“Promises and Proofs from the Good Shepherd” John 10:22-42
Last week we heard Jesus make two more “I AM” statements, emphatic declarations of His own Deity, identifying Himself as the YAHWEH, the Lord God of the Old Testament. He said, “I AM the DOOR of the Sheep” and “I AM the Good Shepherd. We pick up the follow-up in John 10:22: “Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.”
A little background here: The Feast of Lights or Dedication is known as Hanukkah;(Hanukkah fell on Dec. 7th this year.) Antiochus Ephiphanes of Syria had persecuted Israel and in 170 BC He conquered Jerusalem. The Jews’ liberated the temple from Syrian domination in 164 BC. It was celebrated in people’s homes by the lighting of lamps and candles during the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah).
Again, the Light of the World is teaching on the sheltered area of the Temple, Solomon’s porch, which became a regular meeting place of Christians after Jesus’ resurrection. Perhaps that is why John tells us, “it was winter”. “Winter’ is also the condition of the hearts of the Jewish leadership: They were stone cold toward Jesus, and this would be the last time that Jesus offers salvation and Jesus also ceases all debates with Jewish leadership from this time on.
Jesus speaks as the Messiah/Shepherd
Look at verse 24: “Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt? (or suspense) If You are the Christ, tell us plainly." The Jews here encircle Jesus and present a stern question. Literally it reads: “Until when the soul of us you take away?” Kind of strange, isn’t it? It is if they are saying: “Are you trying to take our lives away by not revealing clearly if you are the Christ or Messiah?” For those who are being drawn by the Father, Jesus’ clues from the Old Testament have been more than adequate to answer this question in addition to His miracles, but as we saw in the previous verses, those who are steeped in willful unbelief will not believe no matter how much evidence is produced.
Here’s Jesus’ response in 25: Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 30 I and My Father are one."
Here Jesus speaks as the Messiah/ Shepherd and also the Son of the Heavenly Father, providing evidence and eternal promises as He speaks. Remember the words of Jesus are life as He declares His Messiahship (“Christ”) but His signs and miracles that He does “In the Father’s name” also declare His Messiahship. The fact that Jesus did them “in the “Father’s Name” made Jesus’ nature and power equivalent to the nature of YAHWEH, the I AM of the Old. The witness of His Words coincided perfectly with that of His Works: Jesus is sent from the Father and He is God INCARNATE.
The reason that they did not hear or believe that Jesus was the Messiah, their Christ, was because they were not His sheep. In verse 14-15 of this chapter Jesus had said:” I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” They don’t know Him, they don’t hear or understand Him because they are not His sheep. The Shepherd’s Sheep WILL hear and continue to follow the Good Shepherd but those who are not called by the Father through the Door or Entrance who is Christ will not believe or follow. But praise God that those whom the Father has drawn to the Son DO HEAR and FOLLOW because He has made Himself known to them and so they know Him and believe in Him and follow Him. Verse 27 promises this for believers: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” In the framework of God’s Word and God’s World, “hearing” is believing and spiritually believing inevitably means following and obeying the Good Shepherd.
And why wouldn’t His sheep follow the Good Shepherd when He has gifted them with the extravagance of verse 28: “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” The Good Shepherd grants eternal life in His Kingdom and absolute security forever, just as Psalm 23 had promised hundreds of years before. Those who follow THE Shepherd “shall dwell in the house of the Lord FOREVER!
Jesus speaks as the embodiment of the Father’s will.
It is especially beautiful to hear Jesus speak in verses 29-30 as the embodiment of the Father’s will: “My Father, who has given them (my sheep) to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 30 I and My Father are one." Remember that the death of the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God slain for the sheep is imminent. The time is close and the statement of the sheep’s security is not only in the Shepherd’s hand but also in the Father’s hand. When Jesus would hang on the cross, the sheep would be scattered but still protected because no one can ever steal from God that which belongs to Him! The Good Shepherd would soon give His life for the sheep, but they would still be secure in the Father’s Hand. Remember, too, that later Jesus promises that after His ascension, believers would also be secure because He would send His very Spirit to live in the hearts of believers as a guarantee of the things that would come.
Verse 30 is one of the difficult sayings of chapter 10 that “I and my Father are one.” It is true that Jesus is one with the Father in purpose but Jesus in the flesh is the full embodiment of the will of the Father. He is also one in nature, in substance and in essence with the Father, but He is also distinct in His own person. That is why He is God Incarnate and that He would leave the world later and go to the Father (John 16:28). Jesus is “at home” with the Father, rather than with man. Altogether the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit possess alike the fullness of the divine nature and they provide for us the redemptive purpose of God to save utterly lost sinners. They are not identical Persons but the One TRUE GOD in essence. In the context God will indeed, absolutely save and preserve the sheep that He has called to be His Own. Look how UNBELIEF responds to this truth in verse 31.
Jesus Defends Himself against His Accusers with Profound Proofs.
Verse 31: “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods" '? 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."
Once again Jesus defends Himself against His Accusers, which He really doesn’t have to do because HE IS GOD, but He brings the Gospel of the Kingdom in His defense. His miraculous works and self-proclamation as God were profound enough for the Jews to want to kill Him…and eventually they would do exactly that. In their willful unbelief they could not see that the unique Son, the Eternal Word of God had made Himself manifest through His Words and Works. In His perfect life, Jesus humbly and obediently accepted His incarnation as the Word in the Flesh, but they saw none of that.
The Jews wanted to stone Jesus because they thought He was blaspheming by making Himself out to be equal with God. Jesus uses an example from Psalm 82 in order to convince them that his pronouncement of His Oneness with the Father was truth and not blasphemy.
In Psalm 82:1 it says: “God stands in the congregation of the mighty (Heb. El, lit. God); (HE STANDS IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS OWN CONGREGATION! Jesus is standing among His people as God in the flesh.) He judges among the gods (with a small “g” meaning human judges who were appointed by God. God judges among the leaders or human judges and God says:) How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked? 3 Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. 4 Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked. 5 They do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; (You can almost see and understand these verses to be fulfilled as Jesus has been speaking to the Jewish leaders.) All the foundations of the earth are unstable. 6 I said, "You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. 7 But you shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes." 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You shall inherit all nations.”
The word used for “gods” in verse 6 is “Elohim” which refers in the Old Testament to the One True God most often. Several times the word refers to “false gods” who are actually no gods at all since there is only ONE GOD and YAHWEH is His name. In this context as well as three times in Exodus (21:6, 22:8-9) the word is used of human judges. You cans see in the context of Psalm 82 that the context causes the word “gods’ to refer to judges whom God had appointed to execute sound and Godly judgement but they had failed miserably. The point in 6-8 is that they may have been appointed as judges and even been referred to as “lord” with a small “l” but they are going to die like any other mortal and they will be judged by THE GOD, so they are not gods at all.
Jesus is using that incident as a defense for His own deity, not a defense for the deification of men as some incorrectly interpret that passage. He is saying, you may have referred to your unjust judges as “gods” or “lords” who failed miserably and never judged righteously or did any miracles, but I come with all kinds of undeniable truth and evidence that I and the Father are One and that I have been sent from Heaven itself, and you accuse me of blasphemy and want to kill me. If God addressed others as gods or sons of the Most High, why should you object to my declaration that I AM THE ETERNAL SON OF GOD? You can’t argue with scripture.
Verse 37-38 continues with profound statements: “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." Jesus’ works have implications that can’t be denied. If the Jews come to the conclusion that they are of the quality of God’s works, then they must come to the conclusion that there is something unique about Jesus that is found in no one else on earth. This consideration would lead you to the correct perception of Jesus’ Person and Mission. The fact that THE FATHER IS IN JESUS and HE IS IN THE FATHER involves a dual truth that Jesus is at once God and man, a one in essential being with the Father, yet distinct in His person. There is a mutual indwelling of Father and Son in essence as well as relationship which does not occur on a human level!
The Reaction is in the closing verses is no surprise: 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand. (Remember that Jesus would die at the Father’s appointed time and not before.) 40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41 Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true." 42 And many believed in Him there.”
The religious elite and the Jews in Jerusalem rejected Jesus so He left but those in Bethany across the Jordan believed because they realized that all the things that John the Baptist had said about Jesus were true. He has made himself known to us to the Glory of God the Father and we too have heard His voice and believe all that Jesus claimed; Praise God that He chose us IN CHRIST before the foundation of the world to be His possession forever.
I. Jesus speaks as the Messiah/ Shepherd and Provides Promises. (v.25-28)
A. Jesus’ works declare His Messiahship (“Christ”).
1. “In the Father’s name” declares His Messiahship: was equivalent to the very nature of YAHWEH, the I AM of the Old. (25)
2. They did not hear or believe because they were not sheep.(26)
3. The Shepherd’s Sheep will hear and continue to follow. (27)
4. The Shepherd grants eternal life and security.(28)
B. Jesus speaks as the embodiment of the Father’s will. (29-30)
1. The sheep’s security is the Shepherd’s hand but also the Father’s.
2. No one can ever steal from God that which belongs to Him!
3. The Shepherd would give His life for the sheep, but they would still be secure.
4. The Father and Son are ONE in substance and essence but distinct as persons: Places Jesus Christ with GOD rather than with man.
II. Jesus Defends Himself against His Accusers with Profound Proofs. (31-42)
A. Jesus’ works and self-proclamation as God was profound enough for the Jews to want to kill Him.
B. Jesus humbly and obediently accepted His incarnation: The unique Son, the Eternal Word of God made Himself manifest through His Words and Works. (32-33)
C. 34-36 “I said you are gods…”(ps.82:6) is a defense for Jesus’ own deity, not a defense for the deification of men. (“gods” were false gods in the OT as well as divinely appointed judges who judged unjustly.)
D. 37-38- There is a mutual indwelling of Father and Son in essence as well as relationship which does not occur on a human level!
E. The Jews in Jerusalem rejected Jesus but those in Bethany Believed.
