Christ’s Sheep Believe God’s Word
Notes
Transcript
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John 10:19–42 (ESV)
19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? 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 bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will 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 the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, 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 Scripture cannot be broken— 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 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 am in the Father.” 39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41 And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” 42 And many believed in him there.
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Setting the Stage
Setting the Stage
Miracle
Miracle
Jesus has miraculously restored the sight to a man born blind.
Well, the religious leaders kicked the blind man out of the synagogue…
—> Because of His unwillingness to slander Christ.
Jesus finds out about it, discloses His true identity to the man born blind…
—> And the man worships Christ.
But, because of the cruelty and unjust treatment of the people by the religious leaders…
Jesus teaches us an OT prophecy about the Divine King Shepherd who would be the ideal Shepherd to God’s people.
Jesus compares Himself and He being the ideal Shepherd with the cruelty of the thieves, robbers, and hired hands that the current religious leaders are.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
Jesus brings His sheep into the promised covenant of peace.
Now, we come to the end of this section of Christ’s allegorical teaching.
One thing to note, as John tells us, that it is the time of the…
Feast of Dedication | Hanukkah
Feast of Dedication | Hanukkah
What we want to pull from this, is that it is an extremely popular celebration and there would be massive numbers in attendance.
Now, picking up where we left off last week, we once again notice…
Division
Division
John 10:19–21 (ESV)
19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
I want to state a very practical truth that flows from biblical doctrine.
The truth is that Doctrine Divides
The truth is that Doctrine Divides
The truth divides because of the hardness of the human heart.
The truth is meant to call us to God.
Truth is meant to display the beauty and majesty of God.
But, the heart of the sinner suppresses that truth and worships the creature rather than the Creator.
The truth is, also, that Doctrine Unites
The truth is, also, that Doctrine Unites
John 10:27 (ESV)
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Truth, believed, is the only way to be brought into the unity that is the sheepfold of Christ.
You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
Let’s look at what follows the division…
John 10:22–24 (ESV)
22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
They ask Him plainly…
Are You the Christ?
Are You the Christ?
Now, remember all that Christ has done up to this point.
—> All the miracles.
But, for now, think about all that He has taught.
Primarily through His miracles and His teachings…
He has pointed them back to the OT.
Pointing them to the promises of God in the OT.
Pointing them to the promises of one like a Son of Man, but different.
A true Shepherd for the people, that is Divine and yet of the lineage of David.
So, what’s going on?
Why doesn’t Jesus just say, “Yep. I’m Him. I’m the Messiah.”?
Well, recall what Jesus has already stated to them…
John 5:46–47 (ESV)
46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
This is why Jesus doesn’t just say, “Yep. I’m Him. I’m the Messiah.”?
Because it is not about an individual claiming something…
It’s about the Father attesting through signs that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises.
It’s about the Word of God, up until this point revealed in the OT,…
That word being believed.
Those promises being understood and your hope being placed in their fulfillment because God is true.
If you do not believe what God says in the OT…
It doesn’t matter if I scream it from the Temple Mount…
You will not believe my Word if you do not believe God’s Word…
Because they are both one and the same.
Luke 22:67 (ESV)
67 “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe,
The hardness of the human heart towards God is such that Jesus said…
Luke 16:31 (ESV)
31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
So, the reason Jesus doesn’t just say, “Yep. I’m Him. I’m the Messiah.”?
It’s not because He’s cruel, toying with their heart.
—> He’s not toying with their emotions.
They’re ready to stone Him.
And, yet, here He is still, in their midst, teaching them.
While knowing that inside their heart and mind they’re ready to kill Him.
Still inviting them to come into the fold of God.
Yet, they will not believe.
It’s not just a matter of Jesus proclaiming to be who He is.
It’s about pointing them to the Scriptures to understand and believe the Word of God.
And, if they will not believe God’s promises in the OT…
They will not believe Jesus, even if He wrote it in the clouds above their heads.
This is what it means to suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness.
Jesus says…
John 10:25–26 (ESV)
25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.
They’ve heard and seen all that’s need as proof.
They refuse to believe because the disposition of mankind is to refusal to believe God.
In v.26, we read…
26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.
The word because is causal, it’s telling us the cause.
The cause of you’re not beleiving is because you are not my sheep.
You are not of the flock that my Father gave to me to save.
Now, we need to understand:
All mankind refuse God.
All mankind reject God.
All mankind suppress the truth of God.
And, in order for any single person to believe God…
To believe upon Christ…
Their resistance must be overpowered by the Spirit of God…
In order for them to freely see the beauty and majesty of God.
Then and only then will they come to Christ.
John 10:27–28 (ESV)
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Jesus is saying that His sheep respond to His word…
The word of God…
—> And, they follow Him.
I spoke last week to the security we have in Christ, which Christ speaks to in v.28.
But, listen to what Jesus says about Himself and God the Father…
John 10:28–30 (ESV)
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will 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 the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
What is the security of Christ’s sheep?
They’re in Christ’s hands and no one can snatch them out.
Omniscient power to secure us from any other power.
And, we’re simultaneously in the Father’s hand.
No one can snatch out of the Father’s hand, either.
Again, omniscient power to secure us from any other power.
And, then Jesus adds…
30 I and the Father are one.”
Christ is not saying they are one in person.
The Father give the sheep to the Son.
The Son receives the sheep from the Father.
The Father and the Son, both, protect the sheep.
I = singular pronoun
Father = singular noun
are = plural verb
Jesus is saying…I and the Father are one in:
nature & essence
in perfections
and explicitly here they are one in power
Both, the Father and the Son, being omnipotent in power to secure the sheep from all enemies.
This two of the three of the Triune God.
—> One God, three persons.
30 I and the Father are one.”
The Response
The Response
John 10:31 (ESV)
31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.
Jesus quickly responds with an inquiry…
John 10:32 (ESV)
32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”
I believe this question asked by Jesus was to stress they fact that they are being reactionary without any real investigation.
IOW, why are you not asking yourself, “Who could do such works? How are these works pointing/fulfilling the promises of God in the OT?”
Look at how His question moves them to admit that they aren’t investigating the works in order to validate what He says…
John 10:33 (ESV)
33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
It’s like they’re saying, we don’t even care about what you’ve done…
We just care about what you just said.
But, the works validate and point to His words being true.
But, they’re not interested.
They want to get rid of Jesus because He’s interfering with their sinful comfort.
So, Jesus turns the tables on them, once again…
John 10:34–36 (ESV)
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 Scripture cannot be broken— 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
Notice your law in v.34…
This is not Jesus disassociating Himself from the OT…
Rather, He is taking them on point with the one thing they proclaim to be zealots of, but in fact are not.
Jesus Uses the OT Against Them
Jesus Uses the OT Against Them
Jesus quotes…
Psalm 82:6 (ESV)
6 I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;
In the rabbinic tradition, there were a few different thoughts on who God was speaking to…
Some thought … Angels
Some thought … the Nation of Israel
It seems most likely that God was speaking of the leaders of Israel, specifically the judges who were to sit in the earthly seat of God, so to speak, to represent Him in their ministry…
And render justice to the people in the cases they judged over.
Either way, what Jesus is doing is making them think about what they’re doing.
They, as the leaders of Israel, were to represent God in their actions to.
If God can address lesser beings as gods, little g…
How can it be wrong for Jesus to call Himself the Son of God…
When God has consecrated Him to the ministry of the Messiah, the Divine-Davidic-Shepherd…
And attested to Christ’s role through many miracles and signs.
Jesus is trying to get them to slow down and think about what they’re about to do.
He continues to invite them to come into His fold.
Look at what He says immediately…
John 10:37–38 (ESV)
37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 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 am in the Father.”
If you look at the works and trust the very Scriptures you say you are a zealot of…
You would believe Me about who I am.
He’s bringing them back around to the argument they’ve already ignored.
Remember…
John 10:33 (ESV)
33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
So, Jesus is taking them back to the Scriptures to show them that their reasoning is not according to Scripture.
If my works are the sort that God must be associated with them…
Which even leaders from within your group admit.
Then believe the works, and then work your way from them towards Me…according to God’s Word.
In essence, Jesus is taking them back to faith…
Do you believe God?
Do you trust His Word?
Is your hope in His promises?
Then your conclusion will be that I am the fulfillment of all the promises of God in the OT scriptures.
Does it work?
Does it work?
John 10:39 (ESV)
39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
Not with this crowd.
We don’t know how exactly He got away…
But we do know it wasn’t His time, nor was stoning the means God had chosen.
So, Jesus worked through the crowd and walked away.
And, now John gives us a contrast of these blind religious leaders…
John 10:40–42 (ESV)
40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41 And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” 42 And many believed in him there.
The Opposite Crowd
The Opposite Crowd
Here we see those who heard what John said.
Listened to what the John preached form the Scriptures…
And, allowed the signs to take them back to the Word…
And, see that Jesus is the very One…
That not only John pointed out…
But, more importantly, that God pointed out in His Word.
Let’s think about this...
Let’s think about this...
May God’s Word be true and every man a liar.
Let us hold to the Word of God as:
our source to know Christ and His salvation
our means to know our God
our source to know God’s will
our path to walking in ways that He delights in
May we know and understand that the Word of God is the only thing that has the power & authority to bind our consciences.
May God’s Word, alone, be the Light unto our feet to walk in the green pastures of God’s steadfast, eternal love.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer