In this series on the Doctrine of Scripture, we’ve been examining the characteristics of “Scripture” based on what the Bible says about itself, and in this study, we will see what Jesus Christ Himself said and thought about the “Scripture”.
(A) Heed the One who is one with the Father (Jn 10:22-30)
Events in the narrative we’re looking at were set during winter during the Feast of Dedication (Jn 10:22). “The Feast” refers here not to one of the three major feasts prescribed for Israel in the Mosaic Law, but is actually what we know today as “Hannukah”. This Feast was to celebrate the re-consecration, or dedication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. It was instituted by Judas Maccabeus in 165 BC to celebrate the Jewish victory over a foreign king who had tried to invade Jerusalem and desecrate the temple, and was recorded in the apocryphal book, 1 Maccabees. Jesus was in the colonnade of Solomon (Jn 10:23), or Solomon’s Porch, which was on the eastern side of the temple. Readers may tend to skip these seemingly irrelevant details, but they do serve to help us see that Jesus lived in real historical time and space. We may imagine Jesus’ words as vignettes of cosmic speeches not grounded in reality but the Bible presents Jesus as a real person, who for our purposes, had real opinions, and real convictions about what He believed was “Scripture”.
The Jews around Him were also deeply interested in this real person, Jesus, who had been taking the culture by storm. John records for us how they came to Him demanding He make it clear if He was the Christ, or not. No more suspense, they insisted, and they called for Him to speak plainly (Jn 10:24). As is the case with much of the narrative in John, his Jewish audience was likely feigning interest and more likely setting a trap for Jesus to say something incriminating and blasphemous. We know this since as early as John 5, Jesus has been revealing His identity to them, while knowing their true political intentions. Thus, He replied that He had already told them, but they had persisted in unbelief (Jn 10:25). He added that His claims, in words, were also verified by His works (John 10:25b). So Jesus argued that His actions backed up His verbal claims.
On this occasion, Jesus presses on to describe “His sheep”, or those who would respond and believe in Him: (Jn 10:27-29):
They would believe Jesus -- not rejecting, but trusting what He has said on the basis of His trustworthiness.
They hear Jesus’ voice -- they recognise, receive and respond to what Jesus has said.
They are known by Jesus -- they enter into a personal, mutual relationship with Him.
They follow Jesus -- their lives are marked not by individualism but by attention and obedience to His words, teachings and example. They make His ways their personal choice..
They receive eternal life from Jesus and will never perish -- there is a consequence for their belief and trust in Him; a restored and unending life with Him.
They will not be snatched out of Jesus’ hand -- there is eternal protection and security against risk, failure, hostility or opposition that guarantees their status.
They were given to Jesus by His Father -- there was an mysterious origin for this destiny that began with the plans and purposes of the Father and Son in eternity past.
Jesus’ sheep have a blessed eternal security with Him. If you’re one of His “sheep”, we should rejoice in this! But notice that Jesus stresses that it all begins with: believing and hearing the voice of the Shepherd and trusting His words. That is the gateway to knowing and being known by Him, having a relationship of trust founded on what He has said.
Believing what Jesus has said is the basis for realising that “I (Jesus) and the Father are one” (John 10:30), which is the climax of Jesus’ speech here. This is significant because we see the dramatic reaction that that provokes from His listeners, who are outraged by that last statement (Jn 10:31). Jesus was going beyond just describing God in the abstract, but was making a claim to being one with the Divine, God in the flesh. It’s clear that the Father and the Son are different entities, but Jesus’ implication is that He and the Father are somehow equal in essence and divinity. The Jews wanted an answer to the question “are you the Christ”, or the prophesied Jewish Messiah and political rescuer, but were not expecting to get the One who was one with the Father!
This is why we must pay careful attention to Jesus’ claims and beliefs. Although He was a historical figure who lived in space and time and walked in Solomon’s colonnade, He is one with the Father, and God Himself! If God truly came and walked this earth, made Himself relatable and knowable and understandable, then we ought therefore to heed His every word, including taking reference from Him about what Scripture is. This sense of trusting Jesus is, after all, what sets apart those who are His “sheep”. God as a Man, our Shepherd, will not mislead us into misunderstanding or falsehood about what God’s words are! His views and attitude towards Scripture should be ours too.
(B) Jesus Christ proclaims an unbreakable Scripture (Jn 10:31-42)
Upon hearing Jesus’ claims, His Jewish audience “picked up stones again to stone him” (Jn 10:31) because of the staggeringly blasphemous nature of His claims to be one with the Father. Of my good works, which one are you stoning me for, Jesus asks sarcastically (Jn 10:32). Confronted with the undeniable goodness of His acts of mercy and compassion in healing the sick and casting out demons, the Jews are put on a spot and clarify that the stoning is not because of His works, but His words of blasphemy (Jn 10:33). To be clear, it is “mak[ing] yourself God” that they cannot stand.
Jesus’ reply is staggering. He defends His own claim to be one with God by quoting Psalm 82:6 which calls the human leaders of the “divine council” by the term “gods”, and sets for Jesus, an acceptable precedent. To be clear neither the psalmist nor Jesus was promoting polytheism or nirvana-like enlightenment of any kind, but describing the “prince[s]” or judges and rulers of Israel, as “gods, [or] sons of the Most High” because of the power and authority that God permits them to have over others (Ps 82:6).
It is at this point that Jesus argues that “Scripture cannot be broken” (Jn 10:35). In His moment of confrontation and threat, Jesus reveals His theological convictions that the Scriptures are unbreakable based on Psalm 82 which He cites from memory.
Jesus’ argument from precedent is to say that His actions mimic or comply with the pattern and expectations of the Old Testament. Minimally, this must mean that Jesus is claiming that He understands the true interpretation of Scripture and is applying the same principles and patterns in His own actions. This rejects claims like:
Scripture cannot be applied because everyone has their own subjective reality and what’s right for me may not be right for you. Jesus is clearly insisting that Scripture legitimizes or validates His actions as right and acceptable.
Scripture cannot be interpreted because no one can know the true meaning of the text. Jesus is claiming that His interpretation of Psalm 82 is reliable, correct and comports to truth.
Scripture is irrelevant to modern life because it was grounded in ancient history long, long ago. Jesus, in quoting the ancient psalm, assumes its practicality, relevance, and applies it to His contemporary context.
This is consistent with what Jesus elsewhere says about His beliefs about Scripture, as in Matt 5:17-19. Jesus had long held to this high view of Scripture and said that His ministry and teaching was not to abolish the Old Testament Law and Prophets. Put another way, despite being God in the flesh, He was not here to supercede, overrule, or nullify the Scriptures but to fulfil them. His was a ministry of completion, fruition and satisfaction of that Law. To use His own words, Jesus’ teaching and ministry was meant to fulfil every single bit of the requirements of the Law, even the smallest iota! Matt 5:19 also gives us His stern warning, that anyone who relaxes and teaches the Old Testament teaching will be regarded as least in the kingdom. Consider what this means that the eternal Son of God would maintain such a high commitment to the Old Testament Scripture!
What do we think about the Scripture, especially the Old Testament, and how do we read it? Theologian Kevin DeYoung, in his book “Taking God At His Word”, says
“[Jesus] believed the Bible was all true, all edifying, all important, and all about him. He believed absolutely that the Bible was from God and was absolutely free from error. What Scripture says, God says, and what God said was recorded infallibly in Scripture. Jesus submitted his will to the scriptures, committed his brain to studying the scriptures and humbled his heart to obey the scriptures. He believed his Bible down to the sentences, to the phrases, to the words, to the smallest letter, to the tiniest specks- and that nothing in all those specks and in all those books in his holy Bible could ever be broken.”
How do you and I come to God and His Word? Do we think of it in the same way that Jesus did?
(C) Recognise the words and works of the true God in Scripture
Jesus’ argument from Psalm 82 is more exquisitely nuanced, and He also uses the psalm to rebuke His hearers, who are offended by His blasphemy and have disregarded His good works which authenticate and verify His claims to divinity.
In Psalm 82, God takes His place in the “divine council” in the “midst of the gods, hold[ing] judgment” (Ps 82:1), and He rebukes these “gods” for not upholding justice, rescuing the week and needy from the hands of the wicked, essentially calling them false gods (Ps 82:2). In the same psalm, these gods turn out to be “like men…[and] shall die, and fall like any prince” (Ps 82:7), so they neither act, nor exist as righteous and immortal gods. Yet Scripture still uses that term on them, and Jesus’ argument is that with that precedent, how can the Jews take issue with His alleged blasphemy?
In fact, by addressing those who reject Him for calling Himself God, Jesus is showing how if Scripture can call those who by bad works show themselves to be false “sons of the Most High” as “gods”, how can the Jews charge the true Son of God whose good works are on public display for blasphemy?
Or again: if Scripture refers to wicked princes as false gods because of their works, why do you charge the true Son of God for His good works? In other words, Jesus confronts the Jews for not received and recognised the good works and revelatory words of Jesus, and thus, are not of His sheep.
This is exactly what Jesus goes on to say. Before evading capture (Jn 10: 39-40), Jesus makes the point that the Jews have neither believed Him nor believed His works, and thus, have not understood the Father or the Son (Jn 10:38).
How about you and me? Have we recognised the works and received the words of Jesus for what they are -- signs and spoken words from God in the flesh for us? We do more than just receive an unbreakable Scripture, we must receive the One who speaks Scripture and whom Scripture is about -- Jesus Christ Himself.
That’s what the writer goes on to depict. Turning to John the Baptist in Jn 10:40-41, readers are told that whereas John the Baptist did no works or signs, He only spoke words of testimony about Jesus, and many believed those words about Jesus. John’s words about Jesus were all absolutely true, He was the promised Messiah who walked Solomon’s colonnade, He was the true Son of God whose good works prove He was one with the Father. John’s testimony about Jesus is captured in the New Testament for us today as Scripture, so we know what God in flesh is truly like, and the Scripture cannot be broken.
Today, we can be confident to proclaim this same Scripture, both the Old Testament about the coming Messiah, and the New Testament testimony about Jesus. They contain the works and words of Jesus which God can use to draw people to know and fall in love with Jesus! You and I can be a part of knowing who Jesus is, and helping others to know Him too. Trust the Scriptures -- they cannot be broken.