22 It was winter, and the time came for the Festival of Dedication a at Jerusalem. 23 Jesus was in the Temple area at Solomon’s Porch. 24 The Jewish leaders gathered around him. They said, “How long will you make us wonder about you? If you are the Messiah, then tell us clearly.”
25 Jesus answered, “I told you already, but you did not believe. I do miracles in my Father’s name. These miracles show who I am. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give my sheep eternal life. They will never die, and no one can take them out of my hand. 29 My Father is the one who gave them to me, and he is greater than all. b No one can steal my sheep out of his hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”
31 Again the Jews there picked up stones to kill Jesus. 32 But he said to them, “The many wonderful things you have seen me do are from the Father. Which of these good things are you killing me for?”
33 They answered, “We are not killing you for any good thing you did. But you say things that insult God. You are only a man, but you say you are the same as God! That is why we are trying to kill you!”
34 Jesus answered, “It is written in your law that God said, ‘I said you are gods.’ c 35 This Scripture called those people gods—the people who received God’s message. And Scripture is always true. 36 So why do you accuse me of insulting God for saying, ‘I am God’s Son’? I am the one God chose and sent into the world. 37 If I don’t do what my Father does, then don’t believe what I say. 38 But if I do what my Father does, you should believe in what I do. You might not believe in me, but you should believe in the things I do. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
39 They tried to get Jesus again, but he escaped from them.
40 Then he went back across the Jordan River to the place where John began his work of baptizing people. Jesus stayed there, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “John never did any miraculous signs, but everything John said about this man is true.” 42 And many people there believed in Jesus.
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“I think Jesus, who is the Son of God, and God the Father are in a business together.” Miquel, 11
“Jesus and God are both perfect, and no one else is. God and Jesus both glow in all their glory.” Gabriel, 11
“Because the Pharisees did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus wanted to change their life.” Valentina, 10
“They both want more believers and sheep. I mean God and Jesus are one shepherd and we are his sheep. He takes care of us and we should give him the favor back by spreading the Word of God and helping the poor and each other.” Ana, 10
“God, with his love for us, gave Jesus special powers to show that the work of God is good. Jesus, in the name of God, told all people that he is showing the work of God. God, through Jesus, showed the love and grace for us.” Claudia, 10
“Jesus wants to spread the word with his followers.” Daphne, 10
“God established Jesus as the human form of himself so he would be born on earth and would be able to show people that God does exist and preach his word.” Abigail, 11
“God is the one that kindly gives him the ability to perform miracles. God and Jesus are a stupendous son and father duo.” Katia, 12
“Jesus had to explain that the work he did in his Father’s name testified about him.” Arianna, 12
“In the Word of God, it talks of the Trinity of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are all one, meaning that they are a pair.” Noemi, 12
22 It was winter, and the time came for the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem.
The Festival of Dedication is a Jewish celebration much like America’s Fourth of July. It’s also called the Feast of Lights or Hanukkah. Beginning toward the end of December and going into January, Jewish people light candles for eight days to celebrate their freedom from a cruel Syrian dictator.
In 168 B.C., Syrian ruler Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) placed an idol in Jerusalem’s temple and offered pig sacrifices to the heathen god Jupiter. Antiochus called himself “Epiphanes,” which means “the visible God.” However, the people in secret called him “Epimanes,” which means “madman.”
Jewish warrior and hero Judas Maccabaeus led a revolt against Antiochus . His brilliant military strategy over several years defeated the much larger Syrian army. He was such an effective warrior that he became known as “the hammer.”
23 Jesus was in the Temple area at Solomon’s Porch. 24 The Jewish leaders gathered around him. They said, “How long will you make us wonder about you? If you are the Messiah, then tell us clearly.”
The Jews in the temple surrounded Jesus because they wanted a showdown. They wanted Jesus to tell them clearly if he was the Messiah or Christ. Why did they want to know? Did they want to believe in him? No! They wanted to arrest him.
These Jews wanted Jesus to declare himself on their terms. In other words, they wanted to control Jesus. Isn’t that the way we often treat Jesus? We want him to do what we think he should do. We too easily forget that he is the Good Shepherd, and we are his sheep.
Jesus will speak clearly about who he is at the right time, but not before. He knew his Father’s timing for him to go to the cross. Why tell these angry Jews what they want to hear so they can arrest him? Jesus knew it wasn’t time for him to be arrested. Instead, Jesus quotes the Old Testament in a way that causes them to think about their attitude toward him.
25 Jesus answered, “I told you already, but you did not believe. I do miracles in my Father’s name. These miracles show who I am.
In the Gospel of John, the miracles Jesus performed are called signs. “Jesus did many other miraculous signs that his followers saw, which are not written in this book,” (John 20:30). Signs point to something or someone. All Jesus’ miracles pointed to him being God’s only son who came to offer his life as a sacrifice for our sins.
Here is a list of the seven signs/miracles in the Gospel of John:
26 But you do not believe, because you are not my sheep.
As God, Jesus is smart enough to know who is going to believe in him and who is going to reject him. Does this mean he causes us to believe or reject him? NO!
When I go to the store to buy my wife a gift, I know she will like anything I purchase that has dark chocolate. Because I know this ahead of time, does this mean I caused her to like gifts that contain dark chocolate? NO!
Here’s an example where Jesus wanted people to believe in him, but he refused to make them believe: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You stone to death those that God has sent to you. Many, many times I wanted to help your people. I wanted to gather them together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you did not let me,” (Matthew 23:37).
Jesus wanted to gather all people who lived in Jerusalem. He wanted them to believe in him, but he respected their right to say “no.” When he said “but you did not let me,” he is saying he respects the free will that he gave them. There are some things God has chosen that he will not do with his power. As God, he has that right. This doesn’t mean he is any less powerful. It means he made a choice. There is no such thing as forced love. God wants it that way. Love has to be freely given.
As God, Jesus is all powerful. But he refuses to use his power to force us to believe in him. Think about this. If God used his power to cause us to believe in him, he would have a bunch of robots. God wants a real love relationship with us, not a phony one where we are like machines.
27 My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give my sheep eternal life. They will never die, and no one can take them out of my hand. 29 My Father is the one who gave them to me, and he is greater than all. No one can steal my sheep out of his hand.
Jesus has a loving relationship with his people because he died for them. There is no greater love than to give your life for someone else. Besides loving, the relationship of the Good Shepherd with his sheep is lasting. No one can steal us from Jesus. We belong to him forever.
Someone might say that no one can steal you from Jesus, but you can leave him. If you run away from home, are your parents still your parents? YES!
Even when you disobey your parents, are you still their child? YES! Your parents are your parents because you were born into their family. If you have good parents, they will bless you when you obey them.
God is like a good parent. He will bless his children when they obey him. When we believe in Jesus as our savior, we are born again into God’s family. We cannot undo a physical birth by disobeying our parents. Neither can we undo a spiritual birth when we disobey God. God will discipline his children when they disobey him, but he will never kick them out of his family.
God wants the best for all his children. That is why he disciplines his children when they disobey him (Hebrews 12:6). If you are smart, you will love the Lord and experience the blessings of walking in fellowship with him.
Our eternal security and confidence depend on the ability of Jesus, our Good Shepherd. If you think about it, sheep cannot defend themselves. Wolves, coyotes and bears can easily catch them and eat them. The safety and security of sheep depend upon the ability of their shepherd to guard them. Our faith and confidence is in Jesus, not in ourselves. Even when we doubt and disobey him, he remains faithful.
30 “The Father and I are one.”
Jesus and God the Father are not the same person, but they are united in essence and purpose. To say they are the same in essence means they are equally holy, powerful, wise, loving and so forth. But I don’t believe this is what Jesus is saying here.
Remember the rule for understanding the Bible is to always look at the verses before and after the verse you are trying to understand. This is called “context.” You could say that context is the environment in which a Bible verse appears. “Con” means “with.” Look at the surrounding verses to see what goes “with” the “text” or Bible verse you are trying to understand—context.
What did Jesus say immediately before he said he and his Father are one? He talked about how all who believe in him are forever secure. In other words, Jesus and his Father are united in keeping and guarding all who trust in Jesus as their savior. They are one or united in this purpose.
If we look at the verses that follow, we could say that the Jews understood Jesus to say that he and his Father are one in essence: “You are only a man, but you say you are the same as God!” (John 10:33).
You can make a case for either understanding of oneness as purpose or essence. However, I believe the verses that come before Jesus’ statement about being one with his Father should guide our understanding more than what angry, religious Jews understood. What we do know is that these Jews wanted to kill Jesus. Also, Jesus didn’t try to tell them he was not God.
31 Again the Jews there picked up stones to kill Jesus. 32 But he said to them, “The many wonderful things you have seen me do are from the Father. Which of these good things are you killing me for?”
33 They answered, “We are not killing you for any good thing you did. But you say things that insult God. You are only a man, but you say you are the same as God! That is why we are trying to kill you!”
34 Jesus answered, “It is written in your law that God said, ‘I said you are gods.’ 35 This Scripture called those people gods—the people who received God’s message. And Scripture is always true. 36 So why do you accuse me of insulting God for saying, ‘I am God’s Son’? I am the one God chose and sent into the world.
These religious Jews got so angry that they picked up stones to throw at Jesus. They wanted to kill him. They understood him to say that he was God!
Jesus answered them by quoting from Psalm 82. This Psalm is written against unjust judges. These judges of Israel were corrupt. They were not fair.
In Psalm 82:1, it says, “God stands in the assembly of the gods. He stands as judge among the judges.”
In Psalm 82:2, it says, “He says, ‘How long will you judge unfairly and show special favors to the wicked?’”
God is angry at the judges in Israel because they are judging unfairly. Instead of treating everyone fairly, they are doing special favors for wicked people.
Even though the judges are acting unfairly, God calls them “gods.” Why? Judges in any society are acting like God when they decide cases that are brought before them (Romans 13:1-7).
Jesus quotes part of Psalm 82:6 to show that these angry Jews have no right to kill him because he says, “I am God’s Son.” I think we can look to conversations Jesus had with his disciples for a clearer understanding of his relationship as God the Son with God the Father. By quoting this verse from Psalm 82, Jesus caused these angry Jews to pause. Then, he walked through them before they could throw the stones in their hands.
37 If I don’t do what my Father does, then don’t believe what I say. 38 But if I do what my Father does, you should believe in what I do. You might not believe in me, but you should believe in the things I do. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
39 They tried to get Jesus again, but he escaped from them.
Jesus tried to get his fellow Jews to think. He knew what he said was not enough for them. He asked them to look at the things he did. In the Gospel of John, Jesus did miracles as signs that pointed to his divine origin. Jesus is God the Son!
Nicodemus is one religious ruler who thought about the miracle-signs that Jesus did. He came to Jesus at night and said: “Teacher, we know that you are a teacher sent from God. No one can do these miraculous signs that you do unless they have God’s help,” (John 3:2).
Have things really changed today? If people would take time to look at the miracles Jesus did, they would see that Jesus is God. If they will think about his sacrifice on the cross, they will see that Jesus paid for their sins. If they believe in him, they will receive the gift of everlasting life with Jesus in his kingdom.
40 Then he went back across the Jordan River to the place where John began his work of baptizing people. Jesus stayed there, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “John never did any miraculous signs, but everything John said about this man is true.” 42 And many people there believed in Jesus.
Jesus left Jerusalem because the people there rejected him. Some wanted to kill him. Jesus crossed over the Jordan River where he knew people received him. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus. Even though King Herod killed John the Baptist, no one could destroy his message about Jesus.
When you tell someone about Jesus, it’s like planting a seed in the ground. It might lie in the ground for several years before it sprouts and produces something good to eat. In a similar way, it might take time for the good news of the gospel to produce results. Many people believed in Jesus in the place where John planted gospel seeds in previous years. Jesus reaped a spiritual harvest from the message John the Baptist had preached at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
Remember what Jesus told his disciples when he sent them out to spread the good news? ”And if the people in a home or a town refuse to welcome you or listen to you, then leave that place and shake the dust off your feet,” (Matthew 10:14).
If people refuse the good news of the gospel, don’t be discouraged. Shake the dust off your feet and tell someone else the good news. Don’t let rejection by one person or group keep you from sharing the good news with others who may believe in Jesus.
Jesus crossed the Jordan River only a few miles from Jerusalem and discovered people who were ready to receive him as their savior. Are you willing to walk away from people who reject Jesus to find those who are open to his message of love and forgiveness?
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