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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."
Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have 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 10:19-42
In yesterday's reading, Jesus was continuing His dialogue with the leadership. It is still the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, which John's Gospel gives us throughout chapters 7 and 8. In chapter 9, Jesus heals a man blind from birth just after He passed out of the temple, avoiding being stoned, and subsequently the man was questioned about Him (see As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world). Afterward the formerly blind man's parents were questioned, and the healed man testified again -- leading to his being cast out of the temple. Jesus found him again, and revealed Himself to the healed man. He then continued in dialogue and questioning from the leadership. (See 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.) Yesterday, we read yet more of Jesus' revelation of Himself, to all including the leadership: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same 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. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. Then Jesus said to them 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. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. 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. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 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. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My 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?" We remember that in John's Gospel, written at a time of vicious persecution of the Church, the term "the Jews" is used to denote the leadership. All of the people in our current readings are Jewish. So this is a dispute among the leadership concerning Jesus. At this point in Jesus' ministry, immediately following the Feast of Tabernacles, we note that Jesus has garnered an extraordinary amount of attention not only for His public ministry but for this encounter with the authorities in Jerusalem. The whole setting for the festival was an occasion when the Gospel teaches us there was dispute regarding Him among the people; now the authorities also argue among themselves. With revelation, recognition and great public attention there also comes dispute regarding Him.
Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. Here the Gospel takes us forward in time. My study bible notes that "this encounter with the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem takes place approximately three months after the Feast of Tabernacles (chs. 7-9). The occasion of Christ's presence in Jerusalem is again a religious festival, the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), 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. (see 1 Macc. 1-4). The leaders of Israel's past are commemorated, many of whom were literal shepherds."
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." The leadership finds Him at the festival, and continues to question Him. Clearly Jesus is in the middle of controversy about Himself.
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." Again, Jesus establishes witness - the works He does in the Father's name are the witness to His identity. And again, we notice what Jesus will always do when asked about His identity: His immediate reference includes the Father.
"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." Again He refers back to the words He taught at the previous festival, words they have heard before - and for which they attempted to stone Him. The sheep hear His voice, but nothing is separate from the Father and the Father's love. So complete is the love between Father and Son that they are one. My study bible notes, "Responding to their question, 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."
Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have 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." Again, as at the Feast of Tabernacles, they attempt to stone Him for statements about His divine identity and His relation to the Father. My study bible says, "Jesus' bold claim causes a violent reaction: they attempt to stone Him, accusing Him of blasphemy." Once again, we note Jesus' testimony: His good works are inseparable from the Father.
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'? A note tells us: "Jesus' question comes in response to the Pharisees' charge of blasphemy. What the Lord is saying, according to St. John Chrysostom, is this: '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?'"
"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. For the third time, Jesus emphasizes His link to the Father, that His works are "of My Father." The works are His testimony to His identity from the Father, and their inseparable union. Afterward, Jesus withdraws again to a safer territory, where He will find believers in the same place that the Baptist practiced his early ministry.
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's Gospel again teaches us about the important link between the Baptist's ministry and followers, and that of Jesus. Here, many believe the Baptist's testimony regarding Jesus.
In Thursday's reading, Jesus taught: "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 today's reading, we regard the effects of His testimony and revelation. It's the sword of truth, with its two sides: some will believe, others will refuse. Jesus also gives us the great analogy and parable of the stone that becomes the head of the corner, quoting from Psalm 118 in Matthew's Gospel: "Whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder." Even though He is aware of the strong reaction that will come from His words, Jesus presses forward with His ministry and His revelation of Himself, His relation to the Father, and His true identity through both His works and His teachings. He does what He must do. Everything else falls to the people in their response to Him. What does it mean that "those who see shall be made blind," as Jesus said in the previous chapter? He also told the leadership: "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains." Their refusal to acknowledge what they don't know condemns them to true and deliberate blindness, and therefore "their sin remains." There are nuances to our response to this truth. Neither is it given all at once, as we could see in the example of the blind man who was healed by Jesus, and gradually comes to know who Christ is. If we remain in a state of wonder, of the understanding that God's mystery is always before us, and that a lifetime of faith must be a lifetime of learning through that journey of drawing closer to God, then we put ourselves on a good road. That is, God will always have deeper plans for us, will always seek to draw us closer toward God's likeness and into His image in which we were created. There is a hint of this in Jesus' quotation from Psalm 82, above: "I said, 'You are gods.'" If we are truly "children of the Most High," as the Psalm tells us, then we are meant to grow in God's likeness. Our Lord "condescends" in absolute love to come into our world as one of us in the form of Christ. He brings with Him the revelation of God's love for us, and His call to sonship as the Good Shepherd. If we remain in a state where our faith can always grow, we keep our eyes open for each new challenge on the road of faith - coming to know ourselves better, and how God calls us to shift, to "change our mind" and to grow. Thus we shall not remain blind, because we know there are things we can't yet see, for which our Good Shepherd leads us forward. This great virtue is called humility; it is the real foundation on the road to sonship.
