106.John 10:31-42-Myth: “All people are gods”
John 10:31–42
Myth: “All people are gods”
Biblical passage 31. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
32. Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”
33. The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a man, make Yourself God.”
34. Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?”
35. If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
36. do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
37. If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;
38. but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.
39. Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
40. And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and remained there.
41. Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.”
42. And many believed in Him there.
The main theme of this passage is the conflict over the divine identity of Jesus. However, in this text the phrase “you are gods” appears, which is often used out of context. Therefore, in this lesson we will separately examine this popular myth.
1. Historical background of the myth “all people are gods” 
The idea of the divine nature of human beings did not come from the Bible. It exists in many non-biblical religious and philosophical systems.
Esotericism and New Age — a person is proclaimed “the god of their own reality,” and salvation is reduced to realizing one’s own divinity.
Eastern religions — the human “self” is considered part of an impersonal Absolute.
Gnosticism — a person supposedly has a “divine spark,” and salvation comes through secret knowledge.
Mormonism — teaches that people can become gods and have their own worlds.
2. The danger of such teachings 
All these approaches erase the boundary between the Creator and creation. As a result, the human being becomes the center, salvation is replaced with self-awareness, and the need for God and a Savior disappears.
In fact, this is a repetition of the words of the serpent (the devil): “you will be like gods” (Genesis 3:5).
3. The accusation: “You make Yourself God” 
What angers the religious leaders is not Jesus’ behavior, but His identity. In their view, He crosses the boundary between God and man.
From here the modern myth is born: if Jesus speaks about divinity, then people can also be gods. But the text moves in the opposite direction.
4. Why Jesus quotes: “you are gods” 
Jesus refers to Psalm 81:6:
“I said, you are gods.”
In the psalm, the reference is to the earthly judges of Israel, called “gods” because of their role as representatives of God’s justice. And immediately it says:
“But you will die like men.”
This is not teaching about human nature, but an ironic rebuke: you were called gods by function, but you remain mortal.
5. The logic of Jesus: an argument, not a doctrine 
Jesus uses the argument “from the lesser to the greater”:
If Scripture can call ordinary people “gods” because of their function, why do you accuse of blasphemy the One whom the Father sent into the world for saying, “I am the Son of God”?
He does not say, “you are also gods.” He shows that the accusation is illogical even by their own Scriptures.
6. “If you do not believe Me — believe the works” 
Jesus does not offer mystical self-awareness. He offers a testable reality:
“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me.”
Faith in the Gospel is built not on the feeling “I am divine,” but on the fact: God acts through a конкретe Person.
7. Why the myth “all people are gods” is a distortion 
The myth arises from three mistakes:
1. A phrase is taken out of context.
2. Role is confused with essence.
3. An argument is turned into a doctrine.
At the same time, it directly contradicts the Bible:
• God is one, the human is created.
• Humans are mortal, God is eternal.
• Humans give account to God, not the other way around.
• The first idea of human “divinity” came not from God, but from the serpent.
8. The contrast at the end of the passage 
In Jerusalem — stones.
Beyond the Jordan — faith.
Those who considered themselves guardians of truth failed to recognize God. But simple people believed.
One-sentence conclusion 
John 10:31–42 shows that the phrase “you are gods” is not a teaching about human nature, but an argument Jesus uses against a false accusation; the myth “all people are gods” appears only when the text is read without context and without logic.