Yohanes 10:34

10:34 Jesus answered, ¹  “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ² 

Yohanes 12:38

12:38 so that the word ³  of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, ⁴  “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord ⁵  been revealed?” ⁶ 

Yohanes 12:49-50

12:49 For I have not spoken from my own authority, ⁷  but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me ⁸  what I should say and what I should speak. 12:50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. ⁹  Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me.” ¹⁰ 

Yohanes 13:18

The Announcement of Jesus’ Betrayal

13:18 “What I am saying does not refer to all of you. I know the ones I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture, ¹¹  ‘The one who eats my bread ¹²  has turned against me.’ ¹³ 

[10:34]  ¹ tn Grk “answered them.”

[10:34]  ² sn A quotation from Ps 82:6. Technically the Psalms are not part of the OT “law” (which usually referred to the five books of Moses), but occasionally the term “law” was applied to the entire OT, as here. The problem in this verse concerns the meaning of Jesus’ quotation from Ps 82:6. It is important to look at the OT context: The whole line reads “I say, you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you.” Jesus will pick up on the term “sons of the Most High” in 10:36, where he refers to himself as the Son of God. The psalm was understood in rabbinic circles as an attack on unjust judges who, though they have been given the title “gods” because of their quasi-divine function of exercising judgment, are just as mortal as other men. What is the argument here? It is often thought to be as follows: If it was an OT practice to refer to men like the judges as gods, and not blasphemy, why did the Jewish authorities object when this term was applied to Jesus? This really doesn’t seem to fit the context, however, since if that were the case Jesus would not be making any claim for “divinity” for himself over and above any other human being – and therefore he would not be subject to the charge of blasphemy. Rather, this is evidently a case of arguing from the lesser to the greater, a common form of rabbinic argument. The reason the OT judges could be called gods is because they were vehicles of the word of God (cf. 10:35). But granting that premise, Jesus deserves much more than they to be called God. He is the Word incarnate, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world to save the world (10:36). In light of the prologue to the Gospel of John, it seems this interpretation would have been most natural for the author. If it is permissible to call men “gods” because they were the vehicles of the word of God, how much more permissible is it to use the word “God” of him who is the Word of God?

[12:38]  ³ tn Or “message.”

[12:38]  ⁴ tn Grk “who said.”

[12:38]  ⁵ tn “The arm of the Lord” is an idiom for “God’s great power” (as exemplified through Jesus’ miraculous signs). This response of unbelief is interpreted by the author as a fulfillment of the prophetic words of Isaiah (Isa 53:1). The phrase ὁ βραχίων κυρίου (Jo braciwn kuriou) is a figurative reference to God’s activity and power which has been revealed in the sign-miracles which Jesus has performed (compare the previous verse).

[12:38]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.

[12:49]  ⁷ tn Grk “I have not spoken from myself.”

[12:49]  ⁸ tn Grk “has given me commandment.”

[12:50]  ⁹ tn Or “his commandment results in eternal life.”

[12:50]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “The things I speak, just as the Father has spoken to me, thus I speak.”

[13:18]  ¹¹ tn Grk “But so that the scripture may be fulfilled.”

[13:18]  ¹² tn Or “The one who shares my food.”

[13:18]  ¹³ tn Or “has become my enemy”; Grk “has lifted up his heel against me.” The phrase “to lift up one’s heel against someone” reads literally in the Hebrew of Ps 41 “has made his heel great against me.” There have been numerous interpretations of this phrase, but most likely it is an idiom meaning “has given me a great fall,” “has taken cruel advantage of me,” or “has walked out on me.” Whatever the exact meaning of the idiom, it clearly speaks of betrayal by a close associate. See E. F. F. Bishop, “‘He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me’ – Jn xiii.18 (Ps xli.9),” ExpTim 70 (1958-59): 331-33.

[13:18]  sn A quotation from Ps 41:9.