The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus replied to them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “We are not stoning You for a good work, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” Jesus answered them, “Has it not been 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 nullified), are you saying of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

John 10: 31-38

One frustrating thing about teaching Scripture is the way that our modern perceptions have become a hurdle to understanding the texts. Jesus used Scripture in a very specific way when he was teaching; he drew out the meaning that was there rather than hunting for proof of a message he wanted. This is the way we ought to teach as well.

God takes His position in His assembly;
He judges in the midst of the gods.
How long will you judge unjustly
And show partiality to the wicked? Selah
Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
Rescue the weak and needy;
Save them from the hand of the wicked.
They do not know nor do they understand;
They walk around in darkness;
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I said, “You are gods,
And all of you are sons of the Most High.
Nevertheless you will die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.”
Arise, God, judge the earth!
For You possess all the nations.

Psalm 82

The word “gods” in the 82nd Psalm is elohim in Hebrew; it means divine or mighty ones, plural. The imagery here is that God, the Lord of Heavenly Hosts, is the King of Kings, a God above other gods and that those lesser rulers under him are people whom he has given power.

But hold on, that doesn’t really describe any of us, now does it? None of us can really acknowledge a godlike power over any Earthly domain within our grasp. Paul said this:

For the foolishness of God is wiser than mankind, and the weakness of God is stronger than mankind.
For consider your calling, brothers and sisters, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the insignificant things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no human may boast before God.

1 Corinthians 1:25-29

It is us, the weak and the pitiable who have access to true might and power of God in this life as well as the one to come. So while mortal man may mock, the God above all gods calls us mighty.

Ethan Kirl

Originally Published January 5, 2020