John's Jewish Concept of Divine Sonship

 Jewish concept of divine sonship in John's gospel

ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ 1:1 Greek NT: Westcott and Hort / [NA27 and UBS4 variants]

ΕΝ ΑΡΧΗ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.

ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ 1:12 Greek NT: Westcott and Hort / [NA27 and UBS4 variants]

ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτόν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ,

ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ 20:31 Greek NT: Westcott and Hort / [NA27 and UBS4 variants]

ταῦτα δὲ γέγραπται ἵνα πιστεύητε / πιστεύσητε ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστὶν ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἵνα πιστεύοντες ζωὴν ἔχητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ.

Prologue of John:

The Word was God (John 1:1)

In him was life (John 1:4)

Believe in his name (John 1:12)

Epilogue of John:

That you may believe 

Jesus Christ, the Son of God

that by believing you may have  

life in his name (John 20:31)​

The inclusio in the Gospel of John reveals that "Belief in Jesus as both God and Son to have Life" is the gospel's purpose. 

In Psalm 82:6, the "sons" of Most High God are called "gods" by the Most High himself. This is explicit biblical evidence that it is possible to be both "god" and "son of god" simultaneously. Jesus quoted this psalm and regarded it as scripture in John 10:34 ("you are gods"), applying to himself the title "Son" in v. 36.

Jesus is God because he is the Son of God, just like the people in Ps. 82:6 are gods because they are sons of god (Most High). The big difference is that Jesus' divine sonship does not only refer to his relationship with god the Father in regard to holiness. It also includes his preeminence above all creatures because they are all created through him, as the Son: "by his Son, he created the universe" (Heb. 1:2). god the Father himself testifies that His Son is Creator: "You, Lord, have laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands" (Heb. 1:10) and also, "For us, there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things" (1 Cor 8:6) and again, "all things were made through him (i.e. the Son of his beloved, v 13) and he is before all things" (Col. 1:16-17). John himself testisfies that the Son is Creator: "Nothing was made without him", all things having been made through him (John 1:3)

Notes
1. inclusio - In biblical studies, inclusio is a literary device based on a concentric principle, also known as bracketing or an envelope structure, which consists of creating a frame by placing similar material at the beginning and end of a section.
2. According to majority of scholars (both Jewish and Christian), the gods who are sons in Psalm 82 refers to the angels. The evidence for this is found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible) and the Jewish Targums which are all its ancient witness. In the Targum, it says in v. 6 "you are like the angels", referring to humans. In the Hebrew Bible, it says "you are gods" even in the Masoretic text.
3. It doesn't matter who specifically the sons (who are gods) in Ps 82:6. What matters is that these sons are gods according to the Most High god himself. The Most High said: "you are gods"). Jesus being both god and son of god isn't a Christian invention but originates from a very ancient Jewish belief. John utilised exactly these biblical Jewish sources to convey his christology in his gospel.