"I and My Father Are One," and Two More

Start with a question Which texts did you first think of when you heard "the Bible says Jesus is God"? For most Christians, it is these three: John 10:30, John 8:58, and John 20:28. They are the heaviest verses in the Trinitarian arsenal. Let us give each one a full, honest hearing, letting Scripture interpret Scripture without forcing a philosophical framework onto the text.

"I and my Father are one" (John 10:30)

What the context says. Jesus is speaking of His sheep, who are secure in His hand and in the Father's hand. In the exact same breath He says the Father is "greater than all." The "oneness" He introduces is meant to say: those who are mine are as safe with me as they are with the Father.

What the grammar says. "One" in Greek here is hen, the neuter form meaning "one thing." It is not heis, the masculine form meaning "one person." Jesus did not say "I and the Father are one person." Both Trinitarians and Oneness believers (Modalists) must accept this grammatical fact. It is a strong text against Oneness—the idea that Father and Son are merely masks worn by one single Person.

How "one" is used elsewhere. To understand what Jesus meant by "one" (hen), we do not need to guess. We only need to read His own prayer a few chapters later: "Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are." (John 17:11) "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us... that they may be one, even as we are one." (John 17:21–22)

The exact same Greek word (hen) is used. The disciples are to be "one, as we are." They are not becoming one single being. They are not becoming a Trinity. They are being united in nature, purpose, mind, and life.

"Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58)

Jesus claimed to exist before Abraham. That is stated clearly and is not disputed. But what did He mean by the phrase "I am"? Many conclude this is a direct claim to be the God of Exodus 3:14 ("I AM THAT I AM").

Let the Bible answer. Use the principle we established in Lesson 14 and 16. At the burning bush, "the angel of the LORD appeared unto him" (Exodus 3:2), and he speaks as the LORD. We saw that God said of His Angel: "my name is in him" (Exodus 23:21). The Angel carries the Father's name and speaks the Father's words. He is the Word, the Voice of God made audible.

Now listen to Jesus describe His own mission: "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not." (John 5:43) "The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." (John 14:10)

Jesus is the one who spoke to Moses. He is the Voice of Jehovah. He carries the Father's name and speaks the Father's words. He existed before Abraham. This makes perfect sense of "I am" without making Him the Father Himself. He is the Son, bearing the full authority, name, and divine nature of the Father.

"My Lord and my God" (John 20:28)

Thomas calls Jesus God. The Son is divine, and the Gospel does not hesitate to say so. We must never shrink from this text. But to understand what John is teaching, we must read this verse in the context of the very same chapter.

Look at the three bookends of John 20:

1. Verse 17: Jesus says, "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."
2. Verse 28: Thomas says to Jesus, "My Lord and my God."
3. Verse 31: John tells us why he wrote the entire book: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."

John presents a perfect harmony. Thomas recognizes the divinity of Jesus, but John defines that divinity: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. The Son is called God because He is the Son.

Look at Hebrews 1:8: "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." The Father addresses the Son as God. The Son inherits the divine nature, the divine name, and the divine authority of His Father. Just as a human child inherits the nature of their parent (as we saw in Lesson 20), the divine Son inherits the nature of the Divine Father. Thomas was not calling Jesus the Father; he was confessing that Jesus possessed the fullness of the Godhead as the Son.

Divine, or the One God? Here is the key distinction in all three texts. Trinitarians read these verses and conclude: "Jesus is God, the Father is God, therefore they are the one God." But that is a philosophical syllogism, not a biblical statement.

All three show that the Son is fully divine. None of them, on its own, says that the Son is "the only true God." For that, we must ask: who does the Bible say is the one God? We answered that in Lesson 11: "To us there is but one God, the Father" (1 Corinthians 8:6).

We do not need to cancel John 1:1 or John 20:28 to believe that the Father is the one God. Scripture allows both to stand: The Father is the one God, the Source of all. The Son is divine, the exact image of the Father, inheriting His nature and name.