John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true

 

 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 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."  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 at 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 there was a division again among the religious leaders because of Jesus' word to them while they interrogated Him during the Feast of Tabernacles, during which He had healed a man born blind.  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."   The religious leaders clearly perceive the meaning of Jesus' final statement in yesterday's reading (above), "I and My Father are one."   This is a revelation that Jesus is fully God.  My study bible explains that one means one in nature of essence; He is God before all ages, and remains God after the Incarnation and for all eternity.  The plural "are" indicates two distinct Persons, but confirms a continuous unity as well.  The religious leaders (for this is what is indicated by the term the Jews) clearly recognize Christ's claim of divinity in the statement, and therefore are accusing Him of blasphemy.  

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."   My study bible comments on Jesus' quotation from Psalm 82:6, which reads, "I said, 'You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High'."  It says that people who receive God's grace in faith will partake of God's divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), and can then rightly be called gods.  My study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who writes that Christ is 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?"  Once again, Jesus turns to the works He's done as witnesses to His claim of unity with the Father.  

 

Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  My study bible comments that because Christ is going to His Passion voluntarily and according to His own will (see verses 17-18), His accusers 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 at 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.   Once again Jesus is linked to John the Baptist and his role as forerunner to Christ.  John's word about Jesus is confirmed in what people witness about Jesus.  St. John Chrysostom comments, "Christ is no longer proven to be trustworthy by means of John. Instead, John is shown to be trustworthy by what Christ had done."

How do we know what is true?  And how do we measure truth in the different things we might read or hear?  One thing we can say about Scripture is its consistency; that is, its affirming nature in the truths that are told.  Even when they may seem to indicate different things when taken separately, truths which appear in God's word or work tend to affirm and reinforce one another.  They work in a type of synergy which does not simply affirm, but when taken together enhance one another, and make a greater whole than the sum of the parts.  For example, Christ quotes from Psalm 82:6 in today's reading.  While the understanding of the psalm and its word as Holy Scripture has always been accepted, Christ's use of it here enhances both our understanding of the Psalm and also our understanding of Christ and His divine nature, which can be shared with us through grace.  In commentary on the same passage, my study bible also cites a passage in an Epistle of St. Peter (2 Peter 1:4), which affirms that through Christ's work, power, gifts, and promises to us, we "may be partakers of divine nature."  Each of these passages from Scripture, taken together, reinforce and illumine one another.  The writing of the Psalm, the citing of it by Jesus, and the experience of St. Peter given to us in his letter, all combine to highlight facets of our faith for us, aspects of the grace of God at work for us and with us.   In the same sense, Jesus' retreat to the place where John the Baptist had spent time during his own ministry serves to reinforce both the holiness of John and affirm the holiness of Christ in the people who are witness to both.  This is the way we need to observe Scripture and how it works, and even what contributes to our understanding of why it is considered to be inspired.  Ultimately, the source of what we know is the Word of God.  Old Testament or New Testament, each affirms the other in proper understanding, and contributes to our understanding of God and God's work in us and in our world.  Each is a facet of revelation, taken together.  Generally speaking, as Christians, and from the earliest period of the Church, we understand the Old Testament Scriptures to point to the New;  that is, to Christ as manifestation of what was prophesied.  But every time we study Scripture, or we study the life of a saint, or we participate in a liturgical service, or in the privacy of our own prayers, or any other type of holy devotion or participation in our faith, all of these things taken together form and shape us and our understanding, because they all draw upon and reflect the same source.  They are all meant to reveal Christ, and to draw us into participation in the life of Christ.  This is why all aspects of faith are important, why the Christian church has always used the Psalms for worship, why our Scriptures include both Old and New Testament.  In fact, for the early Church, and up through at least the 5th century, for most Christians, the Old Testament Scriptures were the only Scriptures available.  The Bible is indeed the "Book of the Church" and among all the various apocryphal and other texts which are known, it was the Church that compiled and evaluated the texts which are included.  Let us consider how each facet of faith or testimony contributes to the whole, and taken together illuminate all the rest.  Moreover, in our theology, we understand the world -- the created cosmos -- to be an icon of Christ.  The beauty of the world reflects the beauty of Creator.  We are meant to continue to learn and draw upon all that is available to us to hear and to answer God's call, and to come to know Christ.  There is nothing left out, and more is added all the time in the form of new witness to our faith and God's self-revelation to us.