John 10:31-42

Jeremiah 20:10-13

Psalm 18:2-3a. 3bc-4, 5-6, 7

John 10:31-42

The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus.

Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father.

For which of these are you trying to stone me?”

The Jews answered him,

“We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy.

You, a man, are making yourself God.”

Jesus answered them,

“Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’?

If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came,

and Scripture cannot be set aside,

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’?

If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me;

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.”

Then they tried again to arrest him;

but he escaped from their power.

He went back across the Jordan

to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained.

Many came to him and said,

“John performed no sign,

but everything John said about this man was true.”

And many there began to believe in him.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you offer me the gift of divine adoption. I do not deserve this great gift. Your love for me is so great. Help me to correspond to your love and live as your child.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Did Jesus Commit Blasphemy? Yesterday, we read that the Judeans tried to stone Jesus after the autumn Feast of Tabernacles. Today’s Gospel takes place a few months later at the Feast of Hannukah (the Feast of the Dedication) in winter. Once again, Jesus’ words provoke the Judeans to try to stone him to death. At both feasts, Jesus made divine claims. At Tabernacles, Jesus claimed to be “I AM.” At Hannukah, Jesus declared: “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30). At both feasts, the people think mistakenly that Jesus has committed the sin of blasphemy and, according to Leviticus 24:16, must be stoned to death for that sin. The readers of John’s Gospel, however, know that Jesus is the eternal Word and Son of the Father and that he has committed no sin or blasphemy. 

2. Our Sharing in the Divine Nature: Jesus refutes his opponents by quoting Scripture and interpreting Psalm 82:6, which says: “I said, ‘You are gods.’” In its original context, Psalm 82 speaks about the leaders and judges of Israel who failed to act and judge things in a holy way. And yet the Lord God refers to these individuals as “gods” but, on account of their corruption and sin, will die like mortal men. Jesus uses the Psalm to argue that if people like that can be called “gods” by the Lord God, how much more can he, the just one who does what is good, claim to be the Son of God sent by the Father into the world? On the one hand, Jesus uses the text to allude to his divine nature as the Son of God. On the other hand, he refers to our calling to share in the divine nature as adopted children of God.

3. The Fulfillment of the Feast of Dedication: We have to remember that this episode takes place during the Feast of Hannukah or Dedication. Jesus refers to himself as being “consecrated” by God the Father. This helps us understand the relationship between Jesus and the Feast of Dedication: “This festival celebrates the reconsecration of the temple, the place of God’s special presence among the people. As the incarnate Word, whose body is the ‘temple’ (John 2:21), Jesus is the one consecrated by the Father. The rededication of the earthly temple made earthly worship possible again, and Jesus makes possible ‘worship in Spirit and truth’ (John 4:24)” (Martin and Wright, The Gospel of John, 199).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are mighty in your works and invite me to believe in you. I believe in you and your words of everlasting life. You are my savior and redeemer, you are my king and my Lord, you are my life and my resurrection.

Living the Word of God: We are called today to renew our faith in Jesus, who continues to work marvels in our lives and the life of the Church. Signs and testimony point us in the right direction and confirm the stirring in our hearts. This is the action of grace moving us to faith in Christ, to hope in his promise of eternal life, and to love both God and neighbor.