Jesus says the Father and I are one, then Jesus should be God!!

 

 

One of the passages most frequently cited to argue that Jesus claimed to be God is John 10:33, where the Jewish leaders say:

"We are not stoning You for a good work, but for blasphemy; because You, being a man, make Yourself God."

Many people stop reading at this verse and conclude that Jesus must have been claiming to be God, since that is how the Jewish leaders understood his words. However, it is important to continue reading the passage to see how Jesus himself responded to their accusation.

The context begins in John 10:31, where the Jews pick up stones to stone Jesus. Jesus asks them:

"I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of these are you stoning Me?" (John 10:32)

They reply:

"For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, because You, being a man, make Yourself God." (John 10:33)

At this point, Jesus does not remain silent, nor does he affirm their accusation by saying, "Yes, you are correct—I am God." Instead, he immediately responds by appealing to their own Scriptures:

"Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'?" (John 10:34)

Here, Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6, where God says to certain human judges or rulers:

"I said, 'You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High.'"

Jesus then continues:

"If He called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?" (John 10:35–36)

According to this interpretation, Jesus does not accept the charge that he claimed to be God. Rather, he distinguishes his own claim from the accusation made against him. The Jewish leaders accused him of making himself God, whereas Jesus points out that his actual claim was to be the Son of God, a title that, in the biblical context, was also used for others whom God had chosen or commissioned.

 

Jesus' argument is based on the Hebrew Scriptures themselves. If Scripture could use the term "gods" for certain human beings who received God's word, then, according to Jesus' reasoning, it should not be considered blasphemy for him—whom the Father had sanctified and sent into the world—to call himself the Son of God.

 

From this perspective, the accusation of the Jewish leaders represents their interpretation of Jesus' words, not necessarily what Jesus intended to communicate. Rather than confirming their accusation, Jesus answers it by appealing to Scripture and explaining why their charge of blasphemy is unfounded.