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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 then 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 10:19-42
In our current readings, it is the end of the Feast of Tabernacles and Jesus is in Jerusalem at the temple. This is a fall harvest, and it is approximately six months before Jesus' Passion. Jesus is in dialogue with the leadership, who have already sought to stone Him, and to find accusations against Him. He has just restored the sight of a man blind from birth (the sixth sign in John's Gospel), which the Pharisees challenge. Most importantly, they dispute Jesus' authenticity and authority. Jesus said to them, "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 whoever 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?" Again, it's important to note that the term "the Jews" as used in John's Gospel is indicating the religious leadership of the time, and not the Jewish people. My study bible says of this passage, "Those who respond is faith are not merely impressed by the signs, but perceive the holiness of His words."
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." The text moves us to the next holy day festival, the Feast of Dedication. This was a commemoration of the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after the Seleucid King Epiphanes desecrated it (167 BC -- see 1 Maccabees 1-4). This festival took place in winter, approximately three months after the Feast of Tabernacles. It is also known as the Festival of Lights -- also called Hanukkah.
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." My study bible says that both what Christ told them and the works He's done answered their question. It notes, "Only the Messiah could open the eyes of the blind or perform these miracles that bear witness to Him. Likewise, only the Messiah could speak to the hearts of people as Christ had (7:46; 9:21)."
"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 then 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 refers back to His words given at the Feast of Tabernacles (as we've just read), and thereby we know that He is speaking to the same Pharisees again now. My study bible says that in responding to their question, Jesus reveals Himself to be fully God: "One means one in nature or essence. He is God before all ages, and He remains God after the Incarnation and for all eternity. The plural verb are indicates two distinct Persons, while confirming a continuous unity." His audience here clearly recognizes that He is claiming divinity; they thus accuse Him of blasphemy.
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." My study bible says that people who receive God's grace in faith will partake of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and can rightly be called gods. According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ is effectively saying, "If those who have received this honor by grace are not guilty for calling themselves gods, how can He who has this by nature deserve to be rebuked?" His works are evidence enough of that nature.
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. My study bible says that because Christ is going to His Passion voluntarily and according to His own will, His accusers cannot arrest Him until He is ready (7:30; 8:20; see also Luke 4:28-30). The text tells us that outside Jerusalem, where John first baptized, there are those who believe, and follow what John taught about Jesus. The text is never without reminders that there are many who believe; this is even true of many among the leadership as well (see John 12:42), some of whom play prominent roles in this Gospel as believers (Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea).
We have to think, sometimes, that Jesus' questions to the leadership take on an air (I imagine) of near-exasperation. He's saying everything so that they may "see," just as He has healed the man blind from birth. That healing, the sixth sign of seven given in John's Gospel, is truly spectacular by Scriptural standards, as it was unheard of for a man blind from birth to be healed, to have sight restored. But still, they don't want to see. It sounds to my ears almost like a desperate last-minute plea here from Jesus (who knows when His time will come, a few months later on), when He tells them, "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." If we consider that it is their salvation He's pleading for, we may understand Christ a little better, and we may see what is essential to Him in this mission. He's here to save, and they don't want to be saved. They don't want to accept what is right in front of them. We have to believe, in accordance with the Gospel, that He understands what is in store for them -- and for the people -- as a result of these choices. That's part of why everything goes back to the Father. Perhaps (and again, I use my imagination here) it's unthinkable to the human Jesus that this leadership can be so wrong, so wrong-headed, so headed for a dangerous and disastrous path. But Jesus' faith in the Father is complete, and the journey of His ministry began with this faith, and as it has continued this faith has deepened. The subject of Jesus' relationship to the Father, and the Father's role in this ministry, has played an increasing part in the words Jesus teaches to the world, especially in dialogue with the leadership. There are those who are His sheep -- and He will lose none of them, because of the power of the Father, and the sureness of that faith that Christ places in the Father. But think of the dangers present in human terms: how the people can be misled by a leadership that is not willing to open their eyes to the evidence of even the works He's done, the signs that are present here. One may imagine all kinds of human temptations to fear, to fear the failure of mission, and the outcome of the disasters that are ahead (such as the siege of Jerusalem, which He predicts in the Gospels) or the open rejection by the leadership and their swaying of the people, and His understanding of His Passion and death to come. When Jesus tells Thomas and the rest of the Apostles, "Blessed are those that have not seen, and yet believed," later on in this Gospel, we can understand that He's keeping in mind all those who will come later, and all those who recognize themselves as His sheep. All these human fears regarding His mission of salvation must be at work, and yet it is His own faith in the Father that is complete and triumphant. He says in today's reading, once again, that "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." And He links this always with the Father and the Father's work in us and in His mission: "No one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand." Jesus' faith in the face of so many possibilities and potentials for disaster becomes a great polestar for each of us. Just think of all the disasters that can happen, that might happen, that He knows are going to happen -- including the scattering of the disciples, the betrayal of one of His own chosen twelve, even the denial of Peter who also gave us the confession of faith. It's impossible to imagine the pressures of this mission, and the factors that He knows are present. And yet, in this speech what I hear is the desire to save, the constant reasoning and defense has nothing to do with Jesus and His identity in the sense that He doesn't need anyone to affirm that He is the Son. He is, was, and always will be the Son; only the Father can determine that. We have to see in His repeated remonstrance with the leadership His own choice to repeatedly endeavor to save, to attempt to give every opportunity for them to do what is in fact best for them. In His plea for them to at least allow the works He does to speak for Him, even if they don't want to accept Him, is the plea for them to evade disaster and to find the pearl of great price, even a life of abundance. He is doing His mission, which is to save and not to condemn. It may be hard to recognize, as we so often layer our own experience and lives onto the words we hear, but when we take into consideration Jesus' point of view, we have to hear these words as pleas of love -- as remonstrance to get these "children" to do what will be best for them. It must be clear that whatever blindness remains is deliberate, and persistent in the face of all opportunity to change, to repent. We have to believe that our own lives are similar -- that the One who knocks is always waiting for us to open the door; the One who is the Door is always wanting us to enter.
