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 

 

Beginning with chapter 7, we have been reading about events concerning Jesus' attendance at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  He has taught daily in the temple, and engaged in hostile disputes with the leadership, as their antagonism toward Him was already firmly rooted prior to this Festival.  They have sought to have Him arrested and failed, and also sought to stone Him and failed.  He has healed a man blind from birth, a spectacular "sign" considered to be the sixth of seven miraculous signs given in St. John's Gospel.  In yesterdays' reading, Jesus continued His expression of Himself to the religious leaders.  He said, "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 up 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?"  My study Bible comments that those who respond in faith are not merely impressed by the signs that Christ has done, but perceive the holiness of His words.  

 

 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.   The Feast of Dedication was a winter festival, which took place approximately three months after the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:1-10:21).  Known as the "Festival of Lights," it is also known more popularly today by the name Hanukkah.  This festival commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after the Seleucid King Epiphanes desecrated it in 167 BC (see 1 Maccabees 1-4).  At this festival, my study Bible tells us, the leaders of Israel's past were commemorated, many of whom were themselves shepherds.  We read this in the context of Christ's dialogue from yesterday's reading (see above), which took place at the Feast of Tabernacles, in which He called Himself the Good Shepherd.

 

 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.  We recall that the term the Jews as used in St. John's Gospel indicates the religious leaders, not the people.  (Christ and His disciples, including the author of the Gospel, are all Jews.)  These men are the same Pharisees with whom Christ disputed three months earlier, as indicated by His phrase as I said to you (see above, esp. John 10:1-5).  My study Bible explains that both what Christ told them and the works He had done have already answered their question they present to Him here.  Only the Messiah could open the eyes of the blind (John 9:32) or perform the miracles that have borne witness to Him.  Likewise, only the Messiah could speak to the hearts of people in the ways that Christ had (John 7:46; 10:21).  

 

 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."  Here Jesus repeats again His teachings from their previous encounter (see yesterday's reading, above).  But in conclusion, He reveals Himself to be fully God.  My study Bible explains that One means one in nature or essence.  It says that He is God before all ages, and He remains God after the Incarnation and for all eternity.  Jesus uses the plural verb are, to indicate two distinct Persons, as he is confirming a continuous unity.  As we continue chapter 10, we will see in our next reading that the religious leaders clearly recognize this claim of divinity.  It will become the basis for their accusations of blasphemy.  

 

 Jesus says, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."  Once again, He ties the personal into the greater sweep of a universal movement.  Who will follow Him to eternal life?  Jesus ties the intimacy of those sheep who hear His voice, and the depth of knowing between the sheep and Himself, to eternal life originating with the will of the Father.  The sheep follow Christ, but all is instituted by the Father to begin with.  He says of the sheep, "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."  There is a source of great strength here, extended from the lowliness of the sheep up through the greatest majesty which is found in the Father.  And Christ is the One who unites all, for they are all united in Him.  Most importantly, the fact that He and the Father are One is an insistence that these bonds are unbreakable.  The great chain of eternal life given to the sheep originates from the Father, and nothing will be able to break it.  In the Church, it is understood that no power of evil, no opposition to God the Father, to Christ, to the working of the Holy Spirit can break the bonds of the sheep and their Pastor, the Good Shepherd, Christ.  As Jesus says, the Father is greater than all.  These are words to remember when Jesus is lifted up on the Cross, death being the final enemy that will be defeated in this chain of eternal life.  We are perhaps the lowliest of God's servants, susceptible to the whims of the powerful, vulnerable in our weakness.  And yet, through the Father's institution, Jesus tells us His own shall never perish, nor be snatched out of His hand.  Let us ponder with awe the magnitude of what He's saying, and be ever-grateful for this grace beyond all our understanding.