Question:
Dear
Please
explain Psalm 82:6 and John 10:34-35. Who
is the “Ye are gods” referencing? Is
man equal to God? Is man equal to a
little “g” god?
Bobbie
Answer: Dear Bobbie,
In
the psalm God is addressing Hebrew judges, who, because they exercised life and
death decisions over people, were loosely called “gods”.
The NIV correctly translates the use of the Hebrew word elohim
“gods”—by placing it within quotes, helping the reader to note the ironic
sense in which it is used, not the literal.
In
John 10, John is addressing Jews who were monotheists (just as Christians are).
Jews and Christians believe in only one God.
The Bible, from beginning to end, insists upon only one true God.
The
context of John 10 has Jesus teaching that he is the good shepherd (verses
1-21), and during this teaching he makes overt claims to being deity, just as
the Gospel of John records him as doing throughout his ministry.
Following Jesus’ assertions, the Jewish religious leaders asked him if
he were the Christ (verse 24). Jesus
did not deny this—that he was deity, that his Father was and is God, but so is
he (verse 25, verse 28 and verse 30).
The
religious leaders picked up rocks to kill him (verse 31).
Why? Because Jesus, being (as
it seemed to them) a mere man, claimed to be God (verse 33).
Now,
we come to your question—understanding the context of why Jesus said what he
said, and why he quoted Psalm 82. Jesus
was probably making a clear connection with what God said to human leaders
(gods) in Psalm 82, and what he, the Son of God, God in the flesh, was saying to
them, the religious leaders of the Jews during that time.
Both groups of “gods” had not fulfilled their duties.
Jesus
was also saying, given the context of the rocks that were still in some hands
waiting to be thrown at Jesus, that if God called human judges “gods” then
how much more should I, God by nature, the uncreated Eternal Son of God (John
1), call myself God’s Son?
It
is also important to note that neither Jesus nor the psalmist referred to all
human beings as “gods”—but only judges and rulers, given the intent and
meaning of the Hebrew word originally used for “gods” in Psalm 82.
Nowhere,
of course, does the Bible give the slightest indication, contrary to cultic
teaching, that human beings have been god, will become god, or as some believe,
are gods right now. Jesus is the
natural Son of God—Son by nature. We
are adopted children of God. Jesus
has no beginning—he is the Alpha and Omega—he is uncreated, as God is.
We have a beginning; we are created, even though by God’s grace we may
be given the gift of eternal life. We
may be given that gift, but we will have always had a beginning, and thus not be
gods.
In
Christ,