Jn 10:22-30
The Father and I are one: The relationship between the Father and the Son is one of the most important themes in John’s gospel. The unity and intimacy between Jesus and the Father runs through it. The gospel is written at a time when certain heresies are spreading among Jewish-Christians who cannot let go of the old Jewish tradition. The heretics, who include the Nazarenes, the Ebionites, and the Elkesaites, accept the messiahship of Jesus but reject his divinity. St. Irenaeus notes that John writes to refute the Gnostic speculation among the Greeks. The gospel opens with a prologue: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1). This is meant to establish the oneness between the Father and the Son and the divinity of the Son which the heretics cannot accept.
The Father and I are one: The relationship between the Father and the Son is one of the most important themes in John’s gospel. The unity and intimacy between Jesus and the Father runs through it. The gospel is written at a time when certain heresies are spreading among Jewish-Christians who cannot let go of the old Jewish tradition. The heretics, who include the Nazarenes, the Ebionites, and the Elkesaites, accept the messiahship of Jesus but reject his divinity. St. Irenaeus notes that John writes to refute the Gnostic speculation among the Greeks. The gospel opens with a prologue: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1). This is meant to establish the oneness between the Father and the Son and the divinity of the Son which the heretics cannot accept.
Jesus asserts to the Jews that he and the Father are one (v 30). But the hostile crowd continues to question him, prodding him to say that he is the Messiah. He replies that the works he does in his Father’s name testify to his identity. He is the Son of God: his life-giving words and actions issue from his Father and reveal his intimate relationship with him (v 25). Jesus carries out his mission as shepherd in communion with his Father. On the other hand, the Father’s role as shepherd of his people is realized in his Son. Jesus and the Father share not only life but also power.