Valley Bible Church Sermon Transcript

Transcription

1 Tell Us Who You Are John 10:31-42 Part 2 Men and women throughout the ages have been divided over the question, "Who is Jesus?" Why? Why is there so much conflict over one individual? Why is it that the name of Jesus more than any other name causes so much irritation? Why is it that you can talk about God and nobody gets upset, but as soon as you mention Jesus, people so often times want to stop the conversation or will become defensive? How is He different from other religious leaders? Why don t the names of Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius or other religious leaders offend people? The reason is that these religious leaders did not make the claims about themselves that Jesus made about Himself Jesus certainly thought of Himself as more than just a prophet or teacher, and all of this will be very clear to us this weekend as we continue our study of John 10: Let us go back and quickly review what we have already considered. Jesus had been challenged by certain Jews at the feast of the dedication to tell them clearly whether or not He was the Christ (John 10:24). Let me read for you John 10:24. "If You are the Christ, tell us plainly." When Jesus responded to the Jews challenge to tell them clearly whether or not He was the Christ, He in essence told them He was (John 10:25). Let me read for you John 10:25. "Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father s name, these bear witness of Me. " Was this a clear statement by Jesus that He was the Christ? The answer is yes! But though this was a clear statement these Jews were not able to believe what He was saying. Why? These certain Jews in John 10:24 were not able to believe what Jesus was saying about Himself because they were not His sheep (John 10:26). Let me read for you John 10:26. "But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep." Who are Christ s sheep? Christ s sheep are those individuals who have been given to Him by the Father and will follow Him when they hear His voice (John 6:37; 10:27). How do we know that His Father had given His sheep to Him? John 6:37 told us that His Father had given His sheep to Him. How do we know that those sheep who have been given to Him by His Father will follow Him when they hear His voice? John 10:27 told us that. Let me the verse. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." Where will Jesus ultimately lead them? We can be confident that Christ will ultimately lead His sheep to glory (Romans 8:28-30). Let me read for you Romans 8: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (29) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren;

2 (30) and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." So how confident can we be that Christ, the good shepherd, will be able to fulfill the good purpose that He has for His sheep in leading them to glory? We can be confident that Christ will be able to fulfill the good purpose that He has for His sheep, because both He and His Father are fully committed to their preservation (John 10:28-30). Let me read for you John 10: "And I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall 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." And then He said in John 10:30, "I and the Father are one." How secure are Christ s sheep? They are eternally secure! This is why Jesus describes the life that He gives to His sheep as eternal life and promises them that they will never perish. Unfortunately, these Jews, who had challenged Jesus to plainly tell them whether or not He was the Christ, were not His sheep. In other words, they had not been given to Jesus by His Father. If they had been then they would have heard His voice and followed Him. Rather than having the hope of future glory, they were facing the prospect of future judgment. So what will happen next in our text? The Jews are going to react to what Jesus had just said. More specifically, the Jews are going to react to His statement in John 10:30, "I and the Father are one." As we saw last week, when Jesus said, "I and the Father are one," He was saying that they were one in action. In other words, He was saying that they both were committed to preserving His sheep. Even though Christ, by His words in John 10:30, was emphasizing that He and His Father were acting as one, another truth was also inferred. This is brought out, I believe, for us clearly in John 10: Let me read this passage of Scripture for you. "The Jews took up stones again to stone Him. (32) Jesus answered them, I showed you many good works from the Father, for which of them are you stoning Me? (33) The Jews answered Him, For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God. (34) Jesus answered them, Has it not been written in your Law, "I SAID, YOU ARE GODS"? (35) If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), (36) 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"? (37) If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; (38) but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father. (39) Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp. (40) And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place here John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. (41) And many came to Him and were saying, While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true. (42) And many believed in Him there." So what is the truth that was inferred in John 10:30 but stated more clearly in John 10:31-42?

3 Jesus disclosed to these Jews in John 10:31-42 that He was not only the Christ, but that He was also uniquely God s Son (John 10:31-42). Had Jesus met the challenge put before Him by the Jews to tell them plainly whether or not He was the Christ? Yes. In fact, we know, based on the verses that we have just read, that He more than met the challenge. He not only told them that He was the Christ but He also told them that He was uniquely God s Son. It is a wonderful thing to see Christ in the fullness of all that He is, and I hope that as we see Him in that fullness, it would help nurture within us a growing sense of well-being, knowing that the one who died for us and who now intercedes for us is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Let us begin by looking at the immediate reaction of the Jews after Jesus had told them, in John 10:30, "I and the Father are one." How did they respond? Let me read for you John 10:31. "The Jews took up stones again to stone Him." This obviously was a very dangerous situation that Jesus was facing. The Jews certainly had been angered by what Jesus had said, so how will Jesus respond? Let us go on to read John 10:32. "Jesus answered them, I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me? " Jesus, by this question, in effect, is saying, "If you can point to any of my works as not having originated from My Father, than certainly you can take issue with my statement that "I and My Father are one." But if you can t, then why are you so upset that you would want to stone Me?" Obviously Jesus is trying to change their focus from His words to His works. In other words, Jesus is trying in John 10:32 to get the Jews to change their focus from what He was saying to the evidence that supported what He was saying. This was not going to be an easy thing to do, and the Jews probably responded very much like Jesus expected them to respond. So how will the Jews respond to what Christ just said? They continue to focus on His words. Let me read for you John 10:33. "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God." They clearly believe that when Jesus said, "I and my Father are one," He had made a blasphemous statement. The Jews believed that Jesus had made a blasphemous statement, because they believed His words in John 10:30 had eradicated the creator-creation distinction. This is why they said at the end of John 10:33, "You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God." Though the statement of Christ in John 10:30 was meant to primarily communicate a unity of action and not necessarily a unity of essence, it certainly could be seen as inferred in the words that Jesus used, and the Jews are not about to let this opportunity to charge Jesus with blasphemy pass them by. So how will Jesus respond? Let us read John 10:34. "Jesus answered them, Has it not been written in your Law, "I SAID, YOU ARE GODS"? "

4 In responding to their charge against Him, that He made Himself out to be God, Jesus referenced a passage in the Old Testament. Jesus, in John 10:34, quoted Psalms 82:6 and pointed out to the Jews that the title "gods" was applied to the judges of the nation of Israel in the exercise of their high and God-given office. Let us now go on to see how Jesus applies this little tidbit of information as we read John 10: "If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), (36) 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?" Jesus point in John 10:35-36 was if God called human judges gods," then why should they stone Him for applying the same title to Himself when He Himself is uniquely God s Son? Of course, the answer to this question should be that they shouldn t have charged Him with blasphemy. This is the point that Christ is making. Christ s declaration that He was uniquely God s Son, in John 10:35-36, should not be overlooked. Not only were the judges of the nation of Israel called gods in Psalms 82:6, they were also called "the sons of the most high." But though they were called the sons of the most high, they were not uniquely God s sons for the simple fact that there were many judges. There was one person who the Father had sanctified and sent into this world according to John 10:36 that was uniquely God s Son. Who was that person? It was Jesus. So let me ask you ask you a question. Has Jesus met the challenge given to Him by the Jews in John 10:24 for Him to tell them plainly whether or not He was the Christ? Absolutely! Not only has He told them plainly that He was the Christ, but He has now plainly told them that He was uniquely the Son of God. But Jesus is not yet done. Jesus, in John 10:37-38, will now challenge them. Let me read these verses for you. "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; (38) but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." Jesus, in John 10:37-38, is once again calling them not to focus on what He has said about Himself, but rather to focus on the evidence that supports what He has said about Himself. If He has not done the works of His Father they should not believe, but if He has done the works of His Father then of course they should believe. Believe what? They should believe that He is the Christ and uniquely the Son of the living God. If they were to make this conclusion based on the evidence that Jesus is the Christ and uniquely the Son of God then what should this conclusion lead them to know and understand? This conclusion should lead them to know and understand that the Father was in the Son and the Son was in the Father.

5 When Jesus said that He was in the Father and the Father was in Him, He clarified what He only inferred in John 10:30 that He and His father shared the same essence. In other words, He in effect was saying that He was God, not God the Father, but rather God the Son. This joint indwelling is commonly referred to as the doctrine of "mutual co-inherence" which we will talk about in greater detail when we get to John 14: So what do you think? Do you think that these Jews who Jesus had already told were not His sheep would hear His words and believe what He has said? Of course the answer would have to be no, and this is exactly what we see in John 10:39. Let me read the verse for you. "Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp." Perhaps this too was but another evidence of His divine Son-ship, their total inability to impose their will upon Him until He Himself voluntarily laid down His life for the sheep as He told them that He, in fact, would do at some future time in John 10: This has been a very tragic story of rejection by these certain Jews who had challenged Christ in John 10:24 to tell them plainly if He were the Christ. Did Christ respond to their challenge? Yes! He told them exactly who He was and then challenged them to examine the evidence that supported their claims, but they were unable to do this. But this was not true of every Jew. Let us continue to read the last few verses of John 10. Let me read for you John 10: "And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. (41) And many came to Him and were saying, While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true. (42) And many believed in Him there." So let me ask you this question. Based on the evidence, the works of Jesus recorded for us in all four Gospels and the words of Jesus in John 10:22-42, who is He? Based on the words and works of Jesus, He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who through His death, burial and resurrection made it possible for us to receive the gift of life. It is a wonderful thing to see Christ in the fullness of all that He is, and I hope that as we see Him in that fullness it would help nurture within us a growing sense of well-being, knowing that the One who died for us and who now intercedes for us is the Christ, the Son of the living God.