Is Jesus God?
Texts identifying Jesus with God coexist with accounts of his temptation, dependence, and subordination to God.
- Textual conflict
- Interpretive tension
- The passages pull in different directions, but the conflict depends on how their wording, scope, or narrative context is read.
- Importance
- Foundational
- A central claim about origins, salvation, divine justice, or religious authority.
Direct divine identifications conflict substantially with Jesus' susceptibility to temptation and subordination, without a supplied account reconciling those attributes.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
Jesus receives divine identity and authority
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Jesus is tempted and placed under God
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Wording affects the comparison
The KJV says God "tempt" Abraham in Genesis 22:1; the NIV says "tested." James 1:13 specifically discusses temptation with evil. Whether the passages describe a test or an inducement to wrongdoing affects the claim that they deny and affirm the same action.
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
Understanding the contradiction
John 1:1 calls the Word God, and John 1:14 says that Word became flesh. John 20:28-29 has Thomas address Jesus as his God without correction. Colossians 2:9 locates the fullness of deity in him, Hebrews 1:8 addresses the Son as God, and Philippians 2:6 describes equality with God. Other passages give Jesus creative power, authority over sins and the sabbath, or unity with the Father. Some of those are claims about authority rather than explicit identity, but the group includes direct divine language.
The second group repeatedly distinguishes and ranks Jesus relative to God. John 17:3 addresses the Father as the only true God and identifies Jesus as the one sent. John 14:28 calls the Father greater, 1 Corinthians 11:3 calls God Christ's head, and 1 Corinthians 15:28 makes the Son subject to God. Jesus also calls someone else his God, occupies God's right hand, and functions as the human mediator in 1 Timothy 2:5. These passages present relationships of dependence that require more explanation than simple identity supplies.
A particularly concrete tension concerns temptation. James 1:13 says God cannot be tempted with evil, while Matthew 4:1, Luke 4:1-2, and Hebrews 4:14-15 expressly describe Jesus as tempted. The last distinguishes temptation from sinning, so Jesus' sinlessness does not erase the discrepancy about temptation itself. The collection offers differing descriptions of divinity, hierarchy, and susceptibility without a single stated account of how those attributes fit together.