We left off in John 10:21 last time. Today we start from verse 22. However, note that between verse 21 and verse 22 a lot of stuff happens. You can tell that from the other gospels. We can tell so, here, because – all of a sudden – we are in the last few months of Jesus’ ministry. Verse 22 says: Now the feast of the dedication was celebrating at Jerusalem, and it was winter. This is the winter before Jesus’ last Passover on Earth.

The sense of urgency is going to show: not only in Jesus’ answers but also in the questions his adversaries put to Him. From their standpoint, it has become evident that this phenomenon called Jesus is not going to dissipate on its own. Something is going to happen, and if it is in any way “revolutionary”, the consequences for the Jewish nation could be dire.

Put your cards on the table

John 10:23-24 And Jesus walked in the temple in the porch of Solomon. The Jews therefore surrounded him, and said to him, Until when dost thou hold our soul in suspense? If thou art the Christ, say [so] to us openly.

Have you ever felt like talking to God that way? It is not that His message is not clear. I mean, is there any doubt that we have been told that He loves us, that He cares about us? Is there any doubt that the Word of God declares that He is the Lord of the Universe? That there is nothing that He cannot do?

I know all that…

But that’s not the problem, is it? The problem is, what we really want to say to Him is: If you are who you say you are, if you really care about me, why haven’t you fixed this agony in my life?

When we hear Jesus’ adversaries saying this: If thou art the Christ, say [so] to us openly, it is easy to assume that they just want Him to say some thing they can use against Him… either to get Him in trouble with the people or with the Romans. But, deep down inside, there is another reason for that question: They truly have been longing for the Messiah.

If He really was the Christ, and if He therefore was there to fulfill the role they wanted the Christ to fulfill – to set them free from the Romans, to return Israel to its former glory – then, by all means they wanted to hear Jesus answer in the affirmative.

 But He didn’t… because saying YES to their question would have implied that He was agreeing with their expectation of what the Messiah was supposed to do. Instead…

John 10:25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye do not believe. The works which I do in my Father’s name, these bear witness concerning me:

In other words: “The answer is YES if and only if you understand what the Messiah’s mission really is. If you understood that, you would have already seen all the evidence you needed: I have done nothing but the works the Father sent me to do: the works of salvation… and that is the purpose of the work of the Messiah.

But here is the catch: You want to define salvation as salvation from the trials and tribulations of this life. You want salvation to be about the here and now of this world, about triumphing over your enemies in this life.”

Isn’t that also our problem today?

We see our lives in turmoil. We see our country, our world, in turmoil… and we turn to God and say: “Aren’t you supposed to be protecting your children? Aren’t you supposed to be the King of Kings?” And when we don’t hear the answer we want to hear from His lips, we pretend that we hear it and look to our strength, look to human beings, just like us, to be our salvation.

And yet, all along, He has already spoken:

Micah 6:8 He has shown thee, oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee: But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God…

Is that so hard to understand? He already told us there are two great commandments that summarize all of the Law: Love God with all our being and love our neighbor as ourselves. That’s it. That is what the Messiah came here for.

When we can do that, honestly, in the middle of all the worldly turmoil, we show we are living in the Kingdom of God. That is His definition of salvation: LOVE.

Two definitions: How do we choose between them? We can only do it by Faith.

John 10:26-28 but ye do not believe, for ye are not of my sheep, as I told you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them life eternal; and they shall never perish, and no one shall seize them out of my hand.

“Ye do not believe.” That rebuke ought to be terrifying… because as He says, that means we are not of His sheep. It means we are not recognizing His Voice. And without that Voice leading us in this life, we are on dangerous ground, living our lives in the kingdom of this world, and therefore headed toward the same destiny that awaits this world.

But if we believe. If we choose to LOVE, not hate; if we choose to feed the hungry because they are hungry; if we choose to bind the broken in body and heart because they are broken; if we choose to comfort those who mourn and embrace those who find themselves in the pit of despair even when they dug that pit themselves by their own foolish decisions… then we prove that we are children of the Father in Heaven who makes his sun rise on evil and good, and sends rain on just and unjust.

And if we are His children then we are safe, protected… because that salvation can never be taken away from us. We are the sheep of His pasture.

John 10:29 My Father who has given [them] to me is greater than all, and no one can seize out of the hand of my Father.

This is what salvation is for… Do you believe that?

The cards have been laid down, now what are you going to do?

There is no salvation without Faith because we have to make the choice. We have to decide to leave our opinions, our selfish dreams, our prideful desires behind and instead accept that the God who made us, knows what we really need.

And that choice is never easy. Jesus did not come to make it easy:

John 10:30 I and the Father are one.

That was a scandalous way to finish that thought. But Jesus had to say it… not just because it is True but because that is the only way it could ever make sense that this man from Nazareth could – on His own – do what thousands of years of Prophets and Teachers had never accomplished. Only the Son of God and Son of Man, the God-Man, sinless in every way and human in every way… only He could purchase the salvation of all humanity, ever born and ever to be born, by dying for all of us.

But again, the same way it was with their misunderstanding of what the Messiah’s mission was, it is going to be with this statement… it cannot make any sense to a mind, to a heart, that refuses to believe.

John 10:31-32 The Jews therefore again took stones that they might stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewn you of my Father; for which work of them do ye stone me?

John 10:33 The Jews answered him, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

(If anyone ever tells you that Jesus never claimed to be God, please have them read the Gospel of John. Over and over Jesus has made claims that can only make sense if He is claiming Divinity… even to that unforgettable scene in chapter 8, where He said: “before Abraham was, I AM.”)

John 10:34-36 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called *them* gods to whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken), do ye say of him whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am Son of God?

Jesus doesn’t miss a chance to teach. The scripture He is referring to is Psalm 82:

Psalm 82:1 God standeth in the assembly of God, he judgeth among the gods.

The way that opens, it seems that the setting is almost mythological, that Jehovah is facing down the gods of the other nations. But those are not the “gods” He has in mind:

Psalm 82:2-4 How long will ye judge unrighteously, and accept the person of the wicked? Selah. Judge the poor and the fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and the destitute; rescue the poor and needy, deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.

The “gods” here are the people in power, particularly in Israel, but also in the whole world. Properly called “gods” in those days because they truly had the power of life and death over the people in their care.

And that is the point: That position of authority was given to them by the King over all kings so that they would rule according to the principles of the King of kings. They were given that power so that they would reject the wicked, not embrace them as friends. They had that power so that they would use it righteously: to rescue the poor and defenseless, the hurting, the destitute, the needy, regardless of how they ended in that state, regardless of where they came from because if we – in power – do not protect them, who will? The wicked will just consume them and destroy them.

It is a Psalm of rebuke. Because instead of ruling according to the principles of the King of kings…

Psalm 82:5 They know not, neither do they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are moved.

Even the earth balks at their willful rejection of the duty that has been given to them. Therefore, there is only one verdict that the Almighty has for them:

Psalm 82:6-7 I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High; But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

Jesus’ audience couldn’t have missed the implication: Here were the religious leaders of the people trying to condemn someone, whose only crime was doing good, because He claimed to be the Son of God; and yet they were guilty of every condemnation of that Psalm where God Himself called them gods.

The conclusion is again the same: it cannot make any sense to a mind, to a heart, that refuses to believe.

John 10:37-38 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do, even if ye believe not me, believe the works, that ye may know [and believe] that the Father is in me and I in him.

That is the challenge Jesus presented to them that day; and it is the challenge He presents to us today: Hasn’t He given us enough proof? Whose works did He come to do: The works of a man, works of pride, of anger, of hatred, of greed… or works of LOVE?

What do we choose today?

John 10:39-42 They sought therefore again to take him; and he went away from out of their hand and departed again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptising at the first: and he abode there.

And many came to him, and said, John did no sign; but all things which John said of this [man] were true.  And many believed on him there.

Those last two verses hold such hope!

John did no sign…

Has that been the hallmark of your life? That you have heard time and time again about this Jesus of Nazareth? That you have heard so many call Him Lord, and declare that He Loves you? Maybe you have even ventured to call out to Him. And yet you have never seen a sign, or a miracle in your life…

But the question is: Do I need such a sign? John did no sign. All he did was to be a witness to the Word. And many listened to it because, deep inside, they recognized the Voice behind that Word.

I hope that is enough. I know it can be enough; for many believed on Him there.