John 10:30-38 I and my Father are one. 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

Two Wrongs Never Make A Right!

When Jesus said,

vs 30 I and my Father are one.

The Pharisees picked up stones to “to stone” Jesus. This is one of the two times they sought to kill Jesus by throwing stones at Him. The other time was earlier in His ministry when Jesus said:

John 8:56-59 (ESV) Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

When Jesus said “before Abraham was, I am”, He was applying the most holy name of God to Himself. When God met Moses in the desert of Midian, He told Moses that His Name was “I Am”. “Tell Israel that I AM has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). God said, “This is MY NAME FOREVER” (Exodus 3:15). Jesus took the name of God – His most holy Name – and applied it to Himself. In our text today Jesus told the Pharisees:

vs 30 I and my Father are ONE.

Word Study: The word “ONE” is the Greek eis, which means “singular, one in essence, a part of a unified whole”. The same word is used by Jesus in Matthew 19 to describe the marriage of man and woman:

Matthew 19:6 (AP) … the married couple are no more TWO, but ONE {eis} flesh. What therefore God has joined together, do not try and tear apart.

As well as to how He described His relationship to us as His disciples:

Matthew 23:10 Neither be ye called masters: for ONE {eis} is your Master, even Christ.

When Jesus said that He was “I AM”, He was making Himself out to be God. When Jesus said that He was “ONE” with God, He was saying He was co-equal and co-eternal with God. The Jews understood this – and Jesus did not correct them. They said,

vs 33 thou, being a man, makest thyself God

God in the Law said that “whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him.” (Leviticus 24:16). To “take the name of the Lord in vain” (Deuteronomy 5:11) is not just to make God’s name profane, but to apply the name of God to what you’re doing or to yourself. The Pharisees thought Jesus was “making Yourself God”. This was a serious crime, punishable by stoning – however, Jesus was to be stoned only after a proper trial before a priest!

The Jews took it upon themselves to be vigilantes – to be judge, jury, and executioner. This was very unlawful in itself. It is like many people do today when they seek vengeance while quoting – out of context:

Leviticus 24:19-20 (ESV) If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.

This verse did not mean that the Israelite was to pay back in kind an injury done to themselves. What the Law of Eye and Tooth did was to prescribe the maximum punishment for a crime once a person was convicted of it. No Jew had the right – just as no American has the right – to TAKE THE LAW INTO THEIR OWN HANDS. A person was tried, then once found guilty was punished. No one was ever to be punished by a lynch mob!

As the Jews prepare to illegally stone Jesus, He does what He always does. If you watch our Lord, any time He was attacked He (1) asked good questions, and (2) quoted the Scripture.

Vs 32 Jesus asked :Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?

Jesus points out that the works that He did – “GOOD WORKS” – are works that are from Father God. The signs that Jesus is the Messiah is that “the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them” (Matthew 11:5). These are GOOD WORKS, not evil works. Every “GOOD GIFT and every PERFECT GIFT is FROM ABOVE, and comes down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). What Jesus has clearly been doing is good works, not evil works. So Jesus asks them to consider His works. He will later tell them:

John 14:11 (ESV) Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

The Jews ignore the works that Jesus did, and instead refer to the Law of God. They only follow the Law when it suits them. Since Jesus “makest Thyself God”, then they felt they were justified in – vigilante style – executing Jesus.

You cannot obey just the parts of the Scripture
that suit you! This is hypocrisy!

Jesus Refers To The Law By “It Is Written”:
“Ye are gods”

John 10:34-35 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35 If He {God} called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

Since they have ignored the testimony of His good works, Jesus now refers to the Law of Moses. He tells them “Is it not written in your law”. This is the Law you often quote at Me, often declare I am against. When Jesus came, He told any who would listen:

Matthew 5:17-18 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

The Jews had so twisted and re-interpreted the Law, that it was but a shadow of what it should be. As The Messiah Jesus came to FULFILL the Law. He came as the “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He came to be the “once for all” sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 7:27; 9:26). He came to give His people – and us – a clear and concise understanding of God’s Law and what He expects of His people. Jesus is actually quoting:

Psalm 82:1-7 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. 2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. 3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. 4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. 5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. 6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. 7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

What is God speaking of in Psalm 82? How does this apply to Jesus? In the passage Jesus is quoting, Psalm 82, God is speaking to the Judges and Leaders of Israel. The Word of God came to these Judges and Leaders, and God Himself appointed these people to represent Him before the people. The Enduring Word Commentary notes:

“The judges of Psalm 82 were called “gods” because in their office they determined the fate of other men. Also, in Exodus 21:6 and 22:8-9, God called earthly judges “gods.”

Let me see if I can put it another way.

There is only ONE GOD Who made everything. This ONE GOD is Triune, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This God was never created, but has always been. This is why He is called “I Am”. This God appointed people to represent Him in the earth. In Psalm 82 the Eternal God calls these Judges and Leaders “gods” (little “g”) because they are supposed to represent Him. These little “g” gods are not co-eternal nor co-equal with the One God. They represent Him. God calls these little “g” gods “SONS OF THE MOST HIGH” because they are saved by Grace. The Word of the Lord came to them. As long as they represent the God Who made them and called them, they are little “g” gods.

Yet these Judges and Leaders in Psalm 82 forgot that they were little “g” gods. They began to think themselves big “G” Gods, in their offices because they were worthy or better than others. God told them because they – instead of honoring the God Who appointed them, they “JUDGED UNJUSTLY” and “ACCEPTED PERSONS THAT WERE WICKED” – that God will make them “DIE LIKE {LOST} MEN, AND FALL LIKE ONE OF THE {HEATHEN} PRINCES”. They would be no better than the lost in their deaths.

When God designates a steward, that steward represents God. In that sense they are little “g” gods. The little “g” god relies on the Word of God, not on themselves.

When God sent Moses to speak to Pharaoh, God told that old man:

Exodus 7:1 … See, I have made thee a {little “g”} god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

In the Bible there is the True God, the God of Scripture. There are His representatives, the little “g” gods. And there are the false little “g” gods who stole the title, Satan and the idols that Satan’s people create. Once you understand this concept, other Scriptures become clearer:

1 Corinthians 8:4-6 (ESV) Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

Deuteronomy 10:17 For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

Jeremiah 10:11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.

When our God created the Heaven and the earth, He created Adam out of the dust of the ground, and Eve out of Adam’s rib. The Scripture says the Word of God came to Adam and Eve and said:

Genesis 1:28 (ESV) … God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over{creation}

Though God made the creation, He gave control of it to Adam and Eve. God had “created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27, ESV). In that sense Adam and Eve were little “g” gods. They were stewards of what God gave them stewardship of, and were required to heed the Word of God that commissioned them.

Illustrate: One of my favorite books is one written by Jack London called “White Fang”. White Fang was half-wolf and half-dog. In the book’s chapter 6 as White Fang looked at his human captor, we read “The god sat down several feet away. White Fang could see nothing dangerous in that. When the gods administered punishment they stood on their legs. Besides, this god had no club, no whip, no firearm”.

God in His Grace made humans little “g” gods over creation. We, like God Himself, were given free will. The Word of the Lord came to us. And as little “g” gods, we are to do as our Maker has said – or suffer the consequence.

If God Appointed Judges & Leaders And Called Them Lower “g” gods, Then Why Is It Blasphemy For Jesus To Declare Himself God As His Works Prove He Is?

John 10:35-38 If He {God the Father} called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say ye of Him {Jesus the Messiah}, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

Jesus says “If God called Judges and other Leaders little “g” gods because the Word of God came to them” which is clearly seen in Psalm 82, “then why is it wrong for Me to say I am the Son of God, as My works are clearly from God?” Scholar D.A. Carson said in The Gospel According To John, pg 397:

“As Jesus uses the text, the general line of his argument is clear. This Scripture proves that the word ‘god’ is legitimately used to refer to others than God himself. If there are others whom God (the author of Scripture) can address as ‘god’ and ‘sons of the Most High’ (i.e. sons of God), on what biblical basis should anyone object when Jesus says, I am God’s Son?”

Jesus’ logic and quotation of Scripture is impeccable. Jesus did the “works of My Father”. The Judges and Leaders in Psalm 82 did not do what they were supposed to do, yet were called little “g” gods. Jesus did what He was supposed to do. The Word of God came to Jesus, and He reflected it perfectly to honor Him Who sent Him. Jesus said:

John 14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does His works.

Jesus Christ is the “Faithful Witness” of Revelation 1:5. He has seen and knows God, for He is God. He is God in the flesh, “God with us” (Matthew 1:22-23). Jesus came to give us life, to bring us into the Family of God as sons of God. The Apostle wrote:

2 Peter 1:3-4 (ESV) His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Paul Carter wrote:

“God is alone. He is one. He is unique. So what is Jesus saying? He is simply saying that in so much as human beings fell by rejecting the Word of God, they are restored, enlarged and ennobled by receiving the Word of God. When we come back under the Word of God, we begin to be elevated back toward our former height and glory. ”

You, dear Christian, are not called to be big “G” God, but stewards of God, His representatives, little “g” gods. We obey His Word. We follow His Christ. We worship Him and Him alone. We do not make ourselves the focus, but our focus is Christ and our Heavenly Father. We live our lives under the power of the Spirit and the Scripture. As Carter said, “Yes, the Bible is authoritative, yes the Bible is inerrant, yes the Bible is infallible – it is all those things. And it is transformative. Gloriously, marvelously, miraculously transformative.” The Scripture says in

Psalm 19:7–9 {NKJV} The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

We Are Not Big “G” Gods – EVER!

One of the ancient heresies that is creeping back into televangelism today is that “We are equal with God”. This has been broadcast on TBN. Televangelists like Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Copeland, and others in the Word-Faith Movement have taken John 10:30-38 and Psalm 82 and twisted them to teach that those who receive God’s Word are in actuality a class of gods. Copeland said on TBN’s Praise The Lord Show (February 6, 1986) “Man was created in the god class. . . . All right. Are we gods? We are a class of god’s”. No, we are not. This is a false doctrine that the Mormons have taught for years. Called “The Doctrine of Eternal Progression”, LDS Church Leader Lorenzo Snow said, “As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be”. This is a lie that Satan first planted in our minds in the Garden of Eden. God said:

Isaiah 43:10 (ESV) … I am He. Before Me no God was formed, nor shall there be any after Me.

Our God, our Creator, the God of Scripture is called “The First and the Last, I am He” (Isaiah 41:4). He has declared “I am God, there is no other; I am God, and there is NONE LIKE ME” (Isaiah 46:9-9). “From the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:6). Though God may have designated stewards to work on His behalf according to His Word, we will never be like God in power, in knowledge, in scope, in ability. He is the Shepherd, and we are the Sheep. He is the Potter, and we are the Clay. He is God, and we are His people. We will never be equal to God!