Jesus Epiphanes

So, as far as the narrative is concerned, Jesus has just claimed to be God. “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). If one was reading this story as an isolated incident, one might reasonably expect Jesus’ audience to be ready to flip around and be all worshipful and such—after all, Jesus is God. But, this isn’t an isolated incident, and the people to whom Jesus is speaking react in a way completely unoriginal in comparison with the events thus far.

John 10:31-33
The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?" The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God."

To be honest, I don’t blame the Jews for their reaction. I myself am having a really hard time seeing the sense in why Jesus said what He did right then. Yes, I understand that He is God. Yes, I understand that they should have seen and understood that... But, really, did He have to pull that on them right then? It seems a little bit untactful, to say the least.

Hanukkah

For, as was mentioned last week, this all occurred during the Feast of the Dedication, at the Temple in Jerusalem (John 10:22). This is the festival more commonly known as Hanukkah.

About two centuries before, the area of Judea was controlled by a dynasty of Greeks called the Seleucids. The particular king in power at the time was Antiochus IV. Antiochus was a bit of an egotistical fellow and decided to name himself Antiochus Epiphanes—or Antiochus [God]-Manifest. The inscription he had printed on his currency said, “Antiochus, God Manifest, Bearer of Victory.” He was the first Greek ruler to ever claim deity.

Antiochus Epiphanes did not particularly like Jews. It really wasn’t anything personal... it’s just that they weren’t Greek. So, when it came to his governance of Judea, he tried to introduce Hellenistic culture. Eventually, it got to the point where he banned circumcision and tried to get Jews to eat pork. This did not go over well. While some Jews cowed to his wishes in an attempt to live peaceful, cooperative lives, there was an uprising of Jews who desired to remain faithful to God’s Law.

Frustrated at his lack of success and eager to show his dominance, Antiochus and his soldiers sacked Jerusalem. Antiochus then sacrificed a pig on the bronze altar of the Temple, marched into the Holy of Holies, and spread the pig’s blood on the walls. He declared that the Temple would be dedicated to Zeus and ordered a statue of the pagan god to be erected in the Temple courtyard.

Hanukkah came at the end of a long struggle, which brought Jewish independence for the first time in four centuries. The people cleansed the Temple and rededicated it to God. It was a sign of hope and a turning point in the history of the Jewish people.

Now, 200 years later, on the anniversary of that event, the Jews have another man in the Temple claiming to be God. Is it really any wonder that they wanted to kill Jesus?

God-Manifest

John 10:34-38
Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of Him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I am in the Father."

Jesus is perfectly aware of how what He is saying is being received. I mean, it’d be hard not to be aware when you have a bunch of Jewish men holding rocks and looking at you angrily. I personally would not find it to be a particularly comfortable situation to be in. Nonetheless, Jesus doesn’t exactly try to make the situation any better.

What He does is quote Psalm 82, which is a psalm that speaks of God metaphorically gathering together all of the rulers of the world and speaking to them as a judge. He calls them ‘gods’ (Psalm 82:6), saying that, as they are appointed by Him to rule over people, they are in a sense representatives of His character.

So, in a way, Antiochus Epiphanes actually was ‘God-manifest.’

As for Himself, Jesus speaks of doing the works of the Father as evidence that He and the Father are indeed one. Unlike Antiochus, who presented more of an antiGod than a truthful representation of God’s sovereign rule over mankind, Jesus says that His works show that God has sent Him.

In his position of leadership, Antiochus’ job was to show to his subjects what God looked like. However, he not only failed at that, it is safe to assume that he did not even try. He desired to usurp the privileges and benefits belonging solely to God Himself whilst throwing away the responsibility he carried.

But where Antiochus forced Jews to break God’s Law, Jesus came to fulfil it. Where Antiochus Epiphanes claimed to be God, Jesus showed that He was God. Theos Epiphanes. God-Manifest.

John 10:39-42
Again they sought to arrest Him, but He escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there He remained. And many came to Him. And they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true." And many believed in Him there.

The Jews in Jerusalem still didn’t want to hear this, so Jesus left them. He left them and went across the Jordan, and there people believed in Him (John 10:42).

The question I ask myself in all of this is whether or not I see Jesus as that. Is Jesus God-manifest? Can I, like Jesus asks, see from what He does that He has been sent from God? Or do I just say that because that’s what I’ve been told? Do I let my past history mar my ability to see Him for who He is?

Because if Jesus isn’t who He claims to be, then none of this matters...