The Jews again picked up rocks to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? 35 If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and scripture cannot be set aside, 36 can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; 38 but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize [and understand] that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39 [Then] they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power.
40 He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. 41 Many came to him and said, “John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” 42 And many there began to believe in him.
At the Feast of the Dedication, Jesus was walking in the temple area in Jerusalem during winter (Jn. 10:22-23). The people pressed him to say plainly whether he was the Messiah (Jn. 10:24). Jesus answered that he had already told them, not only by his words but by the works he did in his Father’s name (Jn. 10:25). He then returned to the image of the shepherd and the sheep. His sheep hear his voice, follow him, receive eternal life from him, and cannot be snatched from his hand or from the Father’s hand (Jn. 10:27-29). The tension reaches its highest point when Jesus says, “The Father and I are one” (Jn. 10:30). That is why John 10:31 begins as it does: his opponents understand that Jesus is claiming a unique unity with the Father, and they react violently.
This passage opens with men picking up stones to kill Jesus (v. 31). This is not a sudden outburst without context. It is the direct response to what he has just said. In response, Jesus plainly asks them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?” (v. 32) Their answer is equally clear. They are not objecting to a good work. They are accusing him of blasphemy because, in their judgment, a mere man is making himself God (v. 33).
That accusation shows that they understood the force of his words. They recognized that he was speaking about a relation to God that no ordinary man could claim. Earlier in John, Jesus had already spoken and acted in ways that forced this question. He called God his own Father in a unique sense (Jn. 5:17-18). He used the solemn words “I AM” (Jn. 8:24, 58). Now, after saying that he and the Father are one (Jn. 10:30), the conflict becomes open and hostile.
Jesus answers first from Scripture. He quotes Psalm 82:6: “I said, ‘You are gods’” (v. 34; Ps. 82:6). In that psalm, the term is applied to those who received God’s word and exercised authority under him. Jesus’ argument is from the lesser to the greater. If Scripture can use that language for human beings in a limited and subordinate sense, how can it be blasphemy for the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world to say, “I am the Son of God” (vv. 35-36)? He is not backing away from what he said. He is exposing the inconsistency of his opponents. They claim to defend Scripture, yet they do not understand where Scripture itself points.
John adds the important line that “scripture cannot be set aside” (v. 35). Jesus treats the word of God as fully authoritative. His argument rests even on the wording of a single scriptural text. The passage therefore shows not only who Jesus is, but also how he regards the Scriptures of Israel: they remain true, binding, and incapable of being dismissed. If Scripture is set aside, the very ground on which his opponents challenge him is lost.
Jesus then turns from Scripture to works. If he is not doing his Father’s works, they should not believe him (v. 37). But if he is doing them, then the works themselves should lead them to the truth, even if they still resist his words (v. 38). This is important. Jesus does not ask for blind acceptance. He points to what he has done. Throughout John’s Gospel, his works reveal his identity. The healing of the official’s son (Jn. 4:46-54), the healing at Bethesda (Jn. 5:1-9), the feeding of the multitude (Jn. 6:1-15), and the healing of the man born blind (Jn. 9:1-7) are not random marvels. They are signs. They show that the Father is at work in him.
So when Jesus says, “believe the works,” he is saying that his deeds bear witness to him (v. 38; cf. Jn. 5:36). They reveal that “the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (v. 38). This goes beyond saying that Jesus is a prophet sent by God, or a holy man favored by God. The language points to a unique mutual indwelling and unity between Jesus and the Father. Jesus is not saying only that he agrees with the Father, or that he acts as a faithful servant. He is speaking of an intimacy and oneness that goes far beyond that of any prophet or messenger. The Father is in him and he is in the Father. His works are therefore not independent acts of a merely human agent, but the works of the Father revealed in the Son. Earlier, John had already told us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1). What was announced in the opening of the Gospel is now being challenged in the temple by those who refuse to accept it.
When they again try to arrest him, he escapes from their power (v. 39). John has shown several times that opposition to Jesus is real, but it cannot succeed before the appointed hour (cf. Jn. 7:30; 8:20). His life will not be taken from him by surprise or by accident. He will lay it down freely in obedience to the Father (Jn. 10:17-18). Their hostility is real, but it remains under the providence of God.
Then the scene changes. Jesus leaves Jerusalem and goes back across the Jordan to the place where John had first baptized (Jn. 10:40). In Jerusalem many reject him, but across the Jordan many come to him and remember that, although John performed no sign, what he said about Jesus was true (Jn. 10:41). The passage therefore does not end with violence or rejection, but with faith: "many there began to believe in him" (v. 42). Even in the midst of growing opposition, the truth continues to bear fruit.
Lord Jesus Christ, open our minds and hearts to the truth of who you are. Keep us from judging by appearances alone. Teach us to hear your voice, to trust your works, and to remain faithful to your word. Bring us through this Lenten season to a deeper faith in you, the Son sent by the Father for our salvation. Amen.
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Sources and References
- New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. John 10:31-42 and notes.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990, 969, para. 141-144.
- Casciaro, José María, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008, 405-407.
- Harington, Daniel J., ed. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. New Delhi: Bloomsbury, 2022, 1418-1419.
- Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010, 182.
- Aguilar Chiu, José Enrique, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018, 1151-1154.
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