We have already written and demonstrated that the followers of Jesus during his lifetime did not believe him to be God:

https://muslimdebate.org/polemics/christianity/210-the-three-wise-men-and-jesus

https://muslimdebate.org/polemics/christianity/222-did-jesus-followers-believe-he-was-god

And now we present another example of the people not believing that Jesus was God. We read in the Gospel of Mark the following:

King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.” But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!” (Mark 6:14-16)

News of Jesus had finally reached King Herod, and he was being told that Jesus was John the Baptist who’d come from the dead, others claimed he was Elijah, while others claimed he was a prophet just like previous prophets. King Herod eventually comes to believe that Jesus is John the Baptist who has come back from the dead.

Not a single one of these persons claimed Jesus was God, what’s very interesting as well is that Christian apologists often point to Jesus’ miracles as proof of his divinity, yet for these people the miracles he performed was in fact proof that he was a prophet, and for one of the persons proof he was John the Baptist. Nobody was viewing the miracles of Jesus as something unique, or something that made him divine, it seems that only Christian apologists have this understanding.

So what we have here is yet another clear case of people alive during the lifetime of Jesus, who did not believe he was God, despite the miracles and wonders he performed, and rather believed that he was a prophet of God instead, with the miracles and wonders he performed proof of that (that he was a prophet).