Father, thank you for Jesus.
Thank you that he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.
Thank you, Father, that he loves us and he loved us enough to die for us.
Thank you, Father, that when we put our hand and our trust and our faith in Jesus,
that nothing can snatch us away from him.
Nothing can snatch us away from you.
Father, thank you for this.
Father, we confess before you there are many times it feels as if, well, as if we are just too weak
or too depressed to hold on to your hand.
So we thank you that you never let go of us.
Father, pour out your Holy Spirit at this time as we read your word.
Help us to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest your word.
And we ask this in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Please be seated.
So, what's up with Jesus saying everyone is God?
Like, what's up with Jesus seeming to say that everyone is God?
I can imagine if I was reading this to one of my friends in Starbucks, they'd say,
George, I thought you guys were against that.
I thought you guys didn't believe that everyone was God.
So, why is it that Jesus is saying this?
In fact, George, you know, I was listening to the text as you read, and it seems as if
it's a bit lame.
Like, Jesus is a bit lame.
Like, on one hand, he says he's God.
And then he says everybody is God.
So, like, I don't get sort of what's going up.
Well, let's just sort of take a time out a moment for a good question.
That's a really good question.
And I have to confess, when I read this text for the first time, I mean, I've preached
on it before, but when I read this text at first, my heart sank a little bit.
I don't know if yours did as well when you came back, where it says, doesn't the Bible
say everybody's gods?
Or it seems to say something like that.
And my heart sank a little bit.
In fact, I felt a little bit tense when I read it this week that I was going to speak
on this.
And, you know, it's just a really good thing, just to be honest here with you.
And if there are people here who are just either out of curiosity trying to figure out
about the Christian faith, or you got dragged here because it's Mother's Day, or I don't
know what, you're just here.
Let me just tell you, there's lots of times when Christians, lots of times when I read the
Bible and my heart sinks.
Just being really honest with you.
But here's what I found.
As you can see, I'm getting, in fact, I can't say anymore that I'm getting gray.
Getting is long past.
I've gone gray.
But here's the thing I've really found over the years, is that when I just sit with Jesus'
words and with the words of the Bible and ponder them, and just sort of calm and quiet
in my mind and my heart and just ponder them, I always find that they're wise.
Like at first they shock me or make me uncomfortable or I wish he'd said something different.
And it's not that I kiss my mind goodbye and say, okay, George, you're just going to do
this to my brain.
Okay, killed my brain.
Yeah, now I'm fine.
Big smile.
You know, Stepford Wives type of smile.
Christians aren't to be the type of Stepford Wives.
Just, I really found over the years that when I just pause and ponder what is said, that
I end up finding out that it's very wise.
That's been my experience time and time and time again over many decades.
So, you know, like what happens when you just sort of pause and get over the shock of Jesus
appearing to say, you are gods?
Like if we just sort of pause and get over that shock, well, what happens if we do?
Well, let's look.
So get your Bible out.
We have to look at the text.
It always helps to actually get clearer what was said and what wasn't said and what the
context is.
So we're looking at John chapter 10 and we're beginning at verse 22.
And if you're a guest here this morning, one of the things we do here most of the time
on Sunday mornings is we go through books of the Bible because the Bible is made up of
39 books written before Jesus and 27 books after Jesus and they're written as books.
So we study them as books.
We begin at the beginning, go to the end.
That way nobody can say that I'm sort of leaving out the awkward parts or the bad parts.
And we learn how to read and pray together by looking at the text together.
And so we're almost halfway through.
And what we call now the Gospel of John was originally written as one of the four biographies
of Jesus based on eyewitness account.
And John himself is an eyewitness and an earwitness to Jesus.
And he wrote this biography of Jesus after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
And we're about just almost up to the halfway mark of going through the gospel.
And here's how it goes.
It goes like this.
Verse 22.
At that time, that's the time that's about to happen right now when Jesus was still alive,
the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem.
And just pause there for a second.
We know it by a different name.
Hanukkah.
It was Hanukkah.
Hanukkah isn't something which is talked about in the Old Testament.
It's based on something that happened in the mid-2nd century B.C.
when the Jewish people were able to kick the Syrians, I think, out.
But just like today, right?
The Syrians were in Jerusalem.
Or Syrians would like to be in Jerusalem right now, as would the Iranians and lots of others.
But they had defiled the temple, and there had been a Jewish leader who'd kicked them out
and cleansed the temple from the pagan worship and idol worship and idol sacrifices had gone on.
And it's Hanukkah.
That's what it was.
They just call it a different thing here.
This is the original name.
We now call it Hanukkah, which is closer to the Hebrew.
Read that again.
Verse 22.
At that time, the Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah, took place at Jerusalem.
It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon.
So the Jewish leaders gathered around him and said to him,
How long will you keep us in suspense?
If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.
Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe.
The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me,
but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish,
and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
My Father who has given them to me is greater than all,
and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
I and the Father are one.
Now, just sort of pause there.
I've gone, that's a bit of, you can see,
my Bible has red letters when Jesus speaks,
so you can see that's sort of the end of his answer.
And it might be puzzling to some of you.
Why is it?
They just ask, these guys ask Jesus to give them a plain answer.
He doesn't give them a plain answer.
Like, what's up with that?
Like, if you come to the service before,
one of the things you'll hear me say time and time again
is that Jesus always loves honest questions.
Like, if you have questions, and they're honest questions,
like bring them to Jesus and bring them to his people,
and Christians should never be known as a people
who are afraid of good, honest questions.
If we're afraid of a good, honest question,
we're not following Jesus.
He was always comfortable with them.
But why is this not going on here?
They ask him to speak plainly, and he doesn't do it.
Well, it's a little bit of a subtle thing,
and you have to look at it a little bit closely
and just sort of pause.
Once again, just if you remember,
it's a general rule that Jesus loves honest questions.
But most of the time, much of the time,
especially in John's Gospel,
the questions aren't honest questions.
You know what that's like, right?
You know when you get a question from somebody,
you know, maybe it was back when you were in school,
maybe it's from your boss or from a co-worker.
They ask you a question.
It's not a question.
They know the answer.
They're trying to embarrass you in front of people
or put you down or make you look stupid, right?
Those are dishonest questions,
and that's what's going on here.
First of all, what happens is they encircle him.
His enemies encircle him all around him.
And while they're all around him,
they ask him this question.
And Jesus, from his answer,
what he says right off the bat to them
is he basically says to them,
listen, you guys aren't asking me an honest question
because you don't believe.
Like, you don't believe.
Like, you know that no matter what I say to you,
you're not going to believe it.
Like, your minds are closed.
You're closed to evidence.
You're closed to conversation.
Here you are encircling me,
which is, as we all know,
just imagine,
that's a type of intimidation, right?
Imagine if you're in your office
and all of a sudden all of your coworkers
and you know it's not your birthday
and their expressions aren't friendly and open
and they all encircle you and ask you a question
that's intimidating.
It's a specifically intimidating act.
And so he said,
here you are,
you're intimidating me.
In effect, that's what's going on.
And he said,
from the beginning of his answer,
I know you don't believe anything I'm going to say.
So what he does is,
since you're not going to believe anything I want to say,
he's going to get to the heart of the issue
to try to help bring home to them their problem,
to see if it maybe sort of checks them a tiny bit.
Because Jesus always goes to the heart.
And by the heart, once again,
we don't mean the emotions.
He goes to the command center of our lives.
What's really working at the command center of who we are?
And he says,
if you look at it now,
verse 25,
I told you and you do not believe.
He basically said he was the Messiah
several times in earlier chapters.
But here's what he goes to.
The works that I do in my father's name
bear witness about me,
but you do not believe
because you're not among my sheep.
Now, what does the word works here mean?
Works means miracles.
That's what this means.
That's what he's talking about.
It's not talking about the time
he worked in the soup kitchen.
They didn't have them back then.
He's talking about miracles.
And one of the things
which characterizes John's gospel
is that Matthew, Mark, and Luke,
the three other ancient biographies of Jesus
based on eyewitness accounts and testimony,
they have lots of miracles.
But John chose to only have
a small number of miracles.
It's as if he said to himself,
I'm just going to pick
a small number of miracles.
I'm going to go into way more detail
about each one of the miracles.
I'm going to go into details
to help emphasize
that they really happened in history.
And I'm going to go into detail
with miracles to show
that they were received
often with great skepticism
and inquiry.
And so if you were to go back after this
and you were to read John's gospel
up until this,
you'll see that there was
several important...
The other thing is
what he means,
what Jesus means here by miracles
isn't the way we usually use
the word miracle.
We usually use the miracle
in one of two ways.
As something really random
or as a way to insult somebody.
So some of you this morning
might have said,
if you said,
it's a miracle my son remembered
it was Mother's Day.
Well, that's a put-down, right?
My son is so stupid,
so self-centered,
so narcissistic,
I can't believe
he actually remembered
it's Mother's Day.
Right?
We often use it as an insult, right?
It's a miracle my boss
gave me a compliment,
we say over the coffee hour.
She never gives me compliments.
Or we use it as something
really random.
It's a miracle I won the lottery.
Just random.
I mean, eventually somebody's
going to win the lottery.
It just happens, right?
It's just sort of random.
But Jesus means miracle
in the old sense of the word here.
Works is referring to miracles
in the old sense,
which means something
that only God can do.
Something that nature
would never do by itself.
Something that wouldn't come up
even if it was random.
It's just something
that literally could not happen
by cause and effect,
by randomness.
And up until now,
there are six miracles
that John records.
And every one of them
are very significant.
They're things that we can think about
and they're things that
in some ways
they begin as very private,
but they quickly become public.
And they're all talked about
in such a way
that every time you realize
it could not be done
by anybody other than God.
And it illustrates something
about the God
who really does exist.
The first one is
that Jesus turns water
into wine.
And, you know,
generally speaking,
religious people
would turn wine into water
because religion likes
to take the joy out of life.
But Jesus does the opposite.
He turns water into wine.
And it's very clear
if you read the miracle
that it's something that,
you know,
they're big stone jars.
Jesus never touches it.
It wasn't something
they expected.
And the same God
who's created wine and water,
only a God
who's created all things
can act in his own
created order
and now turn water
into wine.
And then the second miracle,
that's in chapter 2.
The second miracle
happens in chapter 3.
And in this particular case,
there's a high official
in Pilate's government
or Herod's government,
I think it is.
I can't remember
if it's Pilate or Herod.
It doesn't really matter
to the story.
A high official.
And he comes
and asks Jesus
to heal his son
who's on the point of death.
And he's walked
basically a day
to come to see Jesus
and Jesus just says,
your son is healed.
He says it like this.
And he actually is healed.
Even though they're
miles and miles away,
a day's walk,
a day's walk
and Jesus heals
the man's son
from a distance.
That's the second miracle.
And it helps to show,
the first miracle
helps to show
that God is a source
of joy
and celebration.
And the second one
helps to reveal
that God is the God
of life.
He's not the God
of death.
He's the God of life.
He's the God
of health.
To draw close
to God
in John 2
is to come close
to joy.
In his presence
there is fullness
of joy.
To come closer
and closer
to God
is to come closer
and closer
to life.
It's to come closer
and closer
to health.
And then the third
miracle
is a really,
really interesting
miracle.
It's in John chapter 5.
And by the way,
these first two miracles,
they would have started
to cause a bit
of a public stir.
They happen in a small
community of around
2,000 people.
But it would have
caused a stir
in that neighborhood.
And the third miracle
would have caused
a bigger stir
because it was
in a far more
public place
right in Jerusalem.
In this case,
there was a very,
very grumpy man
who'd been an invalid
for 38 years
and Jesus heals him.
He heals him
so completely and utterly
that he's able to pick
up his mat
and walk.
And this would have
begun to be
far more common.
In fact,
in this particular case,
we know for a fact
that the experts,
the elite,
the opinion makers,
they know that
a miracle has happened
because they begin
to question the man.
And it's in fact
at that point,
believe it or not,
that religion
and spirituality
and educated opinion
and political opinion
turns on Jesus
and they start to realize
that he's a threat
to their order.
And then the fourth miracle
that Jesus performs
is the most public
of all of his miracles
until the final one,
which is going to take place
in chapter 20,
which we won't look at
for quite a while.
And that's where Jesus,
the fourth miracle
is Jesus feeding 5,000 men,
which means that he's feeding
more than 5,000 people.
It might be 10,
it might be 15,
it might be 20,
it might be 25,
it might be 30,000 people,
we don't know.
And from five loaves
and two fishes,
with them all
in a public place
where they know
there's not some big wagons
and wagons and wagons
of food
that Jesus has just brought out,
that he just literally
takes the basket
and breaks the pieces
into another basket
and breaks them
and it just keeps going
and going and going
and going
and then the disciples
are taking it
and breaking it
and it never comes to an end.
And 5,000 men,
maybe as much as 20,000,
25,000, 30,000 people
all at one time
witness Jesus
performing a miracle,
something that only God
can do.
He created matter
out of nothing.
He created matter
out of nothing
in front of their eyes.
And then the next miracle
which Jesus,
which John talks about
is Jesus walking on water
in the middle of the ocean,
in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.
It's not a shoal,
it's in the middle.
He walks on the water
during a storm.
And this miracle
is told in all of the Gospels
and it shows
it's actually a set of Gospels
but John just emphasizes
one,
all of them emphasize
this one primary fact.
And that was only seen
by the people in the boat
but it actually was known of
by many, many thousands
of people
because if you read the story
they know that
some type of miracle
must have happened
for Jesus to get to point A
to point B
and they couldn't understand
how he did it
and the apostles
would have eventually told them.
And then the final miracle
which has been recorded
up until this point in time
is the miracle
of Jesus
healing a man
who was blind
from birth.
This isn't some
psychosomatic healing,
you know,
some type of
placebo effect
that brought some type of
oh, I guess I can now see
or something like that.
It's not like if you watch
Band of Brothers,
great, great, great series.
You know, the guy
who has that stress
from battle
and he can't see.
You're not sure
if he's just trying
to get out of fighting
or what happened.
He can see, he can't see.
Not like that.
This man has been
blind from birth.
The miracle is told
in great detail
and in fact
it's actually used
to illustrate something
because Jesus makes
this remarkable claim
that he is the light
of the world
and frankly
any charlatan,
any kook,
any crazy guy
could make some type
of claim.
Any narcissist
could make some type
of claim,
I'm the light of the world.
Yeah, yeah, show me.
Well, how does Jesus
demonstrate that he's
the light of the world?
By doing a remarkable miracle
of healing a man
who was blind from birth
so that the man
could see.
And Jesus says
to these guys,
listen, I've now done
more than that
but if you've just
been reading along,
you guys know
and the reason
this was also going
to be a very public miracle
is because
right where people
were going into the temple
every day
for years and years
and years
the same guy
sat there begging.
and now
this guy
who had sat there
begging for years
and years
and they knew
that he couldn't see
that he'd never
been able to see
and now he could see.
Jesus had done
a remarkable miracle.
He had done something
only God could do.
And so Jesus says
I have done
these six things
that only God can do
and you stand here
encircling me
and you claim
to be interested
in my answer
to a question.
Like you're not.
Are you?
You're not.
So you see
Jesus isn't
ducking the question
and he's doing
he has done things
that only God
could do.
Now here's the thing
which is so remarkable
about this story.
It's something
you have to keep
track of
all the way through.
Jesus
I mean here
you know
if you were here
a few weeks ago
and I was talking
about the miracle
of the man
who was healed
blind from birth
you'll know
that modern science
has now taught us
that there is
at least
a double miracle there
because there not only
had to be a miracle
of the
whatever it was
that stopped him
from seeing
there had to be
a healing
of the mind
because the mind
has to learn
to see.
Babies
learn to see.
They learn to see.
We just take it
for granted
you can see
but you have to
learn to see.
And so what happened
in that miracle
is amongst other things
is that not only
whatever it was
that was missing
God
Jesus created
in the man
inside the man
and whatever
was blocking sight
was taken out
of the man
and Jesus does
in a sense
that double miracle
but he does
this third thing
where he actually
heals the man's mind.
so that means
that Jesus
could write
that second
just like that
he could make
every single one
of the people
all around him
go oh yeah
now I believe
in you.
He had that power
but he never uses it
because you see
freedom matters
to God.
Your freedom
and mine
matters to Jesus.
He wants you
he wants me
to freely
choose him
and that's because
it's not
just a myth
that God
is love.
Like
earlier on
Jesus says
for God
so loved
the world
that he gave
his one
and only son
that whoever
believes in him
will not perish
but have eternal life.
love
and it's
of the very
nature of love
that love
must be free.
If one of you
when you were
still single
and you
started talking
to another person
it's different
nowadays
I think
when I
like I'm
really old
back in my day
I didn't discuss
with Louise
for a while
whether or not
we might
get married
and then after
all the details
were worked out
I popped the question
I just popped
the question
I was hoping
she'd say yes
I was pretty sure
she'd say yes
and when I
popped the question
there was this
long pause
and then
as you
maybe heard
she said
you're supposed
to be on your knees
and we were both
like left wing
hippie
radical
feminist type
so I wasn't sure
what she was
telling me to do
I mean I knew
the language
was you're
supposed to be
on your knees
I could follow it
I just wasn't sure
but then I thought
to myself
am I going to
this is true
am I going to do
this
she's going to
laugh at me
true confession
but then I thought
to myself
I was the devil
right
and then I thought
to myself
I really want
her to say yes
like I really
want her to marry me
so I got down
on my knees
I asked her again
long pause
and she said yes
and now of course
we've been married
a long time
but you know
here's the point
if afterwards
Louise discovered
that her dad
offered me
five million bucks
to pop the question
she'd break off
with me in a moment
because my request
wasn't free
and out of love
and Jesus
could have just
done like that
and worked in each
of those man's minds
to make them believe
and accept
but he doesn't do it
why?
because freedom
matters
to God
because freedom
is essential
to love
and love
matters to God
because God
is love
so Jesus
doesn't duck
the question
he just really
says
you know
listen
look at what
I've done
and you're still
asking me that question
now some of you
might say
whoa whoa whoa
George
I was listening
to that
and you say
freedom matters
to God
but doesn't
Jesus say
that
the reason
you don't believe
is because
you're my sheep
like isn't that
one of those things
that you've got to be
sheep to believe
and so you know
God makes you a sheep
and then you believe
like isn't that
no no no
look at
look
what
what Jesus
is saying
here
in fact
the whole reason
that Jesus
does this
conversation
with them
is he's basically
saying you know
one of the characteristics
of people
who are
who are mine
because in the
last week
we looked in the
earlier
part
he describes
his followers
as a flock
of sheep
right
and
and he says
one of the
characteristics
of people
who are my
sheep
is they
believe me
they listen
to my voice
and they
believe me
and they
follow me
you obviously
aren't
but he doesn't
say this
so they can
go away
say oh
well dang
I'm not a
sheep
I guess
I can't
believe
it's all
God's
fault
no
he confronts
their heart
so they might
say
you know
Jesus
you're right
I don't know
why my heart
is so close
to your
miracles
I don't know
why
I just won't
believe my
eyes
can you
have mercy
on me
that's what
he wants
that's what
he wants
but then
then you
say
okay yeah
sorry
now
I don't
know if
you noticed
at the end
of the part
that I read
that Jesus
said I
and the
father are
one
and
this is a
very very
big claim
and if you're
a guest here
this morning
the thing
that this
claim means
is that the
way that most
people think
most people
in Canada
think about
Jesus
just can't
possibly be
true
it's wrong
look again
here at verse
30
I and the
father are
one
now
even in
English
it's very
powerful
but it
might be
that in
English
you might
think
okay
I and the
father
are like
at one
with each
other
we're like
you know
like a
husband and
wife can be
sort of
like one
or two
friends can
think as
one
but in
the original
language it's
actually very
very very
clear because
in the original
language it can
either be a
it can be written
in such a way
that it could
potentially mean
that we just
have one mind
or one heart
or one will
but it actually
says one
thing
my father and I
are one
thing
we are one
substance
it's very
very very
powerful
language
which they
as we'll see
in a moment
the hearers
immediately
understand
and respond
look at
verse 31
the Jews
picked up
stones again
to stone
him
because of
it
now here's
the thing
about this
claim
and this
is why
no matter
what
Canadian
you know
most Canadians
just say
that Jesus
is a good
religious
teacher
he's a
good man
but if
Jesus
says this
it means
he's either
insane
or he's
an abuser
he's a
manipulative
person
who wants
to abuse
us
that's
what that
text
means
unless
it's
true
now let
me tell
you
and you
have to
take this
the right
way
I've been
in and
out of
psychiatric
institutions
ever since
I was
18
I mean
I've had
lots of
friends in
them and
I've gone
to visit
and then
I've been
a pastor
and gone
to visit
I've had
very very
close
contact
almost
unbroken
with
people who
are mentally
ill
ever since
I was
18 years
of age
and it's
not uncommon
for mentally
ill people
as we all
know to hear
voices to
make really
really grandiose
claims and
let me tell
you if
Jesus makes
a claim like
this and he
really believes
it he's
insane but
here's the
problem I
challenge any
one of the
any one of
you to read
the four
biographies of
Jesus and
in no way
to any of
them in
none of
them does
Jesus sound
like he's
insane we're
in an urban
church we
all know
what insane
people are
like I
mean just
go wandering
down Rito
Street afterwards
you're going
to meet some
mentally ill
people we
all know what
they're like
and Jesus
in no way
seems mentally
ill but
here's the
other thing
remember I
was telling
you about
the Bhagwan
that Indian
grew it's
the wild
wild west
sort of an
interesting
documentary on
Netflix you
know and
here he is
making all of
his people he
claims that he's
a god man and
he claims he's
a god man and
all these people
they work all
these hours for
no pay
whatsoever just
basically having
their basic
needs met and
he's driving
around in
Rolls Royce
after Rolls
Royce after
Rolls Royce
95 Rolls
Royces by the
time he left
Oregon 95
Rolls Royces
now you know
what sorry
that's a
manipulative
abuser
isn't it
he makes a
grandiose claim
about himself
he does
mumbo jumbo
tells them to
do all this
sort of abusive
stuff to
themselves and
to others
all the while
just give me
the money
give me
and give me
give me
and he gets
to live in
a nice house
and have all
these Rolls
Royces
and give me
give me
it's a
manipulative
abuser
right
that's what
we call it
an abuser
so if
Jesus makes
a claim that
I and
God are of
the same
substance
we I
God is
I am
perfectly
God
and says
that with
a straight
face
and if
he believes
it and it's
not true
he's insane
if he knows
it's not
true and he
says it
he only can
be doing
it to
manipulate
and to
abuse
but here's
the thing
I challenge
you to read
the four
biographies
of Jesus
and what
you see
is that
he never
abuses
anyone
far from
it
his entire
life is
self-giving
he heals
he takes
no payment
and when it
comes time
for him
to die
he has
no place
to lay
his head
virtually
no possessions
of any
value
except one
simple
thing
and nothing
in his
life
is abusive
he is
abused
but does
not
abuse
so the
way the
average
Canadian
thinks
about
Jesus
you have
to choose
what you
can't tell
me is that
he's a
good man
and what
you can't
tell me
is that
he was
kind
and what
you can't
tell me
is that
you wish
that more
Christians
were like
him
because
he's
just so
loving
and kind
no
you listen
to him
he's either
insane
or a
manipulative
abuser
or he's
God
or he's
God
now
some of
you might
say
whoa
George
I'm
going to
go
with
confused
there's
a third
category
because
doesn't
he just
say
everybody's
God
doesn't
he say
everybody's
God
well
let's
look
read
verse
30
again
I
and
the
father
are
one
I
and
the
father
are
one
the
Jewish
leaders
verse
31
picked
up
stones
again
to
stone
him
and
Jesus
answered
them
I
have
shown
you
many
good
works
in
other
words
I've
done
at
least
these
six
miracles
from
the
father
for
which
of
these
miracles
are
you
going
to
stone
me
the
Jewish
leaders
answered
in
verse
33
it is
not
for
a
good
work
in
other
words
it's
not
for
your
miracles
who
are
going
to
stone
you
but
for
blasphemy
because
you
being
a
man
make
yourself
God
Jesus
answered
them
here's
the
troublesome
bit
is it
not
written
in
your
law
in
other
words
in
this
particular
case
it
means
the
Bible
because
sometimes
what we
now would
call
the
Old
Testament
where
our
Jewish
friends
would
call
the
Tanakh
is it
not
written
in
the
Tanakh
I
said
you
were
gods
if
God
he
called
them
gods
to
whom
the
word
of
God
came
and
scripture
cannot
be
broken
do
you
say
of
him
whom
the
father
consecrated
and sent
into
the
world
you
are
blaspheming
because
I
said
I
am
the
son
of
God
if
I
am
not
doing
the
works
of
my
father
in
other
words
miracles
then
do
not
believe
miracles
even
though
you
do
not
believe
me
believe
the
works
believe
the
miracles
follow
the
miracles
that
you
may
know
and
understand
that
the
father
is
in
me
and
I
am
in
the
father
so
what's
going
on
here
what's
going
on
here
is
very
simply
it's
an
argument
from
lesser
to
greater
it's
an
argument
from
lesser
to
greater
it
would
be
as
if
I
said
if
you
see
a
couple
and
the
husband
and
the
wife
really
love
each
other
and
it
just
looks
like
a
really
wonderful
relationship
if
you
can
see
how
Bob
loves
Sally
and
Sally
loves
Bob
imagine
how much
God
loves
you
if
you
if
you've
met
somebody
and
if
you've
met
Sally
and
she's
just
been
so
kind
and
poured
her
life
into
you
the
lesser
just
imagine
how
much
God
whom
you
can't
see
loves
you
and
has
poured
out
his
life
for
you
it's
an
argument
from
the
lesser
to
the
greater
look
where
he
quotes
it
from
if
you
have
your
Bibles
turn
to
Psalm
82
because
he's
quoting
Psalm
82
Psalm
chapter
82
that's
where
Jesus
is
quoting
from
and
he
quotes
them
using
an
argument
from
the
lesser
to
the
greater
and
here's
the
lesser
it's
sort
of
an
ironic
psalm
that's
warning
of
judgment
and
it
goes
like
this
God
has
taken
his
place
in
the
divine
council
in
the
midst
of
the
gods
he
holds
judgment
and
here
is
we're
going
to
see
gods
on
one
level
could
it
first
just
be
taken
to
mean
the
idols
of
the
nations
all
around
them
he's
sitting
amongst
the
idols
and
it
also
means
because
in
the
ancient
world
many
people
thought
they
were
like
God
and
it
can
also
just
mean
in
our
day
and
age
as
we're
going
to
see
in
a
moment
people
who
think
they're
God
in
terms
of
they
act
like
God
your
boss
that
abuses
you
the
high
school
teacher
that
just
was
completely
and utterly
insufferable
with you
maybe
a dad
or a
mom
who were
just
terrible
to you
when
you
were
growing
up
so
the
psalm
goes
like
this
God
has
taken
his
place
in
the
divine
council
in
the
midst
of
the
gods
he
holds
judgment
and
then
what
does
he
say
to
them
how
long
will
you
judge
unjustly
and
show
partiality
to
the
wicked
first
he
calls
them
gods
then
he
says
how
come
you
judge
unjustly
and
show
partiality
to
the
wicked
and
then
he
says
to
maintain
the
right
of
the
afflicted
and
the
destitute
rescue
the
weak
and
the
needy
deliver
them
from
the
hand
of
the
wicked
they
have
neither
knowledge
nor
understanding
they
walk
about
in
darkness
all
the
foundations
of the
earth
are
shaking
now
he's
talking
about
these
people
who
act
as
if
they're
gods
and
he
says
you
have
no
knowledge
they're
oppressing
showing
no
kindness
they're
just
oppressing
doing
everything
wrong
and
evil
in
other
words
he's
saying
they're
not
gods
right
and
it
gets
even
clearer
verse
six
which
is
the
verse
that
Jesus
actually
quotes
I
said
you
are
gods
sons
of
the
most
high
all
of
you
nevertheless
like
men
you
shall
die
and
fall
like
any
prince
arise
so
God
judge
the
earth
for
you
shall
inherit
all
the
nations
so
here's
what's
going
on
in
the
argument
you
can
see
very
clearly
they're
not
gods
you
can
see
very
clearly
they're
mortal
they're
all
going
to
die
and
he's
referring
to
whether
he's
referring
to
human
beings
at least
in
part
of
this
very
clearly
and
he
says
very
clearly
you're
going
to
die
you
do
wrong
you're
not
God
but
he
calls
them
like
God
why
because
in
a
very
real
sense
human
beings
who are
in
positions
of
I'll
use
myself
so
it
doesn't
sound
like
I'm
just
talking
about
other
people
sometimes
I
have
to
discipline
people
I
hate
it
I'm
sleepless
for a
week
and
I'm
sleepless
for a
week
afterwards
but
sometimes
you
have
to
discipline
people
sometimes
you
know
there's
been
times
in
this
church
there's
been
accusations
that
when
people
have
been
sharing
the
piece
a
guy
will
hug
a
girl
and
they
hug
them
a
little
bit
too
long
and
not
the
right
way
and
I
have
to
have
a
word
with
him
and
I
am
sleepless
or
there's
been
some
accusations
about
maybe
there's
a
person
not
quite
hanging
around
children
the
way
they
should
be
or
a
person
causing
slander
or
trouble
or
a
staff
person
who's
just
not
acting
right
this
is
years
ago
not
now
and
I've
had
to
discipline
them
in a
sense
I'm
acting
like
God
aren't
I
I'm
judging
them
so
here's
what
Jesus
is
saying
if
a
mere
human
being
sometimes
acts
like
God
and
the
Bible
says
you're
acting
like
God
that's
the
lesser
thing
well
what
about
me
one
moment
I
just
made
just
a
year
ago
I
made
matter
out
of
nothing
I
turned
water
into
wine
I
created
an
optic
nerve
in a
man's
head
by
my
will
and
if
the
Bible
can
talk
on
one
hand
how
a
human
being
is
like
a
God
why
is
it
wrong
for
me
God
the
Son
of
God
sent
by
the
Father
into
the
world
to
say
that
I
am
God
and
he
says
the
scripture
cannot
be
broken
what
he's
really
saying
here
is
he's
challenged
them
to
understand
the
argument
from
lesser
to
greater
but
he's
also
telling
us
and
this
is
why
it's
really
important
this is
very
practical
for those
of us
who are
Christians
Jesus
says
one
phrase
in
scripture
properly
understood
and
used
right
one
phrase
just
one
properly
understood
and
used
is
enough
to hang
a whole
doctrine
on
it's
strong
enough
to
support
the
greatest
and
deepest
truth
Andrew
could you
put up
the first
point
please
as
Jesus
trusted
the
Bible
so
will
I
as
Jesus
trusted
the
Bible
so
will
I
the
wording
is
partially
influenced
by
Hillsong
United
song
that I
like
called
so
will
I
but
you
know
if
Jesus
has
such
a
view
of
the
Bible
so
will
I
so
should
you
now
here's
the
thing
just
to
try
to
wrap
up
the
whole
sermon
look
again
at
verse
look
again
at the
thing
that
they
say
to
Jesus
in
verse
33
they're
going
to
stone
him
and
Jesus
answered
them
it is
not
for
and
the
Jewish
leaders
say
in
verse
33
it's
not
for
a
good
work
that
we
are
going
to
stone
you
but
for
blasphemy
because
you
being
a
man
make
yourself
God
now
you
see
they
completely
and utterly
because
they
refuse
to
understand
the
miracles
they've
completely
misunderstood
the
whole
problem
in
fact
they
asked
the
wrong
question
because
what
the
right
question
should
be
what
on
earth
are
you
doing
here
what
on
earth
you
are
God
the
son
of
God
like
what
on
earth
are
you
doing
here
why
on
earth
would
you
make
yourself
mad
like
look
at
the
disease
look
at
the
dirt
look
at
the
weakness
what
on
earth
are
you
doing
here
I've
only
been
bumped
up
to
business
class
or
first
class
on a
plane
a couple
of
times
in
my
life
twice
it's
been
to
Vancouver
it
is
so
nice
if
you
folks
if
any
of
you
want
to
start
donating
points
so
every
time
I
fly
I
can
go
into
first
class
I
will
accept
it
no
just
don't
give
it
to
me
after
I've
said
that
don't
give
it
to
me
I
don't
want
it
but
here's
the
thing
I'm
a
very
hard
hearted
man
I
got
up
one
of
you
folks
gives
me
points
I'm
in
business
class
all
the way
to
Vancouver
five
and a
half
hours
nice
wide
chair
leg
room
good
food
drinks
whoa
and
then
somebody
as
they're
going
through
said
by
the
way
I
have
the
last
seat
in
the
plane
you
know
the
one
right
by
the
bathrooms
where
the
seat
doesn't
go
back
would
you
trade
with
me
because
you're
a
pastor
trying
to
think
of
how
it
is
that
they
know
that
I'm
a
pastor
and
I'm
not
going
to
give
up
my
seat
for
them
but
I
won't
and
that's
just
from
business
class
to
a
seat
on
a
plane
the
right
thing
for
them
to
say
to
Jesus
is
what
on
earth
are
you
doing
here
what
on
earth
are
you
doing
here
if
you
could
put
up
the
final
point
here's
the
thing
there
is
no
pit
that
we
are
in
that
Jesus
hasn't
gone
lower
to
come
from
beneath
you
and
lift
you
up
are
you
a
failure
he
has
gone
lower
are
you
despondent
he
has
gone
lower
are
you
sick
he
has
gone
lower
are
you
depressed
he
has
gone
lower
are
you
fearful
he
has
gone
lower
he
left
heaven
above
and
all
the
glory
the
splendor
and
remaining
fully
God
took
into
himself
our
human
nature
perfectly
and
lived
amongst
us
he
was
a
cell
attached
to
his
mother's
womb
how low
but
even
lower
he
ends
up
on
a
cross
he
ends
up
naked
whipped
abandoned
publicly
ashamed
publicly
humiliated
biblically
speaking
completely
and utterly
cursed
obviously
a complete
and utter
failure
all of
the
people
who
had
conspired
against
him
had
beaten
him
he
is
dying
up
there
and
then
he
descends
into
death
and
he
explains
that
he
descends
into
death
bearing
my
sin
in
yours
my
curse
in
yours
my
shame
in
yours
my
failure
in
yours
my
death
in
yours
my
sin
in
yours
he
bears
it
all
and
goes
right
down
to
the
depths
of
death
there
is
no
pit
so
low
that
he
has
not
gone
lower
to
pick
you
up
and
we
can
see
it
so
beautifully
expressed
in
verse
26
and
27
and
28
which
is
the
memory
verse
for
this
week
look
at
it
again
my
sheep
hear
my
voice
and
I
know
them
and
they
follow
me
I
give
them
eternal
life
and
they
will
never
perish
and
no
one
will
snatch
them
out
of
my
hand
I
give
them
eternal
life
and
they
will
never
perish
into
doom
that
you
may
not
perish
he
descended
to
hostile
powers
that
you
may
never
be
in
their
clutches
a
savior
and
lord
he
calls
you
by
name
to
follow
him
day
by
day
and
to
receive
the
privileges
he
bestows
in
verse
28
verse
28
when it
says
I
give
them
eternal
life
that's
the
present
tense
if
you
hear
the
voice
of
Jesus
and
you
say
Jesus
be
my
savior
and
lord
your
present
possession
is
eternal
life
your
present
possession
is
eternal
life
the
world
might
think
you're
ugly
the
world
might
think
you're
a
failure
the
world
might
think
you
are
poor
the
world
might
think
you
are
of
no
use
the
world
might
think
you
are
completely
and
utterly
unimportant
but
if
you
put
your
hand
in
the
hand
of
Jesus
if
you
hear
his
voice
and
respond
to
him
he
descended
into
death
that
you
may
receive
eternal
life
he
descended
into
doom
that
you
may
not
perish
he
descended
to
hostile
powers
why
does
he
have
to
descend
to
hostile
powers
because
no matter
how
whether
they're
individuals
or
institutions
whether
it is
the
media
or
the
university
whether
it
is
the
UN
or
the
power
of
the
United
States
or
China
or
Russia
or
Iran
or
Saudi
Arabia
they
are
so
low
high
they
can't
do
anything
against
him
he
has
to
descend
they
might
think
they're
getting
at
God
or
doing
something
no
the
hostile
powers
they
can
consume
and
clutch
and
grab
and
belittle
and
diminish
us
and
Jesus
descends
he
descended
to
hostile
powers
that
you
may
not
be
in
their
clutches
and
as
savior
and
lord
he
calls
you
by
name
to
walk
with
you
day
by
day
as
you
follow
him
to
walk
with
him
day
by
day
and
to
receive
the
privileges
he
bestows
to
receive
eternal
life
to
receive
that
you
will
never
perish
to
receive
that
no
one
will
snatch
you
out
of
his
hand
please
stand
friend
i
just
want
to
encourage
you
if
you
are
here
this
morning
and
you
have
been
sort
of
on
a
bit
of
a
journey
or
maybe
just
low
call
out
to
Jesus
he
will
not
say
no
to
you
he
will
take
you
he
will
wrap
his
arms
around
you
he
will
take
you
as
his
own
he
will
make
you
his
sheep
and
he
will
walk
with
you
day
by
none
of
you
is
so
much
nobody
here
is
so
much
of
a
failure
we're
so
depressed
we're
so
broken
that
he
will
not
take
you
and
no
one
here
is
so
wise
and
powerful
and
full
of
himself
or
herself
that
you
do
not
need
Jesus
no
one
so
I
just
urge
you
as
I
pray
this
closing
prayer
just
to
call
out
call
out
to
Jesus
and
say
Jesus
be
my
savior
and
my
lord
Jesus
be
my
savior
and
my
lord
I
turn
to
you
take
me
just
Jesus
be
my
savior
and
my
lord
let's
pray
father
I
confess
before
you
we
confess
before
you
that
sometime
you
feel
so
distant
but
we
confess
before
you
that
you
are
never
distant
father
you
never
are
distant
we
thank
you
Jesus
that
there
is
no
pit
so
low
that
you
did
not
go
lower
still
to
pick
us
up
from
underneath
and
raise
us
up
that
you
came
down
to
raise
us
up
father
we
give
you
thanks
and
praise
for
Jesus
we
can't
give
you
thanks
and
praise
that
he
came
to
descend
to
raise
us
up
to
make
us
yours
forever
father
make
us
disciples
of
Jesus
who
are
gripped
by
this
good
news
of
your
power
working
in us
to
give
us
eternal
life
and
that
protection
and
no
perishing
father
we
thank
you
for
the
good
news
of
what
Jesus
has
done
a
news
that
comes
with
power
grip
us
with
the
gospel
grip
us
with
this
story
that
we
might
live
free
and
for
your
glory
and
the
good
of
people
and
all
this
we
ask
and
God's
people
all
sing
together
Amen