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 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 the one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in the 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 festival.  It is the final year of His life.  Many of His memorable teachings took place against the images and commemorations during this Festival, which are recorded in John 7:1-10:21.   In our recent readings, Jesus has been disputing withe the religious authorities.  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught, "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 the one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Once again, we recall that the term "the Jews" is used in John's Gospel as a political label, to designate the religious rulers, and not the people.  Here that is made evidently clear, as there is a division among these members of the leadership who have been disputing with Jesus in the temple.  Some plot again Him, and say He has a demon and is mad.  But others question, asking, "Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"   My study Bible comments that those who respond in faith are not merely impressed by the signs, but perceive the holiness of His words ("These are not the words of the one who has a demon").

 

 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in the Jerusalem, and it was winter.  The Feast of Dedication took place approximately three months after the Feast of Tabernacles.  It was known as the Festival of Lights (also called Hanukkah).  My study Bible explains that it 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 from yesterday's reading (above) that, at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd.  At the Feast of Dedication, the leaders of Israel's past were commemorated, many of whom were themselves 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."  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."  Both what Christ told them and the works He had done already answered their question, my study Bible notes.  Only the Messiah could open the eyes of the blind (see this reading, in which Jesus healed a man blind from birth, the sixth sign of seven in John's Gospel) or perform these signs that bear witness to Christ.  Moreover, only the Messiah could speak to the hearts of people as Christ did (John 7:46; 10:21).

"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 them out of My Father's hand."  My study Bible remarks that Christ's words, "As I said to you," indicate that these are the same Pharisees whom Christ addressed three months prior (see John 10:1-5, from yesterday's reading, above).

"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 responds to their question by revealing Himself to be fully God.  My study Bible explains that one means one in nature or essence.  He is God before all ages (John 1:1), and He remains God after the Incarnation and for all eternity.  The plural verb are (in "I and the Father are one") indicates two distinct Persons, while at the same time affirming a continuous unity.  These leaders clearly recognize the claim of divinity, and therefore they accuse Jesus 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."  Jesus cites Psalm 82:6 ("I said, 'You are gods'").  My study Bible explains that people who receive God's grace in faith will partake of God's divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and thus can rightly be called gods.  My study Bible quotes St. John Chrysostom, who comments that 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?"  Additionally, Jesus again refers to the works He does as testimony to that divinity.

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.  As Christ goes voluntarily and according to His own will to His Passion, these accusers are not able to arrest Him until He is ready (John 7:30; 8:20; see also Luke 4:28-30).  Let us note the many who believed in Him there.

In today's reading, Jesus says to the religious leaders:  "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."  In these words, it seems to me that one can hear Jesus doing His best to save even these leaders who oppose Him, right to the last minute.  Here, in this confrontation, He is at the Feast of Dedication, a winter festival (we know it commonly as Hanukkah), which is taking place during the final year of Christ's earthly life.  When the Passover comes, it will be time for His final entry into Jerusalem, on what we know as Palm Sunday.  But here, these words seem to plead for their faith -- not to save His life, for He already knows He will go to the Cross, but to save theirs.  He is offering to all the people, even these most arrayed against Him and who plot against Him, an abundant life, an eternal life, if they can but believe and come into communion with the Father in this way.  He offers them the witness of the works that He does.  These are "signs" with which these religious leaders, experts in Scripture and Jewish spiritual tradition, must be already familiar.  They are signs which they are abundantly capable to recognize in this spiritual and religious context, but they do not, and they will not.  What this suggests is that this is, indeed, Jesus' deepest need, His most fervent desire.  He seeks to save all, to bring all into communion with Him to the Father.  In yesterday's reading, He said to 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."  He is the door, the gate, to the more abundant and eternal life that is offered, and they have but to heed the signs and take faith from that recognition.  So many have understood the spirit and truth in His words, even among these leaders.  There are those who say, "These are not the words of the one who has a demon."  And they ask about the signs,  "Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Three times in yesterday's reading, Jesus reiterates that He will die for the "one flock," for the sheep.  He finally says, "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."  There can be no doubt, therefore, that He knows He is going to His death, and that as He does, therefore, His greatest desire is to save all those whom He can -- and to offer to these religious leaders the salvation of communion through Him with the Father for the promise of abundant life.  He is not pleading for His own sake, or for His own life, but for theirs.  So let us consider the depth of His love, His fervent wish that all be saved.  For this must be the deepest command of all, the depth of Christ's priorities above all things, and the reason behind all things.  When we go through difficulties, if we survive even our own mistakes and errors, when we are tempted to think of our lives as unneeded, unwanted, discarded, or tainted, we should think about this.  For Christ wants most fervently for each one of His sheep to be one with Him and the Father, for the abundant life He promises, and that trumps every objection and every obstacle.  That fervent love and desire can overcome anything.  Let us never give up on that love, and hold fast to it, above all things.