I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? (John 10:30-36)

The Jewish authorities taunted Jesus: “How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24). The Greek word rendered “said” in that verse uses the imperfect tense, which means they surrounded him (“then came the Jews round about him”) and kept on asking Jesus to tell them plainly. The wording in the Greek is literally, “How long do you steal away our hearts/hold up our soul?” as if Jesus were teasing them by not telling them who He really was. You see the mocking scorn in this question. They mean to taunt Jesus: “We really want to follow you, but we need to know if you really are the Messiah or not. How long will you hold us in suspense?” They use the 1st-class conditional. Literally, “Since you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” And since they asked, Jesus answered. Do you want to know Who I am? “I and my Father are one.”

Having lived and served in Utah for nearly three decades, I believe this answer and the subsequent explanation have led to some interesting obfuscations and exclamations among LDS church members. On the one hand, the more devout members twist themselves into knots in their attempt to explain away Christ’s claim in verse 30 – “I and my Father are one.” “One in purpose!” they claim as if it were possible for a lesser being than God to be one in purpose with God. But then, when we come to verses 34 and 35, they insist on the most literal interpretation possible: “See! Jesus even said that we are gods.”

Continue reading “Ye Are Gods, But Not Like That” →