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."  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 our recent readings, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles, an eight-day autumn harvest festival (beginning with chapter 7).   It is the last year of Jesus' human life.   At this feast, the authorities have tried and failed to have Jesus arrested.  On the last day of the feast, He healed a man blind from birth.   The Pharisees then questioned the man, and also entered again into dispute with Jesus.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued, "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?"   Again we recall that the term the Jews is used in John's Gospel to refer to the religious leadership.  Specifically here, it indicates the Pharisees who dispute Jesus' healing a man blind from birth (the sixth of seven signs in John's Gospel) and also who have been disputing Jesus and among themselves regarding Him.  We note their division; there are those who question the hostility to Jesus.  My study bible says that those who respond in faith are not merely impressed by the signs Jesus has done, but they 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.  The Gospel continues at the next major feast.  This is the Feast of Dedication, which is also known as the "Festival of Lights" (and also called Hanukkah).  This takes place approximately three months after the Feast of Tabernacles (7:1-10:21).   This feast commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after the Seleucid King Epiphanes desecrated it in 167 BC (see 1 Maccabees 1-4).  We recall Jesus' teaching (yesterday's reading, above) that He is the Good Shepherd.  At this festival, the leaders of Israel's past were commemorated, many of whom were themselves shepherds.

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 same Pharisees with whom He disputed at the Feast of Tabernacles three months earlier (10:1-5) question Him again (as I said to you).  Both what He told them and the works He had done have already answered their question, If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.  Only the Messiah could open the eyes of the blind in such a way (see this reading), or perform the miracles or signs that bear witness to Him.  Likewise, says my study bible, only the Messiah could speak to the hearts of people as Christ had (7:46; 9:21).

"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' answer to their question about His Messianic identity reveals Himself to be fully God:  One, says my study bible, means one in nature or essence.  He is God before all ages, and remains God after the Incarnation and for all eternity, a note tells us.  The plural verb are (I and My Father are one) gives us two distinct Persons, while at the same time confirming a continuous unity.  The leaders clearly recognize this claim to divinity.  Thereby they 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."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.   Of the statement You are gods, my study bible says that those who receive God's grace in faith will partake of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), and can be rightly called gods.   St. John Chrysostom paraphrases Christ as saying, in effect, "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?"   Jesus is going to His Passion voluntarily and according to His own will (and by command of the Father, 10:18); therefore, His accusers cannot arrest Him until He is ready (7:30; 8:20; see Luke 4:28-30).

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.  The Gospel gives us a picture of this stage of Jesus' ministry.  The leadership seek to seize Him, despite objections from some of their members.  But many come to Him here, far east of Jerusalem, and believed in Him.

Jesus teaches us about witnessing, about testimony.  Here He offers once again testimony about Himself.  He remarks on both His words and His works, which these religious leaders know.  He tells the truth about His relationship to the Father.  He says, "I and My Father are one."   He teaches once more about His identity as the Good Shepherd.  He tells them that His sheep are given Him by the Father, and they know Christ and they know His voice, and Christ knows them.   All of these are statements bearing witness to His identity as Christ, answering the question that has been put to Him yet again by the religious authorities, the Pharisees with which He's disputed before, at the Feast of Tabernacles in the autumn.  But here in today's reading, in the events taking place at the winter Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), we might detect a note of exasperation in Jesus' response.  There is a sense that He is repeating Himself, as He literally says, "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."   He has also spoken of judgment, and of a kind of deliberate blindness:  "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" (see Tuesday's reading).  What His example seems to teach us is that there is a way to witness, to tell a truth, that also leaves room for the choices of others -- even with bad consequences to the one who refuses to "see."  There is a sense that it is proper to speak the truth -- as Jesus does with open boldness when it is time to do so -- but then an assessment must take place about the willingness of the listener to truly hear.    Ultimately, He speaks when there are those present who might hear and understand and accept.  Eventually however the affirmation of the teaching of the Church is clear:  it is up to each person to choose whether to accept or reject what He offers, and this is how judgment takes place.  Jesus' gift of salvation is always on offer.  In every iteration of witnessing to His identity, in every "sign" or miraculous work performed, in every word, Jesus is making an attempt to save, as He does with these men in today's reading.  But there is a way to teach, and a time not to speak (see John 18:28-40).  It affirms that the will of each individual is sovereign, another gift from our Creator.  But we choose what we wish to hear and what we do not wish to hear.  Sometimes it takes a lifetime to truly hear what has been told to us decades earlier.  Sometimes a simple truth can hit like lightning.  But to the witness who gives testimony, discernment is always necessary, and there is a time when speaking up yet again no longer facilitates the mission.  In this let us ask for His wisdom, and follow His example.  We note that Jesus accepts there are those who are His sheep, and those who are not.  What is His is a gift of the Father, whom He says is greater than all.  Let us be attentive to His word and His humble example to us all.