Did Jesus Ever Actually Claim to Be God?

Cliff Buell

Download First Light and build a God-first routine by blocking apps until you read your Bible: https://firstlight.onelink.me/tenZ/qtzffd2h   A Muslim challenges Mark Spence and Living Waters with one of the most common objections to Christianity: Where did Jesus ever claim to be God? In this video, I react to their response and break down why every Christian should be prepared to answer this question and defend what the Bible teaches about who Jesus is.  Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEjyDgnSRa0  Are You Going To Heaven OR Hell?👇 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzmENeLZzb4&t=2s  All Important Links: https://linktr.ee/cliffbuell  Become A Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ap1CNrpXD-O0wWPANhQvw/join  Connect With Me: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CliffBuell Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cliffbuell/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cliffbuell  #christian #jesus #god #bible #reaction #muslim #islam #religion #scripture #history #language #debate  FAIR USE DISCLAIMER This video may contain copyrighted material that has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is used for purposes of criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, research, or education, which constitute “fair use” under Section 107 of the Copyright Act. I do not claim ownership of any copyrighted material used in this video. All rights and credit go directly to their respective owners. This content is transformative in nature — adding new meaning, commentary, or context — and does not substitute for the original works. If any copyright owner has concerns or would like material removed, please contact me directly and I will resolve the matter promptly.

Transcript

00:00What's going on? Doing another blind reaction. I have not watched this video yet, but I'm excited

00:03because this says this Muslim asked the question every Christian should answer. As we see more and

00:08more Muslims coming to the West, Christians need to be prepared and ready to defend their faith.

00:12The Bible says to have an answer for the hope that is in you. We don't need to be experts

00:16in

00:16apologetics, but we do need to have a good understanding of our faith, be able to defend

00:18our faith, and be able to have these conversations to help point people back to the truth about who

00:23Jesus Christ is. We're going to watch this in just a moment, but before we get into it, my name

00:26is

00:26Cliff Buell. If you're new here, welcome. If you're not new here, welcome back. This channel exists

00:29to build a believer and reach the lost. If you like Christian content, make sure to hit that

00:32subscribe button. Share this video with someone who would also appreciate it. All right, let's

00:36check out what happens here. Jesus did not say in the Bible, I am God, worship me. Why do you

00:40worship Jesus? Muslim? Yes. Good question. In fact, that's the number one question I get. Where did

00:44Jesus ever say, I am God, worship me? What would it mean to you if I could use the Bible

00:48to answer

00:49your question? Because I do believe that this actually takes place, that there is some good

00:53theological terminology that we can examine to come to a good conclusion to demonstrate that Jesus

00:59actually is God and that he's worthy to be worshiped? What would that mean to you?

01:02I mean, you'd have to show me something that's very concrete. The way the verse you told me was

01:08like very clear, very direct. Where did Muhammad ever say, I'm a prophet from God, follow me?

01:15I can pull up a verse. Do you want me to pull up a verse? Where he says those exact

01:18words.

01:19Yes. That I am a prophet from... No, I am the prophet from God, follow me. Those exact terminology.

01:24This is good because it's important to understand logical consistency, right? If this man is saying,

01:30hey, I need proof that Jesus said this, well, then it's like you're willing to follow a different

01:33religion where your prophet never said the same words, right? And so we need to be logically consistent

01:38to be honest with ourselves to then explore and understand what the truth actually is.

01:42Now, unfortunately, people allow their bias to make them logically inconsistent. It's okay that my side

01:47of things doesn't make the appropriate claims, but your side, that's the reason why it's not true.

01:53So again, logical consistency here. If he can't find the verse, then you shouldn't expect the same

01:57thing out of Christianity. So now we have to take a different approach, which I'm sure Mark

02:01Spence is about to get into here of explaining theologically why Jesus is God. So he can then

02:06tackle it from a clear understanding of why Jesus is God without him saying those specific words.

02:10While I have you here, I created an app that blocks your distracting apps until you read your Bible.

02:14It's called First Light Bible in prayer. You start with a prayer, then you read the word.

02:16When you're finished reading, you check off which book and chapter that you've read so you can track

02:20reading through the entire Bible, and then it unlocks your app. So you can actually put God first in

02:25your day instead of getting lost, scrolling, and never giving him the time. This has helped me for over

02:29four months now. If you think it could help you too, click the link in the pinned comment below or

02:32scan

02:32the QR code. And as you go through that, let me give you my answer to the question. We would

02:36have to expect

02:37that when Jesus spoke, he didn't speak with an English vernacular, correct? Because he didn't speak English.

02:42So we would have to put ourselves in the first century

02:45where Jesus lived and existed. And what did the people around him think that he said? And what

02:51did he mean? Right? What is something that only God can do that no man can do? Can you think

02:57of

02:58anything? I can think, but also, like, are you saying that miracles cannot be given to people?

03:04What is something that only God can do that nobody else can do? God can give the power to anyone.

03:09Who can forgive sins? I believe only God can forgive sins. Who is the creator?

03:16God. Only God. So if we begin to find scriptures that say that Jesus can forgive people of their

03:22sins or that Jesus is the creator, and we begin to go down the line of every characteristic,

03:27every attribute that you can come up with that only belongs to God, we would have to safely come

03:31to the conclusion that there's some shared attributes. And in my position, I would say,

03:36he's God. Jesus died because he claimed to be God. He claimed to have the ability to forgive people

03:43of their sins. And says, who can forgive sins but God alone? That's what they said. And then he said,

03:49hey, so that you may know that the Son of Man has the ability to forgive sins. And then he

03:54says,

03:55rise, take up your mat and walk. And Jesus said, I am the eagle on me, the Greek translation of

04:00the

04:00Old Testament. It's called the Septuagint. Echoing the words in Exodus of Moses in the burning bush,

04:05talking to God in the burning bush, talking to Moses. I am who I am, the eagle on me.

04:09In the Gospel of John, the seven I am statements is Jesus claiming to be deity. But we also see

04:16Thomas coming to Jesus and saying, my Lord and my God. He wasn't blaspheming, as the Jehovah's

04:21witnesses would say. He recognized who Jesus was. We don't expect Jesus to use English vernacular.

04:27What we would expect is first century language and him fulfilling, he did even better than using

04:33that terminology. Come on. In that he fulfilled all the roles that only God could fulfill. I just

04:41think like something. This is really good. And especially the point about how he actually made

04:46an argument better than just saying, I am God because of the terminology of the day, because of

04:51the audience of who he's speaking to. That's powerful. That's really good. And I actually hadn't thought of

04:55it being better than that, right? You know, to me, it's always been, it's been good enough. I believe

04:59Jesus is God based on what the scripture says, based on what Jesus claimed and did. But I never

05:04thought of it being better than him saying those words. But obviously it's like, it's how God designed

05:08it. It's what he actually did. Jesus did while he was on earth to show his deity. So of course

05:13it was,

05:14it was done perfectly. It was done exactly how it was intended to be, which is better than anything

05:18we could conjure up in our minds of how he should have done it. Something so like core to your

05:22belief, like the core of your belief shouldn't be something that you hesitate on or like you,

05:27you have to find, you have to find roads. You will die in your sins. Sorry. He said, Jesus said,

05:32unless you believe I am, that's deity words, the ego on me. Unless you believe I am God. God? I

05:38am

05:38God? I am. No, ego on me. You're not understanding what ego on me means, right? I don't because I

05:43don't.

05:44I'm explaining it to you, right? So unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.

05:48That word ego on me is the same exact terminology that God uses in the burning bush when he says,

05:55I am, it's the same exact terminology. I am does not mean I am God. Well, hold on a second.

06:00Okay.

06:00So that you may say that's your interpretation of what he meant by that, but right. But think about

06:04this, the religious elite, the Pharisees of those days, if somebody were to claim to be God,

06:10how would they respond? They would worship him. No, no, no, no, no. They would, they would stone him

06:16because it would be blasphemy. When Jesus said those words, you know what the Pharisees did?

06:23But that doesn't prove that he was claiming to be God. Well, hold on a second. You said,

06:28when did he ever make it clear? And Mark is telling you seven times in the gospel of John,

06:33he uses deity language. And I am saying to you, before you say that's our interpretation,

06:38I'm telling you the Pharisees in that day heard him, picked up stones and wanted to kill him

06:46because of his claim of deity. But just, but just because they stoned him, uh, the,

06:50the Israelites or like the, uh, Jewish people killed many prophets that came to, to call for the,

06:59call to worship God. So this is this, I think this would be my encouragement and my challenge to you

07:03as well. When I say that this is the most common question that a Muslim is going to bring up,

07:10right? I don't think that I've come across a lot of knowledgeable Muslims that have actually

07:16studied our position, what we're saying. There are some, and I would say that these people that

07:21have actually studied that they would know the position, right? If you're going to get into

07:24a discussion, a debate with someone, and I don't, and I don't blame you for that, right? I don't blame

07:28you for that. But I'm telling you, this is the answer that when I show Muslims this, if I go

07:34to

07:34Speaker's Corner in London and I open this up to a Muslim, they're going to concede to this,

07:41they will change and they'll say, well, Jesus never actually died on the cross or the apostle

07:46Paul, he changed things or the scriptures have been corrupted or it's quick to move on to something

07:51else. I'm saying everything hinges upon this. Everything hinges upon that very first,

07:57most important objection. You have to believe that he is. I love that. He brings up the point

08:02that once Muslims realize that they can no longer argue the point they're trying to make because

08:07it's not a good argument once you understand the truth, right? It's a good question at first,

08:12but it's a bad argument because we can see clearly where Jesus claims deity. And once they discover

08:17that, then it's moving on to a different point to try and discredit Christianity. Again, it's a lot

08:22easier to let your bias control your way of thinking and your objective, your narrative,

08:28what you're trying to actually present here, instead of just accepting the truth, right?

08:32If we were to humble ourselves and say, hey, maybe what I believe about your religion is incorrect.

08:37I have been wrong when it comes to certain things about Islam. And while other things I know are true,

08:42I have to understand that, okay, those things that I understood be incorrectly, that I understood them

08:46incorrectly, I can no longer continue to keep speaking on those things. I have to speak on the things

08:49that I know to be true, where I can see that this is a false religion. And it would actually

08:53be

08:54dishonest of me to continue to try and bring up points that I know are no longer good arguments

08:58because I had a misunderstanding of what the Quran said or what the Hedi said. So my point is the

09:03same

09:03thing for Muslims. It's like, they need to be honest with themselves. And I found that unfortunately,

09:06they will often lie to themselves to continue on the same narrative instead of just receiving the

09:10truth. Maybe you can no longer argue that Jesus never claimed to be God, but find a different

09:14argument then. And I actually encourage this because the more you continue to ask questions and honestly

09:17seek the answers, you'll find the truth. And the truth is Jesus Christ. Like there is, there's no

09:21way around that, but you have to be honest with yourself. You have to not allow your bias and what

09:24you believe. And I know that can be very hard if you've grown up only knowing one thing, and that

09:28has been your life and you've dedicated so much time, energy, money to this thing. It can be very

09:32difficult to put that aside to explore the truth, but it will be the most freeing and best thing you

09:37can ever do. Life will not become easier per se, but Jesus gives you access to peace that surpasses

09:41all understanding. He gives you access to freedom and deliverance from demonic chains and bondage and

09:45addictions. And he will bless you. He is a God of blessing. He will provide for you. He is a

09:51provider.

09:51He will heal you. He is the great physician. That is why it is so important to just seek truth

09:57for what

09:57it is without allowing your judgment to be clouded and without deceiving yourself as you do so.

10:02But I think something that is like so core to your belief, if it's not like given so clearly in

10:10front of

10:10you where Jesus is saying, I'm God, worship me, it's worth considering.

10:15I just said it. I just showed you though.

10:16Do you agree?

10:17I just showed it.

10:18Do you agree that it's worth considering if it's not as clear as light?

10:21Well, hold on a second. I mean this totally respectfully. I think you're talking past us and you're not

10:27listening to us. I think what's happening is that you've heard probably those sound bites on YouTube.

10:32You've probably been trained to think this way. But what we just pointed out is that Jesus does

10:38very clearly say it. The scriptures very clearly make the claim that Jesus is God over and over and

10:46over again. But respectfully, you're not hearing what we're saying and engaging with it. You're

10:52talking right past it. And so Mark brought up a really good point, man. Would you consider yourself

10:58an open-minded person? Yeah. Would you consider the potential that you've misunderstood what the

11:04scriptures say? I consider the fact that I don't know the language. And you admit that you haven't

11:11studied it. And also I don't know how much you know the language. But you also admit that you

11:15haven't studied it, right? Yeah. And so I would just tell you this. If you're truly asking from a

11:19place of curiosity and you truly want to know, then just pause for a moment and take into consideration

11:26what we're saying and then look into it for yourself. And then I propose to you, do you truly,

11:31like, would you truly second guess or like think about the fact that, or like the argument that I'm

11:36making? Or would you not? Well, I would say no, because it's, the Bible is so clear. It is so

11:42clear.

11:42Listen to this. He took on divine names. John 8, 58. Before Abraham was, I am. That's a divine name.

11:50Here we go. He took exclusive titles in John chapter 10, verse 11, that he is the shepherd.

11:56He is the vine. He is the door. All of these are a reflection of only God himself. He exercised

12:03God's authority. He exercised God's authority. He hushed the sea to sleep. He tucked it into bed at

12:09night. Who is this man? Is what the disciples said. Who is this man that has the authority over

12:14the sea? Right? Only God can do these things. So you say he forgave people of sin. I asked you

12:21earlier, who can forgive sins? And you said God alone. He forgave sins where in Mark chapter two

12:25verses five to seven, he raised the dead. In fact, he raised himself. He said, he said, destroy this

12:31temple. Come on. And in three days, I will rise it up. Yep. I will do it. He was not

12:36given that he had

12:37the ability to be able to do that. Yep. He received worship in Matthew 14, 33. Who should

12:42we worship? Only God alone should receive worship. So when you say, where did Jesus say, I am

12:48God, worship me? I'm saying he didn't speak English. He didn't speak English in the same

12:53way. Muhammad never said, I'm the prophet of God. Follow me in that exact terminology.

12:58I can, I can put up, pull it up. You won't be able to, I get it.

13:01Because you're going to speak English, but I'll put it up in the same, in the same meaning

13:04exactly. Right. So that, this is what I'm doing here. But I am does not mean I am God.

13:09I'm saying it is. First century, that's their understanding. So someone cannot say I am

13:14anything else? Today you can. But then they couldn't say I am. Correct. Because remember

13:20the language, it's not, it's not English. Remember it's not, they're not speaking, they're not

13:24saying the Lord. But that's not enough evidence to prove that this means I am God. Look at, we have

13:29the religious elites of the day, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes. Yeah, they stoned

13:34him just like they stoned every other prophet. But no, they stoned him because he claimed

13:37to be God. You don't know what they were thinking. Why? It was. You being a man claimed

13:43to be equality with God. That was their, that was their retort. But why did they stone every

13:46other prophet? Of course they stoned the prophet, but not for the same reason. Not for the same

13:51reason. So it doesn't have to be for that reason. But that is the reason. That's all I'm

13:55saying. So how do you know it's the reason? They say it. They say it in the

13:59scriptures. They don't say we're going to stone you because you're speaking against

14:02our sins. They, they say we are going to stone this man because he claims to be God. He

14:07blasphemes in the name of God. Okay. Yeah. All right. Nice talking to you. Yeah. Thanks,

14:13man. I hope you, I hope you look into it, bro. Yeah. I mean, he just has to do some

14:16research

14:16for himself. That was very well done by Mark Spence and the other gentleman there from Living

14:21Waters. I mean, they laid it out very clearly. And to his point, like he's not willing to receive

14:25their answer, even though it is the answer. And some people won't. And it's, you know,

14:29we've got to dust off our feet and keep pushing, but it doesn't change the truth. And to their

14:33point, Christians should know how to answer this question. Now we may not all know the verses or

14:37the knowledge or have, be able to answer everything in the way that they did, but we should understand

14:41at least where Jesus claims to be God, does things that shows that he is God and be able to

14:46defend

14:46our faith in that way. That should be, that's one of the most common questions, especially from

14:50Muslims. And so we should be able to provide an answer and go back to the scriptures and point

14:55to where Jesus does exactly that. Again, not everyone will accept the answer. You know,

14:59you can give someone the truth. You can tell someone two plus two equals four, and they might

15:03still just tell you, no, I believe it doesn't. It equals five or whatever. So it's not worth

15:08banging our head against the wall or trying to shove it down their throats. We just present the

15:11truth. They accept it. They reject it. We move on. So this was a good conversation. You know,

15:15obviously everyone was composed and calm and think the information was presented well.

15:20And man, just pray for this young man. Pray that he would come to know the truth of Jesus

15:23Christ, that he would do his own research and experience the Lord truly for himself. That

15:27is undeniable that he would know that Jesus really is who he claimed to be. If you like

15:32Christian content, make sure to hit that subscribe button. If you watch the end, you're an absolute

15:34legend. I appreciate you. Share this with somebody who would enjoy the video as well. Like this

15:38if you enjoyed watching it, but until next time, God bless you and I love you.

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