Identity Crisis - Only God Could Do That

While Jesus was operating in His earthly body, He functioned as a righteous man that was anointed by the Holy Ghost. Acts 10:38 tells us that "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil." The reason Jesus preached with power, healed the sick, performed many miracles was not because He was God. (Don't get me wrong, He was and is God...but that isn't why He did these miraculous works.) The reason He did these mighty things was because He was anointed by the Holy Spirit.

But there were certain things that we see - certain authorities that He claimed - that only God alone could possess. Specifically, there were three claims that He made that were Divine rights, not available to any mere man.

He Sent Prophets

When we read through the Old Testament, we see a marked difference between true prophets and false prophets. The difference wasn't the miracles that they performed. It wasn't necessarily the message that they brought. And it wasn't about the behavior of their listeners. No, there was one thing that set true prophets apart from the false...it was the One who sent them! 

In Jeremiah 7:25 we read, "Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them." Who was this talking? Verse 21 makes it clear: "Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel..."

In fact, this has always been the main difference between a true and a false prophet.
True prophets were sent from God, like Elijah.
False prophets were commissioned by men, like King Ahab's prophets.

Knowing this, let's read Jesus' words from Matthew 23:34, "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city..."

Jesus claimed the authority to send prophets into the world, something that only God Himself has the right to do!

His Word Is Everlasting

The Bible is God's Word, correct? It contains all the completed revelation of God and His plan. It will never pass away or change. We see this in Isaiah 40:8, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever."

God is the only One Who has an unchangeable word. Why? Because He is the only One with an unchanging character. This unchangeable-ness is what makes His Word so sure through the ages. It's important to realize this: no man can legitimately claim to have an unfailing word.

And yet...this is exactly what Jesus did.

Mathew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."

Look at the language here! Jesus said that His word was more enduring than creation itself! He said that it would be more possible for the sun not to rise, than it would be for one of His words to be untrue! There is no way He could make this claim if He were only a "good teacher." 

He Knew All

John 21:17 He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep."

It's really easy to skip over what Peter said here. Let me draw your attention back to what he claimed about Jesus..."You know all things." This wasn't an exaggeration. Peter wasn't simply saying, "Lord, You're a wise man." No, he meant what he said. Peter truly believed that Jesus knew it all!

What is the term we use when someone is "all-knowing"? This is called omniscience - and there is only One who can claim this trait. God alone knows everything! So what was Peter actually saying about Jesus in this verse? He is God!

As striking as it is that Peter would call Jesus "Omniscient"...It's just as remarkable that Jesus didn't correct him. This means that he was absolutely correct to declare that Jesus "knew all things".

So then, when you look at the authority Jesus claimed, He clearly made some claims that could not apply to natural men.
He claimed the authority to send prophets...true prophets.
He claimed to have an everlasting and unchangeable Word.
And He didn't see the need to correct someone when they called Him omniscient.
Jesus was not just another teacher, prophet, or Rabbi. He was - and still is - God Himself.