GOOD NEWS FROM ST. JOHN
Meditations in the Gospel of St. John
St. John 10:31-42
* * * * *

THE response the Jewish leaders give to Jesus here indicates perfectly that they are not of the flock of Christ. Far from hearing his voice and receiving his words, they are angry about what he says, and they want to kill him. In the end the world is divided between those who are for Jesus and those who are against him.

Jesus asks them the reason why they want to stone him to death. Jesus points to the miracles of love he has performed, and asks them which ones have offended them. They reply that it is not the miracles that have made them angry, but the fact Jesus claimed to be God. They see Jesus simply as another human being. (v.33). Here is an example of the blindness of those who are unbelievers.

The way Jesus answers their accusation is a little strange. In no way does he try to diminish his claim to be the Son of God. In fact he makes it even more plain. However he does commence with a statement in Psalm 82:6.

Firstly let us notice the way Jesus speaks of the Old Testament. He looks on the Old Testament as the word of God, and says that it can not be broken. (v.35). If Jesus looks on the Scriptures in this way, how much more should we hold the same view of the Bible. We have no right to deny any part of the Bible, but accept it all as the word of God, and believe it.

My own understanding of why Jesus replied to the anger of the Jews with a quote from Psalm 82 is twofold. Firstly Jesus wishes to point out how much more he has the right to claim he is the Son of God. In Psalm 82 the leaders of the Jews were called “gods” because they had received the word of God and were God’s chosen people in the Old Testament. However Psalm 82 is a condemnation of these Jewish leaders because they did not act like people who were sons of the Most High. By using this reference, Jesus is plainly seeking to show the Jews attacking him that they were under the same judgement, because they were not acting like those who had received the word of God.

Secondly, Jesus wants to show the Jews how much greater was his claim to be “The Son of God”. Jesus had not simply received the word of God, but had been uniquely set apart by God as his Son (v.36). The supernatural words from heaven after Jesus had been baptised - the very word from God - was God declaring that Jesus was his beloved Son, in whom God was exceedingly pleased. Further Jesus points out here that his life and teaching proved his claim to be the Son of God. (v.36b).

To clinch the claims he made to be God incarnate, Jesus then tells the Jewish leaders to look at his miracles. These prove that Jesus is God - that God is in him and he is in God. They prove Jesus is God because they are plainly acts of God - acts which only someone who is truly God could have done. When we look at the miracles of Jesus, they are acts of creation, and acts which show total control over creation. They are acts that are impossible to any mere man, however wise or clever he may be. Jesus has even performed an act which has raised a person from death, and in the next chapter we have the raising of Lazarus after he had been dead four days, and his body had already commenced to decompose. Only one who is God could have such power - power over life and death.

In no way does Jesus diminish his claim to be God in this passage. Far from diminishing his claim, he reaffirms it, and points to all the evidence he has given, which makes the rejection of the Jews a very culpable action. Jesus is both God and Saviour. Christ’s sheep - his believing people are safe in his care.

There is further proof here that Jesus is in the Father and the Father in him (v.38). The proof is in the fact that though the Jews were determined to seize him and stone him to death, they could not do this. Jesus escaped from their grasp. When Jesus did give himself to death, it was a voluntary act, allowing the Jews to take him and crucify him. Jesus gave himself in death for our sins.

The chapter ends with further evidence that the Jewish leaders had no excuse for their unbelief, as people who reject Jesus today have no excuse. Jesus retires to where John had been baptising. The people saw him. They observed his life. They listened to his teaching, and they observed the miracles that he did. They came to the conclusion that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and one greater than John the Baptist. How gracious Jesus is. John’s disciples had come to him perplexed at the beginning of the chapter. Jesus goes to live amongst them, and minister to them, so that they may see and believe on him.

From all this we can have no doubt that Jesus, in whom we trust is, our God and Saviour.