John 10:37 (ASV)

Passage

If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.

Nearby Context

John 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken),

John 10:36 say ye of him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am [the] Son of God?

John 10:37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.

John 10:38 But if I do them, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.

John 10:39 They sought again to take him: and he went forth out of their hand.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "works", "father", and "believe". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "works" and "father", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 36's "say ye of him whom the Father..." into verse 38's "But if I do them though ye...", so "works" and "father" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "works" and "father" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.