When considering the deity of Jesus Christ a person must first decide whether or not the bible is a credible resource. So I have written an article about the trustworthiness of the New Testament as focusing on a Muslim perspective
jesusandjews.com/wordpress/2014/02/12/an-islamic-view-that-the-bible-has-been-corrupted/
In this whole matter concerning the divinity of Jesus it is not so much what the bible has to say about it that makes it controversial but rather it is the erroneous view of Qur’an 5:116 in implying that Christians believe the Trinity to be Allah, Jesus, and Mary a position of which the bible nor orthodox Christianity has ever supported. Rather the Trinitarian formula has always been the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If you are interested in understanding more about the metaphorical or symbolic usage of the biblical terms “Father” and “Son” I have written another post which helps to explain these relational concepts.
jesusandjews.com/wordpress/2009/04/09/jesus-is-gods-son/
Anyway if the bible is authentically truthful as an inspirational text then the words of Jesus and the gospel accounts collaborate His divinity. At first it may not appear to be so obvious to the casual observer or for the skeptic for that matter but neither does his position as Messiah of which the Muslims readily accept. Paradoxically, Jesus does not come right out and say it concerning His divine messianic status even though He fits the role, Mt. 11:2-6. Moreover He went so far as to resist the advances of others to make Him King, John 6:14-15 and further rejects such notions of a worldly kingship by stating that His kingdom is not of this world or world system, John 18:36-37. It wasn’t until His trial before His enemies that he plainly but reluctantly admits to them that He is the Christ or Messiah, Luke 22:66-71. Furthermore even though John the Baptist came to prepare the way of the Lord, Jesus himself did not go on a preaching campaign just to bolster His divine status but rather His primary mission at this point was to humbly serve not to be served, Mt. 20:28. It is only with a hush in a private conversation that He disclosed Himself to His faithful disciples concerning His true identity and even at that He was unwilling to plainly blurt it out but rather He asked an open ended question as to who they thought He was as Jesus just didn’t want them to rely only on human testimony but rather in the divine agency of God the Father and the Holy Spirit as revealing this truth, Mt 16:13-20, John 6:44, John 16:13. Lastly He tells them not to mention this to anybody at that time.
It may seem strange to your ears how that Jesus avoided what He came to reveal about Himself but He did so only as hiding it from those who were His avowed enemies until His time on earth had been fulfilled, especially as what he had to say wouldn’t of made a difference to them anyway as it would only be used against Him as they rejected His testimony as only finding fault and guilt with him apart from any concern for truth. Thus this revelation knowledge was reserved only for His true or real disciples as it remained hidden from the plain sight of unbelievers as God the Spirit blinded and made them deaf while opening the eyes and ears of believers to hear and see the truth as He avoided casting His pearls before the unclean swine and dogs.
Indirectly this whole subject matter strongly attests to the truth of the bible in that if Christians really wanted to manipulate the scriptures to substantiate the divinity of Jesus they could of done a better job of it as writing something more like the pseudepigraphal gnostic gospels.
Now lets look and see what the gospel accounts really show about Jesus nature as displaying His divine essence as based on the words and acts of Jesus and His personal disciples.
To begin with Jesus applied to Himself the personal name of God as spoken of in the Hebrew scriptures or Torah as the “I Am”, John 8:58.
He also referred to Himself as the Judge over all mankind, Matt. 25:31-46.
He freely receives worship on several occasions without rebuking others.
John 9:38
38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
Matthew 14:33
33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Matthew 28:9-10
9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
Matthew 28:16-20
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
He claimed to have power to forgive sins as in Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 7:40-50.
He declared His pre-existence and referred to His glory before the world began
John 16:28
28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
John 17:5
5
And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
Jesus called himself the lord of the sabbath and the Lord of king David in Mark 2:28, and Mat 22:41-45. In many instances this concept of Lordship within a Hebraic mindset carries the idea of deity or divinity as the term Lord and God are often used synonymously and interchangeably throughout the bible as found within the Greek Septuagint as well as the Hebrew Tanakh. Also when the Orthodox Jews read the scriptures they use the substitute word of Adonai (Lord) when referring to God.
Mark 2:28
28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
Mat. 22:41-45
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?
45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
John 13:13
13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
According to John chapter 1, Jesus is referred to as God as preexisting in His glorified state as creating the world.
Jesus though minimizing His exposure at times didn’t act within a vacuum as completely escaping His identity towards His enemies who at times were stirred up causing Him to retreat as they protested His blasphemous claims of divine equality with God, John 5:17-18, Mark 2:5-7.
Finally, according to the scriptures, Jesus was much more than a Prophet or a man concerning what He and others said about Him as going beyond the limitations of humanity.
So lastly my question to you is that if the Bible is reliable then you must seriously consider these verses as authenticating Jesus divinity and not just simply dismiss it because it does not fit within your religious worldview as wrongfully trying to deny that the bible even make such claims. Otherwise you might find yourself to be no different than the faults attributed to these religious bigots of Jesus day who rejected Jesus as their Messiah as well as coming up short with a mere human Messiah apart from believing and trusting in the biblical witness and testimony of Jesus as the divine Word; John 1, Mt 7:24-27.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007
Permission granted by David Woods for excerpts taken from the article on “ Muhammad and the Messiah” in the Christian Research Journal Vol.35/No.5/2012