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Thursday, August 13, 2009

What's up with John 10:34? - Question from a reader.

John 10:34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, `I said, you are gods'?

This is a quote from a Psalm:
RSV Psalm 82:1 A Psalm of Asaph. God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: 2 "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah 3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." 5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; 7 nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like any prince." 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; for to thee belong all the nations!

So as we can see this psalm is about men who are to give the judgements of God. They are called 'gods' because of this role. But they are showing partiality to the wicked (ver. 2) They should be just (ver.3, 4) But they themselves will be given an unfavorable judgement (ver. 5-7)

Jesus will say below that they are called 'gods' and 'sons of the most high' because the word of God came to them to be given to others, but these men were wicked.
But isn't Jesus THE WORD OF GOD made flesh? How much more should He be able to be called the Son of God and he is good.

Keep this in mind while you reread John 10:22-42

Jesus is saying to them, 'you are going to stone me because I call myself the son of God? Hey doesn't scripture call some pretty wicked judges (like yourselves) sons of the most high? Why can't I use it then? For which of my good works (and not evil works, like you produce) are you going to to stone me for?

In other words, this is like the scene in Star Wars (Empire Strikes Back) when Dark Vader has cut off the hand of Luke and then tells him that he is his father. Luke screams " NO! I will never join you!" (Terrible example I know Darth Vader being Jesus and Luke being these men.) But this is the opposite. They need Jesus to NOT be the Christ, because he doesn't fit into their gospel.

Now you should also know thet certain groups (Mormons) quote this verse to show that we can become gods ourselves some day. This is not accurate from this verse. This verse needs to be read in the context of it's original meaning from Psalm 82. Now God does deligate some of his characteristics to us; God is judge - He gives others the power to judge. Jesus is the Light of the world - He makes us the light of the world.

Mormons would say that if we have these qualities, while God may have originally given them to us, they are now ours for the posessing that some day we (as gods) will be able to give to others.

Hope this helps - if it doesn't - let me know.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This was a lot of help. The person who questioned me on this didn't even have a reply.

archiveninja said...

Nice theory but the Psalms were never considered law or Torah. The books of moses (first five books)are the only Law and Jesus would have known this and known that the Rabbi's would have called him on it. That is exactly why John, like 2 Peter, was especially suspect to the early church fathers Origen, Eusibius and Jerome.

Anonymous said...

That's incorrect.

The message that jesus was getting across was basically about your spirit and energy from within. Our creator gave us the ability to be able to tap into our God being and become something greater than ourselves. It starts with being honest and truthful and righteous. It's about learning and knowledge. That was his entire messege. Truth and knowledge. There is a way that we can raise our energy and frequencies to a place that allows us to travel in time and make things happen with just our minds and thoughts.

This is what YEshua was teaching. We all are gods but most of us don't care enough to Learn about what it takes. If the church really knew what he meant....it wouldn't have made it into the bible..
Since they church was against knowledge and free will.

Daniel Egan said...

Dear second Anonymous,

CONCERNING THE CHURCH BEING AGAINST KNOWLEDGE AND FREE WILL - the church is against neither and promotes both, that is why we started the university.

CONCERNING ENERGY AND FREQUENCY - You seem to be ignoring the quote from Psalm 82, and the rest of the Bible which speaks nowhere of "frequency" and "energy". If I may suggest, you have been reading some new age philosopher that is leading you on a path away from the person of Jesus.

WHAT YOU SEEK - You desire to be elevated above the slavery of the flesh and this is a noble desire. It is only the person of Jesus who can empower you with HIMSELF to elevate you out of the state you are in, into the state you so desire. To do this on our own or by any other power it to be deceived. The fruits of your labor will prove as much. BUT THE FRUITS OF THE SAINTS ARE TIME TESTED AND CONSISTENT. You don't have to believe me, read St. Francis, St. Catherine of Sienna, Mother Theresa etc. You seek happiness, and yonwill only find it in Christ Jesus.

Dan Egan