Blasphemy was a common charge combatted by Jesus. The frequent comparisons made by Jesus to the Father, including "I and the Father are One," made many a God-fearing Jew suspicious. After all, you really aren't suppposed to do that. And to answer the charge, Jesus employs two tactics.
First and foremost, Jesus calls to His works in order to prove that He is united to God. And, in fact, Jesus has been doing the work of the Father throughout His life. Whether feeding the hungry, healing the sick or even raising the dead, Jesus has been about the work of God every moment in the Gospel.
The second defense is more interesting. Jesus points to an obscure Psalm reference from Psalm 82, and one where English translation betrays more theology than it does faithful rendering of the text. In Psalm 82, God gathers the assembly of the heavenly host to render judgment. Those who are to be judged: the gods.
I know. We don't generally believe in multiple gods. And so in your English translation, you likely have "gods" rather than gods. Those quotation marks don't make reading the Psalm any easier. So who are the "gods" in Psalm 82? Some of them are likely angels, disobedient spiritual forces that set themselves up as gods. But Jesus, in John 10, that the gods are people. Kings, perhaps, or maybe something more...
One of the realities we have to face is that, as CS Lewis famously said, there are no mere mortals. Cultures fade, art breaks down, brilliant achievements are knocked down for more brilliant achievements. But this is not so with people. There is nothing "mere" about us. We were created for union with God. We were created as a special brand of sacred. This is why life is so valuable. We are a special brand of sacred.
In this defense of His own divinity, Jesus was alluding to something spectacular. The destiny of humanity is to be caught up in the divine relationship, glorified because of our union with Christ. There is nothing mere about you.
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