Verse 31, 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 (notice their disrespect, disbelief and denial…Jesus said “many”, they said one…the sucker always downplays the work of God) but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

 

Real quick, let’s examine this conversational transaction.  Jesus said back in verse 30, “I and My Father are one” and John has given us via context, the exact meaning of what Jesus had just said. 

 

These Jews instantly recognized that Jesus had claimed absolute equality with the Father and to them that was blasphemy, punishable by death on the spot.  And so Jesus asks them why they have taken up stones…and their reply, we just saw in verse 33, “because Jesus, you make Yourself God.”  The conversation is quite sufficient to settle the question of what Jesus meant…Jesus Himself always and consistently claimed to be full deity…not another God mind you, but the One true God…the second person of the trinity.

 

And so Jesus continues.  Ok, for this statement you wish to stone Me…not for all of who I am…ok then, let me specifically address your problem with my claim.  Verse 34, Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said I am the Son of God?  Ok, context, context, context.  What Jesus is not saying here is that you and I, or any human for that matter are in some way a god or gods.  What He’s saying here is that the Jews are missing the point.  You want to kill me simply because I have said to you that I am the Son of God? 

 

And so what He says here is actually a word-for-word quote of Psalm 82:6 with the corresponding commentary given for us in Exodus 21 and 22. 

 

Turn over to Exodus 21.  Here, God is laying out His law, calling them judgments in verse 1 of Exodus 21.  Then as He dictates them to Moses, He commands that judges preside over the people.  And when disputes would happen, the people would come to these men, these judges and these men would settle the matter…even to the extent that under some circumstances, depending upon the offense, a man or a woman may even be condemned to death.  And so you see there were men controlling the destiny of others by passing legal/lawful judgment, in accordance with God’s commands, laws and judgments, and therefore acting in God’s place.

 

Now the interesting thing, the relevant item to note, is that each time the word judges appears there in Exodus 21 and 22, it is the word elohim…which we know to mean gods…and if you stop right there then you may end up having a problem.  You may end up quite astray into aberrant doctrine that men are gods as God is God…but that is very far from the truth of the scriptures.

 

Contextually in Exodus we see that these judges are men that have been appointed over the people to keep peace and administer the judgments of the One true God.

 

Contextually you will find in Psalm 82:1 that God presides in judgment over the judges.  And so there is a clear distinction, a difference presented by Asaph in Psalm 82 that God Most High is above the judges or the elohim…the men appointed to administer God’s commandments…there is a difference.  God is higher.  God is God and man is man.  God was not created, man was created.  God is omniscient, man is limited.  God is all powerful; man is futile and crafted from the dust formed by the very will of God. 

 

The undeniable and theologically sound conclusion is that the use of the word elohim does not mean that man is deity, but rather that elohim must have different meanings depending upon context and depending upon the entire counsel of God’s Word!  One of which is properly translated for us in Exodus 21, 22 and Psalm 82 as “judges.”  But nevertheless, the word literally is “gods” and therefore Jesus brings it up in this conversation…

 

Have you ever been on jury duty?  I once was.  I was on a jury once for capital murder.  And as we heard the case and as we ultimately had to render a verdict, we had the power of life and death over a man…we sat in the position of judge in accordance with the law…we had the power to preserve or to destroy a life…we were standing in the place of God.  Well that same concept, that same authority…is found in Psalm 82:6 and it is a reference not to us or them being a god of a planet, or any type of equality or relational equivalence to God Almighty but rather it contextually refers to them as speaking for God, administering judgment in His place based on His word and commandments…same word used in Exodus 22:8.

 

Turn over to Isaiah 40 and read verses 1 thru 23…this should conclude the matter.

 

So back to our conversation between Jesus and the Jews there in the temple…Jesus is saying “why are you so upset over what I have said?

 

(They already dismissed the works remember?  Even the works that Jesus performed on the Sabbath.  “We’re wanting to kill you for what you have said”…was their remark)

 

So Jesus calls their law to the witness stand, Exodus 21 and 22.  Its ok for you to be called gods…you accept that completely, but as soon as I mention that I am the Son of God, you take up stones to kill Me.” 

 

He’s trying to make them see…He’s trying to make them face the truth…that it’s indeed not what He has said…words alone are useless and weak…they want to kill Him for a much deeper reason.  They’ve lied…they say its not the works…but Jesus is showing them themselves.

 

They want to kill Him because He fits the bill!  His works, His lineage, His life, His words…they all fit and so THAT is why they stone Him…not because of simply what He has said but because they KNOW He is the Christ yet they reject Him.  Well why would He do that Matt?  Why would He take this angle…because you can’t reach someone who doesn’t realize that they’re lost…they think they are doing the work of God, but they are deceived…Jesus is reaching into their darkness to save them!  Look at what He says next…

 

Verse 37, If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”

 

See that?  He invokes the works…He brings it all together…and He puts them at a decision point.  They cannot deny Him, but they cannot accept Him…so they must decide.

 

But they again rejected.  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.”  And many believed in Him there.

 

And so we have reached a pivotal point in Jesus’ earthly ministry.  He has left Jerusalem and essentially His public ministry has come to an end.  “Jesus answered them”, “Jesus said to the Jews” will from here on out not be the case and what we will read is “Jesus said to His disciples”.

 

He has said all that He can say, He has done many works, He has be quite clear…and the truth is…they know…but they reject Him…

 

And so He goes to those the Father has given to Him…those that would know and accept…and so from here to the end, it will be Jesus and His homies…

 

And there is coming a day, soon, that we will see this again.  Turn over to Matthew Chapter 13…pick it up in verse 24…all the way to verse 30. 

 

What’s interesting to me here is that both the wheat and tares are growing “in his field.”  And now while we do know that (1 Cor 10:26) that the earth and everything in it is the Lord’s, it strikes me that even in the Master’s own field…tares grow among the wheat…weeds…

 

I looked up what makes a weed a weed.  You know what the answer was?  “A weed is a plant that makes the gardener unhappy.”  Ironic isn’t it…what makes the gardener unhappy?  Well according to Proverbs 3, 6, 8, 11, 12 and 15 that list contains pride, arrogance, dishonesty, hate, wickedness, evil, lies, discord (division), perversion…which all equate to a lack of love…an absence of fear of God’s righteousness…but interesting, we also find something in Revelation 3:16 that greatly displeases the Lord…and that is a lukewarm church…one who has one foot in the Lord and the other in the world…all of these…weeds in the Lord’s field.

 

No good for nourishment, aggressively shoving about and spreading quickly…not profitable to the field owner...and ultimately they will be removed. 

 

Couple flips to the left in Matthew Chapter 7, verses 21 to 23…”Lord have we not done works in Your name?  Have we not been called by Your name?”  “You have…but I never knew you…and you were lawless…”  What does He mean by lawless?  What are His laws I might ask?  To love God!  For the Lord to have preeminence and for you to love others.  It’s love.  And just so we are clear, the Bible defines love…John 15:13, that you would lay down your life…Look turn over to 1 John 3:16…that is it!  That is the central calling, the essential calling of the one who would be a follower of Jesus Christ. 

 

And let me tell you…if you are born again by the Holy Spirit of God…if you are truly in a relationship with Jesus…if you KNOW Him, then your life will be marked…tatted by fervent, selfless love.  The more tender you are, the more gentile you are, the more selfless you are, the closer you are to the very heart of God!  The more profitable you are to the King and His Kingdom.

 

Or are you a tare…a weed?  Out for yourself, soaking up all the nutrients in the soil…growing faster and bigger than others…choking out the wheat…I don’t know…you might not even know…but survey your life!  Lest when it becomes just Jesus and His homies…its you that’s rejected the very Spirit of God…

 

It’s kinda like a flower.  A flower so beautiful.  Madison often picks flowers and brings them in and we put them in water and then what happens…they die.  So many of us look at the peace and the power and the purpose and the truth of God and we pick it up and bring it in and place it in the water…and then it dies.  When what truly needs to occur is that seed of that flower needs to be planted into good soil.  Then it will grow, it will thrive, it will produce much fruit and it will be well pleasing to God…well profitable to the King. 

 

Have you picked the flower of God or have you opened your heart to receive the very seed of truth…the Spirit of Life?

 

 

 

I’m here to tell you today that your heart can bow to the Father now and you can settle that question too…I’m about settling issues, questions…and moving forward.  We’ve settled who Jesus is…we’ve settled clearly that He indeed is God, the second Person of the Trinity…lets settle one other thing this morning…that you ARE His disciple…that you KNOW Him and that He is the Lord of your life.

 

No mistakes.  That has been on my mind this week.  We are so heavy carrying around our past and thinking that it defines us or in some way makes us who we are…to me, that’s tragic…if it is my past that has made me who I am…then my past I will repeat. 

 

No!  I am what I am by the grace of God.  And all of my mistakes…that I wish so much had never happened…through my life in Jesus…they are washed away.  We are made clean…1 John 1:9…no mistakes, just grace, no turning back, just the promise of eternal life (1 John 2:25)…no more pain and heaviness but love and grace and freedom and joy that is to be found in a real relationship, fellowship with Jesus…(1 John 1:4)…so settle that question today…and if you have been growing as a weed in the Father’s field…repent and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and come alive as the salt of the world…come alive as a beacon of hope to a lost world…come alive as an eternal child of the Most High!