“The Jewish leaders replied, “We are not going to stone you for a good deed but for blasphemy, because you, a man, are claiming to be God.” —John 10:33
In our verse for today, we see Jesus’ enemies attempting to justify their actions because of their zeal for the law. In an effort to gloss over their murderous ways, they set forth a false claim of blasphemy.
Their allegation was that Jesus claimed to be God. The problem was that what Christ had stated of Himself was true! He had said He was One with the Father. He had said He would give eternal life. We find Jesus giving a clear statement of His deity in Matthew:
“But Jesus was silent. The high priest said to him, ‘I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared, ‘He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Now you have heard the blasphemy! What is your verdict?’ They answered, ‘He is guilty and deserves death.’ —Matthew 26:63–66
The fact that eluded these Jews was that Jesus was no ordinary man. While He was fully man, He was also fully God. Paul gives us an unrivaled description of our Messiah in Colossians:
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him. He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him. He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross—through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.” —Colossians 1:15–20
“For in him all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form.” —Colossians 2:9
Paul also writes in Philippians:
“You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross! As a result God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” —Philippians 2:5–11
The writer of Hebrews says:
“The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” —Hebrews 1:3
The Jewish leaders could not prove any evil against Jesus’ miraculous works and therefore clung to the shreds of the pretense of honoring the law. They did themselves great harm.
Become More
The Jewish leaders did not want to believe because they did not want to change. When confronted with the truth we must always do something with it—embrace and apply it or refute and deny it. What are you doing with the knowledge you have of the truth of who Jesus is?
Further Reflections
“As nothing is more courageous than a well-informed conscience, so nothing is more outrageous than a mistaken one.” —Matthew Henry
“The only Christ for whom there is a shred of evidence is a miraculous figure making stupendous claims.” —C. S. Lewis