SESSION 8 ; DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE GOD?

 SESSION 8 

PART 8: DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE GOD? 

Chapter 29 "The Positive Case: Jesus was Always God" 

1. What significant fact do we learn when we compare Quran (5:72) and Romans 10:9? 

Comparing Quran 5:72 and Romans 10:9 reveals a fundamental theological divergence regarding the nature of Jesus Christ and the mechanism of salvation.

Quran 5:72 asserts that declaring "God is Christ the son of Mary" constitutes disbelief (shirk), emphasizing strict monotheism and rejecting Jesus' divinity as the Son of God. 

Romans 10:9 states that salvation comes through confessing "Jesus is Lord" and believing in His resurrection, affirming His divine lordship and central role in redemption. 

The significant fact learned is that these texts present mutually exclusive paths to righteousness: one requires the rejection of Jesus' divine sonship, while the other requires the confession of His divine lordship. 

2. Present and explain three texts from the Gospel of John that support the truth that Jesus is divine. 

John 1:1–3 establishes Jesus’ divinity by identifying the Word as being with God and being God, noting that He was in the beginning and that all things were made through Him, affirming His role in creation.  

John 8:58 records Jesus declaring, “Before Abraham was, I am,” a direct claim to the divine name of YHWH from Exodus 3:14, which the Jewish leaders understood as blasphemy and attempted to stone Him for.  

John 20:28 features Thomas confessing to the risen Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”, a statement Jesus accepts without correction, explicitly validating His status as God.

3. How does Nabeel expand on this observation:"When I read Mark through that lens, the lens of Hebrew Scripture, I realized that [Bartl Ehrman was terribly mistaken. Not only does Mark present Jesus as divine, but the very point of Mark's gospel is that Jesus is Yahweh" (emphasis added)? 

4. What is the surprising climax in Mark's Gospel about the identity of Jesus? 

5. How does Nabeel provide an answer to the question "Was Jesus God before the Gospels"? 

Chapter 30 "The Islamic Response: Did Jesus Really Say 'I am God"? 

1. Before his conversion, why did Nabeel understand John 17:3 as a verse denying that Jesus is divine? 

2. Besides John 17:3, what other New Testament verses are used by Muslims to show that Jesus did not think he was God? 

3. How do Muslims understand what Jesus was saying about himself in John 10:33-36? 

Chapter 31 "Assessing the Islamic Response: Letting the Context Speak" 

1. Whatrealization about the Islamic use of Gospel texts caused Nabeel to write: "[ltl led me to change the way l approached the Bible"? 

2. What does the Trinitarian model teach about the relationship between God the Father and Jesus the Son, and how does this truth help us understand key verses in John's Gospel? 

3.What important truth does Philippians 2:6-7 teach us about Jesus the God-Man? 

4. How do you understand "the Messianic Secret" in Mark's Gospel? 

5. What do we learn from Jesus'use of the title "Son of Man" and how does it relate to Daniel 7 and Psalm 110? 

Chapter 32 "Conclusion: Jesus Claimed to be God" 

1. How would you answer this summary question: "The very first Christians believed that Jesus is God, including the disciples themselves. How could the disciples have concluded this, especially considering the Jewish emphasis on monotheism and on worshiping God alone"?