I just don't believe Jesus ever said that explicitly and surely not in the synoptic gospels. Who was he referencing when he spoke of his father? Who was he praying to? Who?
Matthew 12:2, “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” That statement showed His deity, as God made the Sabbath, and Jesus stated He was its Lord, greater than the temple. Jesus is God.
Mark 2:7, “Why does this man speak so? He blasphemes! Who can forgive sin but God alone? The scribes were correct in that only God can forgive sin. Jesus is God.
Mark 2:10, “So you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sin.” Jesus told the paralytic his sins were forgiven and to get up and walk. Jesus showed He was God by forgiving sins and healing the paralytic. Jesus is God.
Mark 2:28, “so the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.” Jesus is God
Luke 8:39, Luke inferred Jesus is God.
John 4:26, “Jesus said to her, I am, the One who speaks to you.” He told the Samaritan woman He was the Messiah. Pretty obvious…
John 5:40, “you don’t want to come to me so you may have life.” Here Jesus confirmed His deity as the source of eternal life. Who could do that but God? Jesus is God.
My favorite and probably the best proof, as if any were needed for Jesus: John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.” Jesus is God.
John 14:7, “If you know me, you also know My Father, and from now, you know Him and have seen Him.” There is only one way to God, through Jesus.
John 14:6, “I (Jesus) am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Pretty obvious unless you are blind….
John 17:5, “and now, you Father, glorify Me with yourself, with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”
God the Son created the universe, John 1:1-3, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Colossians 1:16-17, Hebrews 1:1-2. Jesus created and sustains everything/all that exists.
Again, one has to be blind, brazen, and arrogant to deny that Jesus was/is God. Holy scripture proves Jesus was/is God.
How could Jesus save the world if He weren’t God, John 3:16-18
If you don’t believe in Jesus, you are doomed and condemned. No amount of evidence, even inspired scripture, will ever satisfy those who have stubbornly hardened their hearts to God.
BUT, one day, even the deniers will bow to Jesus and with their tongue acknowledge that He is the one true God, Philippians 5:10-11. Better to do it now than later.
