Jesus Is God: Understanding John 10:31-42

Sermon by Pastor Scott Thompson

June 21st, 2026

John 10:31-42 records one of the clearest declarations of Christ's deity in all of Scripture. After Jesus proclaimed, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30, ESV), the religious leaders immediately understood the significance of His words. They picked up stones to kill Him because they recognized that Jesus was claiming equality with God.

When Jesus asked why they wanted to stone Him, they answered plainly: "because you, being a man, make yourself God" (John 10:33). Notice that Jesus did not correct their understanding. He did not say they had misunderstood His claim. Instead, He defended and reinforced it.

Jesus then quoted Psalm 82:6: "I said, you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you." This passage is often misunderstood. In Psalm 82, God is rebuking unjust human judges and rulers who had been given authority to represent Him. They were called "gods" in a limited sense because they exercised delegated authority in God's name. Yet these men were still sinful and mortal, as verse 7 declares: "nevertheless, like men you shall die."

Jesus' argument was from the lesser to the greater. If Scripture could use the term "gods" for sinful human judges who merely represented God's authority, how much more appropriate was it for the One whom the Father had sanctified and sent into the world to call Himself the Son of God? Christ was not lowering Himself to the level of those judges. He was showing the inconsistency of His accusers. They accepted Psalm 82 without objection, yet they rejected the true Son of God standing before them.

Jesus then pointed to His works as evidence of His identity. The miracles He performed testified that the Father was in Him and He was in the Father. His works revealed divine power, divine authority, and divine approval. The problem was not a lack of evidence. The problem was unbelief.

This passage also helps answer another common objection raised against Christ's deity. Some point to Colossians 1:15, where Jesus is called "the firstborn of all creation," and claim this means He was the first being God created. However, the biblical meaning of "firstborn" often refers to rank, position, and inheritance rather than birth order.

For example, David was called God's firstborn in Psalm 89:27 even though he was the youngest of Jesse's sons. The title referred to preeminence, not chronology. In Colossians 1, Paul immediately explains why Christ is called the firstborn: "For by Him all things were created" (Colossians 1:16). Jesus cannot be part of creation if all created things came into existence through Him. The title means He is supreme over creation, not that He is the first creature.

John 10 leaves little room for confusion. Jesus claimed unity with the Father. His enemies understood that claim as a declaration of deity. His works confirmed it. His use of Psalm 82 strengthened it. The response of the religious leaders reveals that they clearly understood what Jesus was saying, even though they refused to believe it.

The chapter closes with many people beyond the Jordan believing in Him. Unlike the hardened religious leaders, they saw the evidence and trusted Christ. The same choice stands before every person today. Will we reject Jesus' claims, or will we believe what Scripture clearly teaches: that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, fully God and fully man, worthy of all worship, honor, and praise?

As always, we encourage everyone to check everything through the lens of the Scriptures. Be like the noble Bereans of Paul's day who searched the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Please visit us here for much more, and remember, Christ is enough.

Let us together, worship, serve and forever enjoy our Lord and Savior and until we meet again beloved, lets go serve our King!

FRF Family