27 Jul Is Jesus the Only God?
John 10:34-39 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
With the controversy and conflict surrounding Jesus Christ at an all-time high, the religious leaders confronted Him at the Temple during a holiday in front of the swelling crowd. Jesus declared Himself to be God, which caused them to seek to arrest Him so that they could kill Him.
Jesus then reminds us that “Scripture cannot be broken” because it is the Word of God, not just someone’s word about God. Jesus then quotes Psalm 82:1-8, which says,
God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!
Admittedly, a few thousand years later in a very different cultural context, it can sound like Jesus is saying that there are multiple “gods”. The Bible is clear from beginning to end that there is only one God. In fact, Jews in that day would say three times a day the words of Deuteronomy 6:4, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
The word used for “gods” is a very general one used for judges, kings, rulers, leaders, and sometimes God. In this way, it is not unlike the word “lord” which in Europe can mean anything from a human political leader to God.
Jesus’ quoting of Psalm 82 is incredibly important. He was teaching that the real God works through judges, kings, rulers, and other leaders who are supposed to bring justice according to His Word. But, sinful people start ignoring what the real God wants and start acting as if they were themselves their own gods doing whatever they wanted. So, the prophecy was given that God would come to judge these false gods and bring their rule to an end. In this moment, the prophecy was being fulfilled as Jesus showed up at the Temple to declare Himself to be the only God. But, the leaders who were acting like false gods were judging the God who came to judge them.
How about you, do you disagree with anything Jesus said or did in the Scriptures? If so, you are judging Him and acting like you are your own god.
