In John 10:30, Jesus says “I and the Father are One.” The Jews think it blasphemous. Why?
Jesus’ statement seems to be a riff on the Shema – “Hear, O Israel, YHWH your God is One.” Jesus sticks Himself into the Shema: Not YHWH along, but “I and YHWH” are one.
And the NT statements about us being “one” with God might also be taken as blasphemy for the same reason. Because we are united to the Son who united Himself to us, we are stuck into the Shema too. Jesus’ reference to Psalm 82 might have something to do with showing that “deification” is not blasphemous but something anticipated by the OT.
Thanks to Donny Linnemeyer for the question that inspired these scattered thoughts.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
