Peace be to you. Muslims often challenge the Christians with this question: Where did Jesus
say, I am God or worship Me?
The fact of the matter is this: If Jesus is God, then Islam is proven a false religion
and thus, Mohammad is merely another false prophet who deceived his followers. In fact,
the root cause for the Muslims to disbelieve Jesus Christ is God, lies not with Him. But
the Father Yahweh has not drawn them to follow Jesus Christ is God.
In John 6 : 44, Jesus said: No man can come to me unless the Father who sent me shall
attract him, and I will raise him at the Last day." AEV.
Christians have proved that Jesus Christ did claim that He is God Almighty or He says,
Worship Me. But Muslims continue to follow Islam despite it promotes Qibla idolatry which
Jesus Christ did not prostrate towards Mecca specifically.
Firstly, Jesus Christ said to the Jews: Amen, amen, I say to you, Before Abraham was,
I AM (HaYah)." AEV John 8 : 58.
Before Abraham existed, Jesus Christ had said: I Am, which in Hebrew, is HaYah.
Exodus 3 : 14 And Elohim said unto Moses,
I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM, or
HaYah has sent me unto you. ' HaYah in Hebrew is, the first person singular
imperfect form and is usually translated in English Bibles as "I am", or "I will be".
Yahweh is the third person singular form of HaYah, which means self existent or eternal.
Secondly, Jesus Christ said: All whatever that the Father has, is mine: on this account
I have said to you, That of mine He (The Spirit of Truth) will take, and will show you. ' AEV
John 16 : 15. Lord Jesus Christ claimed that He owned all
words of His Father and that the Spirit of Truth will take whatever words belong to Him
and show to His disciples.
For example, when Jesus Christ owns all words of His Father, then His Father will be speechless.
If the words remain with the Father, Jesus Christ should have said that the Spirit of
Truth will take whatever from His Father instead of, That of Mine He will take . As Yahweh
does not change with time, then the nature of Jesus Christ and Yahweh are the same since
the beginning of time.
When Jesus Christ said: I am the Son of Elohim, in John 10 : 36, He invoked the Law of Yahweh
Elohim which He spoke in Psalms 82 : 6, "I have said: Ye are Elohim and all of you are
Sons of the Most High." The honorable title of Son of Elohim, means Elohim based on the
precedent law in Psalms 82 : 6. In short, Jesus Christ said: I am the Son of Elohim
in John 10:36 which means I am Elohim, based on Psalms 82 : 6.
Thirdly, Jesus Christ said: I and my Father are One, and He further claimed that My Father
is in Me and I am in My Father, based on John 10 : 30 and John 10 : 38 respectively. Jesus
Christ never said My Father is Me and I am the Father, neither did He said I and My Father
are Two Gods. This further supports the fact that whatever the Father has spoken, it belongs
to the Son since they are One. Jesus Christ requoted from Isaiah the Prophet:
This people with the lips honour me, but their heart (is) very far from me. But in vain they
reverence or worship me, while they teach the doctrines of the commandments of men."
AEV Matthew 15 : 8 - 9.
To conclude, Jesus Christ claimed "I AM GOD" based on John 10 : 30 "I and My Father ARE One",
and He said, Worship Me, in Matthew 15 : 8 - 9.
As a matter of fact, when Apostle Thomas called Jesus in John 20 : 28, My Lord and My Elohim,
He did not rebuke Thomas for blasphemy but commended him for the faith after seeing Him.
The Holy Spirit of Truth has come to all Christians to guide them in all truth as promised by
Lord Jesus Christ in John 16 : 13 - 14. The Holy Spirit is He who glorifies Jesus with
the honorable titles that the Father had bestowed to Him since Jesus spoke in Psalms 2 : 7 and
Psalms 82 : 6. Based on the scriptural evidence, Jesus Christ
did claim He is God and He did accept worship from Apostle Thomas and from His other disciples.
Shalom.