In this short post I will provide some implicit evidence for the Deity of Christ, verses which equate Jesus with the one true God (even though he is not the Father or the Spirit.)
One example of an implicit testimony to Christ’s divinity comes from the warning of the inspired Scriptures against offending the poor since to do so is to offend and anger God their Maker. Rather, a person is supposed to honor his Creator by showing mercy to the needy:
“He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, But he who honors Him has mercy on the needy.” Proverbs 14:31
“He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker; He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.” Proverbs 17:5
What makes this so interesting is that Christ in the New Testament teaches that by reproaching or honoring the needy is to either reproach or honor him:
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it TO ME.’
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it TO ME.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46
Jesus is basically claiming to be the Maker of the needy whom individuals must avoid offending by showing compassion to those that are poor and oppressed.
The Bible also describes all sin as an assault against God alone,
“Against You, YOU ONLY, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.” Psalm 51:4
Since sin is breaking God’s law, and therefore an offense to the God who revealed his commandments to his creation:
“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” 1 John 3:4
And yet the sacred writings state that whenever someone sins against a fellow Christian s/he is actually sinning against the risen Christ!
“But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.” 1 Corinthians 8:12
Once again, this presupposes that Jesus is the God whom all offend by transgressing his commandments!
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 7:21-27
“‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” Matthew 28:19-20
“to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law;” 1 Corinthians 9:21
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2
The final implicit proof for Jesus’ Deity comes from his close, intimate union with his followers.
The Old Testament describes YHWH as feeling the distress, affliction and pain of his covenant community due to his personal communion with his people:
“I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD And the praises of the LORD, According to all that the Lord has bestowed on us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses. For He said, ‘Surely they are My people, Children who will not lie.’ So He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them All the days of old.” Isaiah 63:7-9
Hence, to hurt God’s people is to hurt God, to distress God’s people is to distress God, and to afflict God’s people is to afflict God.
Remarkably, when the risen Christ appeared to Paul as the latter was hunting out Christians to imprison and kill, the Lord Jesus chided Saul for persecuting him:
“Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting ME?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’” Acts 9:4-5
“Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’” Acts 22:6-8
“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting ME? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Acts 26:12-15
In other words, to persecute Christians is to persecute Christ, to afflict Christians is to afflict Christ, and to distress Christians is to distress Christ.
And the reason is obvious: Jesus is the God who is spiritually united to his people and therefore so personally connected to them that he feels what they feel because he is intimately in love with his spiritual Body and Bride, the Church:
“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For ‘the two,’ He says, ‘shall become one flesh.’ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-14
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Ephesians 5:25-33
The foregoing cases are simply further indications that Jesus is indeed YHWH God Almighty who became man for our salvation, being essentially one with the Father and the Holy Spirit in nature, power, glory and honor.
All scriptural references taken from the New King James Version (NKJV).
FURTHER READING
Jesus as Yahweh: Examining Paul’s use of Lord in reference to Christ
Answering Islam Blog 
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