Can you explain John 10:34-35?
Let us read John 10:31-36, “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?”
In verse 34, the Lord Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6. That says, “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.” Sometimes the word “gods” is used in the Scriptures for those in authority. We see this in Exodus 22:28 which says “Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.” The word of God was given to these rulers and they were supposed to speak God’s word to the people. Psalm 82:2 makes it plain that these ‘gods’ were not deity, since the Lord says of them, “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?” (NASB)
The phrase, “the scripture cannot be broken” in verse 35 is a full endorsement of the divine inspiration of the Old Testament by the Lord Jesus. In verse 36, the Lord is making the point that if unjust rulers were called gods since the word of God came to them, how much more qualified was Jesus to be the Son of God since He was set apart by the Father and sent by the Father into the world. Christ was not blaspheming. He really was, and is, the Son of God! As William McDonald wrote in his Believer’s Bible Commentary, “The word of God came to them; He was and is the Word of God. They were called gods; He was and is God.” Those gods were not sent from heaven by the Father. They were born in sin to earthly parents. Christ was the holy Lamb of God who was eternally the delight of His Father in the glory. He was sent from heaven to earth by the Father to be the Savior of the world.
Let us always remember that Jesus Christ is God. He is the ONLY Savior for mankind. As we read in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (165.3) (DJ)