John 10:22-41
Key Verse 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world?
When the sun is high up glowing so much, our attention is much more on the things of the earth, not only because the Sun is so hard to look at but also the world is so well visible that we can enjoy as much as we like to. But at night, as the Sun disappeared, the world is so dark and we can see and feel the depth of the sky through the stars scattered over the entire sky, along with the moon. Here we sense the difference between the world or the universe and ourselves, a mere man. Where does the feeling of inaccessible and immeasurable distance or remoteness come from? The distance itself leave us a feeling of ‘mere’ man.
The Jews condemned Jesus, a mere man, for calling himself equal with God. They labeled this ‘blasphemy’. In their heart, they carried such an immeasurable distance and inaccessible separation with God the creator. In this eyesight, they saw and judged Jesus, and condemned to be worthy of stoning him to death. Practically it was not the Jews only but also all of us, or the whole human races live in such separation by immeasurable distance and inaccessibility with the holy and almighty creator of the universe.
Strikingly, Jesus, who was beside the God Almighty, came to us breaking that immeasurable distance and inaccessibility and gave us the knowledge that enables us to break the distance and inaccessibility to God of holiness. In Him, he helped us to see that there shall be no more distance between man and God, and inaccessibility is broken to create an open channel. Through this message, I pray that you, personally, see that hope and discard the feelings of ‘mere’ man for we can see and meet God Almighty and be called sons of God.
1. Jesus, the good shepherd
In Ch 9, Jesus healed a man born blind. He was a lost sheep for he was totally blind. Actually, he was also a representation of the lost status of the people of Israel. The leaders of Israel must care for such lost sheep. But when this man was not willing to agree with them, the Jews throw them out, a clear expression of lack of shepherd heart. But as he had declared, Jesus revealed himself to this man as the Son of Man. He came to believe Jesus and became his sheep. What was the essential character of the good shepherd? V14-15 reads;
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-- and I lay down my life for the sheep.
The sheep recognize Jesus as his shepherd because he sees that Jesus loves him to the extent that he would give his life for his sheep. The father is happy to entrust His sheep to Jesus because he cares His sheep even by giving his own life for their protection and salvation for life. This is the one and only distinctive character of the good shepherd.
Jesus had declared that he was the bread of life, the light of the world, and the source of the living water. All these denoted what or who he was in and of himself. But when he declared himself to be the good shepherd, he denotes himself in the relationship with the people of Israel individually and collectively. Jacob addressed God as his shepherd for the first time.
Genesis 49:24 But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, (Gen 49:24 NIV)
This was near the end of his life as he was giving his blessing to his children. When he came to give his blessing to Joseph, he recognized that God was the shepherd for him as well as his entire family through Joseph’s life. In other words, when God was shepherding Joseph, he was shepherding not just for him but also for the entire family. And he prayed that blessing might be staying with him for good. By shepherding one man, He was shepherding for all. Moses recognized that Israel was like sheep and needed a shepherd (Num 27:17)
When God chose David over Saul, He recognized David’s shepherd heart (2 Sam 5:2; Ps 78:72). But the descendant of King David failed to shepherd His people and said through Ezekiel
34:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?
As Israel leader failed, God decided to shepherd Israel personally (34:11-15). In his determination to save his flock, he said he would send one shepherd, my servant David. The implication of this promise clear. He would send the Messiah through the descendant of King David as he had promised. Now Jesus comes and declares that he is the good shepherd. It is all clear that he was announcing that he is the shepherd God promised to send.
But on the day of Dedication, a cold day in December, as Jesus walked in Solomon’s colonnade of the temple, the Jews approached Jesus and asked a question.
"How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly."
The post-Alexander Greek empire was divided into four kingdoms. Israel was originally a part of Ptolemy Kingdom in Egypt. But near 200BC, Seleucids of Syria defeated the Ptolemy of Egypt and annexed Israel. When Antiochus IV Epiphanes took the helm of the kingdom, he enforced Greek religion on Israel. In 167 BC, on 25th of Kislev, his army attacked Jerusalem and desecrated the temple by sacrificing pig to Zeus in it. A revolt led by Mattathias and his sons succeeded in the war against the Seleucids. In 164BC, the temple was rededicated on 25th of Kislev (Nov-Dec). To memorialize this, an eight-day festival was inaugurated, named the festival of Dedication. Actually this desecration of the temple was prophesied by Daniel (9:27; 11:31) as a part of God’s punishment for Israel and served as a sign of coming of the Messiah. This Festival comes about two month after the Feast of Tabernacles and falls on cold winter season. Though it is a celebration on a victory over a pagan forces, it was a day of painful reminder of the past failure of Israel. Such desecration spoke powerfully of God’s renouncement of what happened in the temple but forced Israel to a keen realization that Israel needed a King who could restore the nation from the hands of Pagans. Though they celebrated for 8 days, like the Feast of the Tabernacles, such history rekindled the idea of helplessness without a shepherd King for they were still under the Roman Emperor. It seemed as if the cold weather in winter reminded them the cold reality under the Roman rule. Like this time, when coming of the Messiah was eagerly hoped, if Jesus was the Messiah or not was a very important and serious question. It is not easy to find out what the motive behind this question was. It is very plausible that if Jesus would come out fully with the power of God in fight against Roman rule, they might be willing to give him full credit as the Messiah and would join him in full support. In other word they were hoping Jesus to come out with full force against Roman power to establish a new kingdom Israel. Come out fully with what you want to do! On the other hand, behind this question is a skeptic to discredit Jesus and to destroy him for good if he comes out with open declaration as the Messiah. Whatever their intent was, they wanted an explicit answer if Jesus was the Messiah or not.
2. To know is to believe and to follow
To them Jesus answered
25 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
Practically Jesus gave them the words that clearly impregnated with authority, power, and truthfulness that only the Messiah could give. After healing of the lame man, he said that his father is always at his work and he too is working (5:17). He said that he knows God and is sent by God. (7:28) Jesus said that before Abraham was born, he is. (8:58) Though he did not say explicitly that he was the Messiah, through these teachings, Jesus spoke as the Messiah and revealed himself to be the Messiah. Why didn’t he speak out clearly that he was the Messiah? Jesus did not look for a confirmation by the people on who he was. He was looking for the people of the faith that believe him to be the Messiah. In other words, he was not looking for people with intellectual ascents to what Jesus said but for the people of faith that trust him as the Lord, and the Savior. This trust demands following and becoming a disciple. Intellectual ascents do not require ‘obedience’ and even after the full ascent to the knowledge given, he still can carry in the depth of his life that are not in agreement with the teaching(John 2:23-24). In other words, there is a disassociation between knowledge and heart; such man runs life in the dual world, truth, and falsehood together. There is no solution possible for such life. The only way to resolve this is to trust and move his entire being to follow that truth. In such man’s heart, the truth and knowledge are taken only as a mean scheme to fulfill his inner desires in sin. No one can believe Jesus in His word unless he or she is fully willing to entrust their lives in Jesus’ hand, to accept Jesus as the shepherd. So Jesus pointed out their problem of knowing who Jesus is. It is not a matter of knowledge or information, but a matter of belief and committed heart to entrust their lives in Jesus’ hand. Simply Jesus said that they do not believe him and are not his sheep. Were they willing to be Jesus’ disciples or followers? NO! Until one does so, he or she never knows who Jesus is.
3. My sheep, me and my father (27-30)
If the relationship between Jesus and the Jews is characterized by their unwillingness to believe and to be disciples, what is the relationship that created by belief? It is a relationship between sheep and shepherd. Though we do have a good understanding of the relationship between a sheep and its shepherd, what this relationship entails is not clearly sorted out. The first use of ‘shepherd-sheep’ is found in Jacob’s prayer for his son Joseph (Gen 49:24). In his praise to the Lord, he recognized how God shepherded Joseph with his mighty hand as he was going through hardships of life. So he called God the Shepherd and the Rock of Israel. Here he is describing the totality of God’s care for him as well as the entire his family, called “Israel”, i.e. collectively as a whole and for the entire span of the life of his family. The Shepherd’s care was delivered through Joseph for the whole family. When God chose David over Saul, He chose him because David was after His own heart. The nature of being God’s own heart was ‘having God’s shepherd heart’ for His people.
2 Samuel 5:2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD said to you, 'You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler. '" (2Sa 5:2 NIV)
David was a good shepherd when he was young and when he was on the run from Saul’s chase (1 Sam 25:7). When the nation went wrong, David pleaded with God to punish him, the shepherd for Israel, instead of his people (2 Sam 24:17). When God pointed out the wrongs of the leaders of Israel, the totality of violation of the covenant was revealed in their delinquency in shepherd care of Israel. As God rejected Israel’s leadership, he said this;
Ezek 34: 11 "'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. I will rescue them.. 13 I will bring them out from the nations.., and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them … There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep… I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
This is the picture of the GOOD SHEPHERD. This is the heart of God for his people and He would do it personally though all of his chosen failed to do so. This care as the Shepherd and in this relationship captures the essential and comprehensive will of God for His people and overshadows all other terminologies depicting God-His people relationship such as king-his subjects, the Lord-slave, Master-servant. So, He sent the only begotten son, Jesus. As he came, he declared most succinctly:
14 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-- and I lay down my life for the sheep.
The true and genuine characteristics of the Good Shepherd is ‘a willingness to lay down his life for the sheep’ for the sake of his sheep. This protection has a clear goal. This goal is recognized by his sheep.
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Here ’know’ is not just acknowledging something. It is knowing by heart intimately woven by trust and love. He knows everything about his sheep; its weaknesses, strength, abilities, and inabilities. There is nothing that the Shepherd does not know about His sheep. The purpose or sense of direction of shepherding is to lead them to the eternal life. His sheep know this and trust the shepherd’s love, will and power to do so. So he listens and follows the shepherd. In this relationship, shepherd’s ‘know’ and sheep’s ‘follow’ are the certainty of protection and guarantee of enteral salvation. Do we feel that Jesus know you? Do you give your trust in His shepherd heart for you? Do you love and listen to his voice and follow him? This is not one-time confirmation; this relationship is to be daily and ongoing. What about the Father in this will on this?
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one."
Though Jesus does this, actually it is not of Jesus’ will but the will of God. For this purpose, the father sent him to this world and He entrusted His sheep to Jesus. He would not fail even one sheep that comes to Jesus. In this plan, goal, and purpose, God the Father and Jesus are one. God is the shepherd; His shepherd heart is fully revealed in Christ. Was the shepherd heart of God something new or an idea of recent development? It is resounding NO. For many, the mainstay of the understanding of God has been through the relationship in covenant; the violation of the covenant incurred God’s judgment. It was so severe and tragic that Prophet Daniel asked God, ‘how long’! Out of such understanding came the ideas of the conditional or unconditional covenant. The first appearance of God being a shepherd is in Jacob’s word. In the totality of God’s relationship with Jacob and his children was ‘shepherd like a rock’. The sense of direction of God’s shepherding was salvation. No matter how bad and how weak a sheep might be, God wanted to accomplish his purpose for his people with a shepherd heart though it might include such a harsh punishment. The author of Hebrews captured this so well in ch 12:5-11. Care and affection as the shepherd flow through entire history revealed in the scripture. All else must be reasoned and understood in light of God’s unchanging shepherd heart for us as an individual or as a people collectively. Yes, there is God’s judgment. Yes, there is God’s chastisement. We or many others suffer and moan in pain and sorry. Nevertheless, we must accept deeply in our hearts that all those are different facets of God’s shepherd heart. The good shepherd, Jesus, is the full revelation of that shepherd heard of God for the whole human races. For the unbelieving, the vile and the ungodly, the world is the playground of war between the good and the evil. Whichever wins, people want to join in winning side. But for us, it is not of discerning of or choosing the winning side but to sense, to feel and to accept and to believe the shepherd heart of God in Christ and then to follow him to the eternity with Him.
4. Blasphemy and unbelief (31-33)
As soon as they heard, ‘the father and I are one’, they were about to stone him to death. When Jesus asked the reason, they answered this;
33 "We are not stoning you for any good work," they replied, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
The reason is that they thought that Jesus blasphemed God by calling himself equal with God. Jesus had the will of God, and demonstrated the power of God, revealed the knowledge of God. But in all other things, he was a man. His look is exactly a man. He talks as a man. The ability of his body is the same as any other men. How can he dare to say that he and the God who created the universe in clouding all human beings are one! This is the dilemma of the Jews as well as the people of this world. No man can be a god or god-like no matter how much he is good, filled with powers, filled with so much knowledge of God… God can never be a man, so finite and so limited and so powerless, and so sinful. As much God is far greater and above human beings, so much it is impossible to imagine that God is with us in a body as we have. God’s immanence is unheard of and unthinkable thing to men. The distance between man and God is felt to our bones as we feel so many constraints that we are to work under. What makes such a great distance between God and man? The most obvious things is finite nature of our body, our ability in our body. The more frustrating thing in us is the inability to control our mind and spirit as we wish. Paul lamented that he did not do what he wanted and did what he hated to do. He pointed out that it was sin in him that made him in such predicament. Unlike our body, our spirit can go and fly as far as we can go. But the most troubling thing is that the sin in us constrain our spirit not able to be with God. Sin separates us from God. The more we sin, the farther we feel separated from God. In this containment, the Jews saw all men including Jesus. So Jesus was like any other human being, a mere man.
The stoning was first initiated as God’s command. God told to stone those who encroach upon the mountain Horeb where God comes down on the top of it. They should not touch the man. If one does so, then he would also die. Like this ‘stoning’ command was for the people to recognize a clear separation and distance between God of Holiness and man in sin. ‘Unholy’ cannot be with ‘holy’. God coming down to the top of the mountain Horeb was no problem. In other words, the physical distance, physical limitations of men was not the cause of separation. It was a sin that makes such separation creating a distance, which we feel so far, so remote, and inaccessible. The tabernacle in the midst of Israel camp speaks clearly on this matter. Though God was in their midst, within a distance even a 2-year-old child can walk, yet no one except the high priest could get to Him. Even this is possible only after redeeming his sin with the blood of a bull.
5. God sent the one whom God set apart as his very own (34-38)
To the eyes of the Jews, there was a distance between God and Jesus as much distance between them and God. To them, Jesus said this.
34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are "gods"'? 35 If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came-- and Scripture cannot be set aside—
It is a quote from Ps 82:6. In this Psalm, God addresses to an assembly of gods. Though they, the gods, received the word of God and were called gods, they did not keep up with the word of God (Ps 8:25). Because of their disobedience the word that they received from God the father, God would subject them to death like mere mortals. Here the background of this Psalm is in mind of the time when God is addressing Israel at the time of the giving of the Law.
Exodus 24:9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. 11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. (Exo 24:9 NIV)
This is the only occasion when God was with Israel leaders face to face without any distance or barriers. It was immediately after the ratification of the covenant between God and Israel. God took them as holy as God is and they were at peace with Him. In this aspect, even for a short time, they were gods who could join in the assembly of the Lord God. This understanding is reinforced as we read Jesus’ word (v35) ‘If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came’. The meaning is that when the covenant conditions (the word of God) are fully at work on the people, they are holy and acceptable to the Lord and enjoin to the ranks of gods. The key word here is ‘to whom the word of God came’. The implication is enormous. When the word of God comes to a man fully and then, he is like God, and God the father accepts him as one of His and can even be called a god, differentiating them from the mortal human beings. How then is Jesus measuring up to these gods?
36a what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world?
Here the meaning of ‘set apart’ is holy. If gods were called gods because they became holy by receiving the words of God the father, how much more is Jesus who is holy for he is very own of God the Father. The gods in Psalm were called gods because they ‘received’ the word of God. But Jesus is God the Father’s very own and is holy as much as God is. Since Jesus is God’s very own, he is much better than the gods who received the word of God.
God’s holiness exuded in Jesus’ words and works. Actually, Jesus is the embodiment of the WORD of God. God’s holiness and God shepherd heart could never be seen and felt as close as Jesus was with them. THIS is the shocker and blows away our minds constrained by sinfulness. So it cannot be reasoned and understood by our ordinary faculties. It is possible only by faith in the one who created, God the father. An obvious display of Jesus’ power, knowledge and holiness defied all abilities within the faculties of human understanding. Unless seen by faith, it is processed by the sinfulness of men, in whom the unseen is greater than what is seen and cannot see behind Jesus’ impeccable words, works, and the holiness that measured up to God the father. He was holier than any of the Pharisees was. No Pharisees could come close to the holiness of Jesus. In words, and in deeds, they were not able to keep up with Jesus’ holiness and they became jealous. Out of jealousy and in an effort to prove their righteousness, they tried to incriminate and condemn Jesus, the holy one. They called Jesus’ holiness as blasphemy.
Jesus added, “the scripture cannot be set aside” (35b). This principle was applicable then and is still applicable now as well because what God said stands forever! Even though we are mere men, fallen away from God so far and we never imagined to be with God, the Mighty and Holy one, yet we can be like God, and even can be called gods if the word of God comes to us fully. The distance we felt too far to get to is suddenly shortened and is within few steps. Actually, this, being one with the father, was the prayer for his life; Jesus was the word that came down to earth in order to give the word of God to men in sin. As he gave himself, the word, we, sinful men have the word and we become like God, and even can be called gods. Such allusion is in Jesus’ prayer to the Father.
John 17:22-23a I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one- I in them and you in me-- so that they may be brought to complete unity.
Paul felt such closeness with God the Father through Christ and said this;
Colossians 3:16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
One night when I was in late teen, I looked at the night sky. It was so deep, so far and so vast for me to grasp anything out there. I felt cut off and the true meaning of ‘mere man’. This sense of separation and loneliness got deepened as I saw myself trapped in so many sins. God was too far, and too unreal, and too fearful to know or to get acquainted with. But God in His grace sent the one whom he set apart as His very own to me. As he came, he gave himself to me, the word of life, imparting me the glory, which I never knew and taste before. This was a great breakthrough for my life.
Jesus came from heaven to the earth in order to be with men and to give the word and to impart the glory of the father. When he came down, he penetrated through the barrier and distance between God and man, So he became like the Son of man, though in all of his inner being was holy, God’s very own. The Jews failed to see the God in him because they did not believe and were not willing to follow him. The outcome was so pitiful. They remained in so much distance from God the father and unable to overcome the predicament of ‘mere man’. Every thought, every scheme, plans and every hopes that they devise are reduced to be things of mere man.
But praise God who gave his very own to us and who gave us the glory enough to see him face to face and to shake off all the fears and doubts that try to reduce us to be a mortal man.
Believe, Follow, and receive Jesus, the word of God. Then you will surely one with Jesus and with God the father.
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