I just recently saw an article on Facebook where the writer made the claim that Jesus never said He was God.
That, of course, is an example of the “Exact Word Fallacy.” The statement, therefore, is not correct.
To arrive at a correct understanding of what the Bible teaches, it is necessary to follow carefully the Rules of Interpretation. I have listed in simplified form about 24 of these rules in two articles posted here in the October, 2010 Archives which are immediately and easily accessible from the links provided on the right hand side of every page.
Perhaps the very first Christian book I bought as a new Christian in the 1950s was Milton S. Terry’s Biblical Hermeneutics. I have been studying that subject for quite a long time.
It is very interesting to study what the enemies of Jesus said about Him as reported in the New Testament, especially in the Gospels. I read a book by Harry Rimmer that was about this very subject published many years ago.
I just received a new book in my Logos Bible software library that discusses this very subject.
It turns out that the enemies of Jesus recognized from the start that what Jesus said and did was the evidence they could use to charge Jesus with blasphemy.
They recognized that what Jesus claimed to have authority to do amounted to a claim of Deity. See Mark 2:7.
Mar 2:6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
Mar 2:7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
See Mark 14:61-64.
Mar 14:61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
Mar 14:62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Mar 14:63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?
Mar 14:64 Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.
I have placed the following Note at John 10:32 in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:
Joh 10:31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Joh 10:32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
Joh 10:33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
stone. Stoning was the prescribed punishment for the non-religious crimes of (1) unchastity, including adultery and rape, Lev 20:10, Deut 22:21, 22, 23, 24, (2) insubordination to constituted authorities (a) parents, Exo 21:15; Exo 21:17, Lev 20:9, Deut 21:18, 19, 20, 21, (b) priest or judge, Deut 17:12. Stoning was the prescribed punishment for five capital crimes of a religious nature: (1) sacrifice to idols. Exo 22:20, Lev 20:2, Deut 13:6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17; Deut 17:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 2Ki 10:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25; 2Ki 11:18; 2Ki 23:5; 2Ki 23:20, (2) sorcery. Exo 22:18, Lev 20:27, 1Sa 28:3; 1Sa 28:9, (3) profaning the sabbath. Exo 31:14, 15; Exo 35:2, Num 15:32, 33, 34, 35, 36, (4) blasphemy. Lev 24:10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; Lev 24:23, 1Ki 21:13, (5) false prophecy. Deut 13:1, 2, 3,4, 5; Deut 18:20, 1Ki 18:40; 1Ki 20:27, 28. When Jesus asked upon what grounds they were about to stone him, their unequivocal answer was for blasphemy, explained in the very next verse, “because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” As in the other two cases where the Jews were about to stone Jesus (Jhn 5:18; Jhn 8:59), Jesus did NOT deny the correctness of their understanding of his claims. The Jews, therefore, correctly understood Christ’s claim to be deity, and on this basis they charged him with blasphemy. This proves that Jesus himself asserted his own deity, and equality with God the Father (see Jhn 5:18 note). At Jhn 5:18 the assertion that Jesus made himself “equal with God” is John’s own assertion under Divine inspiration, not merely his report of the understanding of the Jews.
In order to understand God’s Word in the Bible, it is necessary to learn how to apply the rule of Necessary Inference. Many Bible readers fail to make the needed necessary inferences required to arrive at a correct understanding of the Bible.
My newest Logos book that I referred to is:
Rosario, Mikel Del. 2025. Did Jesus Really Say He Was God? Making Sense of His Historical Claims. Downers Grove, IL: IVP USA.