Ian Henderson

When she was a baby my daughter could be dressed from head to toe in pink and people would still look in the buggy and say "What a cute baby! What's HIS name?" (Apparently this happens a lot with babies and isn't because my daughter is MANish.) I'd smile and say "HER name is Hope" at which point they'd get a bit embarrassed and say "oh sorry, so she's a girl!" Inside I'd scream "ISN'T IT OBVIOUS! Don't the pink booties and the pink top saying 'I'm daddy's little pink girl' give it away?"

Because Jesus never said "Whatsup! I'm God. Part of the big three in one! You get me!" people today can bend down and look into to the New Testament and say, "Isn't he cute, what a good teacher". Maybe you have friends you who are Muslims who will tell you that Jesus was a prophet or teachers who will say he was social reformer or political activist, like Gandhi. Or you might have mates who've just watched the DaVinci code and now think he was just a bloke with a beard who the church wanted to turn into God. But to the Jews it was obvious, right from the start, Jesus was claiming to be God and that was crossing the line. So like my daughter being dressed in pink, what are the clues? How do we know that Jesus saw himself as nothing less than God himself? Here are just two of what could be a long list..

1) "Son I forgive your sins" Mark 2:5

Imagine going on a driving lesson with your mum. And you do well: no pedestrians leaping out of the way as you mount the pavement, no rolling backwards as you try to pull off at the traffic lights, not even any skid marks as you practice your emergency stop. In fact you do so well that whilst unclipping her seat belt your mum turns and says "I'm pleased to inform you have passed your test". That would be great but it's all about authority. If your Nan tests you on some G.C.S.E revision and says "well done ducky, I'm going to pass you with an A*" Again it would be cool but it can't happen. Your mum or your nan doesn't have the authority to pass you. Only the DVLA or examiners board can do that. Authority is about having the right to do something but also the power to do it. For the Jews there were some things that only God had the authority to do:

"Impressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, "Son, I forgive your sins." Some religion scholars sitting there started whispering among themselves, "He can't talk that way! That's blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins." MARK 2:5-7 (MSG) An animal sacrifice, an altar and a priest were all vital ingredients for the Jews to receive God's forgiveness of sin. But here is Jesus sitting at home without any of that stuff, not saying "God forgives you" but "I forgive your sins". As far as the Pharisees and the religious teachers were concerned Jesus was cruising for a bruising. They knew what he was getting at. Jesus saw himself as more than a priest, He was claiming to be God because he was doing stuff only God would do.

2) "I tell you.." Matt 5

Probably the most unread books in your Bible are Numbers and Leviticus which are crammed full of laws and commandments written down by Moses. The Jews believed that these laws were given directly by God to Moses and were not to be messed with. But take a look at Matthew chapter 5. Jesus keeps saying "You heard it said" and then quotes a commandment like don't murder or don't commit adultery and then each time follows it up with "But I tell you" and gives a command. Now THIS was unheard of. The Pharisees and teachers of the law might preach, discuss, inform and interpret the books of Moses, adding their own spin, but would never change them! Even the prophets would start with "this is what the Lords says" before opening their gobs for God, but Jesus starts with "but I tell you." He quotes a direct command from God and then says "but this is what I'm telling you to do". To the Jewish ears it was clear, Jesus was granting himself the authority to give commands, he was claiming to be God. This would be like your minister getting up to preach this Sunday and saying, "The Bible's good, but I'm just going make a few changes." Jesus saw himself as more than a preacher, a prophet or teacher of the law, he saw himself as the lawgiver, as God Himself. So was He right? I believe that Jesus, himself, answers that question with a death battering, tomb busting: "YES!" But what do you think?