Blasphemy Or The Truth
Although some people today have great difficulty in understanding that Jesus was God in a human body, these verses remind us that the people listening to Him understood exactly what He was saying. When they picked up stones to throw at Him (the Old Testament method of capital punishment) they were in no doubt that Jesus was claiming to be God. Jesus was not wrong in failing to rebuke them or correct them, for that was the truth. His miracles were direct expressions of God's power and compassion, which pointed towards His saving grace.
But human logic has no human experience of two or three people who can be one in character, desires and action; even identical twins or triplets who feel close to each other, are not totally the same as each other. There will be differences in the things that they like and do as well as minor differences in their appearance. But Jesus was totally one with the Father; however because He had a human body, His character could be physically seen in what He did and said.
This is the uniqueness of Jesus which every Christian should celebrate. It marks Him out from every other religious figure - for no-one else has ever claimed to be God in the human body and also demonstrate it in the things that they do. Therefore we do not just follow a shepherd who is good, but a Saviour who is God. The reason that He can take us to heaven is that He knows the way because He came from heaven (John 3:13). So the truth about His identity is locked up inside you until you open your mouth and share it. What better news could your colleagues receive than to know that the God who made them was willing to suffer for their sins so that they might have eternal life with Him forever.
© Dr Paul Adams