John 10:30-39
30 I and My Father are one.” 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” 33 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.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 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’? 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and [a]believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
Context
Jesus is at a feast in Jerusalem and is surrounded by militant Jews in the temple. They are trying to stone Him for saying in v.30, ‘I and My Father are one’ [thereby making Himself God]. Jesus wishes to escape them (v.39) and does escape them.
Who is Jesus addressing in v. 34? Clearly, He is addressing angry Jews who wish to stone Him for saying He is one with the Father. Jesus says, Is it not written in your law …? Whose law is He referring to – the law given to men, angels or divine beings? Clearly the law given to men – the Jews that He is responding to.
There’s a very logical flow between vv. 33-34 clearly saying humans are the focus here. The Jews are saying they want to stone Jesus because He being a man is making Himself God. Jesus replies by saying, Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”? The law Jesus is referring to is therefore the law given to them (or their ancestors) as humans, which Psalm 82 refers to and as we have seen above is in Exodus 21:6 & 22:8-9. The ones who were called ‘gods’ are therefore the ancestors of the people Jesus is talking to. Michael Heiser, however, says that Jesus’ by quoting ‘you are gods’ is not referring to humans, but rather divine beings.
Verse 35 continues the logical flow though by saying, ‘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’? Jesus in v.34 has already identified those to whom the scripture came in v34 when He referred to their law. Heiser’s claim that ‘you are gods’ doesn’t refer to humans therefore doesn’t logically fit.
In his video ‘John 10 – Gods or Men?’ he tries to justify this by simply putting forward his interpretation of Psalm 82 and by inaccurately presenting his opponent’s argument that humans are called ‘gods’ in God’s law. He says his opponents base their argument on Exodus 18, but completely ignores the fact Exodus 21:6 & 22:8-9 is the major basis for their argument.
In the context of escaping angry men armed with stones and ready to stone Him, Jesus decides to cleverly deal with their accusation. By choosing not to clearly affirm His divinity in response to their accusation and behaviour He avoids provoking them further. The cleverness of His strategy is seen in this. He says, you want to stone me for only saying I am the Son of God, while your own scriptures call you ‘gods’/Elohim? Jesus doesn’t completely back away from being God, but does lower the heat or provocation by not emphasizing His own divinity, but instead emphasizing only His divine connection by saying He’s the Son of God and the Father is in Him and He in the Father.
Contact churchofgodslove4@gmail.com if you want to see article considering whether there are ‘lesser gods’ or other ‘gods’ over the nations. See also related article below considering the meaning of Psalm 82.