On hearing Jesus’ claim that He and the Father
are one, the Jews were offended. They saw in Jesus, a human, making Himself of
absolute equality with God. They had difficulty to make real sense of what Jesus
was saying. To them this was blasphemy. So they picked up stones with the
intention to kill Him. Notice that Jesus did nothing to correct the claim that
He and G0d are one. Instead, He went on to appeal to the works that confirmed His
equality with God. The works Jesus was referring to was His whole public
ministry. He lived a perfect life. He meet the needs of those who came to Him.
He taught with authority as no one had, and the list can go on endlessly. The
Jews then replied that they had no quarrel with His works, but His claim to be equal
with God. Jesus’ response to them pointed to two things: firstly, He was
commissioned and sent by the Father. Secondly, His miracles affirmed His
connection with the Father.
Our major difficulty with this
passage is Jesus’ quotation taken from Psalm 82:6, which states, “I said, “You are gods, and all of
you are sons
of the Most High.” To the Jews to think of God as more than one is
preposterous. That’s why they took great offense with Jesus’ claim. Now Jesus had
added to the confusion by referring to this verse. How do we explain this?
Originally these words
were addressed to the Jewish magistrates who were commissioned to act on God’s
behalf in administering justice to His people. They took the judgement seats as
God’s representative. When their judgement agreed with the Law of God, their
sentence were as good as God’s. And to rebel against their judgement was to
rebel against God. So Jesus appealed to that verse. He told them that if they
acknowledged that the Scripture has divine authority, and that everything that’s
recorded in it is perfect and faultless, they should know that these men
administrating justice had been called gods and sons of the most high. Wouldn’t
it be absurd to bring a charge against Him when He had come with a higher commission
form God the Father? Jesus was appealing to them to be consistent in their view
of the Scripture. If the Scripture has addressed the magistrates as God’s sons,
then why were they offended when He, the Messiah, claims the same title? Logically the Psalmist who wrote this verse
should be cited for blasphemy.
In John 10:37-38, Jesus
returned to the works that reflected that the Father had indeed sent Him, and
is one with Him. He did not do anything without the Father’s direction. If what
He had said is not enough, the least they should accept would be the works that
He had done. Jesus maintained that the works seen in His life are exactly what
God Himself would do. On hearing that, they
were all the more agitated and sought to seize Him. Since it was not time yet,
He eluded them and came to the Jordan where John had conducted the baptism.
Comparing Jesus with John the Baptist, whom the people in Jordan acknowledged
as sent by God, they could not recollect any miracle that John had done. Yet
everything John said of Jesus is true. Hence many believed in Him and presumably
followed Jesus.
It is said that none can be so blind as one who
refuses to see! It must be acknowledged that God’s moment must be seized. The
Jews had an encounter with Jesus, saw His works and heard His testimony, yet
they vehemently refused to acknowledge Him. How blind and foolish! We thank God
for spiritual sight and for the ability granted us to recognize Him and see His
mighty hand in the little circumstances of our life. Let’s remember to give
thanks and be grateful for His works in our life!
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