Scripture: At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 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.” 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, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 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. I and the Father are one.”
The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 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.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.
John 10:22-42 ESV
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Observation: Yesterday’s Daily Focus introduces us to two more “I am” statements about Jesus’ character and mission: he is both the door (who protects his sheep) and the good shepherd (who lays down his life for his sheep). But Jesus warns his disciples about those who will stealthily enter the sheepfold, intending to steal, scatter, abandon, or destroy those seeking to follow him. Still, those who develop a saving relationship with Jesus will distinguish his voice from those who speak on their own accord. Moreover, Jesus’ flock will find abundant life in him. And Jesus adds that he will gather others outside the Jewish fold who listen to him and unite all of them as one flock. Thus, his Father loves him, for he will willfully sacrifice and raise his life according to his pre-incarnate charge. Unsurprisingly, this bold declaration stirs division—some insist he is insane, but others reason that a demon-possessed man could not open the eyes of the blind.
Today’s reading marks either a shift in time or a continuation of Jesus’ interaction with the Jews in Jerusalem. Regardless, John tells us that it is winter, and fellow Jews have gathered for the Feast of Dedication (also known as the Festival of Lights or Hanukkah). Here, Jesus walks through the temple’s outer court, reserved for women and internationals (where most Jewish men would only pass through). Nevertheless, these Jewish leaders press in on Jesus, demanding that he confess if he is the Christ. But Jesus evades a direct response and refers to their disbelief in his works that bear witness. Revisiting the sheep metaphor, he adds that their lack of faith reveals they do not belong to his flock. But those who hear and obey his voice possess eternal life, for no one can steal them away from his or his Father’s grip.
Enraged, the Jews seek to stone him. So Jesus questions their motive based on his good works. Seething, they reply that they seek his life based on his blasphemous statement that he is God. At this point, Jesus refers to Psalm 82:6 to defuse their ire, pointing out that Asaph prophetically declared that we are all gods (more to be said below) and questions how he, whom God consecrated, has blasphemed God when he is the Son. Concluding his stance, Jesus again pleads for the Jews to at least believe in his godly works, for even a modicum of faith will lead to a greater understanding that Jesus is one with the Father.
Nevertheless, they seek his arrest, so Jesus escapes to the region where John the Baptist prepared the way for him. Many continue to seek Jesus in this wilderness along the east bank of the Jordan (where it all began), and they believe.
Takeaway: The Greek word John uses in verse 24, translated as “gathered around him,” is ekyklōsan, which more accurately means encircled. John’s use of this word implicates the Jews as intentionally zeroing in on Jesus to interrogate him to obtain grounds for execution. But Jesus goes on the offensive and places the burden of proof on them based on his messianic-like “works” (Greek erga). He goes one step further in calling them out as strayed sheep, for like Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:4-6), they have acted as arbitrators of good and evil and, similar to subsequent ancestors, have pursued what is right in their own eyes (Deuteronomy 12:8-9; Judges 17:6, 21:25). Thus, even though Jesus appeals to his godly works, these religious leaders’ hearts are hardened to the truth, provoking their spiritual blindness to the evidence before them.
In contrast, Jesus’ sheep exhibit discernment (hearing his voice over the godless chatter) and obedience (following him), a reiteration of his previous altercation with the religious leaders (see yesterday’s Daily Focus). In this latter conflict, however, Jesus highlights his flock’s secure and eternal company with the Father and him, which points us to his reassuring words during the last hours with his disciples before his arrest: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (14:2-3 ESV).
As the Jews’ patience wanes, they seek to stone Jesus for blasphemy, but he appeals to Israel’s sacred law for justification. Indeed, their rabbinic teaching on Psalm 82:6 held that the prophecy finds its basis in the nation receiving the law at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20-24). There, God instructed Moses from the burning bush: “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me” (Exodus 4:22-23a). Hence, Jesus’ logical progression of thought is: If God refers to Israel as his son, how then is it blasphemy for the Son to declare his sonship? Of course, Jesus speaks of himself as one with God in all manners of eternal existence, but he does not fully reveal this supreme relationship in this instance.
Our takeaway? See and believe. Being one with Christ, who is with us and in us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are godlike. The Father has imputed his Son’s righteousness to us to adopt us as his children.
Our part? Having obtained this immutable, eternal relationship (where no one or nothing can snatch us away from them), we must mature in our faith as we see with spiritual eyes Christ’s ongoing redemptive work in our world. As we grow in trust and gratitude, we deepen our understanding of this mysterious oneness extended to us, which spurs us to give thanks, pray, and receive the Father’s unfathomable peace that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:4-7).
Prayer: Father God, we thank you for your Son, who, through his obedience to you in all matters, offered his life to atone for our sins. And we thank you for securing our relationship with you as adopted children through his substitutionary sacrifice. Still, we struggle to act on this knowledge, particularly when stressed. So, please help us to see with our spiritual eyes the redemptive work of your Son in and around us so that we might grow in our faith, glorify you, and grow your kingdom. Amen.
Rev. Gordon Green, M.Div., M.A. Counseling
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