“I said, you are gods.” (Psalm 82:1)
John 10 describes a scene in which certain Jews attempted to persuade Jesus to confess that He is the Messiah. A confession would allow them to stone Him legally. Cleverly, Jesus asked why they wanted to stone Him, and they responded that it was because of His blasphemy and that He declares Himself to be God (v33). Jesus then replied in verse 34, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’”
Here, Jesus quotes from Psalm 82:1, which first says, “He judges among the gods.” Then, in verse six, says, “I said, you are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.”
What was Jesus trying to say? Who are these “gods”?
Some interpret “gods” (little G) as demons or pagan false gods. But the better interpretation is that they are human leaders, such as judges, kings, legislators, presidents, prime ministers, etc. These are the people whom God ordains as His representatives (Ex 22:9; Jud 5).
However, these representatives do not supersede Jesus. He alone is the greatest judge of all who will one day judge all people.
John 5:22-23, “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father.” (NASB)
Acts 10:42, “And He ordered us to preach to the people and to testify solemnly that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.” (NASB)
Matthew 25:31-32, “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” (NASB)
As the greatest judge, Jesus presides over all human judges and governing authorities. And though they are fallible and susceptible to sin, Romans 13:1-2 tells us why we should obey them regardless of circumstances.
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” (Rom 13:1-2, NKJ)
Jesus, the Son of God (Big G)
Back in John 10:34, Jesus refers to these governing authorities, saying, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’” He goes on to say in verses 35-36,
“If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’” (NKJ)
So, what is Jesus trying to say?
Because “gods” can refer to someone who is God’s representative and serves under His authority, God can then address them as “gods” or “sons of gods” or “children of the Most High.” Consequently, neither the Jews nor anyone else should object to Jesus saying He is the Son of God (v36). In other words, if they can be called “gods” with a little G, certainly He, the Messiah, can be called God with a big G. After all, He was in the form of a man acting as God’s representative and serving under the Father’s authority just as human authorities do. Unfortunately, the Jews disagreed with Him and again tried to attack Him, but He was able to escape (v39).
Whenever we read the word “gods” in the Bible, we can usually interpret it to mean a human whom God appointed as His official representative to act in a place of divine authority. However, we cannot attribute this designation to Jesus.
As the promised Messiah, Jesus came to the earth still fully God and divine yet cloaked in human flesh. He was, still is, and always will be the holy Son of God (with a big G).
