30.08.09 John 10: 30-42 (NASB)
Audio Sermon File: John 10:30-42, Part 2
Going Deeper: Study Guide
A Claim To Be God! - Part 2
Our setting as we continue this passage is towards the end of Jesus’ public ministry, in the Gospel of John. It is also Jesus’ last offer of salvation to the hard hearted Jewish religious authorities, during the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem (v.22), about 3.5 months before Jesus’ crucifixion. It was here that the Jews encircled Jesus or surrounded Him, out to get something out of Jesus. What the Jews were after was an answer to their question - If you are the Christ, tell us plainly (v.24), in order to get Jesus to outright publicly declare that He is God. This would in their twisted thinking substantiate a charge of blasphemy, giving them reason to kill Jesus.
The answer to who Jesus is - is the whole focus of the Gospel of John - and it will help us to understand whether Jesus is God in human flesh or not. Last time we began to unfold the answer by using CS Lewis’ popular challenge concerning Jesus…that either Jesus is a LIAR, LUNATIC, OR LORD.
The people are faced once again with a decision about who this guy Jesus is. Jesus is making all these claims, so who is He? We also need to answer that question for our selves and decide one of two things:
Accept Jesus as God who will save you from your sins
OR
2. Out right reject Jesus as God and look for any other way to get to heaven.
Here is our inspired text this day: 30 "I and the Father are one." 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out [to be] God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in your Law, `I said, you are gods'? 35 "If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 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'? 37 "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." 39 Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp. 40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. 41 Many came to Him and were saying, "While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true." 42 Many believed in Him there.
Today we continue to examine these three questions. And with the answers we will need to come to a decision our self about Jesus’ CLAIM TO BE GOD - these are the 3 questions:
Is Jesus A Liar?
Is Jesus A Lunatic?
Or Is Jesus The Lord?
As I go through the passage I will be asking these 3 questions repeatedly returning to each question as it pertains to the verses of today’s passage. So let us continue from where we left off, picking up at verse 34.
Is Jesus A Lunatic?
Now as we continue the flow of the discourse here - we began seeing Jesus’ intellectual genius in His crystal clear, logical, and valid defense. As to the charge of blasphemy (v.33) it is not valid. If Jesus were - as the Jews also stated - being a man (v.33) - then yes it would be blasphemy for declaring unity of essence and nature with the Father. But, it is not blasphemy because Jesus is God. And being God, He cannot be taking away any honour, glory, or majesty from Himself - He is who He is - in other words as He declared I AM (Jn. 8:58).
v.34 - As we enter into verse 34 we should recall that these rabbinical Jews were the religious elite, so they loved the Law of God. And so it was also that they were skilled in debate, the premier thinkers of their time, and well versed in the art of logic. So Jesus engages them with their own tactics and uses logic to stump the Jews, by launching the argument from their own claim to love the Law - Has it not been written in your Law, `I said, you are gods'? The word Law is used to refer to the totality of the Scriptures and not just the Psalms. Jesus quotes from their Law, Psalm 82:6. Psalm 82:6 states this - "I said, `You are "gods"; you are all sons of the Most High.' In this Psalm and in the Law - appointed ministers of God were given a title of honour - being called gods (little g). This Psalm is a plea for justice in the midst of the kings and judges - earthly rulers who were abusing their office - pretty much like the Pharisees who were doing the same thing at present in this passage, in Israel. These earthly rulers were supposed to be God’s representatives since they are delegated authority by Him, but God reproves them for dishonouring His name and not following His ways.
v.35 - Jesus uses this portion of Scripture to substantiate His claim. What Jesus is saying is that if human beings could be quote unquote be called ‘gods’ (little g) by God through His revealed word, and it is clearly recorded in the Scripture… then how could they go against Scripture? Even the Jews would agree, that the Scripture cannot be broken - it has absolute binding authority, it cannot be undone, untied, or destroyed - it is inerrant. This also gives us Jesus’ view of the Bible - now if Jesus were a lunatic could He have such a sound judgement about the Scriptures?. The Jews charge of blasphemy is now muddied because of the truth that the Scripture cannot be broken.
v.36 - So Jesus uses a play on words and an argument from the lesser to the greater - to say that if mere men - the unjust judges - can be called gods (little g), then how much more can Jesus the Messiah be called God (capital G). After all He is whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world. The reality of who Jesus is - is magnified because He is sanctified - that is ‘set apart’ as holy….consecrated by the Father - that Jesus is God’s means of demonstrating to the world His power and majesty. Jesus is the One that as it was stated in John 6:27 - On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. So Jesus is God’s very own, which He sent into the world - for the very purpose that He would reveal and offer God’s means of salvation from our sins. Being sanctified and sent by the Father, are the basis of Jesus’ demonstration that the term God (capital G) is a fitting description of Himself. To drive the point deeper, Jesus asks a rhetorical question - of why He is being accused of blaspheming because He said I am the Son of God? Logically back to the argument from Psalm 82 - it should go without saying that Jesus’ own claim is fully justified by the Scripture to be the Son of God. In other words if mere humans - granted that they are placed into their positions by God - if even they can be called sons of the Most High (Ps. 82:6), then all the more Jesus should be justified in calling Himself the Son of God. Jesus is after all of unity in essence and nature with the Father. Therefore he should not and cannot be charged with blaspheming. In Jesus’ argument, He is setting Himself apart from the unjust earthly judges. As one commentator states of one who is ‘with greater dignity, greater importance, and significance than any mere judge, one ‘whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world.’
Jesus used the Pharisees own games of logic and turned it upon them so that they would be at a loss for words. Jesus appeals to the Old Testament so that the Jews would have a Scriptural reason to consider - objective evidence. Could a lunatic be able to articulate and defend Scripture with Scripture so well?
Is Jesus A Liar?
v.37 - Jesus continues and draws the focus not on Himself, but back to the works that the Father does through Him. In other words, what Jesus says in verse 37 is this - if you reject My authority (which is real), you can judge Me for who I claim to be based on My works (which are verifiable). If - I and the Father are one (and we are) - if I don’t do the same things as My Father does (and Jesus does) - If I don’t act in unity with the Father (and Jesus does) - then you should cease to believe Me… don’t believe Me….then you can reject Me outright.
This doesn’t seem to be the kind a thing a liar would say - would it? Basically a liar lies in order to get people to believe their lies - and not dismantle oneself. What Jesus does here in effect is that He calls upon God’s deeds to verify whether He is lying or not - and challenges the Jews to take the objective evidence.
Is Jesus The Lord?
v.38 - Now here is the flip side of Jesus’ challenge. But…. if I do carry out the works of the Father (which Jesus does) - and you still continue in refusing to believe Me, then you should believe the works (and they are real) - because if you deny those - then you are openly rejecting God. If you don’t posses the faith to believe, but you need the evidence - then you should analyze the works. By doing so these unbelieving Jews would then have to come to terms with the relationship that exists between Jesus and God. So Jesus says all this for the purpose that the Jews would know and understand who Jesus is. The two words know and understand in the Greek are the same word but with different tenses. We can translate, paraphrase, and expand this part of the verse in this way - I want you to come to the point where you know who I am, and then because you have the knowledge of saving faith - you will keep on knowing as a true disciple of Mine, saved by grace and that faith, alone. This knowledge is that - the Father is in Me, and I in the Father …. Jesus is claiming to be Lord. He is saying - I am the great God and Saviour - Immanuel, God in human flesh (Jn. 1:14, Matt. 1:23) - who can do miracles and is the source of them.
In this verse we have Jesus’ last appeal to the unbelieving Jews to be reconciled to God. His last offer of eternal life - as these Jews are standing on the brink of hell because of their rejection of Christ. Even though they have all the knowledge that they need to know Christ - they hang by a fraying rope of faithlessness, dangling over the fires of hell, as the rope strands snap one by one - under the burden of their deep spiritual blindness. Under the weight of their magnitude of sin and unbelief - and they precariously wait until they will plunge themselves into eternal condemnation.
Jesus repeats His claims to Deity and Sonship and through this we see Jesus’ deep love shown for the pinnacle of creation, mankind - even to those who have declared themselves to be His enemies. Even as they are clenching in their fists the very stones to kill the Christ, Jesus is a friend of sinners. What an immensely wonderful Saviour. What a powerful God.
v.39 - Well in closing this confrontation - we have a picture of utter depravity - absolute unbelief. The Jews do not objectively analyze the objective evidence but rather - they were seeking again to seize Him. It seems that the Jews may have wanted to grab Jesus, drag Him outside the temple precinct and then stone Jesus. Or they were wanting to arrest Jesus and take Him to be tried before the Sanhedrin. But He eluded their grasp (the word seize in Greek tells us it is a repeated attempt). Jesus’ death in God’s sovereign will, has not come, so He eluded their grasp (and it is reasonable to conclude that this in itself was a miracle).
Is Jesus A Liar?
v.40 - John closes off chapter 10 with a note on Jesus’ ministry. That Jesus went away again beyond the Jordan, which is probably in a region known as Perea. It was on the east side of the Jordan and it was known as the place where John was first baptizing. John the Baptist began his ministry here and this is where Jesus was now staying. Perea was under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipus, so the Jews had no power in that area. There would have been less resistance to Jesus’ ministry so He would enjoy a quieter, less distracting, and less life threatening ministry.
v.41 - In a strong contrast between the Jews of Judea, we find that the people hear that Jesus is in the area and many came to Him. They were more responsive and welcoming of Jesus. It was here that because of John the Baptist’s ministry and witness, that many people were prepared in their faith and readied in seeing the Christ that John had pointed to. These people came to trust John the Baptist and therefore people were repeatedly saying that - While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true. Once again there is a contrast where these people believed with faith and didn’t need the miracles, as compared to the Jews who had all the signs but still did not believe.
So we go back to the question - Is Jesus a Liar? John the Baptist certainly didn’t think so. And those close to John also knew that what he said about Jesus was true. This is what John the Baptist said about Jesus in John 1:34 - I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God. John knew this because God revealed it to him.
Is Jesus The Lord?
v.42 - The final contrast is that in Perea many believed in Jesus compared to the many who did not believe in Judea. There are many other people who were not Pereans, who were close to Christ who also believed Jesus’ claim to be God.
We can call upon the Apostle Paul - who in Colossians 2:8-9 states - See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.
We can call upon Thomas who said to Jesus after He appeared to him after Jesus died and rose again, like He said He would - Thomas says in John 20:28: "My Lord and my God!" - In the following verse - it is interesting what Jesus says - 20:29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
We can call upon the Apostle John who wrote this Gospel and in 1 John 5:20, he states: We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true--even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life (NIV).
Well….Is Jesus A Liar? or Is Jesus A Lunatic? or Is Jesus The Lord?
For all of us who profess to be Christians, we would all be wasting our time by coming here today if Jesus were a liar. If Jesus were a liar He would be the quote unquote (I say this with sarcastically to those who think Jesus is a liar) - then Jesus would be "the most reliable ‘liar’ " that I know of - because everything that He "lied about" would happen to Him, does happen - including His death and resurrection.
We all would be fools if Jesus were a lunatic - because there is overwhelming testimony from the Bible that all His mental faculties were in place and in fact they were sharper than any man before or after Him. He took on the toughest of His critics the Jews. Now if you are fools because Jesus is a lunatic, then I would be the greatest of fools here today because I have committed my work, my life, my all to Christ.
Allow me to close by reading something that I got from my study Bible (MSB) - The Glories of Christ
One of the great tenets of Scripture is the claim that Jesus Christ is completely sufficient for all matters of life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3, 4)! He is sufficient for creation (Col. 1:16, 17), salvation (Heb. 10:1012), sanctification (Eph. 5:26, 27), and glorification (Rom. 8:30). So pure is He that there is no blemish, stain, spot of sin, defilement, lying, deception, corruption, error, or imperfection (1 Pet. 1:1820).
So complete is He that there is no other God besides Him (Is. 45:5); He is the only begotten Son (John 1:14, 18); all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Him (Col. 2:3); the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Him (Col. 2:9); He is heir of all things (Heb. 1:2); He created all things and all things were made by Him, through Him, and for Him (Col. 1:16); He upholds all things by the word of His power (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3); He is the firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15); He is the exact representation of God (Heb. 1:3).
He is the only Mediator between God and man; He is the Sun that enlightens; the Physician that heals; the Wall of Fire that defends; the Friend that comforts; the Pearl that enriches; the Ark that supports; and the Rock to sustain under the heaviest of pressures; He is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high (Heb. 1:3; 8:1); He is better than the angels (Heb. 1:414); better than Moses; better than Aaron; better than Joshua; better than Melchizedek; better than all the prophets; greater than Satan (Luke 4:112); and stronger than death (1 Cor. 15:55).
He has no beginning and no end (Rev. 1:17, 18); He is the spotless Lamb of God; He is our Peace (Eph. 2:14); He is our Hope (1 Tim. 1:1); He is our Life (Col. 3:4); He is the living and true Way (John 14:6); He is the Strength of Israel (1 Sam. 15:29); He is the Root and Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star (Rev. 22:16); He is Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11); He is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:1, 2); He is the Captain of our Salvation (Heb. 2:10); He is the Champion; He is the Elect One (Is. 42:1); He is the Apostle and High-Priest of our confession (Heb. 3:1); He is the Righteous Servant (Is. 53:11).
He is the Lord of Hosts, the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth (Is. 54:5); He is the Man of Sorrows (Is. 53:3); He is the Light; He is the Son of Man (Matt. 20:28); He is the Vine; He is the Bread of Life; He is the Door; He is Lord (Phil. 2:1013); He is Prophet, Priest and King (Heb. 1:13); He is our Sabbath rest (Heb. 4:9); He is our Righteousness (Jer. 23:6); He is the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Is. 9:6); He is the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4); He is Lord God of hosts; He is Lord of the nations; He is the Lion of Judah; the Living Word; the Rock of Salvation; the Eternal Spirit; He is the Ancient of Days; Creator and Comforter; Messiah; and He is the great I AM (John 8:58)!
These titles of Christ form a powerful testimony from God’s Word….. therefore I come to no other conclusion than the truth - which is…. Jesus is the LORD. Jesus is God and I willingly submit everything to Him….what about you?
