Is it not written in your law, "I said, 'You are gods'"?

 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  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 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."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

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

- John 10:31-42

 Yesterday, we read that after Jesus healed the man blind since birth, and His interaction afterward with the leadership (see the readings of Friday and Saturday ), there was a division again among the religious leadership because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."

 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  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."   We remember that the term "the Jews" is used as a sort of political party affiliation, to denote the leadership in the temple (it is a reflection of the time in which John's Gospel was written).   The Pharisees respond to Jesus' statement, "I and the Father are one" (see yesterday's reading, above).  They clearly understand the impact and meaning of this statement, that Jesus reveals Himself as divine.  He is therefore accused of blasphemy and for this they took up stones again to stone Him (see this reading for the earlier instance).

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?  If He called them gods, to whom 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'?"  My study bible says of this teaching by Jesus that people who receive God's grace in faith will partake of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and can rightly be called gods.  St. John Chrysostom paraphrased Christ as effectively saying, "If those who have received this honor by grace are not guilty for calling themselves gods, how can He who has this by nature deserve to be rebuked?"  The quotation from Scripture, "I said, 'You are gods,'" is from Psalm 82:6.

"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."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.   Jesus once again cites the witness of the works He's done, such as healing the man blind since birth.  Once again, also, He escapes their arrest.  My study bible says it affirms that He goes to His Passion voluntarily and according to His own will.  They cannot arrest Him until He is ready (7:30; 8:20; see Luke 4:28-30).

And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.   Jesus remains distant from Jerusalem and the leadership in the temple.  Once again, John's Gospel gives us the contradicting opinions among the people - and especially their difference with the leadership.  Here, many believed in Him.

Jesus' ministry takes its course.  Those who are opposed to Him are implacably opposed.  There is really nothing He can do or say that is going to change their opinion.  Their focus isn't really on God or on questions of God's representation on earth somehow.  It's on their own authority, the laws and customs they are there to uphold and to enforce.  The real question behind everything is Jesus' authority.  It's the first question He's asked after cleansing the temple.  They want to know all about how He can establish His authority, and it is this that they resist to the end.  It is this resistance that ends with repeated accusations of blasphemy.  Jesus returns repeatedly to the works He's done; for which of them do they accuse Him?  But they cannot answer the works at all.   Essentially, they are ignoring His works altogether, in order to continue their accusations of blasphemy.  As was noted after Jesus healed the man blind from birth, with the faithful (such as that healed man), faith becomes stronger with pressure and persecution -- but those who wish to deny only do so more vehemently.  It's a strange thing about allegiances.  In Jesus' terms, everything is about a basic kind of love -- what we love the most.  It all depends on where our true heart is.  He claims that if these people had known His Father, they would know Him, because He is sent by the Father.  But they cannot hear His words, and they don't want to.  They have other priorities that are more important to them.  I think it's important to understand that there are all kinds of ways we may hide our real motivations, even from ourselves.  It is why Christianity has traditionally prized humility as the greatest of the virtues.  Humility is our best bet for remaining honest with ourselves, and for truly examining our motivations and interests, and what "love" we put first in life.  So much depends upon honesty, not fooling ourselves about ourselves.  Love and truth, where Christ is concerned, go hand in hand.  They are inseparable and both are qualities of God.  Prayer is a way to keep ourselves humble, used effectively.  Forgiveness is another way.  Both are done in dialogue with God, "giving up" the things that get in the way of faith, and our first true love that sets right all the others.  How do you truly love the Lord who leads you to love itself?