The objection
“Jesus never said, ‘I am God, worship me.’” That exact modern English sentence does not appear in the Gospels. But it does not follow that Jesus never claimed divine identity. Ancient Jewish hearers recognized claims through Scripture, titles, actions, and authority—not only through a single formula.
Jesus does what belongs to God
In Mark 2:1–12, Jesus forgives sins in His own name. The scribes respond, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus then heals the paralytic to vindicate His authority. He also identifies Himself as Lord of the Sabbath, receives worship, and claims a unique authority to judge.
John’s Gospel is even more explicit. Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), echoing the divine name and provoking an attempt to stone Him. Thomas later addresses the risen Christ as “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28), and Jesus accepts the confession.
Not the Father, yet truly divine
Orthodox Christianity does not say Jesus is the Father. The Son is eternally distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit, yet shares the one divine nature. This is why the Gospel can portray Jesus praying to the Father while also presenting Him as the eternal Word through whom all things were made.
The honest conclusion is precise: Jesus may not use the requested twenty-first-century wording, but the Gospel portrait repeatedly presents His divine identity in first-century Jewish categories.