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Originally Posted by JJ
Right. It is interesting that Jesus didn't think his equality with God was a big deal. Rather believing in Him, because his works testify of the Father is the big deal.
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LCers wrongly presume that the argument which Jesus made for his divinity is something that anyone can apply to themselves. It completely misses the context of what these verses are really talking about. What happened in John 10 is that the Jews were unwilling to accept who Jesus really was. It wasn’t that they didn’t have enough evidence. They were just dead set on stoning and doing away with Jesus. It seems to me that what Jesus was really saying here was that he knew they wanted to do away with him and “blasphemy” was just their excuse. He even plainly told them that he could be judged by his works alone and said: ”
If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me.”
In Matthew 16, Jesus asked his disciples the question “
Who do men say that I am?” The disciple’s response was: “
Some say John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” To me this indicates that even average people realized that Jesus was no ordinary person. Of course, Peter was able to identify who Jesus really was, so Jesus’ identity was made known through his works and ministry.
It is significant that Jesus chose to ask his disciples a question about his identity rather than simply telling them. This goes along with Jesus’ reasoning in John 5:31-32 “
If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.” Jesus knew who he was and he had every right to state the simple facts. But if people weren’t willing to accept who he was based on his works, then those people wouldn’t believe him no matter what they were told.