When people ask is Jesus the Son of God, they usually want to know two things:
- Is Jesus “just” God’s son?
- Or is Jesus God?
The answer is yes to both. Jesus is the Son of God, and He is God.
This article shows you how Jesus is the Son of God and presents 4 undeniable proofs that the Son of God is truly God Himself.
Let’s start!
Contents
How is Jesus the Son of God?
In Christian theology, the Son of God is:
- Divinely unique in His eternal relationship with the Father.
- The second person of the Trinity, fully God, and distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit.
- The promised Messiah and King, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies.
- The exact image of God (Colossians 1:15), and in Him all the fullness of the deity dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9). He is the radiance of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3).
- The Savior and mediator (John 3:16), reconciling humanity to God through His life, death, and resurrection.
Therefore, the title “Son of God” reflects Jesus’ divine identity, His unique place in the Godhead, His role in revealing God to humanity, and His mission to redeem humanity. This title affirms both His divinity and His saving purpose.
All believers are small “s” sons of God by adoption. Jesus is the only begotten Son, meaning the one and only, unique Son of God whose nature and essence are the same as the Father’s.
Calling Jesus the “Son of God” means He has a unique, eternal relationship with God the Father. This is not biological or creational; rather, it signifies a relational bond that existed from eternity.
Jesus is eternally begotten of the Father, meaning He has always been in a relationship with God, having the same divine essence as the Father. Jesus is the second person of the Godhead, co-eternal and co-equal with the Father. This concept is rooted in verses like John 1:1-3, where Jesus (the Word) is described as being with God and being God Himself, and John 1:14, where the Word became flesh.
Is Jesus the divine Son of God?
For many, this is the crux of the question, “Is Jesus the Son of God?”
Is Jesus actually God, or is He merely a created being?
The Bible demonstrates in multiple ways that Jesus is God. In this article, however, we will focus on the passages that show the Son of God is divine and not created being.
Let’s study John 5 first.
Read more: Where in the Bible does it say Jesus is God?
1st proof: Jesus as the divine Son of God in John 5
John’s Gospel chapter 5 is full of Jesus’ claims to divinity. In this chapter, He also explains His father-son relationship with God the Father: He is the divine Son of God, equal to the Father, in perfect union with the Father yet subject to Him.
Let’s see the multiple ways Jesus shows He is God in the flesh in John 5.
In John 5:1-16, Jesus heals a man paralyzed for 38 years on the Sabbath. Because He healed the man and said to him that it’s okay to carry his mat on Sabbath, the Jews sought to kill Jesus.
For this, Jesus says that God is working on the Sabbath (John 5:17). God is free from Sabbath observation because He needs to preserve the creation. If He does not preserve the creation, the universe would cease to exist. Therefore, He is working even on the Sabbath.
In John 5:17, Jesus says He is also working on the Sabbath. If you would ask the Jews of Jesus’ time if any human is free from Sabbath observance, they would say no one is free from it. Jesus claims to be God by saying that He, too, works on the Sabbath.
The Jews understood this and, thus, wanted to kill Him, as you see in John 5:18.
John 5:15-18
The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.” For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
The story continues in the next verse, John 5:19, which is, actually, a famous rebuttal attempt of the deity of Christ because “the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.”
How can the Son be God if He can do nothing of His own accord?
Jesus’ explanation defeats this rebuttal with another claim of divinity. Let’s read John 5:19-20.
John 5:19-20
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
“The Father shows the Son all that he himself is doing.” Jesus sees everything, all the time, what the Father does. This alone should be enough to convince anyone of the deity of Jesus.
“For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” Jesus can also do everything that the Father can do.
Those are powerful claims for divinity.
The counterargument is refuted because Jesus sees everything that the Father does and can do all He sees the Father doing. Can one still argue that the Son is a mere creature? No creature can see all that the Father does, and no creature can do all that the Father does, including:
- Create the world.
- Give life.
- Forgive sins.
- Be omnipresent.
- Know all things.
- And other acts that only God can perform that the Bible affirms Jesus of doing.
Since Jesus can see and do everything the Father does, “the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing” speaks about the hierarchy and perfect union (also John 5:30) within the Godhead, not about denial of Jesus’ divinity.
See also how Jesus and the Father are one.
In the following verses, Jesus expounds on His relationship with the Father.
John 5:21-23
For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires. For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.
According to Jesus’ words, He, as the Son of God,
- can give life to whom he desires,
- has all judgment over everyone,
- so that everyone would honor the Son as they honor the Father.
According to the Bible,
- only God gives and takes away life (Genesis 1-2, Deuteronomy 32:39).
- Only God judges everyone (Isaiah 33:22, Psalm 75:7, James 4:12).
- God does not share His glory, including honor, with any creature (Isaiah 48:11).
The Father has given all the judgment to the Son so that everyone would honor the Son as they honor the Father.
Why would the Father give all the judgment and, through it, the same honor to the Son as He has if He does not share His honor with any creature?
God also says in the Bible that humans are prohibited from giving the same honor to anything created as they give to God. But now the Father demands that the same honor be given to the Son.
It’s because the Son is divine, and Jesus is God.
2nd proof: The Father testifies Jesus is the Son of God and Yahweh
In Hebrews 1:8-12, you will find one of the best passages to prove that Jesus, the Son of God, is Yahweh God.
In this passage, the Father (referred to as ‘he’ in the passage) speaks about the divine nature of the Son, Jesus Christ, in the following manner.
Hebrews 1:5, 8-12
For to which of the angels did he say at any time,
“You are my Son.
Today I have become your father?”
and again,
“I will be to him a Father,
and he will be to me a Son?”
But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
And,
“You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth.
The heavens are the works of your hands.
They will perish, but you continue.
They all will grow old like a garment does.
You will roll them up like a mantle,
and they will be changed;
but you are the same.
Your years won’t fail.”
The Father calls the Son God, says the Son created the heavens and the earth, and vouches for the eternality of the Son.
Verses 11-12 quote Psalm 102:25-27 in which Yahweh is the everlasting Creator who made the heavens and earth. Psalm 102 is dedicated to Yahweh (see Psalm 102:1). In Hebrews 1:11-12, the Father says through His inspired Word that Jesus, as the Son of God, is the everlasting Yahweh God.
The passage also clearly treats the Father and the Son as distinct persons, which proves the Trinitarian nature of the Godhead.
3rd proof: Enemies understood Jesus claimed to be divine Son of God
Before His crucifixion, Jesus was questioned by the Sanhedrin and the High Priest of the Jews. The High Priest directly asks Jesus, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” i.e., are you the Messiah, the Son of God?
Jesus affirms He is the Messiah and the Son of God by claiming He is the divine Son of Man from Daniel 7. To sit on the right hand of God and come with the clouds refer to acts that
Yahweh God does in the Old Testament, and thus, are claims for divinity.
The High Priest’s and the Sanhedrin’s reaction shows that they understood Jesus claimed to be God.
Mark 14:60-64
The high priest stood up in the middle, and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is it which these testify against you?” But he stayed quiet, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
Jesus said, “I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky.”
The high priest tore his clothes, and said, “What further need have we of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?” They all condemned him to be worthy of death.
John 19:7
The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”
4th proof: The Son of God in the Old Testament
In the Old Testament, the term “son of God” appears in various ways:
- Angels are called “sons of God” (Job 1:6, 38:7)
- Israel is called God’s “firstborn son,” indicating a covenant relationship with God (Exodus 4:22-23, Hosea 11:1).
- Davidic kings are often regarded as God’s “sons” due to their special role in God’s plans, foreshadowing the Messiah (2 Samuel 7:14).
Messianic prophecies introduce a coming “son” with divine attributes (Isaiah 9:6, Psalm 2:7-8, Micah 5:2-4)
However, you’ll find a great Old Testament example of the divine Son of God in Proverbs 30:1-4 that goes beyond shadows and allusions.
Proverbs 30:1-4
The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; the revelation:the man says to Ithiel,
to Ithiel and Ucal:
“Surely I am the most ignorant man,
and don’t have a man’s understanding.
I have not learned wisdom,
neither do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.
Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has bound the waters in his garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know?
Almost all Bible translations render verse 3 as “the Holy One,” singular. The word is actually plural, as you can see from the interlinear of the verse below.
New Revised Standard Version translates it as plural.
Proverbs 30:3 (New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised)
I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of the holy ones.
The passage invites you to ponder rhetorical questions that aim to show man’s lack of knowledge of divine secrets, the knowledge of the Holy One(s).
The last question asks for God’s and His Son’s names. Name in the Bible describes a person’s characteristics and nature.
The Bible describes God with many names, but His name is also beyond comprehension (Judges 13:18). No creature can fully understand God’s true nature.
In Proverbs 30:4, the last question ties God to the divine creative actions in the previous questions. No one else has done these actions than God. The last question not only ties God to the earlier questions and their divine actions but also ties the Son to them.
Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Only God has gathered them.
Who has bound the waters in his garment? Only God has bound them.
Who has established all the ends of the earth? Only God has established them.
What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, do you know? Only God knows their names.
So, “if you know” in the last question is pointless because no man knows the name or the nature of God or His Son because they are beyond comprehension for creatures.
It is not only the name of the Son that is divine, but the Son is also linked to all the acts in the above questions together with the Father.
This shows that the Father has a divine Son in the Old Testament. This is also why the Holy Ones are in plural in Hebrew in Proverbs 30:3.
Read our definitive guide to know more about the Trinity in the Old Testament.
Is Jesus the Son of God summary
The question, “Is Jesus the Son of God?” touches on two key issues:
- whether Jesus is simply God’s son
- or God Himself.
Jesus is the divine Son of God and fully God.
The title, “Son of God,” speaks to Jesus’ unique, eternal relationship with the Father, His co-equal position within the Trinity, and His fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.
In passages like John 5, Jesus makes claims that reveal His divine nature—such as working on the Sabbath as only God would. He sees everything the Father does, can do all that the Father does, and performs acts that in the Old Testament are ascribed to God alone.
Furthermore, Jesus is called “the exact image of God” (Colossians 1:15), with “all the fullness of deity” dwelling in Him (Colossians 2:9), affirming His divine identity. While believers are adopted as lower case “sons” of God, Jesus remains the “only begotten Son,” with a capital S, sharing the Father’s divine essence and attributes.
This understanding clarifies that Jesus is not a created being but eternally co-existent and equal with the Father, fulfilling His role as both our Savior and God.