When demonstrating that the Bible teaches Jesus is God, many people cite John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Although this verse is powerful evidence for Christ’s divinity, it’s not usually the best verse to use, since the average person struggles to understand what it means that Jesus is “God’s Word.” Plus, a seasoned critic might try to trip you up on how to translate the original Greek of the passage, claiming it really says “the Word was a god.”
That’s why, instead of focusing on the beginning of John’s Gospel to prove Christ’s divinity, I prefer to focus on the end of it. Specifically, I point to the following episode about “Doubting Thomas”:
“Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.’” (John 20:26-29, emphasis mine).
The proof comes not so much from what is said by Thomas, but by what is not said by Jesus. In the New Testament, whenever an apostle is mistaken for God, the apostle corrects those who are worshipping him (Acts 14:14–15). In Revelation 19:10, the apostle John falls at the feet of an angel to worship him, but the angel tells him, “You must not do that!” When Herod Agrippa gives an address to the people of Tyre and Sidon, they shout in response, “The voice of a god, and not of man!” Luke then tells us, “Immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, because he did not give God the glory; and he was eaten by worms and died” (Acts 12:23).
But when Thomas calls Jesus his God, Jesus does not correct him or tell him to “give God the glory.” And no angel comes down to smite Jesus for receiving Thomas’ worship. Which must mean there was nothing for Jesus to correct.
Now, some Unitarians who deny the Trinity respond that Thomas was so overcome with joy that he didn’t know what he was saying. But in other Scripture passages, we are told explicitly when the apostles say something they don’t mean. For instance, during Jesus’ transfiguration, when Peter exclaims he will build tents for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, Luke notes Peter as “not knowing what he said,” and Mark writes that Peter “did not know what to say, for they were exceedingly afraid” (Luke 9:33, Mark 9:6).
Unitarians also can’t say that Thomas was merely making an exclamation—like how some people say, “Oh my God!” when they are surprised. Even in the Jehovah’s Witnesses New World Translation, John 20:28 says, “In answer Thomas said to him: ‘My Lord and my God!’”
Thomas didn’t merely say, “My Lord and my God!” He said it to Jesus because Jesus is his (and our) Lord and God. We too, then, should imitate Thomas and not be afraid to address Jesus as our “Lord and God.”