Some believe that Jesus never actually claimed to be God or equal to God or a part of God Himself. This is not the case however and the bible speaks clearly on this issue. Understanding that the Messiah is God will help to promote wisdom and understand concerning what the bible teaches. Lets look at some of the declarations Jesus made.

I And The Father Are One (John 10:30):

Jesus made this powerful declaration during the holiday of The Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah). It is very clear that the crowd around Him understood this divine declaration because of their response. Three verses later Jesus is being told that they wanted to stone Him because "You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God." (John 10:33).

He Who Has Seen Me Has Seen The Father (John 14:9):

No one can see the Father in all His glory and live. Jesus was the human part of what God chose to look like in a partial manifestation of His Glory at that time. Perhaps Colossians 2:9 says it best where it reads " For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form."

Truly, Truly, I Say To You, Before Abraham Was Born, I am (John 8:58):

There is no doubt here that Jesus was once again telling the world about His divine nature. This is proven by the type of punishment that those who heard these words tried to immediately inflict on Jesus. The crowd Jesus was speaking to wanted to stone Him to death because they knew he was claiming to be God and the penalty for blasphemy was being stoned to death.

This is not the only time that Jesus used the term "I am." John records Jesus providing a self-discription of Himself several other times including:

I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).
I AM the Door (John 10:1-9).
I AM the Light of the World (John 8:12).
I AM the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-14).
I AM the Bread of Life (John 6:35, 41).
I AM the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25).
I AM the True Vine (John 15:11).
I AM the Alpha and Omega (Rev.1:8-11).
I AM the Beginning and the End (Rev.22:13).
I AM the First and the Last (Rev.22:13).
I AM He who searches the minds and hearts (Rev.2:23).
I AM the Root and Offspring of David (Rev.22:16).

I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins. (Literally, in the Greek, the text says, "... if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins" (John 8:24).

Miscellaneous:

The Talmud teaches that the Messiah's name existed before the world was created.(1)

Check our these related articles that help to support the Divinity of the Messiah

Acknowledgements:

1). Mashiach, The Principle of Mashiach and the Messianic Era in Jewish Law and Tradition by Jacob Immanuel Schochet p.34 (Pesachim 54a).

Messianic Perspectives March-April 2005. Christian Jew Foundation.