I and my Father are one

"My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one."

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, "Many good works have I shown you from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?"

The Jews answered him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods" '? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken), 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'? If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me; but if I do, though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in Him."

Therefore they sought again to seize him, but he escaped out of their hand. And he went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there he stayed. Then many came to him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this man were true." And many believed in him there.

- John 10:29-42

Continuing his talk with the leadership from yesterday's reading, Jesus continues to answer their question: "How long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus began his answer by pointing to the "signs" he's done: the healings (such as the man blind from birth and the paralytic), and other works of the Father, such as the feeding of the multitudes in the wilderness. He has said to them that the works are of the Father, and that they bear witness to his divinity, his identity as Christ.

But he also began a further explanation or response to them -- that they could not see nor understand these signs, because they were not his sheep. They did not hear his voice. "But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand." So, today's passage begins where he left off, at that place where he indicated that he will keep his own with him forever, those who "hear" him.

"My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." This statement, perhaps, has shaped a great deal of our theology of the Church as a whole. My study bible notes that, "Jesus reveals Himself as fully God: one means one in nature. He was God before the Incarnation, and He remains fully God after that union of God and man in His one Person. The verb are indicates the Father and the Son are two Persons. They are always distinct, but united in essence, will and action. Jesus' bold claim causes a violent reaction: they attempt to stone Him, accusing Him of blasphemy." Speaking for myself, what I note here is the connection to the Father that unites all together. No one will be able to separate the sheep from the Good Shepherd because the Father will make certain of this permanent, eternal union of the Shepherd with his own. Just as Jesus has said (in yesterday's passage) that no one shall snatch his sheep from his hand - so he indicates here by the exact same phrase that "no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." To hear his voice, to be his sheep, originates with the Father, "who has given them to me."

Love starts there, with the Father, through the Son, the Good Shepherd, to the sheep, and all are united, together, in that love. This is the gist of the message.

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, "Many good works have I shown you from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?" A rational answer: they must reply as to which act he has committed for which they condemn him. The Jews answered him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God."

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?" (See Psalm 82:6.) "If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken), 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'?" According to the homilies of St. John Chrysostom, Jesus is saying here that, "If those who have received this honor by grace are not found with fault for calling themselves gods, how can He who has this by nature deserve to be rebuked?" Jesus continues pointing to his works as "signs" or witness to this quality of the Divine. "If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me; but if I do, though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in Him." This is reminiscent of the teachings we read in many gospel passages, indicating the nature of a person, such as "By their fruits you shall know them."

Therefore they sought again to seize him, but he escaped out of their hand. The leadership is committed to a charge of blasphemy, but once again Jesus has escaped his would-be persecutors. We read in this a sign that his life is his own to give or to keep, in his own time. And he went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there he stayed. Then many came to him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this man were true." Away from the temple and the leadership, Jesus returns to the place where John did his baptizing, and remains. We have an indication here of the truth of Jesus' words when he said that sheep from other flocks would also be gathered to him. In this place, John the Baptist had many followers, many disciples. They come to Jesus, brought by the words of John, also called the Forerunner, who spoke of himself after Isaiah, as the voice crying in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the Lord." Those are sheep that not only hear his voice, but are able to see the witness of the works as well. They know him, and he knows them, and they come into his hand. All work through the Father, and the Father's will: Jesus, John, and those who come "into his hand" and follow. This love and relatedness is of the Father, stems from the Father, God who is Love. Are we alive to that love, wherever we may find it?

What do you hear? What testifies to you? What is the importance of developing spiritual eyes that see and ears that hear? How do we do that? Now that we are in the season of Lent, it's time to take a break. We fast from all kinds of things, whether they be material, emotional or spiritual, in order to cultivate the ears that hear. From what do you detach in order to hear this voice better?

And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. - 1 Kings 19:12