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PJ Berner

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John 10:22 (ESV) — 22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter,

25th of Chislev (November-December)

Lasted 8 days

Known more commonly as Hanukkah

In 167 BC Antiochus Epiphanes defiled the temple setting up an altar to Zeus in place of the altar to YHWH and forbid the possession of any portion of the Hebrew Scriptures by making it a capital offense

In 164 BC the Jewish revolt against these atrocities was finally successful as Judas Maccabaeus led the revolt that recaptured the temple and saw it reconsecrated to YHWH on the 25th of Chislev

Not one of the original Jewish feasts

Lights played a key role in this feast

It became a celebration God’s deliverance of his people through the means of the salvation brought by Maccabaeus.

John 10:23 (ESV) — 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.

Not in the temple itself but on the temple mount

Cold may have driven Jesus from more centralized locations on the temple mount

Place where the Scribes and Pharisees conducted their teaching

Also the place where the early church would gather post-ascension to preach Jesus as the Messiah.

John 10:24 (ESV) — 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.”

Seems like an innocent question, but context would beg to differ.

The Jews are looking for the nail in the coffin to finally trap Jesus in his words and see him at least discredited if not much worse.

John 10:25 (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,

Jesus would not fall for their trap and in fact, doesn’t ever plainly announce that he is the Messiah in John’s gospel.

Recall John 5 and how plainly Jesus had spoken about his personal relationship with the Father.

John 5:36 “But the testimony 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.’”

John 10:26–27 (ESV) — 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.

Jesus had been clear about his identity, and yet the Jews had not believed.

What separated the Jews from his disciples who had come to believe at least in part?

Whether or not they are part of his sheep.

Everyone had witnessed the same works but not everyone had believed in him.

Last week you studied the great realities that Jesus knows his sheep, and they know his voice, but now we see that there is the tragic flip-side where the people do not hear his voice and he doesn’t know them and they don’t follow him.

There is undoubtedly a measure of God’s sovereignty in view here as to why these Jews couldn’t or wouldn’t see what Jesus had already made so plain. There is a limit to the effect of miracles to produce faith, and we see that here in this passage. But, for those with eyes to see, we should take a moment to see the significance of what Jesus had been doing.

P1: Understand the Significance of Jesus’ Works (vv. 22-27)

We rightly emphasize the death and resurrection of Jesus as the most significant portion of his earthly ministry. However, the works that he did were not just time-fillers or fodder for the gospel writers to have some cool stories to record. The works that Jesus performed were communicating something about his identity.

Luke 4:16–21 (ESV) — 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 7:18–23 (ESV) — 18 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19 calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 20 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ” 21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

The blind receive their sight:

John 9

Mark 10

The lame walk:

John 5

Matthew 21:14

Lepers are cleansed:

Mark 1

Luke 17

The deaf hear:

Mark 7

Mark 9

The dead are raised up:

Mark 5

John 11

The poor have good news preached to them:

Mark 1:38-39

Maybe when we hear a sermon on one of these miracles we are reminded of the power and wonder of it, but most of the time in our DBR, we are so familiar that it’s just another part of the Jesus story.

Y’all, Jesus is asked by the Jews to make it plain to them who he is, and he responds by appealing to these works as evidence!

He doesn’t launch into a theology lecture on the hypostatic union, he asks them to consider his works.

When John sent the messengers to him, he didn’t quote Isaiah 53 to correct John’s misunderstanding that the Messiah would immediately restore the glory of Israel. Instead, he appealed to his works.

John 10:25 (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,

Mark 4:35-41

So many times in our study to this point we have been brought face-to-face with Jesus claims about his divine identity.

John 5:17 “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

John 5:21 “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.”

John 6:29 “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

John 6:35 “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

John 6:40 “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day?”

These claims are powerful, but it was his works that bore witness to the validity of these words.

END P1

In verses 28-29 Jesus appealed to an even greater work that would he would do not long from this point in his ministry.

John 10:28–29 (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.

John 6:39 “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”

Romans 8:38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If there is significance to the Feast of Dedication this concept of an eternal security takes on an entirely different meaning.

There will be no more Antiochus Epiphanes

There will be no need for another Messiah

There will be no more interruptions to their worship

Colossians 3:3 “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

John 10:30–31 (ESV) — 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.

United in action, desire, intent, and power

Plain enough?

The message was received loud and clear

Again

It’s not that they had seen the works and believed, but they heard the words and became enraged. They had already pre-decided that Jesus’ words could not be trusted.

John 10:32–33 (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?” 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.”

“Shown” = to display or point out

Matthew 4:8 “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.”

Jesus’ hadn’t been concealing his identity from any who were truly watching

“good” = beautiful, useful, advantageous

The Jews miss Jesus’ point entirely because they miss that the works were the validation to the words!

Blasphemy = his claim to equality with the Father was degrading to the Father and thus blasphemous

But they understood him!

He will return to his focus on works in a moment, but first he entertained their obsession with his words.

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’?

Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6 where the Jewish Scriptures reference another, other than YHWH, as god.

V. 35 = Israel at the time of the receiving of the law (rabbinical interpretation of Psalm 82:6)

So why then do the Jews protest that Jesus would refer to himself as the Son of God?

In Ex 4:21-22 Israel was referred to as God’s firstborn son

Jesus is the fulfillment of this type as the one who was “consecrated and sent into the world” (baptism).

It’s not that his words weren’t worthy of attention, but Jesus kept going back to the works he had done to exhort and implore these Jews to consider the full picture.

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.”

“even though you do not believe me, believe the works”

So convincing were the works that Jesus had done, that he invited the Jews to look at those to draw their conclusions.

Matthew 11:2-6 “Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.’”

Isaiah 61:1-2 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn...”

Isaiah 35:5-6 “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy...”

John 10:39 (ESV) — 39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

P2: Strengthen Your Faith by Jesus Works (vv. 28-39)

Illustrate:

Baseball season is right around the corner, and in Spring Training we get a chance to see all of the new players our team signed in the offseason.

It’s one thing to have excitement after the signing

It’s another thing to see that excitement grow by witnessing them on the field

If Jesus calmed the storm

If Jesus fed the 5,000

If Jesus cast out demons

If Jesus healed lepers

If Jesus raised the dead

What does that mean for his ability to save you? What does that mean for his ability to keep you, to preserve you through all of the turmoil at work in our world presently?

If Jesus calmed the storm, can he handle the climate?

If Jesus fed the 5,000, can he provide for your family?

If Jesus healed the lepers, can he protect your health?

If Jesus raised the dead, can he raise you as well?

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.”

END P2

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.