Mark 14:60-62
Jesus Tells the High Priest He is the Son of the Blessed One
60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?" 61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"
62 "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Luke 7:44-50
Jesus Forgives a Woman of Her Sins
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet,but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Matthew 23:29-39
Jesus Sent Us Prophets and Wise Men
29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Mark 2:18-22
Jesus Questioned about Fasting
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”
19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
1 John 3:4-5
Jesus Did Not Sin
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
John 8:48-59
Jesus Claims about Himself
48 The Jews answered him, “Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”
49 “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”
52 At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
John 10:22-42
Conflict Over Jesus' Claims
22 Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all;no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus.
John 4:25-26
Jesus Tells the Samaritan Woman He is the Messiah
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
John 14:6-7
Jesus Says He is the Way, the Life, and the Truth
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Matthew 10:32
Jesus on Acknowledging Him
32 Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:29-30
Obstacles Before Jesus
29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
John 6:35-59
Eat the Flesh and Drink the Blood of the Son of Man
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
John 16:32-33
Jesus Has Overcome The World
32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Matthew 19:30
The Last Will Be First
30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
C. S. Lewis says that most everyone agrees that Jesus was a most Remarkable Teacher and His teachings and moral doctrines is at the purest and the best...This is one phenomenon about Him -almost everyone will agree that He is one of the Greatest Moral Teachers of all time...Even people of differing religions believe that He was this Great Moral Teacher...
But then we have to look further and deeper into what He said during His ministry...He goes far beyond the Great Moral Teacher line, and into the Divine...
Lewis goes on to say, "The other phenomenon is the quite appalling nature of this Man’s theological remarks...You all know what I mean, and I want rather to stress the point that the appalling claim, which this Man seems to be making, is not merely made at one moment of His career...There is, of course, the one moment, which led to His execution...The moment at which the High Priest said to Him, ‘Who are You?’ ‘I AM the Anointed, the Son of the Uncreated God, and you shall see Me appearing at the end of all history as the Judge of the universe.’...But that claim, in fact, does not rest on this one dramatic moment...When you look into His conversation you will find this sort of claim running throughout the whole thing...For instance, He went about saying to people, ‘I forgive your sins’...Now it is quite natural for a man to forgive something you do to him...Thus if somebody cheats me out of five pounds it is quite possible and reasonable for me to say, ‘Well, I forgive him, we will say no more about it.’...What on earth would you say if somebody had done you out of five pounds and I said, ‘That is all right, I forgive him?...Then there is a curious thing, which seems to slip out almost by accident...On one occasion this Man is sitting looking down on Jerusalem from the hill about it and suddenly in comes an extraordinary remark — ‘I keep on sending you prophets and wise men.’...Nobody comments on it...And yet, quite suddenly, almost incidentally, He is claiming to be the power that all through the centuries is sending wise men and leaders into the world...Here is another curious remark: in almost every religion there are unpleasant observances like fasting...This Man suddenly remarks one day, ‘No one need fast while I AM here.’ Who is this Man who remarks one day, ‘No one need fast while I AM here.’...Who is this Man who remarks that His mere presence suspends all normal rules?...Who is the Person who can suddenly tell the School they can have a half-holiday?...Sometimes the statements put forward the assumption that He, the Speaker, is completely without sin or fault...This is always the attitude...‘You, to whom I am talking, are all sinners,’ and He never remotely suggests that this same reproach can be brought against Him. He says again, ‘I am the begotten of the One God, before Abraham was, I AM,’ ...And remember what the words ‘I AM’ were in Hebrew...They were the name of God, which must not be spoken by any human being, the name which it was death to utter."...
Jesus made these remarkable statements and claims Himself to be the Messiah...(And He makes many more claims other than the verses above)...The question is "Do you believe Him?"...
Lewis puts it this way, "The question is, I suppose, whether any hypothesis covers the facts so well as the Christian hypothesis...That hypothesis is that God has come down into the created universe, down to manhood — and come up again, pulling it up with Him...The alternative hypothesis is not legend, nor exaggeration, nor the apparitions of a ghost...It is either lunacy or lies...Unless one can take the second alternative (and I can’t) one turns to the Christian theory...‘What are we to make of Christ?’...There is no question of what we can make of Him; it is entirely a question of what He intends to make of us...You must accept or reject the story...The things He says are very different from what any other teacher has said...Others say, ‘This is the truth about the universe...This is the way you ought to go,’ but He says, ‘I AM the Truth, and the Way, and the Life.’...He says, ‘No man can reach absolute reality, except through Me...Try to retain your own life and you will be inevitably ruined...Give yourself away and you will be saved.; He says, ‘If you are ashamed of Me, if, when you hear this call, you turn the other way, I also will look the other way when I come again as God without disguise...If anything whatever is keeping you from God and from Me, whatever it is, throw it away...If it is your eye, pull it out. If it is your hand, cut it off...If you put yourself first you will be last...Come to Me everyone who is carrying a heavy load, I will set that right...Your sins, all of them, are wiped out, I can do that...I am Re-birth, I AM Life. Eat Me, drink Me, I AM your Food...And finally, do not be afraid, I have overcome the whole Universe.’...That is the issue...
Lewis is right throughout the four gospels Jesus goes around as if He is from Heaven, and is the Son of God...That is His attitude...He is the Messiah, the Son of God, and our Savior...