At one time or another during his lifetime, Jesus alluded to the fact that he was God, but never directly stated it.
- I am the resurrection and the life. (John 11:25, NIV – New International Version)
- I am the light of the world. (John 8:12, NIV)
- I and my Father are one. (John 10:30, NIV)
- I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. (Revelation 22:13, NIV)
- I am the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6, NIV)
- I am the only way to the Father [God]. (John 14:6)
But if Christ was 
not considered as the divine Son of God during his short lifetime, the gospel of Evangelist John elevated Jesus, for all time, to that exalted position probably within a century after Jesus' death by crucifixion. John is often thought of as the beloved disciple (John 13:23) depicted in paintings leaning his head on Christ’s shoulder at the last supper.
Although the supporters of this belief are legion, there are scholars who argue that John’s gospel is not the earliest written. Mark, Matthew, and Luke wrote their stories between 75-115 A.D. John, they claim, wrote his Greek gospel near the beginning of the second century. These scholars claim this John was not one of the original apostles.
Still, John himself claims at the very end of his gospel, “This is the disciple who bears witness concerning these things and who has written these things, and we know that his witness is true” (John 21:24). His witness focuses on Jesus' mission to bring the Logos to his disciples. The Greek word logos can be translated as "Wisdom," "Reason," "Word," "Rationality."
Writing in Greek, John begins his Gospel: “In the Beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). This is followed by an exposition as to the nature of Jesus as the very Son of God himself. Philosophically then, Jesus’ being existed from eternity and thus is identical with God the creator. He is thought of as having a human nature and a divine nature combined as one called a hypostatic union.
In 1945 farmers in the Nag Hammadi area of Egypt discovered four earthenware jars that contained thirteen papyrus documents. These writings date back to the 2nd century A.D. and have been named the Gnostic treatises. Apparently they had been hidden by monks from a nearby monastery because they were thought to be heretical, and if found, would be destroyed.
Although they could not have been written during the lifetime of Jesus, what is important is this fact: The authors of these papyri wrote down what they believed people in Jesus’ life would have said about him, his nature, and his mission. They were everyday citizens who knew well Christ’s handed down message: Thomas, Judas, Mary, James, Philip, and a host of others.
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