Despite myths that Jesus never claimed to be God, there are several times in the New Testament where Jesus spoke words and performed actions that should belong to God alone. The religious teachers tried to stone him for his claims to make himself equal with God, something Jesus never corrected. For example, in Mark 10:17-18, Jesus does not deny being God, but simply tells the man that he has no business calling anyone "good" in an unqualified sense except God. However, the Bible and Jesus himself teaches that He is truly good.
Jesus And The Father Are One
One famous statement spoken by Jesus in John 10:30 is “I and the Father are one (ἕν - hen).” Many New Testament and Greek scholars have shown that the Greek word “ἕν” or “one” is neuter. This is not the same word as “εἷς” that would mean they are the same person. “ἕν” implies a unity of some nature (Ellicott1897-xv, Vincent1890-pr). (John 10:22-30) and the Arian interpretation of mere it meaning moral agreement does not work with with ἕν” (Cambridge). One must then read the full passage to understand what is being implied in the said unity:
22. At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23. and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25. Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26. but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30. I and the Father are one.” 31. The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33. 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.”
Verse 24 shows us that the Jews gathered and asked Jesus to plainly tell them if he was the Christ/Messiah. In response to their question, Jesus said that He has already told them before. They did not believe him, despite the Father's power being His witness. Jesus goes on to say that they are not HIS sheep, and that is why they cannot believe. In John 8:47, Jesus had already said the same things about God, and so does the rest of the Bible (Numbers 16:5;Nahum 1:7; Luke 13:27; 1 Corinthians 8:3; 2 Timothy 2:19).
47. Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
In John 10:27, Jesus says His sheep know His voice. He knows them and they know Him. Jesus continues to say that He gives them Eternal Life; they will never die and No one can take them out of His hand. This is a statement that the Jews would be familiar with as Jesus is quoting Psalm 95:6-7
6. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! 7. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,
The Psalmist is portraying that Israel is God's sheep; they are God's pasture. No one can take them from God's hand, and they will hear Gods voice. Additionally, God has said in the Old Testament that He is the only one that can give and take life.
39. “‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
Notice that God alone can give eternal life, and that none can deliver this life from God's hand. The reason Jesus can do this is given in verse 29. God the Father, who is greater than all, has given God's sheep to Jesus. No one can take God's sheep from God's hand. This statement goes against verse 29, where it is from Jesus's hand that none can snatch from Him. Jesus is saying that He and God have the same power that can give life and protect their sheep (Jamieson1996-ra). It is only after these statements that Jesus brings His message to a conclusion, declaring that "I and the Father are one". Given the entire context of this passages, as well as John's goal in writing his Gospel (John 1), there is certainty that Jesus meant that He and the Father are one is essence and unity (Barnes_undated-od, Poole1990-kq), or as the Jew said “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.”
Those who attempt to downplay Jesus' statement in John 17:21-23, where He speaks of unity among believers similar to His unity with the Father, miss the point. Jesus isn't just talking about believers being united; He's claiming a unique, powerful unity with the Father Himself, beyond mere moral or spiritual connection. He argues that this unity allows Him to grant eternal life, backed by the Father's power and essence. This claim of shared essence with the Father provoked strong opposition, suggesting it's more than just about being united in purpose or spirit. Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones puts it like this;
Some have endeavored to minimize the force of this remarkable statement by comparing it with John 17:21-23, where Jesus said believers are "to be in us," and "to be one, even as we are one," i.e. to have the same kind of relation with one another (being a collective unity) as the Father and Son sustain towards each other, "I in them, thou in me, that they may be perfected into one;" i.e. into one Divine personality by my indwelling. Now, it is nowhere there said that believers and the Father are one, but such a statement is scrupulously avoided. Numerous attempts have been made to escape from the stupendous assumption of this unity of power and essence with the Father. The whole gist of the assertion reveals the most overwhelming self-consciousness. The Lord declares that he can bestow eternal life and blessedness upon those who stand in close living relation with himself, and between whom and himself there is mutual recognition and the interchanges of love and trust. He bases the claim on the fact that the Father's hands are behind his, and that the Father's eternal power and Godhead sustain his mediatorial functions and, more than all, that the Father's Personality and his own Personality are merged in one essence and entity. If be merely meant to imply moral and spiritual union with the Father, or completeness of revelation of the Divine mind, why should the utterance have provoked such fierce resentment? John 10:30
One early church father named Augustine described this passage in saying the "are" condemns the Sabellian's belief - who denied the distinction of Persons in the Godhead, while the "one" condemns the Arians belief - who denied the unity of their essence, not unlike modern JWs (Augustine).