“Ye Are Gods” (John 10:34)

I came across this quote in Cash Peter’s book “The Illustrated Law of Attraction”:

‘To be the Christ,’ Selig said, ‘simply means to be yourself in full realization of your power as a piece of God in action… [A]n aspect of God being brought forth into light.’

That, in a nutshell, is who you are.

His words echo what Jesus himself is quoted as saying in Psalm 82:6, when he felt moved to inform his fellow Jews, “Ye are gods…children of the Most High,” seeking to remind them, and the rest of his followers, and us, that Christ consciousness, the pocket of universal loving-kindness we carry inside of us, was present inside all of them too.

Peters, Cash. The Illustrated Law of Attraction: Getting More of What You Want By Being More of Who You Are (p. 75). MCWriting.com. Kindle Edition.

Hmm.

Never one to settle for a glib quote, I dug deeper, getting out my Bible.

82 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

² How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

³ Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

⁴ Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

⁵ They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

⁶ I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

⁷ But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

⁸ Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

Psalm 82 (KJV)

Now that’s a horse of a completely different colour. In this Psalm, the writer is reminding the rulers and judges to be more compassionate with the poor and downtrodden. So, this harkens back to something else, that was originally written in Genesis.

Oh-oh. We’re on the other side of history, here: the temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden.

3 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Genesis 3:1-5 (KJV)

Which brings me around to what Jesus was discussing in John 10. He was being accused of blasphemy in suggesting that he and the Father were one (and the same). He never called himself a god, he always refers to himself as the Son of God. (Now, just a reminder that God and gods may be about Yahweh and/or the Elohim, which, in effect, are the Celestial Judges of mankind.)

Again, the quote itself seems provocative, until you widen it out into a more comprehensive citation.

²² And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

²³ And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.

²⁴ Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

²⁵ Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.

²⁶ But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

²⁷ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

²⁸ And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

²⁹ My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

³⁰ I and my Father are one.

³¹ Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.

³² Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?

³³ The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

³⁴ Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

³⁵ If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

³⁶ Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

³⁷ If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.

³⁸ But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

³⁹ Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,

John 10:22-36 (KJV)

Okay. Are you ready for my nail in the coffin? The term “your law” implies that it doesn’t apply to Jesus. Do you wonder why? That’s when I remembered something else Jesus said in John 8.

Again, a fuller quote will be needed to give these words context.

¹² Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

¹³ The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.

¹⁴ Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.

¹⁵ Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.

¹⁶ And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.

¹⁷ It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.

¹⁸ I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.

¹⁹ Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.

²⁰ These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.

²¹ Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.

²² Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come.

²³ And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.

²⁴ I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

²⁵ Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.

²⁶ I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.

²⁷ They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.

²⁸ Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

²⁹ And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

³⁰ As he spake these words, many believed on him.

³¹ Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

³² And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

³³ They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

³⁴ Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

³⁵ And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

³⁶ If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

³⁷ I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

³⁸ I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

³⁹ They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

⁴⁰ But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

⁴¹ Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

⁴² Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

⁴³ Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

⁴⁴ Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

⁴⁵ And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

⁴⁶ Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?

⁴⁷ He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

⁴⁸ Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?

⁴⁹ Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.

⁵⁰ And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.

⁵¹ Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

⁵² Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.

⁵³ Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?

⁵⁴ Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:

⁵⁵ Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.

⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

⁵⁷ Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

⁵⁸ Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

⁵⁹ Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

John 8:22-59 (KJV)

We all know what it’s like to try to explain something spiritual to people who have no understanding. John 8, which begins with a woman caught in the act of adultery (who some suggest was Mary Magdalene), that Jesus refused to judge, brought about a lengthy philosophical discussion about spiritual versus temporal life. He upsets those that would tempt him into saying something they could pin on him. It’s like being questioned in a court of law and pleading the 5th Amendment (US Constitution). Jesus told them as straight as he could, but they didn’t comprehend what he was really saying.

Which brings me to my final point: who exactly was John? I’ve always had a sneaky suspicion that it was actually his Beloved Disciple, Mary. And that would be what Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” was trying to demonstrate artistically.

Is this a full circle moment?