Did Jesus claim to be God?
Consider the episode when Jesus stilled the storm:
On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (Mark 4:35-41).
Now, you could argue that Jesus stilling the storm is no more proof of His deity than Moses parting the Red Sea or Joshua (or the priests) parting the Jordan or Elijah stopping the rain is proof of their deity.
Did Jesus perform a “mere” nature miracle like any other prophet, or was He up to something else?
Please consider Psalm 107, which describes something that Yahweh does:
Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters,
They see the works of the Lord [Yahweh],
And His wonders in the deep.
For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
Then they cry out to the Lord [Yahweh] in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven (Ps 107:23-30).
Notice any parallels between Psalm 107 and Mark 4?
In Psalm 107, the sailors are in the ships; in Mark 4, the disciples are in the boat.
In both accounts, a storm rises.
Then the sailors panic, as do the disciples.
The sailors call out to Yahweh while the disciples call out to Jesus.
Then Yahweh “calms” the storm and “stills” the waves; similarly, Jesus rebukes the wind and speaks peace to the waves, “and there was a great calm.”
The disciples were stunned.
The Psalmist says this is what Yahweh does. But Jesus did it, too. So the disciples ask, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” They understood the calming of the storm was different, something more than a miracle.
“Who can this be?” they wondered.
Given Psalm 107, who else can Jesus be but Yahweh?
