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You are gods by Jean-Louis Coraboeuf "Jesus answered them, Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me? 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. 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 the Scripture cannot be broken), 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? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 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" (John 10:32-38). By saying to the Jews, "You are gods [elohim], you are all sons of the Most High" (Psalm 82:6), Jesus was only reminding the people of God that they were "sons of Abraham… sons of Adam, sons of God" (Luke 3:34-38) and that therefore they were like gods, created in the image of God, to accomplish His works on the earth. Because He was a Jew, Jesus was able to say like them, "I am a descendant of Abraham" (John 8:39), "I have only one Father, God" (John 8:41) and "I am the Son of God" (John 10:36), without that being a blasphemy, that is, an outrage against God. After saying to them, "You do not understand Me because you are not listening [akouo]" (John 8:43), Jesus said to them, "You ought to believe because of the works that I do" (John 10:38). The Greek verb 'akouo' is the equivalent of the Hebrew verb 'shema', it means listen in order to obey. By evoking Psalm 82, Jesus was recalling its content, "God judges among the gods… Dispense justice to the weak and the fatherless, do right to the afflicted and to the needy, save the wretched and the destitute, deliver them from the hand of the wicked" (Psalm 82:1,3). Jesus came to make known the Father to us by accomplishing His works of righteousness, that is, the righteous works of His Kingdom, in the midst of His people. These clearly showed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God (John 10:25), that is why He was able to say to His Father, "I have glorified you on the earth, I have finished the work that you gave Me to do" (John 17:4). The Psalmist said, "Arise, O God, judge the earth! For you have an inheritance among the nations" (Psalm 82:8 Interlinear). In Jesus Christ we are that inheritance originating from all the nations. That is why the apostle Paul says, "Creation awaits with fervent desire the revelation of the sons of God" (Romans 8:19). If the Pharisees had listened to the Torah of God (the Tanakh) in place of the Oral Tradition (the Talmud) (Matthew 15:6), they would have rejoiced when they saw Jesus, the Messiah of God, accomplishing His works. If all the children of God were to listen to His Word, they would understand the necessity of their becoming His sons and heirs (Romans 8:12-17) in order to accomplish His works. However, many will remain children because of the religious Tradition, which like the Pharisees, will make them deaf and blind to God's call to become His sons. |