Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray with Me”.

Do you think of yourself as a god? In John 10, Jesus said, “Scripture calls people who heard the word of God are called gods” (v 34-36). Really? Calling us gods? Where did that come from?

Before we start calling people gods, let’s look more closely at Jesus’ words.

When he was in the temple, Jews said to him, “Don’t keep us in suspense. If you’re the Messiah, just say so” (v 24). 

Jesus said, “I’ve already said so, but you refuse to believe. That’s because you’re not God’s sheep. God’s sheep listen to me and I give them eternal life. I am one with God” (v 25-30). 

Jesus’ opponents choked at that answer. Not just Messiah . . . now Jesus is claiming that he, a mere man, is one with God. Impossible. Blasphemy. A capital sin deserving capital punishment, so they picked up stones to stone him (v 33).

Jesus responded by quoting Psalm 82. Listen to it:
  “You are gods;
      You are all sons of the Most High,
  But you will die like mere mortals;
      You will fall like every other ruler.”
          Ps 82:6

The psalmist says, “You are small-g gods, sons of the Most High, but you will die like mortals.” Whoever heard of gods dying like men? Some commentaries suggest that the psalmist used the word “god” to mean kings who represent God’s rule on earth, or maybe judges representing God’s judgment.

But Jesus didn’t explain it like that. He took the psalm at face value. He said, “If the psalmist called people gods when they received the word of God, why do you have a problem when I call myself the son of God?” (v 34-36). 

The Jews didn’t argue with Jesus’ use of scripture. Nor his use of the word “gods”. Nor his claim to be a son of God. Instead, they tried to arrest him, but he walked away. 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, you kept getting yourself into trouble by claiming a special relationship with God. You called yourself shepherd of God’s sheep, giver of eternal life, son of God, the great I AM, and now, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).  

And you used the word “god” much more loosely than we do. You used it for mortals who die.  

Yet, in many ways, Jesus, we humans are gods on earth. We use the rich resources in magical ways to make planes and ships and cell phones and bombs. We judge our enemies and make war on them. We idolize celebrities and worship them.  

Forgive us for ignoring you as we build our kingdom on earth. Forgive us for exploiting creation for our gain instead of your honor. 

May your strong words shake us up, Jesus. May we worship your father, the big-G God, and may imitate him like small-g gods, representing his rule of truth and justice and compassion.

Amen.

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube.