The Divinity of Jesus: Affirmation, Denial, and Belief

John 10:31–42 (NKJV)

³¹ Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. ³² Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

³³ The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not 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, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” ³⁹ Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

⁴⁰ And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. ⁴¹ Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” ⁴² And many believed in Him there.

Message

In the previous message, we learned the following.

The Jews didn’t believe the Good Shepherd Jesus despite the Works of God He performed (John 10:22-26). But His sheep hear His voice, follow Him, have eternal life and shall never perish (John 10:27-28^a). The Father is greater than all (John 10:29^a), which supports the reason that no one can snatch His sheep out of the Father’s hand (John 10:28^b, John 10:29^b). The Son and the Father are one (John 10:30). So, the Son is greater than all and no one can snatch His sheep out of His hand.

What happened when Jesus said, “I and My Father are one.” in John 10:30?

I. The Jews' denial of Jesus’ Divinity (31-33)

See v31.

³¹ Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.

Previously, the Jews took up stones to throw at Him in John 8:59, too. See v32-33.

³² Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

³³ The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

They didn’t recognise Jesus as the Son of God or God. This contrasts that the criminal recognised Jesus as divine by calling Him ‘Lord’ (Luke 23:42 NKJV). They should have recognised His divinity when they saw many good works He had shown from His Father. But they didn’t believe Him being divine.

II. Jesus’ Divinity, affirmed by the Scripture and the Works of God (34-38)

See v34-36.

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not 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’?

Jesus quoted Psalm 82:6^a. See Psalm 82:6 NKJV.

⁶ I said, “You are gods,

And all of you are children of the Most High.

In this verse, ‘I’ is God. God called them ‘gods’. Jesus taught that the reason He called them so was that the word of God came to them (35). Then, Jesus has more reasons to be considered ‘divine’ and ‘not blaspheming’.

• The Father sanctified Him (36^a).
• The Father sent Him into the world (36^b).
• Jesus said He was the Son of God (36^c).
• Jesus did the works of the Father (37, 38)

See v37-38.

³⁷ If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; ³⁸ but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”

The works of God Jesus performed was one of the five witnesses of Jesus, which was greater than the human witness John (John 8:14, 5:31-40). The works show them the Father was in Jesus, and Jesus in the Father (38, Also see John 14:11).

III. The Jews’ Persistent Unbelief and Continued Rejection of Jesus’ Divinity (39)

See v39.

³⁹ Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

Despite the many good works Jesus performed (32), they persisted in their unbelief. Jesus explained the reason for their unbelief in John 10:25-26 NKJV (“because you are not of My sheep”). Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Jesus (John 6:45 NKJV).  The Jews did not hear God because they did not belong to God (John 8:47). Their view is shown in v33. The Jews sought to take Him before (John 7:11, 30, 32, also see John 7:1, 25). But they didn’t actually take Him then and He didn’t have to escape. Again, they sought to seize Him in v39. This time, Jesus had to escape from them.

IV. The Power of John’s Testimony in Guiding Belief in Jesus (40-42)

See v40-42.

⁴⁰ And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. ⁴¹ Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” ⁴² And many believed in Him there.

The works of God Jesus performed are greater witness than John’s (John 5:36) but v41 shows that it was John’s message that guided many to believe in Jesus. Also, we can learn that a human witness of Jesus doesn’t necessarily have to perform any sign.