Back in high school, an unbelieving friend of mine challenged me to explain Psalm 82:6 to him, in which God tells men “you are gods.” It has always been a controversial verse, and at the time I was ashamedly too young to have an answer. But it turns out John’s gospel gives us some helpful context. Jesus tells the Jews that that title of high honor was given to those who had received the Word of God and were responsible for keeping it. So it’s not literally calling any man divine—this is poetry, after all—but it’s still giving a uniquely high title of heavenly dignity.
So what’s the point, and why did Jesus bring it up? Ironically, it was mostly as a side note. The Jews were in a rage, and Jesus showed them that even from Scripture, they really shouldn’t have been. If God could call even believing men and women “gods,” then there really shouldn’t be any issue with Jesus saying the same about himself. This is a meticulous little theological argument. Kind of convicts us that we should know our Bibles a whole lot better, doesn’t it?
Yet in fact, by saying “I and the Father are one,” Jesus was making a bombshell of a claim. Not only was he as deserving of divine honor as any other believer, he was infinitely more so. Jesus was Yahweh himself. Such was his claim, and such is the truth. His will is the Father’s will, his work is the Father’s work, and his very essence is the Father’s very essence. And the truth of who Jesus is literally changes everything.
C. S. Lewis noted how because of Jesus’ polarizing claims of divinity, he must have either been a liar, or a lunatic, or the one true Lord—there could be no in between. It’s an important reminder, because many Americans today live as if he were only a good teacher and iconic figure. But this is now the third time in John that Jesus has claimed divinity and the Jews have tried to stone him for blasphemy. For them, there was no mistaking how serious this Jesus matter really was!
The oneness of Jesus and the Father doesn’t mean they are the same person, but rather that they share the closest, most intimate, and most infinitely loving relationship possible. As John writes elsewhere, God is love. Spoiler alert: later in this gospel, in chapter 15, Jesus will reveal that we his disciples now get to share in that oneness with both Christ and the Father. But we have to first grasp that Jesus is one with the Father before we can understand the grace of Jesus letting us share that oneness as well!
