God told the Jewish people, etc.
If Jesus were merely coming forward as a simple man, I would definitely understand why many would be “tripped up” (as they say), and they would have a right to go to the verses cited before. However, if Christ proves His divinity, that makes him God. We are therefore not putting our faith in a mere man - like I am a mere man - but God the Son incarnate in the flesh. Some examples where Christ clearly attributed divinity to himself (because I know some Jews out there try to argue Christ never did):
And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” [Matthew 9:2] - It has been contested that salvation is in God alone - if this is the case, then Christ is guilty of blasphemy here, for he has forgiven the sins of the paralytic. The scribes were well aware of this, given that in the very next verse they accuse Christ of blasphemy in their hearts. Herein we have two dilemmas: Christ is either the biggest blasphemer to ever live, taking credit and duties from God, or he is God.
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’? If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” [Matthew 22:41-45] - Having been bothered by the Sanhedrin, scribes and lawyers during his whole time at the Temple, Christ now goes on the offensive, and asks them a question: whose son is the Christ? (that is, from where does he come from) They answer that he is the son of David (that is, a descendent of David), to which Christ quotes Psalm 110:1, in which King David calls one of his descendents “Lord” (something an elder in a family would never do). Christ then poses a question regarding this: if the Christ is just the son of David (that is, merely his descendent and nothing more), then why is he called Lord and held in such high esteem? The answer points towards Christ’s divinity - the Pharisees were probably well aware of this, given that, as it says in the next verse, they are completely unable to give a proper response.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” [John 5:25-30] - Verse 30 is perhaps one of the most misquoted verses (indeed, it was misquoted earlier in this thread), however, when you see the full context, it’s actually a strong affirmation of divinity. Christ had earlier stated: “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” (v. 19). Here we see the coeternal, coexistent nature of Father and Son within the Trinity, one of the strongest in the Gospels, and indeed the New Testament. It shows the unity of God the Son with God the Father.
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” [John 8:58] - Christ not only states that he existed before Abraham, but speaks of it in present tense…a statement that only eternal beings can make, and hence a statement only God would say. The Jews were clearly aware of this, given in the exact next verse they picked up stones to throw at him.
So when someone says “The Bible says we shouldn’t put our faith in mortal men,” they should not immediately assume this contradicts Christian theology. Christ is not a mere man, but is God the Son. He is divine, and by his name alone do we have salvation (Acts 4:12), for his name comes with the authority and power of God.
Let me try to use an analogy - and like most analogies, it probably has flaws, but I’m using it to convey an idea and not the standard. Suppose the General Manager of a TV station says, “Don’t let a production assistant boss you around.” Then one day, a production assistant calls in sick, and the studio crew is short. The GM, out of humility, fills in the role of the production assistant. Now imagine if an anchor was about to do something immensely absurd, and the GM promptly cried out, “Hold up! Don’t do that!” Would the anchor turn and say, “You’re a production assistant! I don’t have to do anything you say!” Probably not. Although the General Manager is currently in the role of a production assistant, he is still the General Manager, and still retains all the authority and privileges granted him. In like manner, that God the Son has taken flesh and dwelt among us does not contradict the notion that we can find salvation only in God and not in man.
in Acts 7:56
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