Jesus Claimed to be God or Not.
Why there is disagreement in four ways.
In the Gospel of John, either ...
1) Jesus only claimed his pre-existence, not his
Godhood.
2) Jesus claimed to be God.
3) Jesus claimed to be only a mediator, a sage,
between men and God, and old scripture talked about his coming.
A commentary says ...
"Looking at the context of the entire gospel of John,
Jesus consistently draws a separation between himself and God. He refers to God
as 'Father' and shows that he is subordinate to the Father (John
14:28) and was sent at his Father's direction (John 3:16; 17:3)."
Dobbie says: Thus Jesus didn't
say he was God; so says the above commentary. It offers a perspective; it doesn't
bring closure.
4) Misunderstanding Jesus, Jewish teachers mistrusted
him. He had claimed or hinted to be the messiah, but they hadn't expected a
messiah like him. Thanks to his ambiguity, they inferred that he claimed a God
status, which was a blasphemy; so they acted against him.
Strange that the Jewish teachers were prepared to
stone Jesus while it was illegal to do put someone to death without getting
Roman permission. The Jewish teachers believed that their scripture permitted
them to kill the opposition to their doctrine. Or they only sought to pelt him
with stones?
Four possibilities because the Gospel is ambiguous.
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