Again, Jesus didnt have to verbally say it, yet he did in the book of John:
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The gospel of John, which presents Jesus Christ in His deity, is sometimes called the "I AM" book. Over and over again in the book of John, Jesus said, "I AM." To the learned Jew this phrase "I AM" was very significant. It was a claim by Jesus that He is God. Why? In the Old Testament when God called Moses to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt, He told Moses to tell the nation that "I AM" has sent you (Exodus 3:13-15). "I AM" is the covenant God of Israel, Jehovah! Therefore, the great "I AM" is the designation for God to the nation of Israel and Jesus' statement "I AM" is a clear indication that He was saying, "I AM God."
Did Jesus say He was God? Jesus claimed equality with the God the Father. "Jesus said to them, 'My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.' For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God" (John 5:17-18).
"Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, 'Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me'" (John 7:28-29).
"Then they asked him, 'Where is your father?' 'You do not know me or my Father,' Jesus replied. 'If you knew me, you would know my Father also'" (John 8:19) "'I tell you the truth,' Jesus answered, 'before Abraham was born, I am!'" (John 8:58). "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).
Therefore the Jews certainly understood that Jesus was claiming to be God and they sought to kill Him because of it. "'What about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, "I am God's Son"? Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.' Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp." (John 10:36-39). This is just one incident where the Jewish authority sought to take Jesus or to stone Him and He escaped out of their hands because His time had not yet come (John 8:20).
Jesus also affirmed His deity to the disciples. "'If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.' Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.' Jesus answered: 'Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.'" (John 14:7-11, 20).
The seventeenth chapter of John records Jesus Christ's high priestly prayer. "After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: 'Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began'" (John 17:1-5).
In this wonderful prayer, Jesus says, "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:20-21). Did Jesus say that He was God? Yes! Amen!"
Also, we have witnesses like Paul who quite clearly declare:
Philippians 2
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage
Other Commentaries on this chapter of Philippians 2:
David Guzik :: Study Guide for Philippians 2
www.blueletterbible.org
Matthew Henry :: Commentary on Philippians 2
www.blueletterbible.org
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown :: Commentary on Philippians 2
www.blueletterbible.org
Paul Does indeed claim Jesus was still God while a man on earth.
Jesus himself states this in the book of John, Exodus, Genesis, Revelations, take your pick. Yet, as a "man" he clearly states it in John, if you would bring to your attention the full grasp of the meaning "I AM" and his use with it. Also, the Jews knew full well what Jesus was saying otherwise they would not have accused him of "blasphemy" saying he was God.
Yes, he did claim such.
John 8:58
Commentaries
"c.
Before Abraham was, I Am: With this dramatic phrase Jesus told them that He was the eternal God, existing not only during the time of Abraham but before unto eternity past. Jesus claimed to be the great
I Am, the voice of the covenant God of Israel revealed at the burning bush (
Exodus 3:13-14).
i.
I Am: This is the third time in this chapter Jesus uses the phrase
I Am (
John 8:24,
8:28), and here in
John 8:58. The ancient Greek phrase is
ego emi, which was the same term used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament in Jesus’ day to describe the Voice from the burning bush. “All the previous lightning flashes pale into significance before the blaze of this passage.” (Barclay)
ii. In using the phrase
I Am (
John 8:24,
8:58,
13:19) Jesus used a clear divine title belonging to Yahweh alone (
Exodus 3:13-14,
Deuteronomy 32:39,
Isaiah 43:10) and was interpreted as such by Jesus’ listeners (
John 8:58-59). “I AM was recognized by the Jews as a title of deity.” (Tenney)
iii. “Before Abraham came into existence I am, eternally existent… No stronger affirmation of pre-existence occurs.” (Dods)
iv. “If Jesus’ claim was not well founded, then his words were openly blasphemous: he was using language that only God could use.” (Bruce)"
David Guzik :: Study Guide for John 8
www.blueletterbible.org
"[3.] Our Saviour gives an effectual answer to this cavil, by a solemn assertion of his own seniority even to Abraham himself (
v. 58):
"Verily, verily, I say unto you; I do not only say it in private to my own disciples, who will be sure to say as I say, but
to you my enemies and persecutors; I say it to your faces, take it how you will:
Before Abraham was, I am;' prin Abraam genesthai, egoµ eimi,
Before Abraham was made or born, I am. The change of the word is observable, and bespeaks Abraham a creature, and himself the Creator; well therefore might he make himself
greater than Abraham.
Before Abraham he was,
- First, As God. I am, is the name of God (Ex. 3:14); it denotes his self-existence; he does not say, I was, but I am, for he is the first and the last, immutably the same (Rev. 1:8); thus he was not only before Abraham, but before all worlds, ch. 1:1; Prov. 8:23.
- Secondly, As Mediator. He was the appointed Messiah, long before Abraham; the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8), the channel of conveyance of light, life, and love from God to man. This supposes his divine nature, that he is the same in himself from eternity (Heb. 13:8), and that he is the same to man ever since the fall; he was made of God wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, to Adam, and Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and Shem, and all the patriarchs that lived and died by faith in him before Abraham was born. Abraham was the root of the Jewish nation, the rock out of which they were hewn. If Christ was before Abraham, his doctrine and religion were no novelty, but were, in the substance of them, prior to Judaism, and ought to take place of it."
Matthew Henry :: Commentary on John 8
www.blueletterbible.org
"
58. Before Abraham was, I am--The words rendered "was" and "am" are quite different. The one clause means, "Abraham was
brought into being"; the other, "
I exist." The statement therefore is not that
Christ came into existence before Abraham did (as Arians affirm is the meaning), but that He never
came into being at all, but
existed before Abraham had a being; in other words, existed before
creation, or
eternally (as
Jhn 1:1 ).
In that sense the Jews plainly understood Him, since "then took they up stones to cast at Him,"
just as they had before done when they saw that He made Himself equal with God (
Jhn 5:18 ).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown :: Commentary on John 8
www.blueletterbible.org
