JOHN 10: 22-30
JESUS & THE FATHER ARE ONE
Jesus continues His shepherd sermon in this passage but He also advances another teaching. Jesus makes the declaration that He and the Father are one. It is clear that persons must recognize Jesus as being one with the Father or else reject Him entirely.
Jesus works bear witness of who He is, but the witness is received and appreciated only by His sheep. These sheep will be His for all eternity. This section also is the preparation for Jesus’ last offering of salvation to His Jewish detractors.
I. THE PLAIN TRUTH, 22-25.
II. THE TRUE SHEEP, 26-27.
III. THE TRUE SECURITY, 28-29.
IV. THE ONE TRUE GOD, 30.
John indicates that the Feast of Dedication (or Hanukkah) was then taking place in verse 22. At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem;
This feast was and is even today the commemoration of the purification and rededication of the temple under Judas Maccabeus (in 165 BC). It had been desecrated by the wicked Greek ruler Antochus Epiphanes (1 Macc 1:59; 4:52, 59). It is an eight-day joyous festival in December where homes are illuminated and hence it is also called the feast of lights. It is a time when families get together. Though it is not one of the three great pilgrim-feast, it did draw many people to Jerusalem.
It was intended to be an opportunity to express gratitude to God. The great truth of the feast of Lights is for men to recall that against all human probability, the sovereign God delivered His people our of their darkness and enabled them to offer real worship.
For those not familiar with the feast John adds in verse 23, it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon.
The Feast of the Dedication or Hanukkah is celebrated in winter during the month of December [ Jewish Chislev, November to December]. It is the rainy season thus it is not surprising that Jesus was walking under the covered stone archways. The main courtyard of the temple was surrounded by massive covered colonnades on all four sides, which were open to the court itself, but walled facing the outside. Solomon’s Colonnade or portico was on the east and though built by Herod I, took its name from the temple’s first builder, King Solomon. In winter, teachers used these porches as a shelter from the cold weather.
As Jesus is walking there, suddenly people who had heard Him before gather around him. Verse 24 states, The Jews gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
The wording “gather [kykloo] around him” lit., “circle in on Him,” indicates that they hemmed Him in. It is ominous. This Greek word is used elsewhere in the Gospels only at Luke 21:20 to describe how Rome would “surround” Jerusalem before its destruction.
The crowd is looking for an unambiguous statement about Jesus’ identity. “How long will you keep us in suspense?” can also be translated, “How long will you annoy us?” These people seem more likely to be antagonistic rather than seeking clarity. What they want is an open, clear statement from Jesus about His messiahship, and no doubt they are poised to judge Him if his answer is not to their liking.
His audience wants a “plain” statement (7:4, 13). But we have already learned that even if Jesus were to speak plainly, only His “sheep” would recognize His voice (10:26). Ironically, His shepherd sermon was just such a disclosure, but they have not “heard” it. They wanted His plain statement not so they could believe in Hin but so they could bring about His doom.
Jesus asserts that He had already told them in verse 25. Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.
Jesus placed the burden of hearing and understanding His assertions with His questioners. The root problem is unbelief, not miscommunication. These people had no faith. Even the character of Jesus’ life and His works or miracles wrought by God’s power (or “name”) indicates His true identity. [As we learned in chapter 5, these works should be seen as evidence pointing to Jesus’ authority as God’s messenger and Son.] These works bear witness, meaning they point men to the truth of God concerning Jesus. The problem is that men do not heed the evidence or realize its significance.
II. THE TRUE SHEEP, 26-27.
Jesus gives the reason for man’s disbelief in verse 26. “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.
Jesus drew a line across eternity and said to His accusers, you are not My sheep. Instead of believing the witness that only the Messiah could bear, their habitual attitude was unbelief. His immediate hearers refused to believe and thus cut themselves off from further revelation. The true problem, [which is a deep theological issue], is that only those who are Jesus’ sheep can understand these things. Faith is not a natural process, it is a gift of God. Thank God that He has opened our eyes to the truth.
Jesus states that His sheep are those who listen and follow Him in verse 27. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
Christ sheep hear His voice. This aspect of the shepherd-sheep relationship has been stress again and agin in this chapter (vv. 3,4,5,16). The “other sheep” cannot understand His voice, and they do not follow (10:1 – 18). [This does not excuse them; it simply says that nothing in Jesus’ life is happening outside of the sovereign plan of God.] How does Christ know they hear His voice? Because they follow Him. The result of knowing Christ is habitually (pres. tense) following Him.
It was the custom of Ignace Jan Paderewski, the wor1d FAMOUS PIANIST; to play the piano two hours every morning. While on a concert tour he arose early one morning and started playing the piano in the suite of his New York hotel room. A woman in a room across the hall called the manager’s office and complained
loudly, "Some nitwit across the hall is banging on the piano. Tell them to stop."
"I am afraid I can’t do that, madam;" the manager said. "You see, that ’nitwit’ is Ignace Paderewski, likely the greatest pianist in the world. I can’t very well ask him to stop."
"Is that really Paderewski?" she asked meekly.
"Yes, madam," he replied.
"Of course you can’t ask him to stop," she said. ’ I’ll just open my door so I can hear, him better."
How many times has God tried to talk to you and like the woman, you failed to recognize His voice in Scripture, a sermon, a song, or even the voice of a friend? The sad truth is we often hear only what we want to hear.
Ask the Lord, to open the door of your heart so you can hear Him speak.
In 2007 near the village of Gevas in eastern Turkey, while shepherds ate their breakfast; one. of their sheep jumped off a 45 foot cliff to its death. Then, as the stunned shepherds looked on, the rest of the flock followed. 1,500 sheep mindlessly stumbled off the cliff’ The only good news was that the last 1,000 were cushioned in their fall by the growing woolly pile of those who jumped first. According to "The Washington Post, 450 sheep died.
The Bible often refers to human beings as sheep (Ps. 100:3; Isa. 53;6; Matt. 9;36). Easily distracted and susceptible to group influence, we would rather follow the crowd than the wisdom of the Shepherd.
I’m glad the Bible also describes sheep in a positive way. Jesus said .. . . My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."
So the big question for us is; Whom are we following? One another? Self-centered people? Or the voice and direction of the Good Shepherd?
Our challenge is to avoid the mistake of the sheep who blindly follow one another over a cliff. We must make it our daily purpose to ask ourselves; Am I listening for the voice of the Good Shepherd? Am I following Him? Follow Jesus, not the crowd.
III. THE TRUE SECURITY, 28-29.
Verse 28 states that eternal life is a gift of Christ. and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
To have eternal life is to live forever (6:51, 58). Eternal life is given to them, not earned by them. Eternal life and its security are gifts of God. [This shepherd will die for His sheep, but those outside the fold will remain in jeopardy.] Eternal life never ends.
Never renders the strongest negation possible in the Greek language [the double negative .] It is one of the precious things about the Christian faith that our continuance in eternal life depends not on our feeble hold on Christ, but on His firm grip on us. [Morris, NIC, 521]. We are not holding on to the on to the Son, He is holding on to us. Physical life may be destroyed but those who are united by the faith that results in follower-ship can never lose real life, for Christ keeps them secure. What an uncalculatable blessing it is to belong to the flock of the Good Shepherd.
As D. L. Moody was nearing death, he told a friend, "Someday you will read that D. L. Moody is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone higher. .. . I was born in the flesh in
1837; I was born of the Spirit in 1856; That which is born of the flesh may die; that which is born of the Spirit will live forever." He knew full well Jesus had promised that those who were His would not perish.
Notice Jesus says no one will snatch them out of My hand (see Col. 3:3).
Verse 29 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. [Or what My Father has given Me is greater than all.]
Jesus’ gathers up “all that the Father gives” Him (6:37 – 40). The word “snatch” (Gk. harpazo) denotes violence and is used in 6:15 for the crowds who wish to kidnap Jesus. In 10:12 it describes the attack of the wolf. [His skill as the good shepherd secures them from all predators and thieves.] But the true power behind Jesus is the Father. The Father is ultimate preserver of the sheep because no one is greater than He.
Notice no one is able to snatch us. The protection of the sheep results from the joint work of Father and Son.
When Pastor Thomas Collins called on a family from his church, he found the very despondent and feeling that God had forsaken her. Looking, at the baby in the woman’s arms, Pastor Collins said to her, "Drop that baby on the floor." Startled. by the suggestion, she looked at him in disbelief. "Well," he said, "for what price would you drop it?’" Indignantly she replied, "Not for as many dollars as there are stars!" He then said kindly, ’Tell me, do you really think that you love your child more than the Lord does His?" That truth broke through the woman’s despair.
In times of deep trial we are sometimes tempted to doubt our salvation. We may even feel abandoned by God. It’s then we must remind ourselves that we have the double protection of being held firmly in Christ’s hand and in the Father’s hand. No place could be more secure!
If our Savior allowed His hands to be nailed to a cross and shed His blood for our sins and transgressions, will He not keep those He has redeemed?
Take comfort doubting Christian. If it’s absurd to think that a loving mother would deliberately drop her helpless infant. It’s also unthinkable that Our heavenly Father and His Son would ever loosen the grip of their all-powerful nail-scarred hands on us. Christ’s blood makes us safe; God’s word makes us sure.
The astounding affirmation given in verse 30 is as a high point in the chapter. “I and the Father are one.”
This declaration asserts the unity of nature and equality of honor, not that they are the same (person). “One” in Greek is neuter and does not refer to “one person.” Jesus is affirming a unity of purpose and will. The Father and the Son function as one. Jesus is one with God. It is an unambiguous declaration of deity.
[ontological unity [ metaphysical-immaterial] of the Father and the Son, is at the heart of John’s Christology. From beginning (John 1:1) to end (when Thomas exclaims to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” 20:28). This formulation of oneness is stronger than what we see elsewhere.]
CONCLUSION
They had asked Jesus for a plain assertion of His messiahship. They got more that they had bargained for. Jesus forcefully shattered their misunderstanding with the declaration that He and the Father are one. There is no doubt that He declared Himself the Messiah and even more.
Maybe Jesus is more than you want Him to be also. Maybe you want all His help and blessings but do not want to hear His call for allegiance? You may receive all kinds of blessing from Him, but do not reject the gift of eternal life which God gives to His sheep, to those who believe and hear His voice and follow His path.
Many children are afraid of the dark, whereas many adults are afraid of the light. Come to the Light it’s shining for you.
