Jesus was Yahweh

Jesus accepts John's claim that he, Jesus, was Yahweh - the one true God.

Mark 1:1-9 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'" 4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins... 7 He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals..." 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

The words of the prophet Isaiah written 800 years before Christ's birth:  Isaiah 40:3 "A voice is crying -- in a wilderness -- Prepare ye the way of Yahweh, Make straight in a desert a highway..."

The Prophet Isaiah lived about 800 years before Christ.  He prophesied, among other things, about the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  In these verses, Isaiah said there would be one who came before Jesus to prepare the way for Jesus.  John the Baptist not only claimed to be the person who would prepare Jesus' way, but John claimed Jesus was the one called "Yahweh" by the prophet Isaiah.  Yahweh is the one true God - the creator and sustainer of the universe - who desires a relationship with us.

This is huge.  Right off the bat, Mark identifies Jesus as not only the Son of God, but he records John identifying Jesus as Yahweh.  Jesus accepts this claim by identifying as a follower of John through baptism.

Do we ignore that Jesus was not just a good teacher or a nice prophet?  He claimed to be not only the son of God, but Yahweh - the one true God?  How does that inform the rest of what Jesus does and says?  Can we ignore this and still be followers of Jesus?