Was Jesus God?¶
Was Jesus claiming to be the one and only God who stepped into human form? Or was he teaching that all humans share the same divine nature — that the unity he experienced with the Father is available to everyone? The red text — Jesus's own recorded words — answers this clearly when you read all of it, not just the passages the institution selects.
The Passages Used to Claim Exclusive Divinity¶
Four red-text passages are most often cited to argue that Jesus was claiming to be uniquely God:
| Passage | Text |
|---|---|
| John 10:30 | "I and the Father are one." |
| John 8:58 | "Before Abraham was born, I am." |
| John 14:6 | "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." |
| John 14:9 | "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." |
The Critical Observation¶
These grand "I Am" declarations appear almost exclusively in John's Gospel — the latest canonical gospel, written approximately 90-100 CE, the most theologically developed. The Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke) contain virtually none of them. In the Synoptics, Jesus is far more humble: he asks "Who do YOU say I am?" rather than declaring it, tells people NOT to tell others he's the Messiah (the "Messianic secret" in Mark), and explicitly separates himself from God (Mark 10:18).
This does not mean John's red text should be discarded. It means it should be read alongside — not above — everything else Jesus said.
What Happens When You Read the REST of the Red Text¶
John 10:30 in Context — Jesus's Own Rebuttal¶
"I and the Father are one" is the passage everyone quotes. But the scene does not end there. The Jews immediately pick up stones. And Jesus's response is the interpretive key to the entire question:
"Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'?" — John 10:34, quoting Psalm 82:6
Jesus is saying: Scripture calls ALL of you gods. Why are you upset that I said the Father and I are one? He is not defending exclusive divinity — he is deflecting it. He is saying: what I have, you have too. The Law already told you this.
John 17:21-23 — The Prayer That Extends Unity to Everyone¶
"That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us... that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me." — John 17:21-23
Jesus explicitly extends the exact same unity he has with the Father to every person who follows his teaching. If "I and the Father are one" means "I am uniquely God," then "that they may be one as we are one" means every believer becomes uniquely God too. The claim of exclusivity cannot survive the very chapter it appears in.
John 14:12 — The Statement the Church Never Preaches¶
"Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these." — John 14:12
Greater. Not equal. Greater. If Jesus were the one and only God walking in human form, no human could surpass him. This statement only makes sense if he is demonstrating a capacity that exists in everyone.
Matthew 5:48 — A Command to Become What God Is¶
"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." — Matthew 5:48
Not "worship me as perfect." Not "accept that I am perfect on your behalf." Be perfect as God is perfect. This is a direct command to attain divine qualities — a command that only makes sense if the divine nature is accessible to those receiving it.
Where Jesus Distinguishes Himself from God¶
These passages receive far less attention, but they are red text — Jesus's own words — and they are unambiguous:
| Passage | Text | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Mark 10:18 | "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." | Jesus explicitly separates himself from God. |
| John 17:3 | "This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." | He calls the Father "the only true God" and identifies himself as someone sent by that God. Two distinct identities. |
| John 14:28 | "The Father is greater than I." | Direct statement of subordination. Incompatible with co-equality. |
| Mark 13:32 | "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." | Jesus admits not knowing something. An omniscient God cannot lack knowledge. Bart Ehrman documents in The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture (1993) that later scribes removed "nor the Son" from Matthew 24:36 to protect the doctrine of omniscience. The earlier manuscripts include it. The later ones delete it. |
| Matthew 28:18 | "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." | Authority was received, not inherently possessed. You cannot be given what you already have. |
The Gospel of Thomas — The Clearest Red Text on This Question¶
The Gospel of Thomas — an early collection of Jesus sayings found in Egypt in 1945, likely dating to 50-70 CE — preserves a sayings tradition that many scholars argue predates or parallels the canonical gospels (Koester, Patterson, DeConick). On this question, Thomas is unambiguous.
Saying 108 — The Goal Is Becoming¶
"Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to that person."
The teacher becomes the student. The student becomes the teacher. The distinction dissolves. This only makes sense if Jesus is teaching a state of consciousness available to all, not claiming an identity reserved for himself alone.
Saying 13 — "I Am Not Your Teacher"¶
Jesus said, "I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended."
Jesus tells Thomas directly: you have arrived at the same level. The relationship is no longer master-student.
Saying 3 — Children of the Living Father¶
"When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father."
Children. Plural. All of you. The divine identity is not exclusive to one person — it is the birthright of everyone who achieves self-knowledge.
What the "Unique Incarnation" Reading Requires¶
To maintain that Jesus was claiming to be the one and only God incarnate, you must:
- Privilege John's Gospel over the Synoptics and the entire Pauline corpus
- Ignore John 10:34 — Jesus's own rebuttal when accused of claiming divinity
- Ignore John 17:21-23 — where he extends the same unity to all believers
- Ignore John 14:12 — where he says his followers will surpass him
- Ignore Mark 10:18 — "No one is good except God alone"
- Ignore John 14:28 — "The Father is greater than I"
- Ignore Mark 13:32 — He admits not knowing something God would know
- Ignore Matthew 28:18 — Authority was given, not inherent
- Ignore Thomas 108 — "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me"
- Ignore Thomas 13 — "I am not your teacher"
- Accept Trinitarian vocabulary (ousia, hypostasis, homoousios) that does not appear in Scripture and was not invented until centuries later
The Downstream Implications¶
The two readings produce completely different religions:
| If Jesus taught "we all share the divine nature" | If Jesus taught "I alone am God" |
|---|---|
| No blood atonement needed — the cross was a murder, not a payment | The cross is a cosmic transaction — required by God |
| Direct access to God for everyone | Priestly mediation required |
| Every human has the same divine potential | You can never reach his level — worship, don't become |
| "Follow me" means do what I did — live the Way | "Follow me" means worship me — believe the creed |
| Self-knowledge is salvation (Thomas 3) | Self-knowledge is irrelevant — faith alone saves (Romans 10:9) |
| The purpose of life is transformation through practice | The purpose of life is correct belief |
The Message¶
Based on the full red text — read without institutional bias:
You are children of the living Father. The Kingdom of God is already here — spread out upon the earth — and you are not seeing it. Know yourself and you know God. The unity Jesus experienced with the Father is not reserved for one man. It is available to everyone who seeks it: "that they may be one as we are one." The goal is not to worship a teacher. The goal is to become what the teacher demonstrated: "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me." Do what he did. Live how he lived. And then do even greater things.
This is not a ceiling reserved for one man. It is the floor available to every human being.
Sources: Canonical gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke, John — multiple translations). Gospel of Thomas (Lambdin translation, Nag Hammadi Library). Psalm 82:6. Elaine Pagels, Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas (Random House, 2003). Bart Ehrman, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture (Oxford University Press, 1993). R.P.C. Hanson, The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God (T&T Clark, 1988).