When Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” what did that mean?
To answer this, let’s read John 10:27-30: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one” (NKJV).
In verses 27-28 the Lord Jesus is teaching us that He has the power to GIVE ETERNAL LIFE to the sinner who believes in Him and that He has the power to KEEP THEM SAFE AND SECURE. No man (and we might add, no other created being) can snatch them from His almighty Hand! To further assure His sheep that they will never perish He adds (in verse 29) that His sheep are also held firmly in His Father’s Hand. One has said that believers are held securely in the “double grasp of the Father and the Son.” This leads to those precious words in verse 30, “I and My Father are one.” The primary thought is that the Father and the Son are EQUAL IN POWER, for He had just spoken of their ability to KEEP CHRIST’S SHEEP. But these words would also include the thought that the Father and the Son are equal in every way. Besides being Omnipotent (all-powerful), they are both Omniscient (all-knowing), and Omnipresent (present everywhere). They are truly ONE GOD, though two distinct Persons.
Now let’s read on to see the reaction of the Jews to these words. Verses 31-33 state, “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, ‘Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?’ The Jews answered Him, saying, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” The Jews knew full well that by saying, “I and My Father are one,” Jesus was claiming to be God and in their minds this was blasphemy and worthy of death. So, they believed they were justified in trying to stone Him. Notice, we read that they “took up stones AGAIN to stone Him.” This was NOT the first time they tried to stone Him, for we read of a similar account in John 5:16-18, which reads: “For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.’ Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that GOD WAS HIS FATHER, MAKING HIMSELF EQUAL WITH GOD.” They knew that by referring to God as “My Father,” Jesus was “making Himself equal with God”; in other words, He was claiming to BE GOD.
How did Jesus react to them? If He was NOT equal with God this would have been the perfect opportunity to say, “Look, you’ve got this all wrong. I’m not claiming to be God.” Instead He went on to say in John 5:21-23: “For as the Father raised the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that ALL MEN SHOULD HONOR THE SON JUST AS THEY HONOR THE FATHER. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” He made it crystal-clear that not only is He EQUAL TO THE FATHER, but He deserves EQUAL HONOR from men. Why? Because He and the Father are one! They are both God and co-equal in every way. (242.3) (DO)