I and My Father are one

Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?" Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me. 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. 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."

- John 10:19-30

After the healing of the man blind from birth, who was told to wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam, Jesus has been in discussion with the leadership in the temple. The healing of the blind man was the sixth of seven signs in the Gospel of John (see I am the light of the world and For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind). In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught the leadership again about His own identity, this time calling Himself the Good Shepherd. He said that His sheep know His voice, and the one who does not enter by the door, but by some other way, is a thief and a robber. "But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out." His sheep, He said, do not know the voice of strangers. But the leadership failed to understand His illustration. He began again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." He told them, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep." Moreover, He said, "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd." Jesus told them that He will lay down His life, and take it up again, for the sheep -- that this is a command of His Father.

Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?" Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" Importantly, John tells us here that there is a division among the leadership. Not all of them are united in seeking to persecute Jesus. We remember also the example of Nicodemus, who defended Jesus' legal rights, and who also was taught privately by Him. When John's Gospel uses the term "the Jews" it is to refer to the leadership at the temple, not the whole of the Jewish people. Almost all the people in the Gospel (with few notable exceptions), believers and non-believers alike, are Jews. Clearly however, as the recent readings have told us, this controversy and division about Jesus also extends among the people.

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch. The previous events, over the past many readings (starting with this one) took place around the Feast of Tabernacles, an autumn festival. This is now approximately three months later. My study bible says, "The occasion of Christ's presence in Jerusalem is again a religious festival, the Feast of Dedication (Hannukah), the festival of lights. This Feast commemorates the rededication of the temple to the God of Israel after the Seleucid king, Antiochus Epiphanes, desecrated the temple in 167 B.C. The leaders of Israel's past are commemorated, many of whom were literal shepherds." Many of the events that take place at the temple are described by John as being in one part of the temple or another. Perhaps it is useful to understand the magnificence and splendor, as well as the huge size of the renovated temple. It was an architectural wonder at the time of Jesus, one of the tremendous building projects of Herod the Great.

Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you." The leadership demand to know what has already been told to them. Jesus begins to repeat His answers, from the previous reading. He is the shepherd of the sheep. Here, he gives witnesses for them. The works or signs of the Gospel bear witness to His relationship to the Father; they are done in the name of the Father, and bear witness (are "signs") to God the Father's presence, and hence the relationship of the Son.

"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. 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." Those who are His sheep will be kept with Him, they abide in Him, finding pasture -- and He will keep them with Himself eternally. This is all in the power of the Father's hand, through the power of the Father, which nothing can undo. There is no greater power than the Father. Further, He and the Father are one.

Let us consider relationship again from this reading. The power comes, ultimately, from the Father, rests with the Father, in the hand of the Father -- and nothing can break this power. But it is not only the Father in this circle. So "giving" is this power, that Father and Son are one. And the relationship extends further. It extends to the sheep. The sheep, who abide in Christ, will be promised eternal life, because nothing and no one can snatch them from the hand of the Father, given to the Son in full and equal measure, and extended thereby to relationship with the sheep. When Peter makes his confession of faith, Jesus has said, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." Ultimately this circle of faith extends from the Father through the Son and to and through all of us, and back again. By the Father's hand, God's presence -- in Jesus' signs and even in us, nothing can break this circle of faith. That is, nothing but our own free will to embrace that faith within ourselves or not. Of that mystery of faith, I can say nothing, only that it is evident that we are given the power to choose. So, for today, the question becomes, how do you embrace that faith, that power of God that is working through this relationship? Are you aware of the tremendous presence that is with you and within you? This bond is unbreakable. Through all things, through the darkness of the world, the sheep hear the voice of the Shepherd. He and the Father are one. With this cross, there is always a way forward through the darkness, into the certainty of that sheepfold. What is the way for you today? The answers may surprise and lead where we don't expect, but it is the power and hand of God the Father working through all. Can you allow for this strength in your life?