John 10:31-38 — The men who picked up stones to kill Jesus stated His claim to be God in full, word for word. His modern critics won't even do that.

⛪ Preached at Pilgrim Baptist Church • Cookeville, TN • August 23, 2026.

This expository preaching message walks verse by verse through John 10:31-38, the moment the Jews at Solomon's porch pick up stones to kill Jesus over His claim to be God. Rather than softening or reinterpreting what Jesus said, this teaching shows how His own accusers — men with every reason to minimize the claim — stated it in full. That's a stronger witness to the deity of Christ than anything offered by modern-day critics who insist Jesus never claimed to be God.

Using Leviticus 24's blasphemy law and Psalm 82's rebuke of corrupt judges, this teaching shows how Jesus turns His accusers' own scripture against their charge — arguing from lesser to greater: if God once called sinful judges "gods" for merely holding an office, how much more is it not blasphemy for the One the Father sanctified and sent to say, "I am the Son of God"?

This verse-by-verse exposition connects John 10:22-39 with Leviticus 24:16, Psalm 82, John 3:3, John 5:25, John 8:21-43, John 14:10-21, John 17:21, Micah 5:2, and 1 Corinthians 2:7-8, explaining:

- Why debate doesn't reach for stones, but fear does

- Why Jesus answers the blasphemy charge with a question, not a denial

- What "the scripture cannot be broken" actually settles in this argument

- How Psalm 82's rebuke of corrupt judges becomes Jesus's defense

- Why His enemies are more reliable witnesses to His deity than modern skeptics

- The difference between memorizing scripture and letting scripture read you

- Why Jesus stands behind a record of works instead of hiding behind a claim

- What it means that Christ was sanctified and sent before the foundation of the world

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