Who is Jesus?

Jesus is the Son of God.  This does not mean that he was made or created by God the Father.  Jesus is eternal, just as the Father and the Holy Spirit are eternal.  John reveals a great introduction as to who Jesus Christ is in the opening of his Gospel:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent^, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'” From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.”  John 1:1-18

Martin Luther wrote a summary of who Jesus is and what his work is in his Small Catechism:

“I believe that Jesus Christ is truly God, born of the Father in eternity and also truly man, born of the Virgin Mary. He is my Lord! He redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, bought and won me from all sins, death and the authority of the Devil. It did not cost Him gold or silver, but His holy, precious blood, His innocent body -- His death! Because of this, I am His very own, will live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him righteously, innocently and blessedly forever, just as He is risen from death, lives and reigns forever. Yes, this is true.” 

Did Jesus ever say he was God?

Yes, he said he was God numerous times, but the Bible does not record Jesus saying the exact words “I am God.”  However, multiple times Jesus equated himself with the Father, attributed divinity to himself through his words or actions, or allowed others to attribute divinity to himself. 

Verses in which Jesus puts himself equal to the father:

John 14:23 “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

Mark 9:37
John 5:23
John 14:1
John 14:7
John 14:6
John 14:9
John 14:21
John 15:23

Statements in which Jesus directly claimed divinity upon himself (evidenced by the audience’s response):

John 10:30-33 “I and the Father are one." Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

John 5:17-18
John 8:58-59
Mark 14:61-64

Other Verses that show Jesus’ divinity though what Christ said or did or allowed others to do:

Mark 2:5-7
Matthew 28:16-17
John 5:21-27

Jesus is the God-Man!

In addition to being God, Jesus is also man.  This does not mean that Jesus is half man and half God.  He is fully God and fully man.  Jesus has two natures, yet he is still one person.  He did not always have two natures.  He took on the nature of humanity at his miraculous conception (Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-37).  This taking on of flesh is called the Incarnation.  From the moment of Christ’s incarnation, he took on a human nature and from then on he will always have that human nature. 

Characteristics of Jesus’ human nature can be seen in 1 Timothy 2:5, Rom 9:5, Luke 2:40, 52, Matt 4:2, John 19:28, John 4:6, Luke 8:23, John 19:34.  Jesus slept, felt pain, had emotions, grew tired, felt hunger, ate, drank, and grew in wisdom and stature. 

Why are Jesus’ two natures important?

Both Jesus’ divine nature and his human nature are utterly important for our salvation.  He had to be both human and divine to be our all-sufficient savior. 

Jesus has to be human for our salvation.  Because of God’s justness, sin must be punished.  Jesus came to save us from our sins and to take the punishment of sin upon himself.  He had to be human in order to receive the punishment of our sin, death.  Humans created the problem of sin and death in the world, and so a human needed to resolve the problem.  To fulfill the law and live up to righteous standard of God on our behalf, Jesus had to be human to experience what he experience in order to be a proper substitute. 

Jesus had to be divine for our salvation.  No human could possibly uphold God’s law and standard.  Jesus’ divinity meant he was conceived and born without sin.  His divinity also made it so he could live a life without sin.   If Jesus was only human, he would only be able to serve as a substitute for one human.  Because Jesus is God, his sacrifice was worthy to serve as atonement for the sins of the entire world (John 1:29).  Finally, it is commonly stated that Jesus overcame three things: sin, death, and the devil.  Jesus had to be God to overcome sin, death, and the devil. 

Clearly, Jesus had to be both human and divine to be our savior. 

What are some of the differing answers to this question?

After watching this video, you might like to read, "Is Jesus Really God?"