This question is a trick question because Jesus doesn't say the exact words, " I am God, worship me." But Jesus says the same thing many times in different ways.
Scriptural Proof of Jesus's Divinity
Quoting from Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23 says, "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." According to both of these verses, Jesus was "God with us" when He walked upon this earth. He wasn't merely "God's chosen one with us" or "God's Son with us." As I Timothy 3:16 states, "God was manifest in the flesh." John 1:14 tells us that "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us..." In Zechariah 12:10, GOD said that HE (God) would be "pierced" by sinners, and Revelation 1:7 states that Jesus Christ Himself fulfilled this prophecy! The Bible presents Jesus Christ as much more than a great prophet and teacher. God's word presents Jesus Christ as God incarnate (in the flesh).
Jesus Christ Is Eternal
In John 10:28, Jesus said, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." If Jesus Christ isn't eternal, then how does He have the power to give "eternal life"?
Micah 5:2 states that Jesus Christ is "from everlasting", which is exactly what Psalm 93:2 and Isaiah 63:16 say about God!
In John 8:58, Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." The term "I am" is the exact term that God used in Exodus 3:14 in reference to Himself! Jesus professed to be the eternal God of the Bible.
Jesus Christ Has Divine Names
Check these references for yourself. In Matthew 22:42-45, Jesus claims to be the "Lord" of Psalm 110:1. He allows Thomas to address Him as "My Lord and my God" in John 20:28.
He is the "everlasting Father" and "The mighty God" of Isaiah 9:6.
According to His own words in John 10:11-14, He is the "shepherd" of Psalm 23:1, Psalm 80:1, and Ezekiel 34:12.
God is the "saviour" in Isaiah 43:3, 43:11, 45:15, 45:21, Hosea 13:4, Luke 1:47, and I Timothy 4:10, yet this same title is given to Jesus Christ in Luke 2:11, Philippians 3:20, II Timothy 1:10, and II Peter 2:20.
God is the "Rock" of Deuteronomy 32:4, 32:15, 32:18, 32:30-31, I Samuel 2:2, and Psalm 18:31, yet this title is given to the Lord Jesus Christ in I Corinthians 10:1-4, I Peter 2:7-8, and Romans 9:33.
God is "light" in Psalm 27:1 and Micah 7:8, and then Jesus is "light" in John 1:4-9 and in John 8:12.
In Isaiah 44:6 God says, "...I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." In Revelation 1:17 Jesus Christ says, "...Fear not; I am the first and the last."
The Scriptures are clear: Jesus Christ is the God of the Old Testament.
Jesus Claimed Equality with God
Jesus says in Matthew 28:19, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" If Jesus Christ isn't Deity, then why did He include Himself in the Holy Trinity?
Jesus says in John 14:9, "...he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?" Is the Father someone other than Jesus Christ? No, not according to Jesus Christ.
In John 10:30, Jesus says, "I and my Father are one."
Philippians 2:6 says that Jesus was in the "form of God", and that he thought it not robbery to be "equal with God"!
The Jesus Christ of the New Testament claimed to be "one" with God and "equal" with God.
Jesus Christ is Omnipresent
Only God has the ability to be everywhere at once, yet Jesus Christ claims this ability.
In Matthew 18:20, He says, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." How could this be possible if Jesus were not Deity?
The same is true in Matthew 28:20 where Jesus says, "...lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." How could He be with each individual Christian always and be in Heaven at the same time? He is God, for only God has such attributes!
Jesus Christ Is Omnipotent
That is, He is all powerful. He has all power.
Revelation 19:6 states, "...the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Then I Timothy 6:15 says that Jesus Christ Himself is "...the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;" If Jesus is the ONLY Potentate, then He must be the One of Revelation 19:6, God Almighty!
Also see Colossians 2:9-10, Revelation 2:26, and Matthew 28:18.
Jesus Christ Is Omniscient
To be omniscient is to have all knowledge, unlike normal men. The Bible declares that Jesus was indeed omniscient.
Unlike normal men, Jesus Christ had knowledge of specific details about His own death. In Matthew 16:21, Jesus said that He would go to Jerusalem, suffer many things at the hands of the scribes and the elders, be killed, and then be resurrected the third day. He repeats this prophecy in Matthew 20:19.
Matthew 17:27 offers the account of Jesus knowing of a certain coin in a fish's mouth before the fish is caught!
He knew specific details about a woman's life whom He had never met (John 4:16-19). He also had all knowledge about Nathaniel in John 1:47-49.
Friend, Jesus Christ is Deity because He is omniscient.
Jesus Christ Has Creative Powers
John 1:1-3 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." The "Word" is the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:14; I John 1:1-3; 5:7), and John 1:3 says that all things were made by Him!
Colossians 1:16 says, "...by him were all things created..." Consider Hebrews 1:1-3: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;" You see, by Jesus Christ the worlds were made, and by Jesus Christ all things are upheld. He has the power to create and sustain the universe.
Jesus Christ Has Power Over the Elements of Nature
In Matthew 14:25, Jesus literally walks upon the sea, and in Luke 8:24, He rebukes the wind and it obeys Him. How could He perform such tasks if He weren't God? It must be understood that Jesus didn't pray for God to calm the sea; He calmed the sea Himself.
Jesus Christ Received Worship
If we're wrong in teaching that the Lord Jesus Christ is God, then He must have been wrong in allowing people to worship him. Jesus Himself said, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Mat. 4:10) Why would He say this at the beginning of His ministry and then spend His ministry allowing people to worship HIM?
In Acts 10:25-26, and in Revelation 19:10, worship of anyone other than God Himself is forbidden, yet Jesus willingly received worship throughout His public ministry (John 20:28; Mat. 8:2; 9:18; 15:25; 28:9; John 9:38). If He isn't Deity, then why didn't He correct those who worshipped Him?
Jesus Christ Forgave Sins
"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer. 31:34) According to these words, it is GOD Who has the power and right to forgive sins. However, the New Testament says that Jesus Christ has this power.
Please notice Mark 2:5-11: "When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house."
Jesus Christ is God, because only God can forgive sins. It's true that He took on the form of a man for thirty-three years on this earth, but He was still God. He was God manifest in the flesh (I Tim. 3:16).
Jesus Christ Had Power Over His Own Life and Death
How many people do you know who have the ability to lay down their own life and then take it up again? Jesus had this power.
Consider John 10:17-18: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."
Jesus had the power over His own life and death! When He died, He willingly gave up His own spirit (Luke 23:46).
According to His own words in Revelation 1:18, Jesus Christ has "the keys of hell and of death." How could He possibly have such power if He were not God?
Friend, make no mistake about it: the Lord Jesus Christ is Deity. He came to this earth and suffered in human flesh for thirty-three years. He lived a perfectly sinless life, and then laid that life down as an eternal payment for your sins. Mohammed didn't pay for your sins, because Mohammed wasn't God. Buddha didn't pay for your sins, because Buddha wasn't God. You can't pay for your sins, because you aren't God. Only Jesus Christ is sinless, because only Jesus Christ is God. He Alone can save your soul from the eternal fires of Hell.
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)
Friend, do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour? Have you been born again? If not, be sure and read Understanding God's Salvation Plan. Nothing in your life is more important than your eternal destiny, and no one can help you more than the Lord Jesus Christ.
