Preparation for a sermon on John 10.22-30 aided by Barclay and Hunter

John 10:22-30 (NRSV)

Jesus Is Rejected by the Jews

22 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’²⁵Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; ²⁶but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰The Father and I are one.’

William Barclay is always fantastic in providing us with such depth of insight into the historical context of our Lord’s ministry.

The Festival of Dedication is the Jewish festival of lights called Hanukkah and falls very near to our Christmas and is still observed by the Jewish community. The origins of this festival go back to the time when the King of Syria – Antiochus Epiphanes – reigned from 175-164 BC. He loved all things Greek and decided that he was going to eliminate the Jewish religion and introduce Greek thought and ways into Palestine. At first he tried to do this by peaceful means and some Jews even welcomed this, but most refused and remained loyal to their ancestral faith.

In 170 BC, Antiochus attacked Jerusalem; 80,000 Jews perished and many were captured and sold into slavery and a vast sum of money was stolen from the Temple treasury. It became a capital offence to possess a copy of the Torah or to circumcise a male child; mothers who did so were crucified with their children hanging around their necks. The Temple courts were profaned and the Temple chambers were turned into brothels. Antiochus also turned the great altar of the burnt offering into an altar to Zeus where he made offerings of pig flesh.

From among the Jews arose Judas Maccabaeus and his brother in an epic fight for freedom. In 164, the struggle was won and the Temple was cleansed and purified and the altar rebuilt. It was to commemorate that the Feast of the Dedication was instituted. It was often referred to as the Festival of Lights because there were great illuminations in the cleansed Temple as well as in every home (in their windows) beginning with eight lights and then reduced by one for each day of the festival until on the last day only one remained.

These lights carried with them the following significances: (i) they were a reminder that at the first celebration, the light of freedom came back to Israel; (ii) they were traced back to a very old legend and a previous purification of the Temple when there was only enough oil for one day but God had made it last for eight days.

It is not without significance that John – at about this time – referred to Jesus as being ‘the light of the world’.

John also gives us the place where Jesus taught on this occasion – Solomon’s Porch. Here there were rows of pillars, almost 40 feet high and roofed over. People walked there to pray and meditate and where Rabbis taught their students. It was there that Jesus was doing the same as the Rabbis.

As Jesus was walking in Solomon’s portico the Jews came to him and asked: ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ Barclay suggests that there would be two attitudes of mind behind this question: (i) those who genuinely wanted to know – because they were true seekers after the truth and (ii) others who asked the question to trap Jesus and so be able to lay the charge of blasphemy against him in their own courts or to bring a charge of insurrection against Jesus with the Roman authorities.

Jesus answers by saying that he has already answered this question even though in a veiled way. (We know that he had openly declared who he was in private to the Samaritan woman (4.26) and to the man born blind (9.37)) But more importantly, he need not be so frank in his use of words, because his audience was so well-qualified to be able to figure it out for themselves, if they just looked at the evidence:

Firstly, Jesus’ deeds made it clear that he was the long-awaited Messiah. Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Messiah included his dream of a golden age which we read of in Isaiah 35.5-6:

⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
   and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 
⁶then the lame shall leap like a deer,
   and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
   and streams in the desert …

Every one of Jesus’ miracles was a claim that Jesus was the long promised Messiah.

Secondly, there were Jesus’ words because Moses had foretold that God would raise up a prophet who must be listened to as recorded in Deuteronomy 18.15:

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.

Everything about Jesus was evidence that he was someone extraordinary: the tone of his message, the way he changed the sacred Jewish law putting his own teaching in its place – everything - was a claim that God was speaking in and through him.

But the majority did not accept Jesus.

Jesus often used the image of sheep with a shepherd. In Palestine sheep knew the voice of their shepherd and followed him. It would appear that – despite the evidence – people deliberately chose not to take heed of it. Barclay writes:

“Somehow or other the whole New Testament keeps two opposite ideas in balance – the fact that everything happens within the purpose of God and yet in such a way that man’s free will is responsible. These had made themselves such that they were predestined not to accept Jesus …”

This is an interesting take on predestination – leaving the responsibility with each individual. People can harden themselves to such a degree that – in the process – they give up their free will – in a sense that they use their free will to give up their free will!

There were many who DID accept Jesus, and to them Jesus promised three things:

(i)            He promised eternal life – as Barclay states – “… all the littleness of earthly life would be gone and they would know the splendor and magnificence of the life of God …’;

(ii)          Jesus promised a life that would know no end. Death would not be the end, but the beginning;

(iii)         He promised a life that was secure – for ‘… no one will snatch them out of my hand …’ (verse 28). This does not mean that we will be spared all sorrow or suffering or death but – in Barclay’s words - “ … on the sorest moment and the darkest hour they would still be conscious of the everlasting arms underneath and about them. Even in a world crashing to disaster they would know the serenity of God …”

The last two verses are also a source of great comfort and encouragement because all this is possible because as Jesus said: “The Father and I are one” (verse 30).  This is the mystery of our faith but not one that ought to launch us into deep philosophical probing, because, if we explore the Scriptures, we will find the answer. In John 17 Jesus prayed: “Holy Father, keep them in my name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” It is all about love – the greatest mystery of all. Jesus and the Father are one in divine love, we are one with each other and God because of divine love. And we know this when we keep Jesus’ command to ‘… love one another as I have loved you…’ which is beautifully explained in John’s first epistle: ‘… you know you have passed from death to life if you love one another …’ and ‘ God is love!’  Barclay continues:

“Here is the essence of the matter. The bond of unity is love; the proof of love is obedience. Christians are one with each other when they are bound by love, and obey the words of Christ. Jesus is one with God, because as no other ever did, he obeyed and loved him. His unity with God is a unity of perfect love, issuing in perfect obedience.”

When Jesus said that he and the Father were one, he was not speaking philosophically; he was speaking of the world of personal relationships. Jesus’ unity with the Father was a result of perfect love and perfect obedience. Barclay concludes:

“[Jesus] was one with God because he loved and obeyed him perfectly; and he came to this world to make us what he is.”

A M Hunter points out that the season was severe: Jesus was teaching in Solomon’s Cloister on the east side of the Temple area; surrounding him were Jewish religious leaders demanding an unambiguous answer to the question of his Messiahship. Jesus had been ambiguous about this (other than to the Samaritan woman, for he had no other option. He knew he was the Messiah, but his conception of what this meant (remember the Temptation which epitomizes the popular conception) was utterly different. A plain “Yes!” in answer to their question would have been misleading because all it would have done would be to cause argument. If they wanted a clear answer, it would have to come in a different way. What was unambiguous, were his actions, and so Jesus points to them!

Jesus had power that came from God the Father, but this power was made manifest in works of love. But even though this fits in with everything a person can know about God, the religious leaders still cannot get it, because they ‘… do not belong to my sheep …’ Those who hear, follow and are safe forever, they receive eternal life and shall never perish. How can Jesus be so unambiguous about this? Because this is true of the Father, and what is true of Him is also true of the Son for Jesus said: “The Father and I are one.” T W Manson puts it this way: ‘The Son thinks the Father’s thoughts, and wills the Father’s purpose, and acts in the Father’s power.’ This claim was unambiguous and was blasphemy in the eyes of the religious leaders.

By God’s grace we belong to Christ. We know this to be real because it is part of our own personal experience as well as being based on the facts of history. We sometimes hear his voice – and follow him – and all goes well even in the midst of difficulties, pain and all the rest that makes this human toil a struggle at times. When we stop listening, we go astray. But even in these times our Shepherd calls all the louder and we eventually hear and return to the fold.

It is not surprising that the lectionary has Psalm 23 as the appointed Psalm for the day:

Psalm 23: The Divine Shepherd

¹The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
²   He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
³   he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
   for his name’s sake. 

⁴Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
   I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
   your rod and your staff—
   they comfort me. 

⁵You prepare a table before me
   in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
   my cup overflows.
⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
   all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
   my whole life long.