I and the Father, We are one.

In John 10:30, Jesus says:

I and the Father, We are one.

What do these words mean? Is it true what the Christian orthodoxy teaches that these words imply that Jesus claimed to be God, Himself? Let us examine the context, first. Jesus is involved in a discussion with the Jews in the temple. He is challenged to openly declare that He is the Christ (10:24). Jesus refuses and challenges his audience to draw their own conclusions from the works that He does (10:25). He tells them that since they do not want to believe, they neither are able to follow Him in what He teaches (10:26,27). Those who follow Him, receive eonian life and will not be lost for the eon. No one will snatch them out of my hand, He says (10:28). And neither will anyone be able to snatch them out of the hand of my Father (10:29). And then He says, ‘I and the Father,We are one’ (10:30). Whoever is in the hand of Jesus, is also in the hand of His Father. The great theme in the Evangel of John is that the Son makes known the Father.

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared [him]. -John 1:18 KJV-

To Philip, Jesus says:

He who has seen Me has seen the Father, and how are you saying, ‘Show us the Father’? -John 14:9-

Like Father, like Son. The words which Jesus speaks, He speaks on behalf of His Father. It are not His own words (John 3:34; 12:49; 14:10). Jesus repeatedly emphasizes this. So, when Jesus of his disciples says: no one can snatch them out of my hand, these are the words of His Father. Incidentally, it is not new to conclude from these words that Jesus was thus making Himself God. So did the Jews, who could not follow Jesus, then even. They wanted to stone Him for this (10:33). If the conclusion of these Jews were correct, then now was the time for Jesus to acknowledge that. Instead, He points out to them that people, in the law, occasionally also are called “gods” (10:34,35). Consequently, why would it be blasphemy, when He claimed to be the Son of God (10:36)? Thus Jesus enervated the accusation of the Jews. In other words, John 10 simply makes crystal clear what Jesus did and did not mean, with the words, “I and the Father, We are one.”

Delen: