John 10:32

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

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(32) Jesus answered them—i.e., answered the thought which He read in their hearts, and the intention which was expressed by their act.

Many good works have I shewed you from my Father.—For the idea of “good” expressed here, comp. Note on John 10:14. We have no better word in English; but “excellent,” “distinguished,” approach the sense. It is not the nature of the works as beneficent that is made prominent, but their moral excellence. They are works from the Father manifested in the visible world by the Son. (Comp. Notes on John 5:19-20.) Jesus speaks of “many” such works. John has recorded but few, but he has given hints that many more were done (John 2:23; John 3:2; John 5:36), and he afterwards expressly asserts this (John 20:30).

For which of those works do ye stone me?—Again there is a fulness of meaning in the Greek which it is difficult to convey in translation. The word rendered “which” marks, not simple distinction, but quality. (Comp. “What kind of commandment,” Note on Matthew 22:36.) “What is the character,” our Lord would ask, “of that one of these works on account of which ye are about to stone Me?” If they had thought out this question they must have been led to see that the quality of the works proved that they were from God, and that therefore He by whom they had been wrought, was also from God. This thought of the quality of the works had been in the minds of some of them (John 9:16). Its true issue would have been to worship Him as God; they are preparing to stone Him as a blasphemer.

Benson Commentary

John 10:32-36. Jesus answered, Many good works have I showed you from my Father — That is, in confirmation of my mission from my Father I have wrought many miracles, all of a beneficent kind, and most becoming the perfections of my Father, who sent me. I have fed the hungry, I have healed the lame, I have cured the sick, I have given sight to the blind, I have cast out devils, and I have raised the dead: for which of all these are you going to stone me? The Jews answered, For a good work we stone thee not — We are going to punish thee with death, not for a good work, but for blasphemy; for, though thou art a man, weak and mortal as we ourselves are, thou arrogantly assumest to thyself the power and majesty of God; and by laying claim to the incommunicable attributes of the Deity, makest thyself God. This they took to be the plain meaning of his assertion, that he and the Father were one. Jesus — Not judging it proper, at that time, to bring the sublime doctrine of his Deity into further debate; answered them, Is it not written in your law — Or, in those sacred books which you own to be of divine original, (see Psalm 82:6,) where it is plain the persons that are spoken of are princes and magistrates; I said, Ye are gods? — “The Jewish magistrates were God’s deputies in an especial manner, because the people whom they governed were his peculiar people, and because, in many instances, they were expressly called by him to undertake the fatigues of government, and had an afflatus, or inspiration of the Spirit, for that end. Thus the high-priests derived their dignity from God, and were possessed of the Urim and Thummim, by which they inquired of the Lord. When Moses chose the seventy elders to assist him in the distribution of justice, God put his Spirit upon them, and they prophesied, Numbers 11:17. Joshua, who succeeded Moses by divine appointment, is said to have been a man in whom was the Spirit, Numbers 27:18. Many of the judges were raised up by God, and had his Spirit. When Saul was anointed, the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied, 1 Samuel 10:6; 1 Samuel 10:10.” — Macknight. If he (God) called them gods, to whom the word of God came — That is, to whom God was then speaking; and the Scripture cannot be broken — That is, nothing that is written therein can be censured or rejected. Dr. Campbell translates this clause, And if the language of Scripture is unexceptionable; observing, “Our Lord defends what he had said from the charge of blasphemy, by showing its conformity to the style of Scripture in less urgent cases; insomuch, that if the propriety of Scripture language were admitted, the propriety of his must be admitted also.” “This,” adds he, “is one of those instances wherein, though it is very easy for the translator to discover the meaning, it is very difficult to express it in words which shall appear to correspond to those of his author.” Say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified — Hath set apart for the great work of redeeming and saving the human race; and sent into the world — For that purpose; Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God? — If the Scripture, which cannot err, gives the title of gods to mortal and sinful men, why should you reckon guilty of blasphemy, me, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world on so grand a design, because I assume to myself a title which so justly belongs to me, namely, that of the Son of God? Some set the argument in another light, thus: If they, to whom the word of God, and the revelation of his will came, are called gods in Scripture, how dare you say to the Word of God himself, by whom all the various revelations of the divine will have been made to men; how dare you say to such a person, on such an occasion, Thou blasphemest! Jesus, it must be observed, was charged here by the Jews with ascribing divinity to his human nature; and in reply to this he shows, that, calling himself the Son of God, did not imply that, and that his works proved such a union of the human nature with the divine as he had before asserted, than which no answer could have been more wise and pertinent.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:31-38 Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends, he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son was so in the Father, that he knew the whole of His mind. This we cannot by searching find out to perfection, but we may know and believe these declarations of Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Many good works - Many miracles of benevolence healing the sick, etc. His miracles were good works, as they tended to promote the happiness of men, and were proofs of his benevolence. He had performed no other works than those of benevolence; he knew that they could charge him with no other, and he confidently appealed to them as witnesses of that. Happy would it be if all, when they are opposed and persecuted, could appeal even to their persecutors in proof of their own innocence.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

32. Many good works have I showed you—that is, works of pure benevolence (as in Ac 10:38, "Who went about doing good," &c.; see Mr 7:37).

from my Father—not so much by His power, but as directly commissioned by Him to do them. This He says to meet the imputation of unwarrantable assumption of the divine prerogatives [Luthardt].

for which of those works do ye stone me?—"are ye stoning (that is, going to stone) me?"

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The word translated good is of a very large signification; signifying excellent, useful, profitable, beauteous, &c., whatsoever in common speech cometh under the notion of good. I (saith our Saviour) never did harm to any of you, but I have been the instrument of a great deal of good to you. I have given sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, healed many that were sick of grievous diseases, cast out many devils out of those which were infested with or possessed by them. Do any of these deserve any such usage at your hands? What maketh you in such a rage against me?

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Jesus answered them, many good works,.... Such as healing the sick, and all manner of diseases; dispossessing devils, cleansing lepers, giving sight to the blind, causing the dumb to speak, the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk; which were not only works of power, but of mercy and beneficence; and therefore are called good works, as well as they were great and miraculous ones:

have I showed you from my Father; which Christ did in the name, and by the command and authority of the Father; who gave him them to do, and did them by him; and which were evident and notorious, and were done so openly and publicly, that they could not be denied:

for which of these works do ye stone me? suggesting, that his public life had been a continued series of such kind actions to the sons of men, and it could be for nothing else surely, that they took up stones to stone him; wherefore the part they acted, was a most ungrateful, cruel, and barbarous one.

Geneva Study Bible

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

(k) Through my Father's authority and power.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

John 10:32. Jesus anticipating them says: Πολλὰ … με; “Many excellent works [‘praeclara opera,’ Meyer] have I shown you from my Father; for what work among these do ye stone me?” Which of them deserves stoning? (Holtzmann). As it could only be a work differing in character from the καλὰ ἔργα which deserved stoning, ποῖον is used, although in later Greek its distinctive meaning was vanishing. Wetstein quotes from Dionys. Halicar., viii. 29, an apposite passage in which Coriolanus says: οἵ με ἀντὶ πολλῶν καὶ καλῶν ἔργων, ἐφʼ οἷς τιμᾶσθαι προσῆκεν … αἰσχρῶς ἐξήλασαν ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

32. Many good works] It is the same word as is used John 10:14 of the Good Shepherd: many beautiful, noble, excellent works. Comp. ‘He hath done all things well’ (Mark 7:37) and ‘God saw that it was good’ (Genesis 1:8; Genesis 1:10; Genesis 1:12, &c.). These excellent works proceed from the Father and are manifested by the Son.

for which of those] Literally, for what kind of work among these; i.e. ‘what is the character of the work for which ye are in the act of stoning me?’ It was precisely the character of the works which shewed that they were Divine, as some of them were disposed to think (John 10:21, John 7:26). Comp. Matthew 22:36, where the literal meaning is, ‘what kind of a commandment is great in the law?’ and 1 Corinthians 15:35, ‘with what kind of body do they come?’ See on John 12:33, John 18:32, John 21:19.

Bengel's Gnomen

John 10:32. Καλὰ ἔργα, good works) Jesus shows that judgment is to be formed from His works; John 10:37, “If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not.”—λιθάζετε, do ye stone) The Jews had now determined to stone Him; John 10:33, “For a good work we stone Thee not, but for blasphemy.”

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 32. - Jesus answered them, Many good (καλά) works have I shown you from the (my) Father. The works of Christ were lovely and radiant with Divine beneficence; they were revelations of the Father. "I showed you many of them," says he; "I gave you signs thus of the intimate relation between the whole of the self-revelation I am making and the Father" (cf. John 6:65; John 7:17; John 8:42). For which work of these (works) are ye stoning me? i.e. preparing by your gesture to carry this into effect. By these words, uttered with smiting irony and terrific though quiet indignation, Jesus answered their threat. John 10:32

Vincent's Word Studies

Good works (καλὰ)

Beautiful, noble works, adapted to call forth admiration and respect. Compare Mark 14:6, and see on John 10:11.

For which of these works (διὰ ποῖον αὐτῶν ἔργον)

Literally, for what kind of a work of these. This qualitative force of ποῖον is not to be lost sight of, though it is impossible to render it accurately without paraphrasing. Jesus does not mean, as the A.V. and Rev. imply, "for which one of these works," but "what is the character of that particular work among all these for which you stone me?" The me, closing the sentence, is emphatic.