John 10:33

The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. THE JEWS ANSWERED HIM, SAYING, FOR A GOOD WORK WE STONE THEE NOT; BUT FOR BLASPHEMY - whose legal punishment was stoning (), AND BECAUSE THAT THOU, BEING A MAN - that is, a man only, MAKEST THYSELF GOD. Twice before they understood him to advance the same claim, and both times, as we have seen, they prepared themselves to avenge what they took to be the insulted honour of God, as here, in the way directed by their law....

33._We stone thee not for a good work. _Though wicked men carry on open war with God, yet they never wish to sin without some plausible pretense. The consequence is, that when they rage against the Son of God, they are not content with this cruelty, but bring an unprovoked accusation against him, and constitute themselves advocates and defenders of the glory of God. A good conscience must therefore be to us a wall of brass, by which we boldly repel the reproaches and calumnies with which we are assailed. For whatever plausibility may adorn their malice, and whatever reproach they may bring on us for a time, if we fight for the cause of God, he will not refuse to uphold his truth. But as the wicked never want pretences for oppressing the servants of God, and as they have also hardened impudence, so that, even when vanquished, they do not cease to slander, we have need of patience and meek...

31-38 Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends, he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son was so in the Father, that he knew the whole of His mind. This we cannot by searching find out to perfection, but we may know and believe these declarations of Christ....

Verse 33. _BUT FOR BLASPHEMY_] I have elsewhere shown that the original word, βλασφημειν, when applied to men, signifies _to speak_ _injuriously_ of their persons, character, connections, c. but when applied to God it signifies _to speak impiously_, i.e. contrary to his nature, perfections, the wisdom of his providence, or goodness of his works. _THOU, BEING A MAN_] That is, only a man - _makest thyself God_. When Christ said before, John 10:30, _I and the Father are one_, had the Jews understood him (as many called Christians profess to do) as only saying he had a _unity of_ _sentiments_ with the Father, they would not have attempted to treat him for this as a blasphemer; because in this sense Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David, and all the prophets, were _one_ with God. But what irritated them so much was that they understood

FOR BLASPHEMY - See the notes at Matthew 9:3. MAKEST THYSELF GOD - See the notes at John 5:18. This shows how they understood what he had said. MAKEST THYSELF - Dost claim to be God, or thy language implies this....

EXPOSITION JOHN 10:1 5. _Christ the Shepherd of the flock of God_._ _The discourse which now follows was the Lord's parabolic or allegoric reply to the conduct of the Pharisaic malignants. These men, claiming to be infallible guides of the ignorant, to be veritable shepherds of the flock of God, had ignored the advent of the true and good Shepherd, had opposed the Divine call and supreme claim of the Messiah, had set themselves to disturb and dislocate the relations between him and those who saw his glory and found in him the Consolation of Israel. They had excommunicated the adoring disciple who had passed out of lifelong darkness into marvelous light. They had exaggerated the faint glimmer of light which had broken upon their own blindness into true vision. They had said, "We see," and thus shown themselves to be willfully

THE JEWS ANSWERED HIM, SAYING,.... As follows; FOR A GOOD WORK WE STONE THEE NOT: they could not deny, that he had done many good works; this was too barefaced to be contradicted; yet they cared not to own them; and though they industriously concealed their resentment at them, yet they were very much gravelled and made uneasy by them, but chose to give another reason for their stoning him: BUT FOR BLASPHEMY; which required death by stoning, according to Leviticus 24:16, and according to the Jews' oral law q: AND BECAUSE THAT THOU, BEING A MAN, MAKEST THYSELF GOD; which they concluded very rightly, from his saying, John 10:30, that God was his Father, and that he and his Father were one; that is, in nature and essence, and therefore he

CHAPTER 10 _ 1. The Shepherd of the Sheep. (John 10:1 .)_ 2. The Good Shepherd, His Sheep and His Work. (John 10:6 .) 3. At the Feast of Dedication; the Repeated Testimony. (John 10:22 .) 4. Accused of Blasphemy and His Answer. (John 10:31 .) 5. Beyond Jordan; and Many Believed on Him. (John 10:40 .) The teaching of this chapter is closely linked with the preceding event. It has become evident that the true sheep of Christ, belonging to His flock, would be cast out of the Jewish fold. The healed man cast out had become one of

THE FEAST OF THE DEDICATION._ Mg.,_ At that time suggests a closer connexion with what precedes than the old reading And. But in any case the notes of time are not precise. The Feast of the Dedication (p. 104) was instituted to commemorate the restoration (p. 607) of the Temple services in 165 by the Maccabees after its desecration for three years by Antiochus Epiphanes (1Ma_4:36-59, 2Ma_10:1-8, Josephus, _Ant._ XII. vii. 7). It lasted for eight days from December 25, and according to Josephus was called Lights, because this liberty beyond our hopes appeared to us. According to 2Ma_1:9 it was called the Tabernacles of the month Chisleu, many of the customs of Tabernacles being reproduced at it. For the Porch of Solomon, _cf._ Acts 3:11 *. The Jews, either incited to hope by Jesus-' teaching, or wishing to discredit Him with the crowd, demand a clear pronouncement of His Messianic cla

FOR BLASPHEMY... THOU MAKEST THYSELF GOD. They reply that they would stone him for blasphemy in that he made himself divine. This charge was often made against him. When he said, "Thy sins be forgiven thee," or spoke of God as his Father, or said that he and the Father were one, or when on trial before the Sanhedrim he declared that he was the Christ, the Son of God, it was uniformly pronounced blasphemy and it was on this charge that the Sanhedrim condemned him to death (Matthew 26:65.) Had Jesus been only. man his words would have been blasphemous; they were appropriate to the Son of God....