Notice the difference in the directness of the answers Jesus gives to these questions and assumptions about him.

KING

  • John 18:37
    37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

MESSIAH (CHRIST)

  • John 4:25-26
    25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.”
    26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
  • Mark 14:61-62
    61 But He kept silent and did not answer Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”
    62 And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

TEACHER and LORD

  • John 13:13
    13 “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.

GOD

  • John 10:33-36
    33 The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”
    34 Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’?
    35 “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
    36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

Notice here, also, that Jesus did not acknowledge their accusation that he made himself out “to be God,” but rather corrected them, saying he said that he was the “Son of God.” First he points out from Scripture that men were called gods, even by God Himself; then he goes further to clarify that he never called himself “God,” but “the Son of God.” This is a far cry from his usual direct responses –

“So You are a king?” — “You say correctly that I am a king.”
“I know that Messiah is coming.” — “I who speak to you am He.”
“Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” — “I am.”
“You call Me Teacher and Lord” — “You are right, for so I am.”

  • John 20:25-29
    25 So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
    26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
    27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
    28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
    29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

In this one, Thomas’ exclamation of astonishment is not even addressed by Jesus. It is usually argued that because Jesus did not rebuke him, then Thomas’ statement must be true; but that is an argument from silence. Perhaps Jesus simply recognized that it was a statement made in a moment of stunned recognition… Not recognition that Jesus was God, but recognition that Jesus had risen from the dead, which is what the whole passage is about.

Thomas didn’t see Jesus the first time with the other disciples. When the disciples tell him, “We have seen the Lord!” Thomas states in verse 25 that unless he can physically touch Jesus, he will not believe. Believe what? That they saw him, that he was really there, back from the dead. On finally seeming him eight days later, Thomas, in his excitement and joy, exclaims “My Lord and my God!” But Jesus ignores the form of address (if indeed that is what it was; there are alternative explanations) and confirms the important thing, that Thomas believes: “Because you have seen me, have you believed?” Some would want you to believe that Jesus meant that Thomas now believes that Jesus is God, but that is totally out of context to the passage. Rather, it is the belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son whom God has raised from the dead. The very next verses confirm this:

  • John 20:30-31
    30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
    31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

When Jesus was addressed as or questioned about who he was, he directly and without many words affirmed the truth. As we can read, this was not the case when the Jews accused him of being God.