The objection
“I and the Father are one” need not mean unity of being. The disciples, too, are to be one. Moreover, in his answer Jesus calls other people “gods.”
1. Jesus explains his sheep's indestructible security
The line of thought does not begin only in John 10,30. Jesus gives the sheep eternal life, and no one can snatch them from his hand (verse 28). He then says the corresponding thing about the Father's hand (verse 29). Only then does he declare: He and the Father are one. Their unity here concerns their effective preservation, which no outside power can overcome.
“One” is neuter; “we are” is plural. Father and Son are therefore not the same person. But the neuter by itself does not yet determine the entire scope of their unity either. This follows from the action Jesus has just attributed to both.[1]
2. The disciples' unity has a different ground
John 17 asks for believers' unity. It does not follow that every relationship described with “one” must be of the same kind. The disciples receive life, glory and fellowship; the Son gives eternal life. Their unity is given and dependent. The unity of Father and Son is the ground from which this gift comes.
Nor does the “as” in John 17,21 assert complete equality between creature and Creator. It places believers' fellowship under the model and efficacy of the fellowship between Father and Son. Anyone equating the two would also have to attribute Jesus' glory before the world and his position as Creator to the disciples.
3. Psalm 82 is a counterargument, not a retreat
Jesus answers the accusation of blasphemy with a scriptural passage in which the designation “gods” does indeed occur. He thereby initially shows: Your own scripture already permits the expression in a certain context. Using a divine designation therefore cannot count as blasphemy without any further examination.
Jesus does not, however, simply equate himself with the psalm's addressees. He distinguishes those to whom God's word came from himself, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world. His argument proceeds from the lesser to the greater. Whether the addressees of Psalm 82 are understood as earthly judges or heavenly beings does not change this argumentative direction.
4. Jesus returns to his works and his unity with the Father
The concluding explanation is not: I am merely one of those “gods.” Jesus calls people to perceive his works so that his hearers recognize that the Father is in him and he in the Father (John 10,37–38). This corresponds to John 5,19–23: The Son does the Father's works, gives life and is to be honored as the Father is.
John 10,30 is therefore no isolated linguistic puzzle. Equality of saving power, the giving of eternal life and mutual presence belong together. Mere agreement between two separate agents does not explain these statements. The text distinguishes Father and Son and confesses their undivided divine efficacy.
Biblical texts in context
Sources and further study
- Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian FaithCh. 8, “The Unity of the Son and the Father,” pp. 229–230; preservation of the sheep and the argument from Psalm 82.