Why didn’t Jesus just say “I am God”?

Jesus loves to seek out and save sinners, yet, he is not a "seeker-sensitive" Savior. It is very difficult to find a straightforward example of Jesus saying that he is God. I've read articles that respond to non-believers who point this out with 'No, Jesus did obviously claim to be God, and here's where', and then show a place where Jesus heavily implied that he was divine. But those articles miss the point: you will not find a single place in any of the four gospels where Jesus himself says the words "I am God" or even "I am the Son of God", even if there are some places where he comes really close (e.g. John 10:30). Why is this? Even if we point to the verses where he comes very close to saying it explicitly, they are few and far between. This can be frustrating for someone trying to share the gospel or defend their faith. While there's nothing wrong with debunking the myth that Jesus did not want people to believe he was God, let's not avoid addressing the piece of truth in the claim: Jesus avoided explicitly proclaiming his deity. Why? Here are five reasons.

1. People wanted Jesus for the Wrong Reasons

For most of Jesus' ministry, enormous crowds flocked to him, but on Good Friday, those same crowds cried, "Crucify him!" On the surface, it seemed like Jesus was loved by Israel, but in reality, they wanted what he could give them; they did not want him.

Many flocked to him because he desired healing. They had heard that Jesus had cast out demons, cured fevers, healed lepers, made the lame walk and the blind see. At one point, the crowds were so desperate to touch him in hopes of being healed that he feared for his life (Mark 3:9-10).

Others followed him hoping for freedom from Roman rule. Israel at the time was under Roman occupation and had not had freedom from tyrannical foreign nations for centuries. The prophets had said that the Messiah would be a son of King David, and would reign on his throne forever (2 Sam 7:12-13). After the feeding of the 5,000, some realized that Jesus must be the Messiah and tried to forcibly make him king (John 6:14-15).

However, Jesus made it clear, that he did not come to heal diseases or overthrow Rome; he came to preach the gospel (Mark 1:36-38). Knowing the idols of men's hearts and their misunderstanding of him, he consistently commanded people whom he had healed, demons whom he had cast out, and even his own disciples not to tell people who he was or what he had done (Mark 1:25,44; Mark 3:12; Matt 16:20). He did this to avoid drawing attention as the Messiah for the wrong reasons, preventing people from approaching him for material gain and ensuring they grasped their true need: reconciliation with God.

2. Jesus' Time to Die had not yet Come

Jesus was not only concerned about being misunderstood, he was also strategic about how he spoke due to his rivals. While the people liked Jesus for the wrong reasons, the religious leaders hated him, because he was a threat to the control that they so enjoyed. Ezekiel's words against the leaders in his day also describe well the religious leaders of Jesus' day (Ezek 34:1-4). Rather than caring for those in their care, they took advantage of them, by wielding God's law as a weapon for their own good. Jesus' message of grace and forgiveness that leveled the moral playing field was a direct threat to the source of their control. This threat led the religious leaders ultimately to kill Jesus.

However, Jesus' ministry lasted a whole three years (roughly), because of Jesus' lack of clear proclamation of his divinity. Often, he would speak of the "Son of Man", one of the Old Testament names for the Messiah, in the third person, heavily implying that it was him, but never actually saying it. He did not do this out of self-preservation. On the contrary, he came with the primary purpose of dying on a cross at the hands of his enemies and then being raised from the dead. But he had many to preach to before he was ready for that day to come (John 2:4), and he knew exactly when the appointed day had arrived (Matt 26:45). This is why Jesus let loose and spoke most clearly against the religious leaders in the final week leading to his death (Mark 12:38-40, Matthew 23). When Jesus actually did end up on trial, it was very difficult for the religious leaders to accuse him of anything (Luke 22:66-71, John 18:29-30).

3. Jesus demanded Repentance, not just Acknowledgement

Before Jesus was ready to die, he came to preach to the people, not simply to inform them of truth, but to call them to action. Every time that Jesus implied that he is God, there was a message to go along with it. Mark 2 is a great illustration of this:

v. 1-12: Jesus has the authority to forgive sins
v. 13-17: Jesus is the Great Physician, come to save sinners
v. 18-22: Jesus is the Bridegroom come to marry his people
v. 23-28: Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath

In each of these four stories, Jesus identified himself as divine, but his goal was not simply to educate people on this fact. Notice how each declaration requires the reader to examine themselves:

v. 1-12: You need forgiveness from Jesus, not physical healing
v. 13-17: Jesus only calls those who recognize their sin
v. 18-22: Jesus is a reason to rejoice in freedom, not mourn in slavery
v. 23-28: Repent of using God's laws to make yourself look good

Whenever someone sat under Jesus' teaching, he did not want them to leave his teaching merely informed. He sought that people listening would realize that he is everything and repent and believe in the good news. Indifference or mild interest were never acceptable responses.

4. Jesus Spoke in Parables for Judgment

When speaking to the crowds, Jesus spoke exclusively in parables (Mark 4:33-34) because he wanted to hide the meaning of his teaching to those whom God had not chosen. In Mark 4, Jesus tells the crowds a parable about four soils reacting differently to seed. Afterwards, Jesus explains to his disciples why he spoke in parables by quoting the prophet Isaiah:

"And when [Jesus] was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that
“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
   and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”" (Mark 4:10-12)

Jesus is saying that, in order to judge people for their sins, he intentionally spoke in parables that he knew the people would not understand.

This can be a hard pill for us to swallow given that Jesus's purpose in coming to earth was to preach the good news and to suffer, die, and rise to secure that good news. If that truly was his mission, why would he punish his listeners by obscuring this good news? To answer this question, notice how Jesus contrasted his disciples with the crowds saying that the secret of the kingdom was given to the disciples unlike the crowds (Mark 4:11). On first glance, one might assume that the secret must be understanding the parables. But this can't be, because the disciples, just like the crowds, did not understand the parable (Mark 4:13). Everyone who heard the parable, the disciples included, failed to understand it. So what did the disciples have that no one else did? They had Jesus to explain it to them (Mark 4:34). They needed God himself to explain the meaning to them, otherwise they were hopeless. It was not until after Jesus' resurrection that people actually began to understand Jesus' message in full. Even Jesus' disciples with whom he shared the meaning of the parables failed to understand what Jesus was about until Pentecost where God poured out his Spirit.

5. Jesus Proved His Identity by Doing, not just Saying

Jesus chose to prove his identity, not in what he said, but in what he did. Notice what Jesus said about how to identify false prophets and messiahs:

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:15-20)

How Jesus talks about these false prophets is enlightening because it shows us how the Messiah should be identified: not by his words, but by his works. Unlike false prophets, false messiahs (Mark 13:6), and generally wicked leaders (John 5:44), Jesus did not come to earth to bring glory to himself. He came to glorify his Father (John 5:19; 6:38; 12:44-50; 17:4-5). When Jesus saw people, he was moved deeply in his soul with compassion (Matt 9:36; 14:14; 15:32). When Jesus was dragging the object that he was to be executed with, he showed more concern for those around him than he showed for himself (Luke 23:28). And these examples are just scratching the surface of the good fruit of Jesus. Even when Jesus taught, he did not share empty words. He taught with authority (Mark 1:22). Often his greatest teachings were accompanied by acts of compassion (Mark 2:5,11; 3:5, John 9:1-7). He fulfilled prophecy through the heart he had for God's house (John 2:17), through his actions (Matthew 21:5), and even the circumstances of his infancy (Matthew 1:23; 2:6, 15, 18) and his death (John 19:24, 28). Jesus proved himself to be the Son of God constantly by the heart he had, the things he did, and the words he said, such that the crowds, and even his own closest disciples, were constantly amazed, asking themselves "Who is this?"

When a non-believer approaches us with a misunderstanding about the Bible, we have an amazing opportunity. While they are seeking to undermine Christ, we can take advantage of the situation to share about Christ. When they tell us that Jesus never claimed to be God, we can share the gospel by explaining the gospel reasons why he didn't. We need not shy away from admitting truths like these; we can have confidence in the firm foundation of truth on which we stand, and lovingly continue to share the good news with whoever will listen.