John 10:34-42

³⁴Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods' ^{[Psalm 82:6]}? ³⁵If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came--and the Scripture cannot be broken-- ³⁶what about the One whom the Father set apart as His very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse Me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? ³⁷Do not believe Me unless I do what My Father does. ³⁸But if I do it, even though you do not believe Me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." ³⁹Again they tried to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp. ⁴⁰Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here He stayed ⁴¹and many people came to Him. They said, "Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this Man was true." ⁴²And in that place many believed in Jesus.

In response to their claims against Him, Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6, where the Father refers to those to whom His word came as “gods” and “sons of the Most High”. We might call those in civil power or those star athletes who can do amazing things “gods,” though we wouldn’t call a farmer or garbage man a “god.” Jesus is arguing from the lesser to the greater here: If the Scriptures, which cannot be false (according to the Jews’ standards), call those who received God’s word and were saved both His “sons,” and “gods” (although not in a fundamentally divine sense), then surely Jesus – who was clearly doing good and miraculous works, could not be blaspheming by claiming the same thing about Himself. If it can be said of the Father’s adopted children, who become His children just because of their relationship to Christ, then how much more it can be said of Christ Himself, who is God’s eternal and divine Son! The bottom line is this: Jesus is teaching them how to reason to determine His identity. If His works were not from the Father, there would be no compelling reason to believe Him. But clearly they are, so the Jews are without excuse. Jesus bases Hi identity on a phrase found in a minor psalm of Asaph, supporting the authority of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17), which “cannot be broken.”

The attempt to seize Jesus was so that the Jews might drive Him out of the temple and immediately stone Him; for their rage was only intensified each time Jesus spoke to them. His escape could not be accomplished in any other way than by a wonderful exertion of Divine power, and this reminds us of God’s sovereignty. We are only exposed to the lawless passions of wicked men, which God restrains by His bridle, whenever He thinks fit.

Jesus leaves the hostility and goes back to place where John the Baptist had been working. What can we learn from Jesus’ departure? Should we leave the fight and retreat to more places more open? Should we stay as long as we can before ducking out at the last possible moment? Should we avoid fights altogether? Jesus is fighting a guerilla war here. He appears and riles up the audience, and then He retreats. But notice that His retreats are no moments of isolation. Rather, His successful ministry in terms of gathering followers is during these times of retreat. His ministry is also successful, though in a different light, when is does battle with the Jewish leaders. He hardens them who dwell where the Church ought to be prospering, and He prospers the Church where desolation and poverty abound.

The testimony of John the Baptist is still bearing fruit, for some of John’s disciples, when they see miracles of Jesus, turn to Him in faith. John did no miracles, and Jesus did many. Thus Jesus is greater than John. But miracles should not be the deciding factor in discernment; doctrine ought to be. If a person has miracles but false doctrine, watch out! If a person has true doctrine but no miracles (like John), listen to him. If a person has miracles and true doctrine, he is to be followed closely. The audience rightly concludes, then, that John was a prophet and that He testified of Jesus. And so Jesus ought to be followed closely, since He had miracles and true doctrine – as testified to by John the Baptist.

Jesus’ teachings about Himself as the only way of salvation, and as equal with the Father, continue to outrage the people. And His teaching that they cannot believe Him because the Father has not given them to Him only increases their rage. If we have been enabled to see Jesus as the Light of the world, the true Son of God, the Good Shepherd of the Sheep, the only Door or Gateway to eternal life, then let us give thanks to God the Father, who has made us His sheep through rebirth, or regeneration by the Holy Spirit!