John 10:31–42 Sermon
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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.
Introduction
Introduction
Last week we covered verses 22-30.
There we saw that Jesus was, at the time of the feast of dedication at Jerusalem in the temple, He was walking in the colonnade of Solomon were Judeans there gathered around Him. Which meant that they surrounded Him. This happened in the winter of that year.
They surrounded Him which meant that they weren’t intending to be friendly. Which would be proven in our text today.
They surrounded Him and asked Him a question.
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 essentially were accusing Jesus of holding from them the point He was making.
They thought Jesus to be speaking secretly.
But we know from what Jesus said that this wasn’t true.
20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.
The question about Jesus being the Christ was answered in how Jesus spoke openly about Himself.
But their rejection of what He had said about Himself proved something.
It proved that those who were not believing His words were not His sheep.
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.
But for those who would believe they would prove to be His sheep.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
And those who’d follow Him who were His sheep, He spoke of their security in Him. Which makes sense because of what He said in the beginning of chapter ten when Jesus spoke of the hired hand.
12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
But Jesus is not a hired hand.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
It is because that Jesus is Good and always will be the Good Shepherd that our being kept from being snatched and scattered will never happen.
A hired hand flees and doesn’t protect the sheep. And the result of this would be that one would be snatched, scattered and then destroyed
But Jesus the Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. And because He will always be Good our salvation is kept.
We are given eternal life. Which means that we will be eternally with Him and we will never be destroyed.
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Then Jesus goes on the say in verse 29,
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.
So the Father and the Son will keep us and no one is able to snatch us from their hands.
The Father sent the Son into the world so that He can save. And in saving those who come to faith, He preserves them by grace and keeps them forever.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. And Jesus being God the Son is One with the Father.
30 I and the Father are one.”
This again, was a clear claim to deity. Meaning that Jesus was making Himself equal to God. Showing that He is God Himself.
This is why the Judeans in our text picked up stones to stone Him.
They wanted to stone Him because He was claiming to be God.
Outline
Outline
1. The Dispute (v.31-33)
1. The Dispute (v.31-33)
2. The Defense (v.34-38)
2. The Defense (v.34-38)
3. The Result (v.39-42)
3. The Result (v.39-42)
1. The Dispute (v.31-33)
1. The Dispute (v.31-33)
Read Verse 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.
Read Verse 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.
Before going further I wanted to explain stoning.
To stone someone meant that an offender (according to the Mosaic Law) would be struck with stones until they were dead. It was done as a way to punish what was considered a capitol punishment for a capitol crime.
Once there were at least two witnesses who had found someone guilty the witnesses would begin stoning the offender which would be followed with those who were watching also throwing stones if necessary.
Reasons for stoning were:
Reasons for stoning were:
1) Working on the Sabbath
Exodus 31:15
Numbers 15:32-36
2) Sorcery
Leviticus 20:27
3) Rebellious children
Deuteronomy 21:18-21
4) Kidnapping
Exodus 21:16
5) Being with another man as with a woman
Leviticus 20:13
Others were: Bestiality, Idolatry and adultery.
The one in our text today which they accused Jesus of was blasphemy.
16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
If you remember in verse 24 when they surrounded Jesus, the fact that they would seek to stone Him shows us that they were not there to seek truth in the first place.
Them wanting to stone Jesus afterwards proved them to not be His sheep (His followers).
And because of this they were unable to see that the works Jesus were bearing witness to who He was.
Back in John 5:36 Jesus said,
36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.
Though Jesus had healed many, those who had heard and seen Him do it, along with others who had testified to His works, even when witnessing to the works He did, they continued to not believe in what Jesus was saying.
Signs are not in themselves what saves. But signs are what they are called. They are signs. Signs that point to Jesus but are not themselves the cause to saving faith.
The works Jesus did were good works. Not because they did good to others even though they were good works, but it was because they were pointing to Jesus as Good.
Jesus in verse 32 answers them in a way that says this.
Read Verse 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”
Read Verse 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”
Jesus here says He did many good works.
John shows us what many means in John 21:25.
25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
Jesus was asking out of all the good works from the Father that He had done, which of them were they stoning Him for.
Jesus knew why they wanted to stone Him but the question here was seemed to tell them again who He was.
The works He had done were testifying to who He was. Which was that He was the Christ.
Which is answering their original question when asking Him about being the Christ.
In their reply in verse 33, we see again their spiritual condition. We see that they could not see Jesus for what He had said about Himself.
Read Verse 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.”
Read Verse 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.”
Here along with John 5:18, we see clearly that Jesus was telling them that He was claiming to be God.
In fact, it is the testimony of what the gospel of John and what all of Scriptures is about.
It is about the revealing of Jesus as the Christ. God who would come in the flesh and appear so that those who believe in Him would be saved from their sins.
They were right to say that Jesus was making Himself to be God. But they made the mistake of seeing Jesus as just a man.
That is not the testimony of Scripture.
Jesus was fully and truly man. But not just a man. He was fully and truly God.
They made the mistake of accusing Jesus to be a Sabbath breaker prior to our text. They accused Jesus of being a blasphemer. The reason for their rejection was their refusal to believe in what Jesus had said about Himself.
The gospel of John does not hide the truth about Jesus. In fact the very first words tell us who Jesus is.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Sadly, what we are seeing here is what man does apart from grace. Apart from grace man denies the claims found in Scripture of the divinity of Jesus Christ.
2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Just from the first three verse of John we clearly see that Jesus was not just fully and truly man. He was fully and truly God. He was in fact the one by whom all things were made. All things were made through Him and for Him.
This is a non-negotiable.
A denial of Jesus as God who has come in the flesh proves that one has not come to saving faith.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
The incarnation of Jesus Christ as God is a non-negotiable.
The dispute here was over Jesus making Himself out to be God by calling Himself the Son of God.
Which according to John 5:18, would have meant that Jesus was saying He was equal with God.
Jesus in the next verses deals with two things:
Jesus in the next verses deals with two things:
First, He deals with the issue of using the term gods.
First, He deals with the issue of using the term gods.
Second, He deals with calling Himself God.
Second, He deals with calling Himself God.
2. The Defense (v.34-38)
2. The Defense (v.34-38)
First, He deals with the issue of using the term gods.
First, He deals with the issue of using the term gods.
Read Verse 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?
Read Verse 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?
Read Verse 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—
Read Verse 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—
Jesus is quoting from Psalm 82:6.
6 I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;
What Psalm 82 was about.
What Psalm 82 was about.
Psalm 82 was written to unjust leaders and judges where God is condemning their abuses over the weak and the needy.
The words here were addressed to the people at large and the psalm focused on the poor, the outcast, and the marginalized who were being treated unfairly.
When calling them gods here it wasn’t meant to be an affirmation but a rebuke.
God would use verse 6 of Psalm 82 to mock those who were showing partiality to the wicked.
In verse we see,
6 I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;
Then in verse 7,
7 nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”
So Jesus wasn’t saying that calling oneself a god was a good thing.
What He was doing was proving that the scriptures had used the term to call people gods. Which would not be wrong when using it the way that the psalmist used it in Psalm 82.
It was used to mock those who were treating the poor and needy in an unjust way. And a god is actually no god at all when speaking of a god who would fall.
Scripture called them gods to mock them. So when just talking about calling others gods in that sense, it is not wrong.
And the Scripture cannot be broken because of it. Meaning that one may not like how the Scriptures called them that in the Psalm but it was done proving a point about how unjust they were.
Those who wanted to stone Jesus did not like Jesus calling Himself God. But it was true.
He was in fact God! And His claim was not done to mock or deceive. Jesus said what He said about Himself because it was true.
They may not have liked what Jesus was saying but what He was saying about Himself was true.
Second, He deals with calling Himself God.
Second, He deals with calling Himself God.
Read Verse 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’?
Read Verse 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’?
Read Verse 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
Read Verse 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
Read Verse 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.”
Read Verse 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.”
Notice in verse 36 where Jesus said that the Father had consecrated Him and sent Him to the world.
Notice in verse 36 where Jesus said that the Father had consecrated Him and sent Him to the world.
To consecrate essentially meant to present as holy. To dedicate something or someone to the service of God.
Jesus was sent from the Father for service. Which meant that when speaking of Himself as the Son of God, as God Himself, it was done as a service to the Father.
Jesus called Himself God because He was in fact God Himself. And this is what He was claiming when saying that He and the Father were One.
This is what the works were meant to do. They were meant to point to Jesus to be the Messiah promised who would do the works that were prophesied about pertaining to the Christ.
Jesus said,
37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
But since Jesus was doing the works of the Father, namely giving life, receiving worship and claiming Himself to be God, when one believes this truth they prove to be of faith.
Jesus was not blaspheming. To call Himself God was true because He was sent to do that very thing. He was sent to speak truth!
It was the work of the Father to consecrate and send the Son so that the claim of who He was would be recieved by those who were His.
If Jesus was not doing the works of the Father, then He said not to believe in Him.
But because the works Jesus had done was from the Father then one should take every work done by Jesus as a sign that was pointing to Him as who He said He was.
The signs were meant to show that the Father was in Christ and that Christ was in the Father.
They were meant to show that Jesus and the Father were one! Which would have been the claim of Jesus being God.
So calling Himself God was not a sin. It was true. Because He was God the Son who came in the flesh and appeared so that the work of the Father would be accomplished!
The work done by the Father was that the Son would be sent so that those who’d believe in Him would not perish. Those who would believe would have eternal life with the Father and the Son which was given by grace through faith.
This is the work we have been given. It wasn’t to call ourselves gods. That would be false.
In fact Galatians 4:8 says,
8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
So the idols we had made prior to faith were no gods at all!
They were lifeless idols not worthy to be called gods but were called gods in such a way that mocked them.
The work given to us is to preach of the true and living God who stands alone and has given us life through what He has done in Jesus Christ.
Jesus in calling Himself God spoke of the truth.
Jesus was truly and fully God. And believing in this we can say that we have hope!
Because we are believing the truth about Him and that truth was given to us!
We are those who have come to that saving faith in Christ!
Which is the result when one believes in Jesus Christ for salvation!
3. The Result (v.39-42)
3. The Result (v.39-42)
Read Verse 39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
Read Verse 39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
Read Verse 40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained.
Read Verse 40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained.
Read Verse 41 And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”
Read Verse 41 And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”
Read Verse 42 And many believed in him there.
Read Verse 42 And many believed in him there.
What did John say about Jesus?
What did John say about Jesus?
First, John 1:29–34
First, John 1:29–34
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’
31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.”
33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.
Second, John 3:31–36
Second, John 3:31–36
31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all.
32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony.
33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.
34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.
35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
They said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”
They said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”
Read Verse 42 And many believed in him there.
Read Verse 42 And many believed in him there.
The result here is that when Jesus speaks of Himself as who He is, those whom the Father gives to the Son are given eternal life by grace.
This is the work of God that we believe.