Scripture reading: Psalm 100: A PSALM FOR GIVING THANKS.
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Sermon text: John 10:22-30: 22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

Introduction

When I first anticipated preaching this sermon, I thought of spending a great deal of time on the technical aspects of verse 30: “I and the Father are one.” The Trinity stands as one of the most fundamental of our beliefs, the foundation on which everything we believe as Christians will either rise or fall. We cannot know God until we understand Who He is: One God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

However, if you’re awaiting a technical explanation of the Trinity, you’ll have to wait until Trinity Sunday on 3 June. Today, I believe Jesus’ words leading up to His momentous claim deserve our attention. The fact that Jesus is, in fact, God, increases the importance of His statements about His sheep, their eternal life, and their security. Our salvation rests on Jesus’ identity as God the Son. As such, our salvation remains steadfast and secure.

Sermon

St. John tells us that this event occurred during the Feast of Dedication. We know it today as Hanukkah, the Jewish festival that often occurs around Christmas on our calendar. This festival celebrates the cleansing of the Jewish Temple in 165 B.C. by Judas Maccabeus after its desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Greek ruler of the Seleucid Empire. When the Jews re-took Jerusalem and scoured the Temple of the Greek idols and sacrifices (the Greeks had offered pigs on the high altar), they found the Greeks had also desecrated the sacred oil used to light the lamps in the Temple. The Jews found enough for one day of lighting, but that one-day supply lasted 8 days.

While Jesus walked in the Temple to participate in this celebration of a miracle, the Jews cornered Him. We should realize that the Gospel writers usually uses the term “Jews” to refer to the leadership, not the common people. By now, the Jewish leaders had heard of Jesus’ miracles, such as feeding 5,000 men, turning water to wine, and raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead. However, the Jewish leaders had also heard of Jesus’ claims of equality with God (cf. John chapters 5 and 8 for details of these encounters).

We often overlook the importance of these claims. People forget that Jesus wasn’t a Christian; Jesus was a Jew. As a Jew, Jesus would have heard and spoken the Shema daily: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). The crucial statement of Jewish belief — of their entire faith — resided in the statement that they worshiped only one God, a God unlike any other god in any other nation’s pantheon.

Therefore, Jesus’ claim to be one with God the Father would have stricken the Jews as insanity at best or blasphemy at worst. It’s little wonder the Jews actually attempted to stone Jesus on more than one occasion.

However, this claim received its verification at Jesus’ resurrection. Anyone can claim to be God, and many people have made this claim over the millennia. However, as St. Peter proclaimed to the Jews on Pentecost, Jesus’ resurrection demonstrated the truth of His claim: He is “both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). As Lord, Jesus’ identifies with Yahweh and Adonai of the Old Testament. As Christ, Jesus fulfills every prophecy about the Chosen One in the Old Testament.

Since Jesus has proved His identity as God — He and the Father are One — we should more closely examine His statements in John 10. These statements are meaningless unless uttered by Someone who can fulfill them. Jesus can fulfill these statements.

First, Jesus states that “The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.” This condemnation would have shocked the Jews. If anyone were in the flock of God, certainly they were included! After all, God had chosen their father Abraham to bless the world. God had chosen Isaac of Abraham’s sons to receive the covenant, and Jacob of Isaac’s sons to fulfill the promise of a mighty nation from Abraham. The Jews were certain that God’s blessings belonged to them because of their genetic heritage.

The Jews forgot a crucial point of God’s covenant: God’s grace and salvation always relied on faith of the receiver of the covenant. The covenant grace never applied to anyone merely because of their birth, nor did it apply to someone merely because he attended the festivals on a regular basis. Instead, the covenant grace always applied only to those who attended the festivals and followed the Law in faith that if they kept their side of the covenant, God would keep His side of the covenant and bless them with salvation.

Of all times for Jesus to remind the Jews of the importance of covenant over ritual, the celebration of Hanukkah drove home the point. Hanukkah existed because the Jews found themselves under foreign domination for failing to keep the covenant. Furthermore, Hanukkah reminded the Jews of the cleansing of the Temple. Jesus reminded the Jews that faith in God required more than a clean building; it required a clean heart, justified before God by grace through faith.

Jesus then stated, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” The metaphor of sheep instantly reminded the Jews — as it does us today — of profound statements such as Psalm 23 (“The LORD is my shepherd”) and Isaiah 53 (“All we like sheep have gone astray”). Jesus states that His “sheep” — those He has redeemed from sin because they believe in Him by faith — “know” his “voice.” The word Jesus uses for “know” implies an understanding, a recognition of the subject, not merely a passing acquaintance with the subject. Jesus sheep know Him because we have received God the Holy Spirit into our hearts by our profession of Jesus as Lord of our lives. Jesus knows who are His.

Furthermore, Jesus said that “they follow me.” I’m reminded of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s words: “only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995), p. 63). Every claim of belonging to the flock must be judged by obedience to Jesus’ call. When Jesus calls, His true sheep obey.

Jesus then spoke words of indescribable comfort: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” If you belong to the flock of Christ, you may rest assured that you have eternal life. Your soul rests in the hands of Jesus Christ, who is Lord and God. As Almighty God, Jesus possesses the trait of omnipotence. “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” Do you fear for your soul? Have no fear; Jesus Himself holds you in His hand. Do you fear losing your salvation? Have no fear; follow Jesus in obedience, and rest assured that those who obey, truly believe in Jesus as Lord and Christ.

Conclusion

Do you have a new understanding of the importance of verse 30? Everything about our faith rests on the truth of verse 30. Jesus’ resurrection proved the truth of this verse, thereby rendering the promises in the previous verses completely true.

Therefore, what are we to do?

First, believe. St. Paul told the Romans that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Jesus’ resurrection is a historical fact. The testimony of countless people over the centuries testifies to the reality of the resurrection. The testimony of countless changed lives demonstrates the power of the risen Lord.

Secondly, obey. Confessing Jesus as Lord means you accept His way of life; you accept the commands He gives us through Holy Scripture and through His Church. You must submit yourself to Scripture and the Church to demonstrate your belief in Jesus as Lord. Bonhoeffer said, “Because Jesus is the Christ, he has the authority to call and to demand obedience to His word. Jesus summons men to follow Him not as a teacher or a pattern of the good life, but as the Christ, the Son of God” (ibid., pp. 57-58).

I would point out one final fact about Jesus’ claim on our lives as Lord and God. Jesus calls us to follow Him. This implies that Jesus has already gone where He commands us to go. As God, Jesus possesses the authority to send us forth into new territory; as the incarnate Son of God, Jesus has already gone before us, preparing the way. Child of God, lamb of the fold, go forth and follow your Lord. The path of Christ takes us through death into the victory of everlasting life.