In the earthly ministry of our Lord, there were several occasions when angry Jewish leaders picked up stones to stone Christ before the appointed hour of His sacrifice. One of these dramatic moments occurred in the city of Jerusalem in the Temple courts.

John 10:22–23 sets the scene for this account. “And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.” This reference is to the Jewish feast of Hanukkah, the celebration of the rededication of the Temple in the days of the Maccabees. Jesus had come to the city of Jerusalem. There He was accosted by the Jewish leaders who had a burning question that they wanted to ask the Teacher from Nazareth.

“Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24). These hypocrites were not asking in order to believe. They were seeking to trap Jesus into making an inflammatory statement while in the politically charged environment of Jerusalem. Thus, they pressed Jesus for a direct answer as to whether or not He was the Messiah of Israel, the Anointed One of God.

“Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me” (John 10:25). After pointing to the record of His Own works, Jesus then drew upon the previous discussion of the Good Shepherd to expose their hypocrisy and lay out the relationship between Himself and His Heavenly Father.

“But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:26–29).

As a final assertion of truth, Jesus then uttered a statement of unity between God the Son and God the Father—a statement that would be brought up again as a statement of blasphemy before His crucifixion: “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30).

Upon this bold statement of unity between the Father and the Son, the Jewish leaders angrily sought to stone the Son of God! “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him” (John 10:31).

One of the central doctrines of orthodox Christianity is the Trinity. The Godhead is three in person. The Godhead is one in essence. It is important to recognize that in making the statement, “I and my Father are one,” Jesus was not denying the Trinity, nor giving credence at all to the twin heresies of unitarianism or modalism.

Unitarianism denies the eternal deity of the Son and scoffs at the notion of one God existing eternally in three Persons. Modalism claims that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are merely three different “modes” or manifestations of the One God.

But Jesus in this context asserts the uniqueness of the Son. He describes the Father as giving “the sheep” to the Son. Jesus affirms that He is doing works in the name of His Father. Clearly, He and His Father are distinct in person and the role that They perform. But They are unified in essence. The Son and the Father are One in purpose, One in power, and One in glory.

One in Purpose

In John 6, Jesus affirmed in a similar discussion, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:37–38). Although They are distinct in person, the Son and the Father are eternally united in the same purpose.

Jesus came down from Heaven to fulfill the eternal plan and purpose of His Heavenly Father. This is why our Lord could say on the night of His betrayal, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4).

One in Power

The authority Christ carried on earth was the authority granted by His Heavenly Father. In His High Priestly prayer in John Chapter 17, Jesus said, “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him” (verse 2). Jesus came to earth not to exert His Own separate authority but to exert the authority of His Father.

For this reason, the Jews demanded in Luke 20:2 to know by what authority Jesus cleansed the Temple after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. “And they spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority?” Jesus made it very clear in His answer that the authority by which He lived, moved, spoke, and acted was the authority granted by His Heavenly Father. It was for this statement that the Jewish leaders “sought to lay hands on him” (Luke 20:19).

One in Glory

From eternity past to eternity present, Jesus and His Father are united in glory. In the same High Priestly prayer we considered earlier, Jesus said, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was” (John 17:5). Christ’s glory is His Father’s glory.

This unity in glory is in view when Jesus said in a very similar discussion with the Jewish leaders, “If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God” (John 8:54). To honor the Father is to honor the Son. To honor the Son is to honor the Father. This assertion by Christ is very significant as it is one of the other occasions when the Jewish leaders “took up stones to cast at him” (John 8:59).

Whenever we pray the Lord’s Prayer and close with the words given by Christ in Matthew 6:13, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen,” we should be reminded of the eternal unity in the Godhead. To do the will of the Father is to do the will of the Son. To glorify the Son is to glorify the Father also.