Do Bible verses explicitly say Jesus is God?

“Yes, after all…

  • John 1:1 “and the Word was God”

    John 1:1 -- “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (NASB etc.). This is relevant because “the Word” is explicitly identified as Jesus (v. 14).

    “But, so what? The New World Translation is the right one; Jn 1:1 should be translated as ‘and the word was a god.’”

  • John 1:18 “God the one and only”

    John 1:18 -- “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.”

    “But, so what? Contra the NASB etc., the original manuscripts read the “only begotten Son”] rather than “God the one and only.””

  • John 20:28 “to him... ‘My Lord and my God!’”

    Jn 20:28 -- Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

    “But, so what? Couldn't it simply be that…
    …he said ‘My Lord’ to Jesus first, and looked up, saying ‘My God’ to God?”1 …"My Lord and my God" is just an expression of astonishment.”

    1. By way of response, however, this is obviously a rather desperate/awkward/unnatural reading of the text. Moreover, the verse specifically says these words were directed “to Him” (to Jesus). No author would have expected his readers to interpret it differently.
    2. By way of response, however, this is unlikely. We know this for three reasons:
      • “My Lord and my God” does not correspond to any known expression use in that day, or ever. As noted by A.T. Robertson, this was “Not exclamation, but address, the vocative case though the form of the nominative, a very common thing in the Koiné.” [Word Pictures in the New Testament (Broadman, 1927)]
      • The verse specifically says these words were directed "to Him" (to Jesus)., and no reader would have interpreted otherwise (and no author would have expected them to).
      • Using God's name in such a fashion was considered blasphemous. Thomas, as a devout Jew, would not have done it, and even if he did, Jesus plausibly would have reprimanded him.

  • [Col 2:9 “in Him the fullness of Deity dwells”]

    [Brackets] mean “forthcoming". But the whole verse reads: Col 2:9 -- For in Him [Jesus] all the fullness of Deity [Grk. theos] dwells in bodily form

  • [Heb. 1:8 “of the Son He says, 'your throne, o God...'”]

    [Brackets] mean "forthcoming.” But the whole verse reads: Hebrews 1:3 -- “But of the Son He [God] says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.” (Hebrews 1:8). See also "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power”