God at the Chasm

Psalms 82:1-8

“God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods”: “How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.” Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are Your inheritance.”

“We are not stoning You for any good work,” said the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, declare Yourself to be God.” Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law: ‘I have said you are gods’? If He called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—“ (John 10:33–35). Pulpit Commentary notes in these words of Jesus: “To stand in close relation with the theocracy was to be covered with its glory. He seems to force upon them thus a host of similar blendings of the Divine and human in the age-long preparation for Himself, and to free all these from the suspicion of blasphemy. The Hebrew thought was really calculated to prepare the world for this high intercommunion, not to abolish it. Judaism, rabbinism, had widened the chasm between God and man. Christ came to fill up the chasm; nay more, to show the Divine and human in living, indissoluble union.” The psalmist refers to community leaders and people in authority as “gods” as in representatives of God Himself on earth. Our LORD replied when “Pilate said to Him, “Do You refuse to speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You and authority to crucify You?”, “You would have no authority over Me if it were not given to you from above… (John 19:10–11).” But these ‘gods’ are not in the same sense as God who is omnipotent and omniscient, in fact He said they “know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness (v. 5)”, but they are nevertheless given authority by God and are called to expand comprehension on godliness, or Christlikeness in our side of Jesus. God has ordained many of us to be His representatives on earth and we all ought to measure up we will be held accountable to Him for those He had entrusted us. God admonished His representatives through the prophet Malachi based on the principle, “for the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth people should seek instruction-because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty (Mal 2:7).” In a similar way, the Apostle Peter tells us that in the LORD, we are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light (I Pet 2:9).” Holy Spirit empower us all to prove capable and fit for this solemn authority given us in our own circumstances. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, amen.