Is Jesus God?

The Question

Christianity claims that Jesus of Nazareth is God incarnate. What is the basis for this claim, and how do different perspectives understand Jesus's identity?

Background

The question of Jesus's identity is central to Christian faith. The Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) defined the orthodox position: Jesus is "truly God and truly human," two natures united in one person "without confusion, without change, without division, without separation." The Greek word used is θεάνθρωπος (theanthropos — God-human). How we understand this shapes everything else in Christian theology.

🟤 Evangelical View

Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human — the second Person of the Trinity who took on human nature. This is not a later invention but rooted in the earliest Christian witness.

The Gospel of John opens with the clearest declaration: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... The Word became flesh" (John 1:1, 14). Jesus himself made extraordinary claims: "Before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58) — using God's own name from Exodus 3:14. Thomas, seeing the risen Christ, declared "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28), and Jesus accepted this worship.

The earliest Christian hymn in Philippians 2:6-11 affirms that Jesus, "being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage," but humbled himself to death on a cross. Colossians 1:15-17 declares him "the image of the invisible God... in him all things hold together."

Key Scripture:

- John 1:1, 14 — The Word was God... became flesh

- John 8:58 — Before Abraham was, I AM

- Colossians 1:15-20 — The image of the invisible God

- Hebrews 1:3 — The radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of his being

- Philippians 2:6-11 — Being in very nature God

Practical Application: If Jesus is God, then his words carry ultimate authority, his death has infinite atoning value, and his resurrection is the guarantee of our own. Encountering Jesus is encountering God himself.

🟢 Progressive View

The progressive perspective takes the incarnation seriously while emphasizing what it means that God chose to be revealed in a human life. Rather than focusing primarily on metaphysical nature, it asks: what does Jesus show us about what God is like?

Marcus Borg distinguished between the "pre-Easter Jesus" (the historical Jewish teacher) and the "post-Easter Jesus" (the Christ of faith and experience). This is not a denial of Jesus's significance but an invitation to see that his divinity is revealed precisely in his radical humanity — his compassion, his solidarity with the marginalized, his nonviolent resistance to empire, his embodiment of God's love.

John Dominic Crossan emphasized that calling Jesus "Lord" and "Son of God" was a deliberate counter-claim to Roman imperial titles. Caesar was called "son of God," "lord," and "savior." Early Christians were making a revolutionary political and theological statement: true divine power looks like self-giving love, not domination.

Key Scripture:

- John 14:9 — "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father"

- Colossians 1:15 — The image of the invisible God (image = how God is made visible)

- Matthew 25:40 — Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me

Practical Application: If Jesus is the human face of God, then every act of compassion, justice, and love makes God visible in the world. Following Jesus means embodying the same self-giving love he demonstrated.

Discussion Questions

1. What does it mean for your faith that God became human?

2. How do you reconcile Jesus's full divinity with his very human experiences (hunger, fatigue, weeping, doubt on the cross)?

3. If someone asked you "Who is Jesus?" how would you answer?

Bridging the Two Views

Both perspectives affirm that in Jesus we encounter something — someone — utterly unique. Both agree that Jesus is the definitive revelation of God's character. The evangelical emphasis on Jesus's divine nature and the progressive emphasis on Jesus's revolutionary humanity are ultimately two sides of the incarnation itself: the mystery that the infinite God chose to be known in finite human form. As the Chalcedonian formula insists, these cannot be separated.