Jesus did indeed claim to be God. I'll quote from the NRSV Updated Edition(2021), which is an academic translation, striving for the most accurate translation ignoring theological perspectives.
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God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” (Exo 3:14 NRSVue)
Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you,
before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (Joh 8:58-59 NRSVue)
For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath but was also
calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God. (Joh 5:18 NRSVue)
But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, “
Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I am, and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’ ”(Mar 14:61-62 NRSVue)
The Father and I are one.” The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human, are making yourself God.” (Joh 10:30-33 NRSVue)
John earlier in chapter 2 corrects the Jews when they misunderstand Jesus' words, but there is NO correction made for v33:
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?”
But he was speaking of the temple of his body. (Joh 2:19-21 NRSVue)
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (Joh 14:9 NRSVue)
Thomas answered him, “
My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” (Joh 20:28-29 NRSVue)
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One God, Three Persons:
"In the beginning the Word already was. The Word was in God’s presence, and what God was, the Word was." (John 1:1, REB)
NET Bible tn Or “and what God was the Word was.” Colwell’s Rule is often invoked to support the translation of θεός (theos) as definite (“God”) rather than indefinite (“a god”) here. However, Colwell’s Rule merely permits, but does not demand, that a predicate nominative ahead of an equative verb be translated as definite rather than indefinite. Furthermore, Colwell’s Rule did not deal with a third possibility, that the anarthrous predicate noun may have more of a qualitative nuance when placed ahead of the verb. A definite meaning for the term is reflected in the traditional rendering “the word was God.” From a technical standpoint, though, it is preferable to see a qualitative aspect to anarthrous θεός in John 1:1c (ExSyn 266-69). Translations like the NEB, REB, and Moffatt are helpful in capturing the sense in John 1:1c, that the Word was fully deity in essence (just as much God as God the Father). However, in contemporary English “the Word was divine” (Moffatt) does not quite catch the meaning since “divine” as a descriptive term is not used in contemporary English exclusively of God. The translation “what God was the Word was” is perhaps the most nuanced rendering, conveying that everything God was in essence, the Word was too. This points to unity of essence between the Father and the Son without equating the persons. However, in surveying a number of native speakers of English, some of whom had formal theological training and some of whom did not, the editors concluded that the fine distinctions indicated by “what God was the Word was” would not be understood by many contemporary readers. Thus the translation “the Word was fully God” was chosen because it is more likely to convey the meaning to the average English reader that the Logos (which “became flesh and took up residence among us” in John 1:14 and is thereafter identified in the Fourth Gospel as Jesus) is one in essence with God the Father. The previous phrase, “the Word was with God,” shows that the Logos is distinct in person from God the Father.
To deny that Jesus Christ is God is to place oneself outside the Christian faith as based on scripture and taught in the Ecumenical Creeds!