Why They Picked Up Stones

The strongest evidence that Jesus was understood to be claiming deity is that his opponents said so, in their own words, without prompting.
"I and the Father are one." They pick up stones. He asks which good work they are stoning him for. Their answer is precise: "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."
It happens again. "Before Abraham was, I am" - and they take up stones. And earlier, when he calls God his own Father, John supplies the reasoning himself: they sought to kill him because he was "making himself equal with God."
Nobody organises a stoning over a misunderstood metaphor. The hostile witnesses are the clearest commentary we have on what was being claimed.
Scripture links:
- John 10:30-33 - "you, being a man, make yourself God."
- John 8:58-59 - "Before Abraham was, I am. So they picked up stones."
- John 5:17-18 - "making himself equal with God."
- Matthew 26:65 - "He has uttered blasphemy."
His enemies understood him. That was the trouble.