The question of when Jesus knew He was God is an interesting one that the Bible does not explicitly answer. However, based on passages throughout the Gospels, we can gain some insight into Jesus’ self-understanding and when He began to reveal His divine identity to others.
It’s clear from Scripture that Jesus was fully God and fully man throughout His earthly life (John 1:1, 14; Colossians 2:9). However, He voluntarily restricted the full use of His divine attributes in order to identify with humanity and fulfill the Father’s will (Philippians 2:5-8). So when exactly did Jesus’ human nature become aware of His divine nature?
Here are a few key points from Scripture that shed light on this question:
1. Jesus had a unique sense of Sonship and intimacy with the Father from a young age
When Jesus was 12 years old, He astonished the teachers in the temple with His understanding and referred to God as His Father (Luke 2:41-50). This indicates He had a growing awareness of His identity and special relationship with the Father, even in His youth.
Jesus also indicated that He had a clear knowledge of His origin and mission that preceded His earthly life when He said “I came from the Father and have come into the world” (John 16:28). His pre-existence and heavenly origin was a part of His self-identity.
2. Jesus understood His identity in terms of Old Testament messianic prophecies
From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus showed an understanding of His fulfillment of messianic prophecies from the Old Testament. For example, when He read from the prophet Isaiah and announced that these Scriptures were fulfilled in Him (Luke 4:16-21). He had a sense that He was the promised Messiah.
After His resurrection, Jesus explained how the entire Old Testament pointed to Him, which implies He had long understood those messianic connections (Luke 24:27). Even at age 12, He was absorbing and processing the messianic prophecies in the temple.
3. Jesus grasped the uniqueness of His relationship with the Heavenly Father
Jesus frequently spoke of God as His Father in a unique sense. He taught His disciples to pray “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9), but Jesus always distinguished between His Father and their Father. He had continuous fellowship with the Father from before creation (John 17:5).
His frequent references to Himself as the Son also indicated His self-understanding of His divine identity and origin from the Father (Matthew 11:27). He knew the one-of-a-kind nature of His filial relationship and authority from the Father.
4. Jesus understood His divine identity at His baptism and transfiguration
At Jesus’ baptism, the Father and the Holy Spirit affirmed Him as the beloved Son (Matthew 3:16-17). This was a pivotal moment of confirmation of His identity and inauguration of His ministry. The Father continued to audibly affirm Jesus’ Sonship and authority at key moments like the transfiguration (Matthew 17:5).
These supernatural events seem to mark critical points where Jesus’ self-understanding was validated. His identity was announced from heaven, confirming what He already knew in a deeper sense.
5. Jesus intentionally concealed the full revelation of His identity during much of His ministry
Despite His likely early awareness of His divine origin and identity, Jesus was careful to only reveal His identity over the course of His ministry. He concealed the full truth from the crowds early on, only hinting at it in veiled ways (John 2:19).
But to His disciples, Jesus began to disclose His identity in more explicit ways. Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ (Matthew 16:16-17) marked a transition point after which He was more forthright about His full authority and divine claims.
This intentional concealment shows Jesus was aware of the divine truth about Himself but prudently waited for the right time and context to disclose it more clearly.
6. Jesus directly claimed equality and oneness with the Father
In the later stages of His ministry, Jesus made increasingly bold statements identifying Himself as equal with the Father. When He declared “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) and affirmed His eternity saying “before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), He was unambiguously claiming divine attributes.
By applying God’s holy name “I AM” to Himself, Jesus removed all doubt about His knowledge that He was God. No mere human messenger would ever make such a statement. This confirms Jesus was conscious of His true identity even if He did not always proclaim it openly.
7. Jesus accepted worship as God
On several occasions, Jesus accepted worship from individuals who recognized His true identity (Matthew 14:33, John 9:38). As an observant Jew, He would have refused any worship due alone to God. But He accepted their worship, affirming His self-understanding as God incarnate.
After His resurrection, Jesus permitted His disciples to worship Him without any hesitation (Matthew 28:17). This provides a strong confirmation that He knew Himself to be divine and acknowledged it openly.
8. Jesus claimed authority to forgive sins and grant eternal life
In multiple instances, Jesus claimed authority reserved for God alone including forgiving sins (Mark 2:5-12) and granting eternal life to those who follow Him (John 11:25-26). He went so far as to claim His words were equal with God’s words (John 14:24).
These astonishing claims were rooted in Jesus’ consciousness of His divine identity and would have been appalling blasphemy if He were merely human. He knew His own deity was the only basis for such authority.
9. Jesus affirmed His pre-existence before creation
Not only did Jesus assert divine titles and roles, He also declared He had glory with the Father before creation (John 17:5). He prayed for the Father to restore to Him the glory He had before the world began, reinforcing His eternal pre-existence.
As God’s divine Son, He shared the Father’s glory from all eternity. His requests show He was fully aware of His true origin and identity even from the foundation of the world.
10. Jesus claimed to hold divine knowledge the Father alone possessed
To reinforce His divine identity, Jesus also made statements no human could rightfully make. For example, He claimed to fully know the Father in the same way the Father knew Him (Matthew 11:27).
He also claimed knowledge of future events including His death and resurrection, as well as coming judgment on Jerusalem (Matthew 16:21, 24:1-2). His assertion of knowledge of the unseen could only be explained if He were God.
While Scripture does not provide an exact moment when Jesus’ human mind realized His divine identity, it is clear He had a growing sense of it from a very young age. By the time of His baptism and transfiguration, it was boldly confirmed from heaven. And Jesus eventually spoke of it plainly and directly as His mission reached its climax.
The Incarnation was the perfect union of undiminished deity with true humanity. Jesus voluntarily submitted the exercise of His divine attributes to the Father’s will, learning and growing on the human plane while never ceasing to be fully God. His statements and actions reflect a clear progression from veiled claims early on to unambiguous declarations of His deity later in His ministry. The evidence shows that even if Jesus’ human nature expressed limiting, He knew innately of His full divine identity from before the creation of the world.
