Lesson 45

John 10:31-42
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
33 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.
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 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?
37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
39 Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,
40 And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode.
41 And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true.
42 And many believed on him there.

Background Information
This Scripture focuses on the issue that has often made Jesus Christ a controversial person. He claimed to be the Son of God. In the context in which He said this, it is the same as claiming to be God. One of the pillars of the Christian religion is a belief that Jesus is God, come to earth as a human being. A closely related doctrine is the doctrine of the Trinity, which states that there is only one God who is at the same time three Persons. It is not correct to completely separate those Persons or to say that there are three Gods. This doctrine is even more mysterious than the belief that Jesus is God. Yet, it is also a basic Christian belief.

In verse 34, Jesus quotes an Old Testament Scripture that seems to suggest that some people in earlier times had been divine. A careful study of that Scripture and the overall teachings of Jesus and the rest of the Bible shows that Jesus isn’t teaching that someone else the Son of God in the same way He is. The Bible is very clear that there is only one God. We should probably understand this saying to mean that those through whom God had chosen to work were so closely associated with Him that they stood above the world in a way that was god-like, but they were not themselves actually divine. Jesus is pointing out that if God could so honor ordinary people, it should come as no surprise that the One who actually came from Heaven should be the Son of God.

This passage mentions stoning. Stoning was an ancient method of execution in which a large group of citizens would throw stones at a person until he or she died.

Related Scriptures
Exodus 4:10-16
Psalm 82:1-8 (Verse 6 is the Scripture Jesus quotes in John 10:34.)
Isaiah 45:5-6
Luke 1:26-35
Hebrews 1:1-8
Hebrews 3:1-6

Questions
1. Why did the Jews want to stone Jesus?
2. What Scripture did Jesus quote to remind them that it wasn’t unheard of that God should work through and give great honor to His servants?
3. a. Which of the Related Scriptures gives evidence that someone had stood in God’s
place to do God’s work? b. Who was this person? c. Was this man God?
4. Were the people God honored with the title “gods” in Psalm 82 really gods or just people whose job it was to be God’s representatives on earth?5. How was Jesus the Son of God in a way that no one else will ever be? (See Luke 1, if  you need a hint.)
6. What had Jesus done that demonstrated that He was more than just another human?
7. What does God call Jesus in Hebrews 1:8?
8. Where did Jesus go when the Jews tried to arrest Him?
9. What evidence does this passage give that God the Father really was in Jesus and Jesus in Him?
10. What was the response of those who honestly considered Jesus’ miracles? (See verses 41-42 if you need help.)