John 10:34

Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came (and the Scriptures cannot be broken), say ye of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest: because I said, I am the Son of God?

This is the passage to which Jesus referred:

God standeth in the congregation of God; He judgeth among the gods. How long will ye judge unjustly, And respect the persons of the wicked? ... I said, Ye are gods, And all of you sons of the Most High (Psalms 82:1,2,6).

The unjust judges of Israel were the subject of these verses, God calling them "gods" in order to stimulate and encourage them to render just judgments. Of course, those men were "sons of the Most High" in the sense ordinary; but the use of such words in the Holy Scriptures were proof absolute that it was not blasphemy for a man to call himself "son of God" in that same sense. Jesus did not imply by this appeal that he claimed to be "Son of God" in the ordinary sense; for both he and his enemies knew that it was in the unique sense of being "the only begotten Son of God" that Jesus used the title. Nevertheless, it was sinful and illegal for those Pharisees to make what Jesus meant the basis for a charge of blasphemy. He had not pinpointed the unique phase of his claim (at that point); and he cited the Psalm which he quoted as a complete and adequate defense of what he had actually said. In the divine plan, Jesus would eventually testify under oath to the uniqueness of his Sonship, but that would come before the historic court of the chosen people, and not in the presence of a vicious mob like that which confronted him.

It is wrong to understand Jesus' appeal to Psalms 82 as a reduction of his claim of absolute equality with God; it was only an extremely effective refutation of their charge of blasphemy by an argument from their own premises which they were compelled to accept, and did accept. It stunned them, aborted their efforts to stone him, and again proved the Pharisees incapable of standing against Jesus in public debate.

Your law ... to the word of God ... the Scripture ... These triple designations refer to the entire Old Testament. The use of "your law" in reference to a Psalm makes it certain that "the law" did not mean merely the Pentateuch, but applied to the entire Old Testament. There is no stronger testimony in the Bible to the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures than this remarkable passage.

The Scripture cannot be broken ... This was only a a parenthesis in the words of Jesus but, in the long view, a parenthesis embracing creation, all time, and eternity.

THE SCRIPTURE CANNOT BE BROKEN

I. What does this mean? A. It means that the Bible is inspired. B. It identifies the Old Testament as Scripture in the fullest sense. C. It means that Jesus believed the Bible. D. It means that the Bible is an infallible book, the one judge and jury before which all men and their deeds shall at last be tried. E. It means that the sacred Scriptures are as immutable as God's other laws, such as those of gravity, etc.

II. Many have not believed this text. A. Those who sought here to stone Jesus did not believe it. B. The rulers of this world's darkness, such as Herod Agrippa, Felix, Festus, Nero, Caligula, and countless others, did not believe it. C. The apostate church did not believe it. D. Faithless Christians of all ages have not believed it. E. So-called "modernists" who explain away the Scriptures do not believe it. F. The world does not believe it (John 3:19).

III. And yet the text is true. For generations, men believed the earth was flat, but their belief did not alter the truth; and so it is with the unbreakable word of God. If every man on earth disbelieved and repudiated the Bible, it would make no difference, except in regard to the destiny of them that disbelieved. Absolutely nothing can break the word of God. A. Time cannot break it. B. Disobedience cannot break it, as witnessed by such examples as Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Judas, and Demas. C. Neglectful disciples cannot break it. D. The advance of knowledge cannot break it. E. Satan cannot break it. F. Death and the grave cannot break it.

IV. Even when it seems that the Scripture is broken, it remains yet unbroken. A. Pilate condemned Jesus; but no, it was Pilate who was condemned to perpetual infamy. B. Judas sold Jesus, at least that is what he and the Pharisees thought; but it was Judas who was sold to a suicide's death. C. Herod placed the apostles in jail; but they were released, and Herod was eaten with worms. D. Millions of men fancy they have broken the Scripture, and even churches have denied and broken the Scripture, so they thought; but, of all who do so, it is they who are broken. The earth's kings and captains, the mighty and the proud, have broken the Scripture in the sense of ignoring and disobeying the word of God; but wait. Stand at the judgment and behold who is really broken:

And they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand? (Revelation 6:16,17).

Let no man dare to believe that the Scripture can be broken. If one shall so believe, Christ has made him a liar by this text.

O Word of God, secure, unshaken, Foiling evil's every art, Bringing peace to man's misshapen Life and broken heart. O Word, eternally abiding, While millennia roll, Thou art the only place of hiding For the ransomed soul.

- James Burton Coffman

Because I said, I am the Son of God ... This refers to Jesus' revelation of himself to the man healed of blindness (John 9:35), a revelation witnessed by some of the Pharisees; thus Christ plainly allowed the interpretation that he had "said" this when he told the blind man that "Thou hast both seen him, and he it is that speaketh with thee." He had also accepted the blind man's worship (John 9:38).

Thus, Jesus was generous in allowing the allegation of his critics that he had said he was the Son of God; but as Hovey observed:

How could they charge him with blasphemy in claiming to be the Son of God, when their own (evil and unscrupulous) judges had been styled "gods"?[29]

Furthermore, it was God himself who had styled those judges "gods," evil as they were, and solely out of respect to their position. Jesus, in contrast, was holy, sinless, and undefiled, having every right, even from a human standpoint to say, "I am the Son of God." Nor was it fair or legal to make what he obviously MEANT an excuse for stoning him on a charge of blasphemy. The righteous effectiveness of this argument was proved by the result of it. The rocks went back into their pockets, and his enemies withdrew like jackals to await a more favorable opportunity.

Whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world ... This contrasted the holy office of Jesus and his perfect fitness of character in his sacred office with the evil lives and crooked justice of the judges mentioned in the Psalm Jesus quoted.