I and the Father are one. John 10.22-42
Jesus is back in Jerusalem. This time it is winter and he is there for the ‘Festival of Dedication’ we know as Hanukkah. The events remembered at Hanukkah are not part of the biblical text but they are of great importance in Judaism. In 165 BC Maccabees successfully defeated Seleucid (Greek) forces and expelled them from power in Judea, following their desecration of the second temple, as prophesied by Daniel. At the temple re-consecration when it became time to light the menorah only one small jar of oil could be found in the temple sufficient for one day only. It was eight days before new oil could be found but the small jar of oil lasted all eight days. This became known as the Chanukah or Hanukkah miracle. The symbolism of this festival would have been very powerful as the Jews would have been longing for another ‘Messiah’ to overthrow their current occupiers the Romans.
John adds the personal witness detail of Jesus walking in Solomon’s Colonnade when he is challenged by the Jewish leadership to tell them if he, Jesus, is the Messiah they are longing for. The context indicates that their ambition is to find the next Maccabees who will liberate them from the Romans and establish their power in Judea. You may be thinking, hasn’t Jesus already made that clear in his words and actions? There was however a discontinuity between what Jesus was and is as Messiah and what the Jewish leaders were looking for. This same issue remains relevant today as people seek meaning and purpose in their life. What people start out looking for is not who Jesus is. Can that gap ever be closed and someone move from not recognizing who Jesus is to understanding that he is indeed the Son of God and one with the Father?
Jesus applies the teaching he gave in the Sermon on the Mount, which we looked at in the previous reflection in Mathew 7.15-20. He says my people recognize my voice and if you do not belong to me you will not recognize me for who I am. ‘You do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.’ John 10.26b,27 This is not new teaching in John 1.13, John states, ‘he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.’ Again, in John 6.44, Jesus says, ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.’ It therefore takes an act of God to give them the ability to believe. This does not relieve each person of the responsibility for their own actions. It does however give a very clear focus for prayer for those who do not yet believe.
Jesus then says if you do not feel that spiritual compulsion which is God drawing you to me, look at the evidence. Ask yourself if the things you have seen me do are things of God or not and then make up your mind. ‘Do not believe me unless I do the works of the Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father.’ John 10.37,38 Here then lies a significant responsibility of the church in our age. It is to make known the works of Jesus, both those recorded in the bible and also those he continues to do each day in our lives and the lives of others. This is to be in partnership with the Trinity of God; as he draws people to himself, we are to place in front of the world the evidence as to who Jesus is. If we only keep retelling the evidence to ourselves how will others be able to close the gap between their search for meaning and grasping that Jesus is the Son of God to be trusted for eternal life?
At this time Jesus’ Jewish opponents did not ‘hear his voice’ or recognize his works for what they were, evidence that he and his Father are one. They picked up stones with the intention of stoning him. John 10.31 Jesus then drew on Old Testament teaching to demonstrate that nothing he had said constituted blasphemy which further enraged his opponents and they tried to seize him. Jesus however, eluded them and withdrew to the other side of the Jordon. This would have evoked the memory of John the Baptist and his call to repentance. Many in the crowd who came to see him behaved in the opposite way to the Jewish leaders. They looked at the evidence of what Jesus did and believed in him. ‘They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” And in that place many believed in Jesus.’ John10.42 The people who believed in Jesus then share the same promise and reassurance that having believed in him we cannot be snatched from the Father’s hand. ‘I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.’ John 10. God secures his own with a double lock.
How does this passage give us confidence?
How does this passage encourage us to pray?
To live is Christ (Lyrics) – Sidewalk Prophets (I love this song.)
Jesus is back in Jerusalem. This time it is winter and he is there for the ‘Festival of Dedication’ we know as Hanukkah. The events remembered at Hanukkah are not part of the biblical text but they are of great importance in Judaism. In 165 BC Maccabees successfully defeated Seleucid (Greek) forces and expelled them from power in Judea, following their desecration of the second temple, as prophesied by Daniel. At the temple re-consecration when it became time to light the menorah only one small jar of oil could be found in the temple sufficient for one day only. It was eight days before new oil could be found but the small jar of oil lasted all eight days. This became known as the Chanukah or Hanukkah miracle. The symbolism of this festival would have been very powerful as the Jews would have been longing for another ‘Messiah’ to overthrow their current occupiers the Romans.
John adds the personal witness detail of Jesus walking in Solomon’s Colonnade when he is challenged by the Jewish leadership to tell them if he, Jesus, is the Messiah they are longing for. The context indicates that their ambition is to find the next Maccabees who will liberate them from the Romans and establish their power in Judea. You may be thinking, hasn’t Jesus already made that clear in his words and actions? There was however a discontinuity between what Jesus was and is as Messiah and what the Jewish leaders were looking for. This same issue remains relevant today as people seek meaning and purpose in their life. What people start out looking for is not who Jesus is. Can that gap ever be closed and someone move from not recognizing who Jesus is to understanding that he is indeed the Son of God and one with the Father?
Jesus applies the teaching he gave in the Sermon on the Mount, which we looked at in the previous reflection in Mathew 7.15-20. He says my people recognize my voice and if you do not belong to me you will not recognize me for who I am. ‘You do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.’ John 10.26b,27 This is not new teaching in John 1.13, John states, ‘he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.’ Again, in John 6.44, Jesus says, ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.’ It therefore takes an act of God to give them the ability to believe. This does not relieve each person of the responsibility for their own actions. It does however give a very clear focus for prayer for those who do not yet believe.
Jesus then says if you do not feel that spiritual compulsion which is God drawing you to me, look at the evidence. Ask yourself if the things you have seen me do are things of God or not and then make up your mind. ‘Do not believe me unless I do the works of the Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father.’ John 10.37,38 Here then lies a significant responsibility of the church in our age. It is to make known the works of Jesus, both those recorded in the bible and also those he continues to do each day in our lives and the lives of others. This is to be in partnership with the Trinity of God; as he draws people to himself, we are to place in front of the world the evidence as to who Jesus is. If we only keep retelling the evidence to ourselves how will others be able to close the gap between their search for meaning and grasping that Jesus is the Son of God to be trusted for eternal life?
At this time Jesus’ Jewish opponents did not ‘hear his voice’ or recognize his works for what they were, evidence that he and his Father are one. They picked up stones with the intention of stoning him. John 10.31 Jesus then drew on Old Testament teaching to demonstrate that nothing he had said constituted blasphemy which further enraged his opponents and they tried to seize him. Jesus however, eluded them and withdrew to the other side of the Jordon. This would have evoked the memory of John the Baptist and his call to repentance. Many in the crowd who came to see him behaved in the opposite way to the Jewish leaders. They looked at the evidence of what Jesus did and believed in him. ‘They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” And in that place many believed in Jesus.’ John10.42 The people who believed in Jesus then share the same promise and reassurance that having believed in him we cannot be snatched from the Father’s hand. ‘I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.’ John 10. God secures his own with a double lock.
How does this passage give us confidence?
How does this passage encourage us to pray?
To live is Christ (Lyrics) – Sidewalk Prophets (I love this song.)