Jesus, the good shepherd John 10: 22-42
A woman brought her pet duck named Cuddles to the veterinarian. Apparently the duck had been languishing around the house for a few days and she thought there might be something wrong with it. She had him in a basket and when she went into the office she said, “Doctor my duck is very sick, could you take a look at him and see what the problem is.” The doctor took out his stethoscope and listened intently to the duck’s heart for about a minute then he turned to the woman and said, “I’m sorry but your duck is dead.”
Well, the woman was not only shocked by this report but she really didn’t believe him and so she said, “Do you think you examined him enough? Maybe he’s just in a deep sleep like a coma or something like that.” And then she said, “I’d like a second opinion.” The doctor said, “Very well, if you insist.” And then he left the room and walked into the next one. He was there for a few minutes and when he came back he was followed by a big black Labrador retriever.
The vet walked behind the table on which the duck lay while the dog went to the other side. The dog stepped up the table, put his paws on the duck and sniffed it all over. He turned it over and looked at it some more and then he turned to the doctor rolled his eyes and shook his head and then both he and the vet left the room.
A minute later the vet came back and this time he was followed by a big, fluffy Persian cat. And again the vet went to one side of the table while the cat walked around to the other. The cat sniffed the duck and then turned it over, looked at the vet, rolled its eyes and shook its head and then turned and left the room.
Then the vet walked over to his computer and typed for a minute. Then he handed the woman a bill and it was for $250 and he said, “I’m sorry, there was nothing else we could do.”
The woman was furious. She said, “Are you going to give me a bill for $250 just for telling me my duck is dead?” He said, “If you accepted my original diagnosis the bill would have only been $25 but when I added the Lab fee and the Cat scan it came to 250. (You’ve always got to be careful about the quality of your medical advice.)
Now, it’s not always obvious but there is a gap in time that takes place between verses 21 and 22. As a matter of fact, there are at least three months that pass between these two verses. And of course the obvious question is; what took place during this time? I mean, what were Jesus and His disciples doing? And some have suggested that this was when He had sent the seventy away to minister in the various towns and villages while He stayed in Galilee where we assume He did the same.
As I said when we began this series on the book of John, John only uses about six per cent of the same material that the other gospel writers use. And many people feel that the reason he does this is two-fold. First, he has very aware of the other gospels that were in existence and so he saw no need of repeating what they had to say. And second, he had a specific purpose for writing which was to introduce Jesus as the Son of God and he used specific claims, certain miracles and various situations to prove His point.
Now, we have the setting for this message and according to verse 22 it was winter time and since they rarely get snow in the Middle East winter is often referred to as the rainy season and that was probably why Jesus was walking in the temple area under Solomon’s porch. You see, Solomon’s porch was a large roofed-in enclosure that was supported by beautiful columns and it sat to one side of the temple.
It struck me the other day as I was studying this passage that Jesus actually had rainy days just like we do in the rest of the world. Which is kind of a strange thing to say but in all the pictures we ever see that have painted of Jesus walking, talking, teaching or performing miracles I don’t think I’ve ever seen one where it was raining? Anyways, this area was a common gathering place in any kind of weather simply because both Jews and Gentiles were allowed to congregate there.
And John tells us the specific time of year not only when he says it’s winter but he also says it was the feast of Dedication. And just to give you a bit of historical background, the feast of Dedication was also called the feast of Hanukuh or the Festival of Lights and it was an annual festival that was meant to mark the victory of Judas Maccabaeus over the enemies of Israel around 165 BC.
This feast was to observe both the renewal and the purification of the temple after it had been desecrated by a Syrian leader by the name of Antiocus Epiphanes. Antiocus Epiphanes was an extremely wicked man who many say resembles a portrayal of the anti-christ. We are told that when he first attacked Jerusalem there were seventy thousand Jews killed and just as many were sold into slavery. In his determination to wipe out Judaism and introduce the Greek ways of life and worship he profaned the temple by stealing all the offerings and then offering swine’s flesh on the altar and this was meant to be a sacrifice to Zeus. They said he even turned the temple chambers of the priests into public brothels. During the time he occupied Israel it was illegal to possess a copy of the law or to circumcise a child and a violation of either of these rules was punishable by death. As a matter of fact, some of the woman who were caught having had their children circumcised were crucified with their children hanging around their necks. When Jesus spoke about the coming of the anti-christ in Matthew He referred to him as the abomination of desolations and many of the Jews relate this term back to Antiocus not only because he was so wicked but also because the faith of the Jews seemed to be the one thing he was intent on destroying.
It’s interesting to notice that this eight day festival which was meant to celebrate his defeat and the salvation of the nation began on the 25 of the Jewish month of Chislev which is the same as our Christmas day. But of course the days change every year because the Jewish calendar only has 360 while ours has 365. But during these eight days of celebration they had all kinds of lights in the temple and also in the windows of every Jewish home. And it was around this time that Jesus made His statement that, “He was the light of the world.” And what He was saying was that when all these lights are lit to signify the freedom they have experienced that He is the one true source of spiritual freedom.
I And so we begin in this passage by seeing a confrontation with the Jews.
It says Jesus had just walked into the temple area when the Jews came round Him which is another way of saying they surrounded or encircled Him so He couldn’t get away and they did this so they could try and force Him to answer their questions and their intention wasn’t to find out what He believed but to get Him to make a claim that they could use against Him. And so they said in verse 24, “How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.” And I think we can assume that there was a mixed multitude gathered here asking this question because there was always those who wondered while there were those who opposed. Just think about the crowd gathered here. There would be some who were looking for a political leader who could help them overthrow Rome. Then there would be those who wanted a messiah but it was a messiah of their own making, one they could use for their own religious and civil purposes and for the most part I think there were those who were asking Jesus questions with the hope that they could use His answers against Him in court. But, in the final analysis, they were all unbelievers.
And Jesus basically says in response, I already answered that question several times. He says in verse 25, “I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.” And what He is saying is that there are many people who can make all kinds of preposterous claims but He backed up what He said by what He did.
Did you get that? He said, you ignored My words but why don’t you just look at My works. And in the book of John there are seven miracles that Jesus performed and everyone was very aware of them. The first is the changing of the water into wine back in chapter 2 and as a result of that we are told that many of His disciples believed on Him. The second miracle was the healing of the nobleman’s son in chapter 4 and this miracle demonstrated His power over sin and sickness. And then the third was the healing of the impotent man in chapter 5 and this showed how Jesus is able to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. The fourth was the feeding of the five thousand in chapter 6 and here He revealed how only He can satisfy the hunger of the human soul. And then the fifth miracle was His walking on the water in chapter 6 where He demonstrates His power over the elements. The sixth was the healing of the man born blind in chapter 9 and this shows how He give light to all who come to Him. And then the seventh is the raising of Lazarus in chapter 11 which we’ll look at next week and this demonstrates His power over death itself. And each of these miracles demonstrate something about Him that help us to understand Him even better because it’s something we see.
The fact is, these men were aware of His teaching and they were also aware of his miracles but they willfully chose to ignore them. And people are the same today. You can explain the gospel so clearly that a little child can understand it but people will mock and criticize not because it doesn’t make sense but because the gospel has demands on their lives and they’re not willing to give in to God.
It’s interesting that in John’s gospel Jesus never really says to these men, “I am the messiah.” He did say this to the woman at the well in Samaria back in chapter 4 and also to the man who was born blind in chapter 9 but He never actually said it to this crowd. And the reason He never said this to them was because they really didn’t understand who the messiah was supposed to be or what he was supposed to do.
You see, they had an image in their minds of the messiah as a conquering hero who would drive out the Romans, free the temple and give the Jews control of the land. Their messiah wasn’t concerned about sin or living for God. Their messiah was more of a political figure that you could really get excited about when you went to the temple but when you went home you just left Him there. And for Jesus to say, hey, I’m the messiah you’ve been waiting for would be to mislead them as to why He was there and what He was going to do.
And so when they ask Him who He is, He says, “I told you and ye believed not: the works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.” He told them clearly in the things He did who He was because no man could do the things He did. The prophet Isaiah told them that. In Isaiah 35:5 and 6 it says that when the messiah came the ears of the deaf would be unstopped, the eyes of the blind would be opened, the lame would leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb would sing. And all these things had been done by Jesus, so He indicated by His works what He didn’t say in His words.
And then the second thing He pointed out in His answer was that even though He clearly demonstrated who He was, they simply didn’t believe. He said, “The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness to Me; but you do not believe.” And what He’s saying is; you had all the evidence you needed to make a logical choice but you chose to do other wise. And why do they refuse to believe? Because they knew that in believing they’d have to change the way they live.
And then the third reason they refused to believe is found in verse 26 where He says, “But ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep.” Listen, He says, the main problem you have is that you aren’t part of My family. You’ve never made a commitment and because of your lack of commitment you can’t even see who I am or who you are for that matter.
II Then Jesus clarifies who the true believers are and how safe they are in verses 27-29. Let me read them again, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me, is greater than all: and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.”
First, He deals with the issue of who is a true believer. And there are three marks. He says, “My sheep hear My voice.” Now listen carefully, a true believer loves to hear the word of God. Did you get that? They believe that what Jesus says is true and they want to hear more. True believers have a natural hunger for the word of God. Do you remember last week when I told you I tried to read the Bible before I was saved and not only did it not make sense to me but I found it dreary. But after I got saved the book came alive. And that can happen in the natural world as well. If you open a letter written to a stranger by mistake you immediately close it and pass it on. After all, what do you care what someone wrote to someone you don’t know. But, if you got a letter from someone you really cared about, you’d read every word. You would never get half way through and say, “I’ll take another look at that later on.” So, the Bible is a love letter to the believer and if you’re not saved than as I said last week, it simply doesn’t make any sense to you because you’re reading someone else’s mail. And no matter how much you read it, it won’t make any sense. It will always be as dry as dust. And so, it’s commitment first and then understanding follows.
And then the second mark of a true believer is that Jesus knows them. He says here in verse 27, “I know them.” And that’s an amazing thought. That the God of creation, the Savior of the world would say He knows me. And this is not just intellectual knowledge but it refers to a personal and intimate understanding. It’s like I said last week, He knows me and He loves me anyways.
And as I also said last week, after we come to know the Lord His word comes alive because not only does He know us but we know Him and we really have a sense of being children of God. We are His children, we’re part of His family and not only do we know Him now but one day we’ll be welcomed home by the Lord Himself. That’s what Paul refers to in Romans 8 when he says, “His spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” Now listen, if you’ve accepted the Lord but don’t have this sense of assurance then you need to get your life cleaned up and then get yourself into the word. There’s no worse contradiction than someone who is saved but living for the things of the world. I mean, they aren’t enjoying the things of God and they feel guilty about the things they are doing in the world. You can no more be a worldly Christian than you can be a heavenly devil.
So, listen, if this is true of you, you need to make a choice. And you can start by asking yourself how serious you were when you accepted the Lord. I remember when I was at Main Street and someone would come to church for a while and then request baptism and membership. They’d come to the classes and then make a good confession of their faith in the baptismal tank and then they’d never come back to the church again. You see, as far as they were concerned, they did it. They felt they were safe. Now, they could live anyway they wanted to and they felt that when they came before God they could say, I was a baptized member of the Main Street Baptist Church. Listen, you can be a baptized member of every church in Canada and it won’t make a bit of difference. Jesus will ask you if you repented of your sin and put your faith in Him.
I’m thankful there was only a few of those but listen, what if someone here gave a public testimony of baptism and then stayed in the church for the rest of their lives but simply lived for themselves. What we would have would be called deadwood and they would not only be in danger of the judgment of God but they would appear to be Christians even though they had no desire to live for God or to witness for Him either.
Listen, Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice.” Do you ever hear from Him or do you only listen on Sundays? And then He said, “I know them.” Does He know you and do you know Him because the only way we can really get to know someone is by spending time with them.
When I first met my wife her father was running a Drop-in center at their church and their goal was to get the unsaved into the church basement to hear the gospel. So, they would have various gospel singers in and they would call me once every month or two to come and sing and share my testimony. Sally had been going out with a friend of mine back then and for the most part I didn’t even notice her. As a matter of fact, when I was asked to sing at the church I would meet her where she worked in downtown Toronto and we would take the subway and then the bus all the way out to Scarborough. And she thought I liked her but I thought she talked too much and I was always giving her something to read while we were on the bus. The only reason I went with her was I couldn’t find the place on my own.
A few months later I was asked to play at a retreat the church was having and while we were at the retreat I noticed her for the first time. I asked her out and took her to Harvey Wallbanger’s steak house for lunch. It cost a little less than five dollars for the both of us. And almost every day from then until we were married three years later we either spent time together or talked on the phone. Now why did we do that? Because we had a relationship and we wanted to spend time together. And many of you can say the same thing. Well, what’s the difference between having a relationship with the one you love or having a relationship with the Lord you love? And the answer is nothing. It’s natural to want to spend time together.
And then He said, we not only hear His voice and know Him but He also says, “They follow Me.” And that simply means that we obey Him. And three times Jesus gives us the same call in the gospels when He says, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Did you get that? Following Him means denying ourselves and taking up our crosses. What does it mean to deny ourselves and take up our crosses?
Denying ourselves means saying no to self and yes to God on a continual basis. It means dethroning ourselves and making Jesus king of our lives. And then it doesn’t matter where I want to live but where does He want me to live. It doesn’t matter where I want to go to school or work but what does He want me to do. It doesn’t matter what I want to do for a living but what does God want me to do. Listen, He’s either king of all or He’s not king at all.
And then it says we are to take up our cross daily. And that portrays a life of dying to self. It means consciously heading away from the world and heading for heaven. It also paints a picture of sacrificial service. And when you think about it, wouldn’t taking up your cross be a painful thing? Have you ever done anything or given anything that really cost you something?
I was listening to the news a few weeks ago and they said that Bill Gates gave $5 billion dollars to help with the problem of third world hunger and disease. Well, my first thought was, that was a good thing, he gave a lot more than I’ll ever be able to give. But my second thought was; sure he gave a lot but it didn’t cost him anything. He still lives in a mansion or several for that matter and he still drives any kind of car he wants and he probably has a jet or two. He can have any food he wants anytime he wants and I have no doubt that he has servants to take care of his every need. So, what did it cost him to give $5 billion. And I wonder if our giving is the same as his, not in the sense of the amount we give but in terms of the amount we keep and then we feel as though we’ve really sacrificed when it never really cost us anything.
And yet, there’s one more thing that we have to notice in this verse. Luke adds the word ‘daily’ in his version. And this reminds us that the Christian life doesn’t happen once a week or whenever we show up at the church but we live for Jesus daily and that means every day. Listen, we are to be like sheep and sheep always follow their shepherd. When do they follow Him? Always.
So, we are His sheep and then listen to what verses 28 and 29 say about our relationship to Him, It says “The sheep hear His voice” in verse 27 and then in verse 28 it says, “And I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave them to Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.”
When Jesus says, “I give them eternal life” this is known as the present, indicative tense in the Greek and it can best be translated, “I keep on giving them eternal life.” And of course someone might say, well, what happens if He stops giving us eternal life. And that’s the best part. Listen, the life He gives in the first place is eternal. And if it’s eternal then it has no end. It’s like He’s saying I give them eternal life and I keep on giving them more. It’s like He’s adding quality to the quantity.
It’s like the most famous verse in the world, John 3:16 that says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” What a wonderful word of assurance. Now, I don’t fear death like I once did but I’m looking forward to what is beyond the graveyard. I remember when I was in the George Dumont hospital and they punctured my kidney during a test. I didn’t know what had happened but I knew I was dying and I remember saying to the Lord. I’ve lived a great life, I’ve had a wonderful wife and two great kids and now I’m ready to go. I like what J.R. Miller wrote, “The only thing that walks back from the tomb with the mourners is the character of a man, because what survives him can never be buried.” If today was the last day of your life what would you say to the Lord? Are you ready to go or do you need to get ready? And if you need to get ready when do you intend to do this? Because none of us knows when it’s our time to go.
Listen, Jesus says, “And I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.” A literal interpretation of the last half of this verse should read, “They will certainly never ever perish.” Not only does this mean that we’re guaranteed to live forever but this also means that eternal life doesn’t begin the moment we die but if we’re saved then it’s already begun.
And then Jesus tells us that our eternal life is guaranteed by the two greatest powers of eternity neither of which can ever be defeated. He says, “I shall give them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” And then He says, “My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.” And when He says, “No one” He means, “No one” and that means that not even you can pluck yourself out of the Father’s hand.
Now listen, that’s not a promise that we’ll never have problems, it almost implies that we will because if Jesus says that no one is going to pluck you out of His hand then you can be sure that someone is going to try. And Paul says the Christian will face all kinds of dangers in his life. There are dangers from within and dangers from without but the promise is that we will never be lost.
Over the years I’ve done a lot of visitation with the elderly and there’s something that always bothered me. I’d see Christians who loved and served the Lord all their lives and at the end of their lives they’d get senile and say and do things they never would. Finally, I realized that even though our sinful past can affect our senior years, all these things have been forgiven and we have nothing to worry about.
I’ve met so many Christians over the years that really have a problem with the teaching of eternal security and that basically means that once we’re saved we’re always saved. And inevitably, they come up with an example of someone who accepts the Lord and then falls away. And then they say, “Do you believe they’re still saved?” Now, I believe Christians can stumble in their walk with the Lord and make all kinds of stupid mistakes but when they get down they don’t stay down. But the one who supposedly accepts the Lord and then simply walks away and forgets all about it, probably didn’t really receive Him in the first place. And I hate to admit it but we simply don’t know who is saved and who isn’t. But listen, if we are saved and we know it, then we are saved forever.
III And then the Lord makes a phenomenal claim that really irritates these Jews when He says in verse 30, “I and the Father are one.” And this one means more than we just have the same intentions or plans. Every once in a while someone will say, well Jesus never claimed to be God. But if you look at the reaction of these Jews you can see that they certainly believed that He did. In verse 31 it says “Then the Jews took up stones to stone Him.” And listen, they didn’t just want to whack Him in the head because He said something they didn’t like but they intended to kill Him for what they considered to be blasphemy. And basically, these men who were trying to trap Him and hand Him over to the Romans felt as though He had made a claim so clear that they were justified in stoning Him according to the law right there and then.
And then we see Jesus defence as He makes a phenomenal explanation from the book of Psalms that not only answers their objections but He then uses this passage to justify His claim and adds to it and really gets them going again. Look at it in verses 32-37. “Jesus answered them, many good works I have shewed you from My Father; for which of these works do you stone Me? The Jews answered Him saying, for a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law, I said, ye are gods? If He called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken: say ye of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sendest into the world, thou blasphemest; because I said I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not. But if I do, though ye believe not Me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”
He begins by asking them a simple question. He says, which of My good works are you going to stone Me for? And they very quickly answered Him by saying, no one was going to stone Him for doing any good but because He claimed to be God and that in their minds was not only bad but it was a capital offence. And then Jesus takes them back to the very scriptures that they claimed to be the foundation of their lives. And He says; the scripture cannot be broken which is the same as saying, there are no mistakes in the Bible and that means that it can never be wrong. So, if God called men gods then they must in some sense be gods. So, His point was, if it was not blasphemy to call men gods when they were doing the work of God then how can you say I’m committing blasphemy when I’ve been sanctified and set apart by the Father and do far greater works than any of them and call Myself the Son of God. And so, we could say this means, “If mere men who doing God’s work can be called ‘gods’ and not be charged with blasphemy, how then can you charge one who is one with God and comes from God with blasphemy?”
It’s as C.S. Lewis said, “Either Jesus is a totally mad person, on a par with a man who claims to be a poached egg, he’s out of his mind, uttering meaningless, garbled, rambling statements or He is telling the truth. And if He’s telling the truth He is the most important being in the universe. He is at the center of everything: He is the center of life, the giver of truth. Jesus of Nazareth is the center of everything. To ignore Him is to grope in darkness, to live in rebellion, to miss out on joy, peace and love, and at the end to be part of the world’s fiery judgment.” And so we have to determine for ourselves who He is. He’s either Lord of all or He’s not Lord at all.
And then John ends this section by saying, “Therefore they sought again to take Him: but He escaped out of their hand. And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized: and there abode. And many resorted unto Him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true. And many believed on Him there.
Conclusion
Listen, we could sum it all up by saying He confronted the Jews by explaining who He was and it wasn’t by pointing to what He said but by what He did. And then He clarified who the true believers are and how secure their salvation is. And then finally He claimed to be one with the Father. And this was nothing less than a claim of deity. In other words He was and is God.
And after He had made His case to the unbelievers He it says He resorted to a place where He could spend time with the believers. And I guess that brings us to the point where we have to ask ourselves where we would fit in. Would it be with the crowd who saw themselves as religious but in fact really wanted to live for themselves or the others who wanted to live for Him.
