In verse 30 Jesus declared Himself to be one with His Father. The Jews understood what Jesus was claiming here. The Jews were also deeply offended by those words. They wanted to stone Jesus for telling them the truth. They rejected the truth but It is the truth that makes a person free. If Jesus is not God, then there is no salvation. Without salvation there can be no peace with God and man. Without salvation there can be no home in heaven.
In verse 32 Jesus asked these people for which good work they were wanting to stone Him. Jesus again stated that the works that He did were from His Father. Which of those works did they not like?
In verse 33 the Jews stated that their issue was that they accused Jesus of blasphemy. They believed that Jesus was just a man and they rejected His declaration that He was God.
Leviticus 24:16 condemned any person to death if guilty of blasphemy. The problem the Jews had here is that they had no evidence that Jesus had blasphemed. They had to admit that He had done many good works. He had done works they could not do. They knew that but they did not want to accept the reality that He could do those works because He was one with His Father.
Jesus referred them back to Psalm 82 where God addressed the former leaders of Israel and scoffed at them as being gods who were acting in an unjust manner. He would judge them for their wickedness.
Jesus used that passage to point out how the Jews that were accusing Him were of the same calibre as those Jews of old. They assumed they were in a place of judgment and they were even so bold as to try to judge the eternal Son of God.
Jesus did not just assume He was God. The Father had declared Him to be His Son. The Father spoke approvingly of His Son after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. He also spoke in a similar manner at the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus was not an imposter. He was and is the second person of the Godhead. He has the power to forgive sin because He is the Son of God.
In verse 37 Jesus challenged the Jews to judge Him by His works. They already had to admit that He did many good works. They knew the works He did were works they could not do. We mentioned the blind man in John 9 recently. They were amazed that the blind man could see. They wanted to know if this was the same man they knew had been born blind. They did not want to believe that to be true. They refused to accept that Jesus could give sight to a man that was born blind. They could not do that. Even doctors did not have the ability to do that. However, Jesus gave that man sight without surgery. He made a clay spittle and put it on the man’s eyes and told him to go and wash that clay mixture off and he could see. This was unusual, but God can do the unusual. He can save lost sinners. That is unusual.
In verse 38 Jesus further challenged the Jews to be honest. They would be wise to believe the works that were done and to acknowledge they were the works of the Father. Jesus again declared that He and the Father were one. He used different words, but the message was the same.
The Jews again knew exactly what Jesus was saying and they wanted to kill Him. They were unable to do so because Jesus’ hour was not yet come. He had more work to do prior to His crucifixion. No one would interfere with the work He needed to do prior to His death.
In verse 40 we see that Jesus went back beyond Jordan to the place where John at first baptized. That was where He began His public ministry. He went back to that place for a time. He did not go into hiding. He was directed by His Father to go back to that place as a reminder of His divine appointment in coming to this earth. He would continue to teach the truth and in so doing, He would expose the lies of the false teachers. They had all the opportunity they needed to repent toward God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Sadly most of them refused to do so. They were too proud to take God at His Word. They would rather twist It for their own evil purposes and then judge Jesus Christ according to their corrupt version of God’s Word.
What a sad situation. As we noted at the beginning of this devotional, corrupting God’s Word is not a new or recent event. The devil did that in Genesis 3. The Jews did that in the time of Christ. The Jews continued to do that in the time of the apostles. There are many false teachers today who are still doing the same thing.
God’s truth can withstand all the attacks that are brought against It. The wise person humbly submits to God’s sure Word and is saved. Once saved, the blessings of God’s gift of salvation will be many. It is important to choose His way and know His peace both now and for all eternity.
Pastor Bartel