes the situation well in this classic “Mere Christianity” —
A Man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
So what do you think? Would you throw stones at Him or kneel before Him?
Lines from Lynn 