Unbreakable
John JN 10:22 Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. 24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."
25 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one."
Jesus revealed his divinity Feast of Dedication (only mention in NT. Hanukkah) Rededication of Temple - 25 Kislev (Nov/Dec) Show calendar 165 BCE. Desecrated by Syrian King Antiochus Epiphanes. (God Manifest) Forced Greek culture on Jews. Read it - Maccabbees I & II. Talmud adds - 1 day's oil burned for 8.
Menorah - 7 candles - + 2 (8 days +1 talk about this at the end)
Talk to us - you can't hear me because you aren't my sheep.
Sheep that don't listen get messed up (Shrek the sheep photo)
Proof in the pudding
1. Miracles -
2. Done in Father's name - not for self
Therefore if you don't get it - can't buy that I am who I say I am, you must be someone else's sheep
Let's Review
My Sheep
Listen (implied - they OBEY!)
Receive Abundant - Eternal life
Never perishing life - no one snatches
Why? Because I and my Father are one and once you are my sheep, others have to get past Me and God to get to the sheep,
In other words - Eternally secure
Don't be afraid of those who can kill the body
Rock and Roll Time again
Pick up stones - but Jesus is unbreakable
I've shown you miracles - water to wine, feeding 5000 - healed sick, sight to blind - what's the deal?
NONE of the above - but for your conclusion that you claim to be God (father and son ONE)
Read vs. 31-34 Rabbit Trail time again
31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
33 "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, `I have said you are gods' ?
Keep going down a rabbit trail and you will see where you end up
Last June - Kings Men - Shay - Diet Coke Mentos
Millions of downloads, variations - check one out
see Mentos clip
Problem is - dead end! Main trail is Jesus is One with the Father proven by miracles - you want to argue semantics!
But if you want to argue - let's let the Bible be our guide
You are gods from Ps. 82:6 El ohim, judges, execute justice, little gods - just like Christians are little christs -
35 If he called them `gods,' to whom the word of God came--and the Scripture cannot be broken-- 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, `I am God's Son'? 37 Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. 38 But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
Revisit the Feast of Dedication -
The lighting of the Menorah (light a real one if possible)
The undying, eternal flame of the Temple Menorah - it was central to worship in ancient Israel. Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication. For us...
This center candle is the shamash, Hebrew = servant
Our Messiah, Jesus is God's shamash, God's servant
From this candle all the other candles are lit.
Light the rest of the candles of the Menorah:
John declared - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
Simeon prophesied when he held the baby Jesus in his arms LK 2:31
For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
Jesus is the true eternal and undying flame the light of the world- JN 8:12 Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
Jesus boldly declared His divine identity in the Temple when He said "I and the Father are ONE." Jesus is the true Epiphanes God Manifest! Antiochus Epiphanes was a counterfeit - a fake a phony.
Jesus is the light we must walk in JN 12:35 Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. 36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.
The rededication of the Temple was a turning point in Jewish history. But that magnificent Temple no longer stands. The light of Jesus burns forever!
Jesus told us MT 5:14 "You are the light of the world. .. let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven
Next Step
Vs. 40-42 Jesus goes back to His roots - to the place of THE revelation
Go back to your roots.
40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here he stayed 41 and many people came to him. They said, "Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true." 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus.
