What words in the Gospel of John suggest Jesus' divine nature?

Answer 1

The Gospel According to St John opens by clearly stating that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He made it clear that, to him, Jesus was the Word and, therefore, Jesus existed from the beginning and was God.

John's Gospel was written in Greek and contains many plays on words that are only meaningful in the Greek language. John's Gospel has Jesus saying 'I am' in such a context that, in Greek, he was telling his audience that he was God.

The early Church Fathers were unenthusiastic about John's Gospel. However, Irenaeus supported its clear statement of Jesus as divine, and insisted that there should be four gospels.

Answer 2

The divine nature of Jesus evolved over time, through the four New Testament gospels, from Mark, written approximately 70 CE, to John, written early in the second century.

Mark describes Jesus as "messiah" (anointed one), which could mean future king or priest, son of God, and son of man, titles that took on special significance by being capitalised some 1500 years later.

Matthew describes Jesus as a a mortal with divine power.

Luke also describes Jesus as a mortal with divine power. Acts, by the same author, goes further and suggests that after Jesus' death God promoted him to "Lord", suggesting divine, and sits him on God's right hand.

John opens with the statement that Jesus is not human, but pre-existing and divine, but in human form. Throughout the Gospel, Jesus states that he is God, although the nuances of this can only be seen fully when read in the original Greek language. At his trial before Pilate, Jesus says that his kingdom is not of this world.

In addition to the above:

Contrary to the above answer regarding Matthew's Gospel, Matthew does not describe Jesus as 'mortal' with 'divine power'. Matthew's gospel account is the most Jewish of accounts and Matthew goes out of his way to persuade his Jewish readers that Jesus is the promised Messiah. This he does by persistently quoting prophesies from the Old Testament regarding the Messiah, for the Jews knew exactly the nature of this Messiah from the prophesies about him. He would be divine and called Emmanuel - 'God with us'. To add to the case for Jesus' divinity, Matthew is also the only gospel writer who has the infant Jesus visited by the Gentiles - the Wise men from the east. We are told here that gentiles (not just Jews) worshipped Jesus as the baby. The Greek word used 'proskuneo' was reserved in the new Testament for the word 'worship' when related to God alone, and not simply deference or respect. Moreover, later in Matthew where Jesus talks of his suffering and death, the predictions of his resurrection and ascension, and the building of the New Jerusalem through Jesus Christ are all found clear as crystal in Matthew's account.

Furthermore, with respect to John's gospel, again we know exactly why John wrote it for he said so himself: "I write this so that you too may believe...". John was the closest disciple to Jesus and was almost certainly the author of the fourth gospel. In his account he makes it clear that Jesus is not only fully human but also fully divine - something which he knew categorically as he stood by Jesus' side throughout his mission. John, along with his brother James and Peter, were the only disciples to witness several of the miracles - including the raising from death of Jairus' daughter, and were the only disciples to witness the transfiguration. Thus, John's testimony must be taken seriously. Far from being an idea that grew with time, the roots of Jesus' divinity lie at the heart of his mission and in the hearts of those who later wrote about him, and wasn't a leter invention as some might believe.

Answer 3

The whole of John's Gospel points to Jesus' divine nature. In particular, the seven great 'I Am' statements and the seven signs or miracles also attest to Christ's divinity.