The Gospel According to John: 10:22-42

Recap: John 1 - 10:1-21

John 1 - We are introduced to Jesus as the Word made flesh and told His purpose for coming to earth. We are also given John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” and Jesus calls His first disciples.

John 2 - Here we have the first recorded sign (the water turned into wine) and Jesus demonstrating His authority in the turning over the tables at the temple during Passover.

John 3 - The amazing discourse between Jesus and Nicodemus and John the Baptist’s second testimony about Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John 4 - Jesus and the woman at the well, living water, Samaritans come to Jesus and then the chapter ends with the second sign/miracle, Jesus healing the nobleman’s son.

John 5 - The third sign/miracle, Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath Day

John 6 - We have the fourth recorded sign/miracle, the feeding of the five thousand. Then we have the first “I Am” statement, “I am the Bread that came down from Heaven” and the chapter ends with people starting to divide over Jesus.

John 7 - We see specifically how people are dividing over Jesus, some were divided because of unbelief, others because of uneasiness about the danger of following Jesus and others because of uncertainty about the claims of Jesus.

John 8 - The chapter begins with the religious leaders bringing the woman caught in adultery to Jesus wanting to trap him and stone her. The chapter ends with the religious leaders getting caught in their own trap and wanting to stone Jesus.

John 9 - A man blind from birth, healed, questioned, put out of the synagogue and found again by Jesus, he believed in the Son of Man, worshipped him and the chapter closes with Jesus being confronted by the Pharisees...

John 10:1-21 -

[Read Text:]

John 10:22–42 (NASB)

22 At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; 23 it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. 24 The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying 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, these testify of Me. 26 “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, 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 showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” 33 The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Has it not been 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 them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” 39 Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp. 40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. 41 Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.” 42 Many believed in Him there.

This was the aftermath of Jesus’ teaching about the Good Shepherd. Some tried to kill Him but many believed.

(Story the story…)

Zoom in on the last two verses…

(v. 41-42) “Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.” Many believed in Him there.

John 20:31 – “…these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

Let’s talk about the life Jesus wants to give us.

Life Forever.

(v. 27-28) 27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

The Greek for “never perish” literally means, “they will indeed not ever perish.”

John 3:15 (NASB)

...that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

John 3:16 (NASB)

...shall not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:36 (NASB)

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life...

John 4:14 (NASB)

...a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 4:36 (NASB)

...gathering fruit for eternal life...

John 5:24 (ESV)

…whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life...

John 5:39 (ESV)

...eternal life...

John 6:27 (ESV)

...eternal life...

John 6:40 (ESV)

...eternal life...

John 6:47 (ESV)

...eternal life.

John 6:54 (ESV)

...eternal life...

John 6:68 (ESV)

...eternal life...

So far in the Gospel of John, life in Christ has been called “eternal life” 13 times. But wait, there’s more… eternal life is found 34 more times in the rest of the NT.

What does eternal mean?

Webster’s 1828 says: Eternal is without end of existence or duration. It is everlasting; endless; immortal. Perpetual; ceaseless; continued without intermission.

It is life forever. If it could end it wouldn’t be eternal, it would be temporal. And Jesus didn’t come to give us temporal life, He came to save us from the temporal life we already have and replace it with eternal life.

1 John 5:11–13 (ESV)

11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

The Life Jesus wants us to have is eternal.

It is also…

Life to the Full.

John 10:10 (NASB)

“...I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Back to the 1828 Webster dictionary: Abundant means abounding, great in quantity, richly supplied, fully sufficient, overflowing.

Psalm 1:1–3 (NASB)

1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Philippians 4:19 (NASB)

19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Life to the full is about God supplying all your needs (Matthew 6)

Isaiah 58:11 (NASB)

11 “And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

Life to the full is about God satisfying all your desires. (Psalm 37:4)

Ephesians 3:20–21 (NASB)

20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Not just enough, more than enough...

John 4:13–14 (NASB)

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

It is life to the full because in Christ you have so full, content, so satisfied that you don’t have room for anything else…

Life forever, life to the full and...

Life Free from Fear.

(v. 29-30) 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.”

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (John 10:22–38) - “He that secured the glory of the Redeemer will secure the glory of the redeemed.”

Isaiah 41:10 (NASB)

‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

The Father has you with HIS RIGHT HAND. You know what the “right hand” of the Father is? Not a literal hand… it is Jesus. He is at the right hand of the Father.

Isaiah 41:13 (NASB)

“For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’

You can life free of fear because the hand of God has your hand in His…

2 Timothy 1:7 (NASB)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and discipline.

The life Jesus gives is the exact opposite of fear…

Psalm 27:1 (NASB)

The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?

When God is on your side, you have no blind side and no down side.

Romans 8:38–39 (NASB)

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You can have life free from fear because if you are in Christ, a born again believer, Jesus has saved you, the Father has secured you and the Holy Spirit has sealed you.

The Life Jesus wants you to have is

- Life forever

- Life to the full (and)

- Life free from fear.

Now, think about your life… do you have the life Jesus wants you to have?

If you do, praise and worship Him for the life He has given you.

If you don’t, what are you waiting for? You can have it today!

Memory Verse of the Week:

John 15:20 (NASB)

20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

Discussion Questions: (John 10:22-42)

What is the Feast of the Dedication and why do you think John mentions it? (v. 22-23)

Why do you think the Jews really wanted to know if Jesus was the Christ? (v. 24)

If seeing is believing, how does this statement from Jesus make sense? (v. 25-26)

How is following Jesus connected to knowing Jesus? (v. 27)

In what ways does Jesus make it clear that salvation is forever? (v. 28-29) How does eternal security impact your faith?

Why is the deity of Christ such a divisive issue? (v. 30-33)

What do you think Jesus was getting at then He referenced Psalm 82:6? (v. 34-35)

What does “the Scripture cannot be broken” mean and how does it impact your perspective regarding the Word of God? (v. 35)

How is the defense of Jesus different this time compared to the last time He defended His deity in John 8:53-59? (v. 34-38)

What does (v. 39) and John 8:59 tell you about Jesus?

Why were many believing in Jesus? (v. 41-42) In what ways should this impact how you share Jesus with others?

What else does this passage tell us about God?

What did you learn about yourself from this text?

Did anything else in these verses stick out to you?

How do you believe God is leading you to respond to His word?