While Jesus does not wear a cloak emblazoned with “I am God,” the Gospels are full of indications that he saw himself not only as Israel’s Messiah, but as Israel’s true God as well. A divine Messiah. Let us sketch three main ways we see this, first in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), and then in John’s Gospel, where Jesus’s divinity often receives the clearest expression.

“They worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem.” In this powerful way, Luke’s Gospel concludes — shortly after the risen Jesus instructed his disciples to evangelize the nations (Luke 24:45–49) and ascended to heaven (Luke 24:50–51). This scene, though, closes a loop that began back at his birth, when the nations — represented by the Persian magi — visited the newborn Jesus and “fell down and worshiped him” (Matthew 2:11). In beautiful symmetry, the earthly life of Jesus begins and ends with people worshiping him.

But shouldn’t this strike us as odd? Aren’t Israel’s Scriptures clear that only the one true God may receive worship? Yet already in the Gospels, we see signs that people adored Jesus as God.

While Jesus does not wear a cloak emblazoned with “I am God,” the Gospels are full of indications that he saw himself not only as Israel’s Messiah, but as Israel’s true God as well. A divine Messiah. Let us sketch three main ways we see this, first in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), and then in John’s Gospel, where Jesus’s divinity often receives the clearest expression.

1. The Son’s Eternal Existence

God, by definition, cannot emerge at some point in time. He exists from eternity past (Isaiah 43:10). But yearly, Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. On a certain day, in a certain place, Jesus was placed in a manger — barely hours old. How can he be God, then?

This gets to the heart of one of the distinguishing marks of Christianity: the Son of God existed eternally — yet took on human flesh. Doubtless, early Christians such as Paul affirmed Jesus’s eternal existence (or “preexistence”) before his human birth (as in Philippians 2:5–11; Colossians 1:15–20). But did Jesus himself indicate his heavenly existence before his human birth? The answer is a strong yes.

In the Synoptics, we see this most profoundly when Jesus reads himself into Psalm 110 (Matthew 22:41–46 par). He asks the Pharisees why David refers to the Christ — who most Jews agreed would come from David’s lineage — as “my Lord.” Initially, Jesus’s question may seem obscure. But when one reads the full psalm, lights start going on.

In Psalm 110, David records the LORD God (Yahweh) instructing “my Adon” (or “my Lord”) to “sit at my right hand.” Jesus picks up on something easily missed. Yahweh is not addressing David in the psalm; rather, David is recording a conversation between Yahweh and David’s “Lord.” Jesus, thus, is identifying himself as that “Lord.” What David has overheard, by the Spirit (Mark 12:36), is a conversation between Father and Son long ago. Psalm 110 is a window into the Son’s heavenly enthroning with his Father! That’s how David can call Christ, who would be his descendant centuries later, his Lord — for he reigns with God in heaven.

This, in turn, helps clarify what Jesus means when he says he “has come” — from above, it seems — to do things below that transcend what normal people can do, such as “cast fire on the earth” or “give peace on earth” (Luke 12:49–51) and be “a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Mere prophets cannot do such things that have a worldwide scope. Even demonic spirits recognize that Jesus is not from around here but has “come,” apparently from heaven, to confront them (Matthew 8:28–29; Mark 1:24).

When we turn to John’s Gospel, we read that “Isaiah said these things” about Jesus — referring to quotations of Isaiah 6:9–10 and 53:1 — because “he saw his glory” (John 12:38–41). But when did Isaiah see the glory of Jesus? The quotations themselves point the way. Isaiah sees the glory of Jesus first in the throne-room scene of Isaiah 6:1–5, and then as the Servant who will be glorified in his death (Isaiah 52:13–53:12). In short, John is saying that Isaiah already glimpsed Jesus long ago.

Jesus speaks even more plainly elsewhere: “I have come down from heaven” (John 6:38, 51); “I am from above” (John 8:23); “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). And he speaks of glory he had with the Father “before the world existed” (John 17:5).

Thus, the Gospels reveal emphatically how Christ existed in heaven long before Mary ever held him in her arms.

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