Jesus Knows Himself to Be God the Son Incarnate

In Wellum's primer on Christology, he devotes a chapter to Jesus's self understanding during the incarnation ("Who Does Jesus Say That He Is?"). One of the most important ways to perceive how Jesus understands himself in relation to his disciples and all other people is the way he receives worship and does not reject it. 

This is critically significant because he does so within an affirmation of monotheism rooted in the OT Scriptures. As Wellum reflects, "In a biblical worldview, God alone is worthy of worship, he shares his glory with no one, and he rightly demands worship and total devotion from his creatures. To worship any created thing rather than God is idolatry (Acts 14:14–15; Rom 1:18–23; Rev 5:9–14; 19:10)." 

With this theological context in mind, we can more clearly recognize what Jesus claims when he allows others to give him this kind of reverence: 

What is crucial to note . . . is that Jesus receives human worship and never rebukes people for giving it (Matt 14:33; 21:15–16; 28:9–17; John 20:28). But Jesus raises the significance of this veneration a notch. Knowing that his Father has committed all authority to him, Jesus explains why he has done so: 'that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him' (John 5:23). Jesus, then, receives the worship that only God is to receive and also demands it, precisely because he self-identifies with God as his Son.

The implication here is that this is one of the best ways to see what Jesus thinks about himself: 

In fact, much of Jesus's implicit witness to himself depends on this unavoidable deduction: if the works that Jesus does can be accomplished only by God, then by performing these works, the man Jesus implies that he, as the Son, shares the same authority as God his Father. Thus, in every aspect of his life, in every word he speaks, and in every work he performs, Jesus views himself as the Son of the Father, fulfilling the plan of the Creator-covenant Lord to redeem a people for himself and to reign over his creation in perfect righteousness. 

Rather than make the case that Jesus doesn't think he is divine because he doesn't utter the phrase "I Am God," we should reckon more fully with the biblical idiom. If you are aware of the Scriptural context of the words Jesus uses and the actions he takes, then his affirmation of his own divine status becomes stunningly direct: 

Although Jesus never says, "I am God the Son incarnacte," he implicitly self-identifies as such. We cannot think of Jesus's words and works isolated from their place in the Bible's storyline and interpretive framework. Jesus knows that he is the one to accomplish God's plan, to do God's works, and to receive God's worship. As such, Jesus knows himself to be God the Son incarnate.