John 10:32-42

EVIDENCE FOR DEITY

Text 10:32-42

32

Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from the Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?

33

The Jews answered him, 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 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 them, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.

39

They sought again to take him: and he went forth out of their hand.

40

And he went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was at the first baptizing; and there he abode.

41

And many came unto him; and they said, John indeed did no sign: but all things whatsoever John spake of this man were true.

42

And many believed on him there.

Queries

a.

Were the Jews really concerned that Jesus might be blaspheming or were they about to stone Him for other reasons?

b.

Who were those whom God called gods (John 10:35)? And why does Jesus use this in His defense?

c.

Why the strong appeal to His works (John 10:37-38)?

Paraphrase

Jesus spoke to them calmly, I have shown you many miracles of mercy and goodness from the Father; for which of those good deeds do you now propose to stone me to death? The Jews replied angrily, We are not going to stone you for a good deed, but because you blaspheme the name of Godyou are a man and yet you make yourself out to be God! Again Jesus spoke, It is written in your law, is it not, I said, Ye are gods? If, then, Jehovah called those judges of Israel gods, unto whom Jehovah gave authority to administer His word (and the Scripture cannot be altered by man), why are you saying of Him whom the Father manifestly set apart and commissioned to a divine task, You are a blasphemer, when I say, I am the Son of God? If I am not doing the works equal to God, my Father, do not believe me. But, on the other hand, If I do such works, although you can not believe in me through my teaching, you ought to believe in me because of my works so that you may know and recognize that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. They again tried to lay hands on him but he went out from their midst.
So he went away across the Jordan river to Bethany beyond the Jordan, the place where John the Baptist had first been baptizing, and there He stayed awhile. Many people followed Him and came to Him there saying, John the Baptist did no miraculous signs, it is true, but all the things he testified concerning Jesus of Nazareth were indeed true! And many people expressed their belief in Him there.

Summary

Jesus appeals to the best type of evidence for His deityempirical, experiential evidence. First, He reminds the Jews of the inviolability of Scripture. Second, He calls upon them to believe through what they themselves have seen. Then He attempts to retire from the public to prepare spiritually and physically for the final and terrible ordeal.

Comment

As the Jews came running with stones in their hands, surrounding Jesus in the Temple court, He reminded them calmly and deliberately of the many miracles of mercy and goodness which He had done. There are at least thirteen recorded miracles of mercy performed by Jesus before this time. He raised the dead, opened blind eyes, cleansed lepers, cast out demons and healed many other physical infirmities. But the whole point of the statement is, as Jesus said, these many good works were from the Father. The question of Jesus, for which of those works do ye stone me? is designed as a challenge; a challenge for the Jews to stop and think about their accusations. Jesus is not resting His claim on philosophical abstractions, but on empirical evidence.

How blinded by bigotry and envy were these Jews! Their jealousy for their cherished traditions and commandments of men made them not only blind to evidence of deity, but cruel and impervious to suffering. When the lame were made to walk and the blind to see on the Sabbath, the Jews had not the least joy in their hearts for the healed onesthey were only enraged that their Sabbath traditions had been ignored. And so here the Jews not only gave no thought to the compassionate nature of His miracles, but they also missed their primary valueevidence for His Divine nature. Furthermore, the political undertones of the time probably agitated their desire to arrest Jesus and later accuse Him as a revolutionary (cf. John 11:47-53)they needed a scapegoat.

Jesus-' answer to the charge of blasphemy is twofold. He appeals to the authority of Scripture and then to empirical testimony of His miraculous works. The Scripture which Jesus quotes and calls law is in Psalms 82:6. Our Lord used a varied terminology to speak of the Scriptures as a whole, or in part. Sometimes He said, the law and the prophets; sometimes the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms; sometimes it is written; sometimes ye have heard that it hath been said.

In Psalms 82:6 God is speaking through the psalmist of impending judgment upon those whom He had appointed judges by Divine commission. These judges and magistrates God called gods. They administered justice as direct representatives of God Himself and the Word of God had come to themthus God called them gods. Jesus reminds them that their highly cherished torah called men gods and they had never protested that! Furthermore, the Scripture cannot be broken! That which had been written must be accepted as authoritativethe Scriptures themselves had spoken of some men as gods. How then could the Jews have the right to accuse Jesus of blasphemy when He says, I am the Son of God. especially since all of His miraculous works indicate that He has been sanctified and sent into the world by the Father.

The parenthetical statement of Jesus (and the Scripture cannot be broken) has far-reaching implications. It is the unequivocal, dogmatic assertion by the Incarnate Word that the revealed, recorded and canonical Word is divinely inspired, authoritative and imperishable. Edward J. Young says, The Scriptures. possess an authority so great that they cannot be broken. What they say will stand and cannot be annulled or set aside. If the Scripture speaks, the issue is settled once and for all. (Thy Word Is Truth, by Edward J, Young, p. 27, pub. by Eerdmans.) The contemporary existential and subjective validation of the Word is crushed by this statement of Jesus. However, we must be careful in our application of this principle. Cannot be broken does not mean that a portion of Scripture may not be fulfilled, abrogated, or made inapplicable to man by God Himself; e.g., the Law of Moses as law and covenant was abrogated and replaced by a new covenant. Cannot be broken does mean that the Scripture cannot be altered as to historical factuality, and applicability in its own dispensation!

In John 10:37 Jesus turns to an appeal to empirically verifiable evidence. The works that He has done can be tested by men themselves through their own senses. God placed the spirit of man within a fleshly tabernacle at man's creation. It was, therefore, necessary that God reveal Himself (to a degree sufficient to establish faith) in a sensory perceptible form. Thus, all through the ages God made Himself and His will known by miracles and signs which man could see and hear and feel and touch. At the end of the age, God Himself became Incarnate in His Son and did His works among men that men might know (cf. 1 John 1:1-4).

Jesus makes an emphatic appeal to His works in John 10:38. His works were of such a nature that there were only two alternatives for the Jews. If they could not accept Him as God-sent on the basis of His teaching, then they must accept Him on the basis of His works. Either accept His works as divine and then learn that His teaching is also divine, or be found rejecting the Messiah. Of course, as we have tried to point out before, there is the moral element to faith as well as the intellectual. That is, a man must want to believe in order to believe. He must exercise his will in belief as well as his mind. All the evidence in the world will not convert a man and cause him to believe in Jesus Christ if he doesn-'t want to believe. There has to be a balance of three characteristics in man before real faith comes; will, reason and obedience or action. Every proclaimer of truth and righteousness has found this to be the primary barrier to bringing men to living faiththe desire, the will to believe in Jesus and surrender to Him! This was one of the purposes of the spectacle of the cross. The divine love evinced there was intended to break stubborn wills and turn them to God. And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.

This moral rebelliousness had so hardened the hearts of the rulers of the Jews that they would not even consider the miraculous and merciful works of Jesus. All they could think of was taking Him and using Him for their evil purposes.
But Jesus went forth out of their hand, How this was accomplished is purely conjectural on our part and so we simply accept the statement of the gospel writer. He retired to the place where John the Baptist was at the first baptizing which was probably Bethany beyond the Jordan (cf. Map #1, Vol. 1, John book comments). He evidently stayed there for a considerable length of time seeking rest, private communion with the Father in the environment of one of His momentous spiritual experiencesHis own baptism and audible approval by the Father. He was not there long, however, until the crowds of the common people who always followed Him found Him and came to Him.

The memories of the people were also vividly aroused as they gathered here and heard Jesus teach and saw His signs. They remembered all that the great man, John the Baptist, had said about this One. They remembered that the Baptist in all his greatness had done no signsyet it was evident that he was God-sent. Thus the wisdom of Jesus-' words and the divine nature of His works confirmed the testimony of the Baptist and many believed on Jesus there. Jesus then went on to exercise a short ministry in Perea before He returned to Judea at the call of the sisters of Lazarus (cf. Map #6, John 10:11-21).

Quiz

1.

Upon what kind of evidence does Jesus rest His claim to deity?

2.

Why were the Jews blind to the evidence of His works?

3.

What does ... and the scripture cannot be broken mean?

4.

Why was it necessary that God give evidence for His nature and will that man could see, hear, feel and touch?

5.

What are the three characteristics of man that must be exercised in true belief?

6.

Which of these three is of primary importance?