Why did Jesus say: "I and the Father are one"?

Question

Context (surrounding verses) is always important when determining the meaning of a scripture. Was Jesus making a claim to be God at John 10:30?

Jerome, I'm focusing on John 10:30, not on Jesus being God or not.

Jerome, the main question was WHY did Jesus say: "I and the Father are one"?

Answer 1

Careful scholars of Greek recognize that the word "one" at John 10:30 (Greek: hEN) is in the Greek neuter grammatical gender, not the masculine grammatical gender. Thus, Jesus is not speaking of being a person, God, in this verse.

What that means is that Jesus was not here claiming to be one "person" with God, but "one" with God in unity, purpose, will, or work.

And the rest of the New Testament confirms this understanding as true.

Answer 2

Many people think yes. The truth: NO. He was trying to say that he was agreeing with his Father Jehovah. If people read on,John 17:21-22, Jesus mentions that all of his apostles as well were in union with him. Which basically means they thought the same way on that certain matter.

Answer 3

FORGET ABOUT THE TRINITY FOR RIGHT NOW.

Let's just focus on this: is Jesus God? No. He's God as a MAN. Not God The Father!

So... is Jesus God in the flesh of a man?

Philippians 2:5-7
John 20:28
John 1:18
John 14:7-13
Colossians 2:9
1 John 5:20
Titus 2:13
Luke 1:35

Again... we're not focusing on "the Trinity" we're focusing on whether or not Jesus is God in the flesh as a human being.

EDIT TO RESPONSE: Yes, we are focusing on "is Jesus God" because it's in your question: "was Jesus making a claim to be God..."? This is what we're focusing on. Is he God? We're not focusing on the trinity right here or now.

Answer 4

To get the full understanding of what Jesus meant we have to look at the context in order to determine the correct meaning.
In order to determine the truth of the scriptures we must examine all the evidence without preconceived ideas (not trying to fit the scripture in with what we believe, ie the Trinity)

Jesus himself showed what he meant by his being “one” with the Father.
At John 17:21, 22, he prayed to God that his disciples “may all be one, just as you, Father, are in union with me and I am in union with you, that they also may be in union with us, . . . that they may be one just as we are one.
Was Jesus praying that all his disciples would become a single entity? - No,
Obviously Jesus was praying that they would be united in thought and purpose, as he and God were.
Also take a look at 1 Corinthians 3:6, 8, Paul says: “I planted, Apollos watered . . . He that plants and he that waters are one.”
Paul did not mean that he and Apollos were two persons in one; he meant that they were unified in purpose.
The Greek word that Paul used here for “one” (hen) is neuter, literally “one (thing),” indicating oneness in cooperation. It is the same word that Jesus used at John 10:30 to describe his relationship with his Father. It is also the same word that Jesus used at John 17:21, 22. So when he used the word “one” (hen) in these cases, he was talking about unity of thought and purpose.

Jesus never claimed that he was God. He always stated that he was the Son of God.
A separate personality.

Answer 5

So that ppl would know that he and his Father
and God are in union, w/ each other;
in agreement.
Jesus so perfectly relfected His God
and Father that he could say "I and the Father are 1."
Aaannddd again,
Jesus says Many Times that he is the Son of God.
Never does he say he is God.
Also, he says "and" when speaking of himself and his God and Father.
Aaannnddd again;
Only 2--Two personages are said; NOT 3--three.
Many ppl acknowledged that he is the Son of God;
Peter, Nicodemus,John the Baptizer,
all those present @ his place and time of death and more.
The Jewish religious leaders accused him of blasphemy for saying he was God's Son. What would they have done/ thought had he said he was God.

Answer 6

I don't think that He was claiming to be God, because in many other verses He makes a clear distinction between Himself and God.

The following analogy may be helpful in clarifying the relation of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit without the need of a dogma.

A perfectly pure and polished mirror will reflect the suns heat and light when held in front of it. It will even show the image of the sun inside it.
This perfectly pure and polished mirror was Jesus.
The sun represents symbolically God.
The mirror reflecting all the Glory, the Light and Heat of the sun for mankind, represents Christ.
The rays of the sun reflected in the mirror represent the Holy spirit.

The mirror can say that the sun is in me. It would be perfectly correct. A perfectly pure mirror reflects the image of the sun inside it.
The mirror can say that the sun is greater than me. It would be also correct. The mirror is merely reflecting the light that it receives from the sun.
The mirror can say that who has seen me has seen the sun.
The mirror can also say that the only way to look at the sun is looking at me. Which is also correct since we can not look directly at the sun without being blinded. But we can look at a mirror that has the image of the sun inside.

"I and the Father are one" is in relation to the life giving "light" being brought to mankind.
" I am the light of the world."

So this analogy seems to hold true for all the descriptions that Jesus gives about Himself and His relation to God.
.

Answer 7

John 10:38 but if i perform them, even if you do not believe me ; believe the works, so that you may realize that the father is in me and I am in the father.

John 12:44-45 Jesus cried out and said,"Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.

Sounds a lot like the Trinity of the Catholic Church when you throw in the Holy Spirit.

Answer 8

The confusion of mankind is in WORDS. Many say there is but one GOD when it is not one God but one LORD. The Lord of Creation. There are many GODS, but only one LORD above those "Gods."

When Jesus said the Father and I are one, he meant the the "spirit" of the Lord was the HOLY SPIRIT in him. Later he tells this part of him when he tells the apostles that they will receive a COMFORTER. Jesus was/is a GOD, and one who has been with the Father in heaven since the beginning. "As" a God, mankind does not understand that these "entities" can be born to the flesh WHENEVER they feel the need to be. To end the "confusion" mankind will have to gain HUMILITY in it's religions to see the TRUTH of the SUPERIOR and quit listening to the INFERIOR one that feeds them nothing more than lies and false pride which they keep killing to defend.

Answer 9

He was saying that both he and the Father were of one mind, and in agreement as far as purpose. They were two entities but they were in complete agreement as to values etc.

Answer 10

Here it is represented the unity Jesus and his father have. It is like some sports team say, that the have to be one in order to beat their opponent. Moreover, you can see a more detailed description of what Jesus meant here:
John 17:20-22 -- “I make request, not concerning these only, but also concerning those putting faith in me through their word; in order that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in union with me and I am in union with you, that they also may be in union with us, in order that the world may believe that you sent me forth. Also, I have given them the glory that you have given me, in order that they may be one just as we are one. --

Jesus's apostles were not one but 12, right? ("in order that they may be one just as we are one")


Greetings♪♫