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[Throw Away]

Did Jesus know he was God?

[jimwalton]

Yes. John 5.17-18; 8.58; 10.30.

[throw Away]

Why do not find any of these claims documented in the earlier gospels?

[jimwalton]

They do.

In Matthew 27.43, Jesus's critics report that Jesus claimed to be "the Son of God." If you were to do a study of what Matthew means by "the Son of God," you will discover that Matthew uses the term to denote deity.

• The Son of God is the messianic king (3.17; 14.33; 16.16; 17.5; 27.54)
• He is the mediator between men and God (10.32-33)
• He knows the mind of God (11.27). He and the Father are mutually validating.
• Jesus in His nature is the revelation of God (11.27; cf. Heb. 1.2): God with us (1.23), who is in the position of God and carries the authority of God (11.27). (cf. 1 Cor. 15.24; Rev. 12.10). It is the role of the Son to represent God in the world and to bring people to the knowledge of Him. The Son is the one with the knowledge, the power, and the will to reveal the Father to humankind. Because of Jesus we can know God (cf. Jn. 17.25-26), for the Son is the One who knows God with full knowledge.
• God is Jesus’s father in a unique way (15.13; 16.17; 17.26; 18.10, 19, 35; 22.45; 26.29, 42).

The key passage comes in Mt. 11.27 where Matthew sounds very John-like in talking about Jesus's unique relationship to God the Father, where Jesus knows He is God.