John 10: 22 – 42
Happy Hanukah Marv
22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 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.” 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.” 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand. 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.
When I was a new believer I wanted to make sure that I did not do anything that wasn’t God ordained. For example I heard and studied facts about why we celebrate Easter and Christmas. A question I asked myself was ‘would Jesus celebrate Easter or Christmas? My zeal was this, that if these holidays were in the bible and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ honored them and from the book of Acts onward encouraged their participation then I would continue to do so also.
Easter is a day that is honored by nearly all of contemporary Christianity and is used to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Is it truly the day when Jesus arose from the dead? Where did all of the strange customs come from, which have nothing to do with the resurrection of our Savior? The holiday often involves a church service at sunrise, a feast which includes an "Easter Ham", decorated eggs and stories about rabbits.
The bottom line is that Easter is a pagan festival. The truth is that Easter has nothing whatsoever to do with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If Easter isn't really about Jesus, then what is it about? Today, we see a secular culture celebrating the spring equinox, whilst religious culture celebrates the resurrection. However, early Christianity made a pragmatic acceptance of ancient pagan practices, most of which we enjoy today at Easter. The general symbolic story of the death of the son (sun) on a cross (the constellation of the Southern Cross) and his rebirth, overcoming the powers of darkness, was a well worn story in the ancient world. There were plenty of parallel, rival resurrected saviors’ too.
Many, including myself, have wondered why the word "Easter" is in the King James Bible. It is because Acts, chapter 12, tells us that it was the evil King Herod who was not a Jew but a pagan, was planning to celebrate Easter - not the Christians.
"Ishtar", which is pronounced "Easter”, was a day that commemorated the resurrection of one of their gods that they called "Tammuz" - who was believed to be the only begotten son of the moon-goddess and the sun-god.
In those ancient times, there was a man named Nimrod, who was the grandson of one of Noah's son named Ham. Ham had a son named Cush who married a woman named Semiramis. Cush and Semiramis then had a son named him "Nimrod." After the death of his father, Nimrod married his own mother and became a powerful King.
The Bible tells of of this man, Nimrod, in Genesis 10:8-10 as follows: "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad,and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."
Nimrod became a god-man to the people and Semiramis, his wife and mother, became the powerful Queen of ancient Babylon. Nimrod was eventually killed by an enemy, and his body was cut in pieces and sent to various parts of his kingdom. Semiramis had all of the parts gathered. Semiramis claimed that Nimrod had ascended to the sun and was now to be called "Baal", the sun god.
Queen Semiramis also proclaimed that Baal would be present on earth in the form of a flame, whether candle or lamp, when used in worship. Semiramis was creating a mystery religion, and with the help of Satan, she set herself up as a goddess. Semiramis claimed that she was immaculately conceived. She taught that the moon was a goddess that went through a 28 day cycle and ovulated when full. She further claimed that she came down from the moon in a giant moon egg that fell into the Euphrates River. This was to have happened at the time of the first full moon after the spring equinox.
Semiramis became known as "Ishtar" which is pronounced "Easter", and her moon egg became known as "Ishtar's" egg." Ishtar soon became pregnant and claimed that it was the rays of the sun-god Baal that caused her to conceive. The son that she brought forth was named Tammuz. Tammuz was noted to be especially fond of rabbits, and they became sacred in the ancient religion, because Tammuz was believed to be the son of the sun-god, Baal. Tammuz, like his supposed father, became a hunter. The day came when Tammuz was killed by a wild pig.
Queen Ishtar told the people that Tammuz was now ascended to his father, Baal, and that the two of them would be with the worshippers in the sacred candle or lamp flame as Father, Son and Spirit. Ishtar, who was now worshipped as the "Mother of God and Queen of Heaven", continued to build her mystery religion.
She also proclaimed a forty day period of time of sorrow each year prior to the anniversary of the death of Tammuz. During this time, no meat was to be eaten. Worshippers were to meditate upon the sacred mysteries of Baal and Tammuz, and to make the sign of the "T" in front of their hearts as they worshipped. Every year, on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, a celebration was made.
It was Ishtar's Sunday and was celebrated with rabbits and eggs. Ishtar also proclaimed that because Tammuz was killed by a pig, that a pig must be eaten on that Sunday.
These customs of Easter honor Baal, who is also Satan, and is still worshipped as the "Rising Sun" and his house is the "House of the Rising Sun." How many churches have "sunrise services" on Ishtar's day and face the rising sun in the East?
What better way to celebrate, than to bite the head off the bunny goddess, go to a "sunrise service", then gathering together and helping yourself to a great Easter ham dinner.
Then I took a hard look at Christmas. What was this all about? Since Easter is a pagan holiday then what about Christmas? How did Christmas come to be celebrated on December 25?
Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between 17 the 17th to the 25th of December. In the 4th century Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it. Christian leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians.
The problem was that there was nothing intrinsically Christian about Saturnalia. To remedy this, these Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday.
Now quickly let us consider the question of ‘what about certain traditions which are included in the Christmas holiday? How did they come about?
A. The Origin of Christmas tree - Just as early Christians recruited Roman pagans by associating Christmas with the Saturnalia, so too worshippers of the Asheira cult and its offshoots were recruited by the Church sanctioning “Christmas Trees”. Pagans had long worshipped trees in the forest, or brought them into their homes and decorated them, and this observance was adopted and painted with a Christian veneer by the Church.
B. The Origin of Mistletoe Norse mythology recounts how the god Balder was killed using a mistletoe arrow by his rival god Hoder while fighting for the female Nanna. Druid rituals use mistletoe to poison their human sacrificial victim. The Christian custom of “kissing under the mistletoe” is a later synthesis of the sexual license of Saturnalia with the Druidic sacrificial cult.
C. The Origin of Christmas Presents- In pre-Christian Rome, the emperors compelled their most despised citizens to bring offerings and gifts during the Saturnalia (in December). Later, this ritual expanded to include gift-giving among the general populace. The Catholic Church gave this custom a Christian flavor by re-routing it in the supposed gift-giving of Saint Nicholas.
D. The Origin of Santa Claus - Nicholas was born in Parara, Turkey in 270 CE and later became Bishop of Myra. He died in 345 CE on December 6th. He was only named a saint in the 19th century. Nicholas was among the most senior bishops who convened the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE and created the New Testament.The Nicholas cult spread north until it was adopted by German and Celtic pagans. These groups worshipped a pantheon led by Woden –their chief god and the father of Thor, Balder, and Tiw. Woden had a long, white beard and rode a horse through the heavens one evening each autumn. When Nicholas merged with Woden, he shed his Mediterranean appearance, grew a beard, mounted a flying horse, rescheduled his flight for December 6th, and donned heavy winter clothing. In a bid for pagan adherents in Northern Europe, the Catholic Church adopted the Nicholas cult and taught that he did (and they should) distribute gifts on December 25th instead of December 6th. In 1809, the novelist Washington Irving (most famous his The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle) wrote a satire of Dutch culture entitled Knickerbocker History. The satire refers several times to the white bearded, flying-horse riding Saint Nicholas using his Dutch name, Santa Claus. Dr. Clement Moore, a professor at Union Seminary, read Knickerbocker History, and in 1822 he published a poem based on the character Santa Claus: “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in the hope that Saint Nicholas soon would be there…” Moore innovated by portraying a Santa with eight reindeer who descended through chimneys. The Bavarian illustrator Thomas Nast almost completed the modern picture of Santa Claus. From 1862 through 1886, based on Moore’s poem, Nast drew more than 2,200 cartoon images of Santa for Harper’s Weekly. Before Nast, Saint Nicholas had been pictured as everything from a stern looking bishop to a gnome-like figure in a frock. Nast also gave Santa a home at the North Pole, his workshop filled with elves, and his list of the good and bad children of the world. All Santa was missing was his red outfit.
Now having bummed you all, I want to tell you that I do warmly celebrate Christmas. Why I do is because of verse 22 of chapter 10 of the Gospel of John.
22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
As you know there were three holidays prescribe by our Holy God. They were and are; Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Weeks or Pentecost), and Sukkot (Tabernacles, Tents or Booths). Two holidays that were added by the Jewish people which I know that you are quite familiar with are Hanukkah—Festival of Lights and Purim—Festival of Lots. So, what am I getting at. Our Lord Jesus Is our God. He Is the One Who instituted the three required holidays. Yet, as we read here in verse 22 He went up to Jerusalem to also celebrate a holiday that He did not officially sanction. So, If Jesus my God would celebrate this unsanctioned holiday, then I have decided that I can celebrate Christmas to honor Jesus with other believers who treat this holiday and focus solely on Jesus. My favorite movie is ‘Home Alone – lost in New York city’ The great line I like is from the two thieves who say, ‘Merry Christmas Harry – Happy Hanukah Marv.’
The Feast of Dedication was a winter festival and celebrated the rededication of the Temple in 165/4 BC by Judas Maccabaeus, after it had been desecrated by Antiochus Ephiphanes. The Jews saw it as an amazing act of God, carried out on their behalf, and such a time would be a time of great expectation as they hoped that He would again act on their behalf in bringing them political freedom. It would turn thoughts towards the coming of the Messiah.
When the religious leaders found Jesus walking in the Temple area in Solomon’s colonnade they gathered round Him. Their question to Him was not genuine; they were trying to get Him to condemn Himself. They hated Him and were seeking to bring about His downfall. These were trying to get Him to claim to be the Messiah and thus cause unrest to spring up among the people, a sure way to ensure He was arrested and put to death.
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. . 30 I and My Father are one.”
His reply is that they had neither listened to what He had been saying, nor rightly interpreted His amazing acts of power. All He had said and done had revealed Him as God’s Messiah. But they had refused to understand His words and His deeds because He was not the kind of Messiah they were looking for. They would possibly have followed Him if He had taken up the sword, but not when He healed men and opened the eyes of the blind, not when He called men to receive life and become transformed. Yet these were the works that He had come to do.
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
Our Holy Lord Jesus then makes clear the position. What they needed to do and all human beings need to do was to forget their preconceptions and acknowledge Him as He was, and fall into line with His words. But He brings out that this they would not do because they were not of His sheep. They would not follow Him because they had not been given to Him by the Father.
Those who were destined to be His would be revealed by their response and by their actions. They had an ear to hear. They had a will to obey. As His sheep they would be known to Him personally, and they would receive eternal life and listen to Him and obey Him. They would not fit Him into their own pattern, but would submit themselves to His will and purpose. And their reward would be that Jesus would give them eternal life and full certainty and security.
It is significant that right from the beginning Jesus makes clear that those who will be saved are the few, those who follow Him. God’s interest was not in numbers but in quality. Glorying in numbers is a sign of ‘popular religion’ so all you ministers need to pay attention to this fact.
Sheep always face two dangers. One is that they will wander off and become lost, and perish of starvation and cold, or at the hands of wild animals. The other is that, while the shepherd is not watching, wolves will snatch them away and devour them. But neither would be possible for His sheep, for He would keep them and watch over them constantly, and if necessary seek them until He found them. They would be totally secure in His hands.
It is interesting that Jesus likened His people to sheep. Sheep are helpless creatures, rarely aggressive apart from the rams, and unable to cope on their own. Thus does Jesus demonstrate the total dependence of His own on Himself as the shepherd? They are to be trustful and quiet, like sheep, while not failing in their responsibility to follow Him.
Once again we see here that the Father and the Son act in parallel. The two act as One. They act as one in everything they do. Thus ,when He protects His sheep, so does His Father. When He saves them, so does His Father. All their acts are in synchronism.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
Some of the Jews did understand what He meant and were inflamed. To them this was blasphemy! Whatever their motives at the beginning they now lost control, for they went over to a nearby pile of rocks and picked up rocks, carrying them over in order to stone Him. Totally fearless our Great Lord did not run from these evil men but confronted them head on.
32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”
Our Master and King The Lord Jesus answered their anger. His words were subtle and to the point. He drew attention to what they could not deny, the miracles He had publicly wrought which all men agreed were good and from God. They could not deny them, and yet these testified of Him. Let them consider what He had done. Had He done anything worthy of being stoned?
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.”
They knew what He was saying. And according to their viewpoint they were right. But it was only because they had not listened to His words and considered His works and followed Him in full recognition of His status. They had failed to recognize the implications of His life and teaching. There is no question that here Jesus has made clear His unique position ‘on the divine side of reality’, and that it is something that they in fact at least have recognized. And had their hearts been right it would have led on to them acknowledging Him. But sadly their hearts were not right. They were full of their own preconceptions. Thus they missed the moment of truth.
Notice how easily they dismissed the works. All others marveled at what He had done, but not these men. Their minds dismissed them almost before they happened. Jesus had done so many miracles that it had become almost commonplace. To them the theology of words was more important than the signs that revealed Who Jesus was. Their minds were fixed in the past and unchangeable.
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’?
We should note that ‘Law’ is here used in the wider sense of the Scriptures, God’s instruction. This was an accepted usage. The description ‘your Law’ brings out the great emphasis that they themselves placed on them. Jesus is emphasizing that what He is arguing comes from their own Law, the Law that they claim to treasure so much. In the Psalm the phrase pictures God sitting among the judges of Israel calling on them to deal justly and protect the weak. Thus they were, as it were, seen as standing in the place of God. They were the council of God, giving God’s verdict, speaking God’s words. They were, as it were, ‘gods’ for they acted in the name of God.
So now if the application of the term ‘god’ to such a person was not to be looked on as blasphemy, how could its application to the teacher and judge come from God?. Indeed it was Scriptural.
Our Lord Jesus was not just comparing Himself with these men. He is revealing Himself as the One ‘whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world’. Remember He had already said that all Judgment has been given to Him by His Father. He is not just a man, even a man in authority, hearing God’s word and passing it on. He has been uniquely set apart by God and sent into the world to deliver God’s word. Indeed, as we know from John 1, He Is God’s word. He is the Son of God. Thus He has even more right to have the term ‘god’ applied to Him. Why then do they accuse Him of blasphemy?
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.”
Look at what I have done, He said, and think about it. Ask yourselves where I have received this power from, and why I am doing what no one else has ever done. Jesus knew all along that to blatantly claim to be God would be futile. He would have been ridiculed, arrested and stoned to death, or treated as a madman. First He had to demonstrate Who He was by His acts of power and His depth of teaching. Then He had to wait for it to dawn on them little by little.
39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
In one ear and out the other! Here our Holy and Merciful God was attempting to convince these guys to think. Yet, as we see here they didn’t. They had only one thing on their sinful minds and that was to take and do away with our Holy Lord.
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.
It was not time for the Lamb of God to die so he left Jerusalem. Yet as we see in this passage many of the people flocked to see and hear Him. And for these who came with a longing heart to find out the Messiah, they were not disappointed.
