John 10:38 (DRB)

Passage

But if I do, though you will not believe me, believe the works: that you may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in the Father.

Nearby Context

John 10:36 Do you say of him whom the Father hath 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, though you will not believe me, believe the works: that you may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in the Father.

John 10:39 They sought therefore to take him: and he escaped out of their hands.

John 10:40 And he went again beyond the Jordan, into that place where John was baptizing first. And there he abode.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 37's "If I do not the works of..." into verse 39's "They sought therefore to take him and...", so "though" and "believe" 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 "though" and "believe" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.