If we share milk and cookies...
People who was appointed by God to deliver His word. May I sum it up with that? Or do you want me to go more in depth and let my mind run wild? Lol I would love to here your interpretation of things as well
Okay -- glancing at the verse, I can see that it was from John chapter 10, so let's look at the passage.
I'm still a bit confused by your interpretation, so can you help me understand how you are exegeting it? Thanks. It would help if you went in a little more depth with it, but I don't want you to say random things that come to your mind. I want to know what you actually think about the passage.
Since you've asked for my understanding of the passage, I will give it below the passage. I'm going to quote more than you did to give the passage more context. You quoted only verses 33-38.
John 10:22-38 (NASB)
[SUP]22 [/SUP]At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; [SUP]23 [/SUP]it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. [SUP]24 [/SUP]The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “
How long [SUP][b][/SUP]will You keep us in suspense? If You are [SUP][c][/SUP]the Christ, tell us plainly.” [SUP]25 [/SUP]Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. [SUP]26 [/SUP]But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. [SUP]27 [/SUP]My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; [SUP]28[/SUP]
and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. [SUP]29 [/SUP][SUP][d][/SUP]My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. [SUP]30 [/SUP]I and the Father are [SUP][e][/SUP]one.”
[SUP]31 [/SUP]
The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. [SUP]32 [/SUP]
Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”[SUP]33 [/SUP]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.” [SUP]34 [/SUP]Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? [SUP]35 [/SUP]If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), [SUP]36 [/SUP]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’? [SUP]37 [/SUP]
If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; [SUP]38[/SUP]
but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may [SUP][f][/SUP]know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”[SUP]39 [/SUP]Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.
First things first -- you know that Christ is the Greek word for the Messiah, right? So they are asking Jesus if He is the Messiah.
Jesus' response to them in verse 25 is interesting. Jesus first tells them that He has told them already, but that they do not believe Him. Then Jesus appeals to the works that He has done. These "works" include the miracles, signs, and wonders that you keep emphasizing. He says that those very works testify of Him. So, right there, Jesus says that that's the purpose of His works. They are to testify about who He is -- that He is the Messiah. This wouldn't work if He were merely just human.
Now....I'm going to copy some of what I wrote from another thread into this post because it applies here. Just so we're on the same page here, LORD in the Old Testament means Yahweh. Yahweh is the one and only God. So in order to prove Jesus' deity, I have to show that Jesus is Yahweh:
Deuteronomy 32:39 (NASB)
[SUP]39 [/SUP]‘
See now that I, I am He,
And there is no god besides Me;
It is I who put to death and give life.
I have wounded and it is I who heal,
And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
Notice here that Yahweh says :
1.) He gives life
2.) It is God who puts to death
3.) that no one can deliver from His hand
4.) that there is no god besides Him.
Isaiah 43:12-14 (NASB)
[SUP]12 [/SUP]“It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,
And there was no strange
god among you;
So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD,
“And I am God.
[SUP]13 [/SUP]“
Even [SUP][a][/SUP]from eternity I am He,
And there is none who can deliver out of My hand;
I act and who can reverse it?”
Just a note here, look at Isaiah 43:12 -- I don't know Hebrew, but I do know that the translators translated YHWH to LORD. I also am pretty sure that the word "God" here is translated from the word Elohim. This is a case where Yahweh Himself says that He is Elohim. If this is so, how can they be two different gods?
Again, Yahweh says this about Himself:
1.) there is none who can deliver out of His hand.
2.) He also says that from eternity, "I am He."
Now, let's look at the context of John 10:22-30.
Jesus claims these things:
1.)
the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me
2.)
I give eternal life to them (It is I who give life -- Deuteronomy 32:39)
3.)
they will never perish (It is I who put to death -- Deuteronomy 32:39)
4.)
no one will snatch them out of My hand. (There is no one who can deliver from My hand Deuteronomy 32:39; there is none who can deliver out of My Hand -- Isaiah 43:13)
Why?
My Father, who has given
them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch
them out of the Father’s hand.
(So Jesus is essentially saying that what is true of the Father is also true of Him).
Ultimately because:
I and the Father are [SUP][e][/SUP]one.
(In other words, Jesus and the Father are the same God -- Yahweh.)
Now do you understand why the Jews considered this blasphemy?
His statement wasn't "We're one because we're one in purpose." To interpret John 10:30 as you do would not be blasphemy. The Jews only believed in one God, Yahweh. Jesus was making a direct claim in John 10 that He Himself was Yahweh, just as the Father is Yahweh.
This is the context of John 10.
(end of quote from other thread)
So, my point with bringing up Deuteronomy 32:39 and Isaiah 43:12-14 in relation to the verses from John 10 that we are discussing is to show that Jesus is God (Yahweh), and that His words were taken by the Jews as such.
Verse 33 shows that the Jews fully understood Jesus to be claiming that He was God (Yahweh).
Jesus' response in verses 34-36 is somewhat sarcastic. Basically, He is saying that if He really is God (Yahweh), then it is very appropriate for Him to claim that, and it is not blasphemous. Jesus quoted from Psalm 82:6, so let's flip over to the OT to see what Psalm 82 is about.
Psalm 82 (NASB)
82 God takes His stand in [SUP][
a][/SUP]His own congregation;
He judges in the midst of the [SUP][
b][/SUP]rulers.
[SUP]2 [/SUP]How long will you judge unjustly
And show partiality to the wicked? [SUP][
c][/SUP]Selah.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
[SUP]4 [/SUP]Rescue the weak and needy;
Deliver
them out of the hand of the wicked.
[SUP]5 [/SUP]They do not know nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
[SUP]6 [/SUP][SUP][
d][/SUP]I said, “You are gods,
And all of you are sons of the Most High.
[SUP]7 [/SUP]“Nevertheless you will die like men
And fall like
any one of the princes.”
[SUP]8 [/SUP]Arise, O God, judge the earth!
For it is You who possesses all the nations.
Do you see how Jesus' response to them was sarcastic, in light of what Psalm 82 is about?
Again in verses 37-39 of John 10 Jesus shows us the purpose of His miracles, signs, and wonders. They are to point to who He is. He is the Messiah, and He is the Son of God (God in the flesh). The Jews, again, understood Jesus' comments as blasphemous, so they again were going to stone Him.
John chapter 10 clearly proclaims Jesus' deity.
