Part 2: What Jesus said about Himself

Welcome back to study one. In this second part, we turn from what other people said about Jesus to what Jesus said about Himself.

Now, let's turn to what Jesus said about Himself. And here's something interesting. We all know people who love to talk about themselves. Like a peacock spreading its feathers, they want everyone to notice how important they are. And after a while, we stop listening to them.

Jesus was not like that at all. He was humble. He washed His friends' feet. He spent time with the poor, the sick, and the people everyone else ignored.

And yet Jesus, humble and selfless as He was, made the most astonishing claims about Himself. How could someone as humble and selfless as Jesus say such great things about Himself, unless they were true?

Other religious teachers pointed people to God. Jesus pointed people to Himself. Listen to some of the things He said. ‘I am the bread of life.’ Bread is what keeps us alive. Jesus was saying: I can satisfy the deepest hunger of your heart, the hunger that nothing else fills.

‘I am the light of the world.’ Think of being lost in the dark. Light shows you where you are and where to go. Jesus was saying: without me, you're in the dark about God, about yourself, and about where your life is heading.

‘I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved.’ A gate is the way in to safety. Jesus was saying: I am the way in to God's family.

And then, perhaps His boldest claim of all. Pause and look up John, chapter fourteen, verse six.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6, BSB)

Did you notice? Jesus didn't say, I will show you a way. He said, I am the way. And He didn't say, I'm one of many ways. He said, no one comes to the Father except through me. That's a very big claim. Either it's true and it matters more than anything else, or it isn't. But it's hard to call it just good advice.

No wonder some found His words blasphemous.

They were forced to either believe Him, or condemn Him.

In other words: either Jesus was mad, or He was telling the truth. Keep that question in mind as we look at the rest of the evidence.

Jesus also said something about where He came from. Most of us think His story starts in Bethlehem, with the baby in the manger. But Jesus spoke about a time before the world was even made. In a prayer to His Father, He said: ‘glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed.’

On another occasion, He said: ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’ Abraham lived about two thousand years before Jesus. That's as long before Jesus as we are after Him. Jesus was saying: I was alive long before Abraham. In fact, I have always existed.

So when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, it wasn't the beginning of His life. It was the moment the eternal Son of God came into our world as a human being.

Jesus often called God, my Father. That might sound ordinary to us. But listen to how the religious leaders reacted. Look up John, chapter five, verse eighteen.

Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. (John 5:18, BSB)

They understood exactly what He meant. When Jesus called Himself the Son of God, He wasn't saying He was a created being, or just a good man close to God. He was saying He shares the very nature of God. That's why some wanted to kill Him. To them, it sounded like blasphemy, which means insulting God. Unless, of course, it was true.

Below this video, you'll find the passages from this part. Take a moment to look them up.

Then mark this part as complete and continue with part three, where we weigh the evidence and come to a verdict.