4th Sunday of Easter
May 2, 2004
John 10:22-30.

^10:22At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

²⁵Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; ²⁶but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. ³⁰The Father and I are one.” (NRS).

You Are Safe in the Hands of the Divine Shepherd.

  Today’s Gospel reading speaks of two very important issues, two questions that are just as relevant today as they were 2000 years ago. First, is Jesus the Messiah? And second, if he is the Messiah, are those who trust in him truly secure, that is, guaranteed to get to heaven? Many people ignore those questions; others agonize over them. God, however, wishes us to be at peace and to have confidence. Thus he speaks this word to us. Yes, Jesus is the Messiah, thus our divine shepherd, equal to God, in whose hands we are eternally secure.

  The Jewish holiday of Hanukah provides the setting in which these Jewish leaders pose their question to Jesus. John says, At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. Hanukah is this Feast of Dedication. It commemorates the rededication of the temple in 165 B.C. In an episode right out of the book of Judges, like Gideon or Samson, God raised up Judas Maccabaeus to deliver the Jews from a Greek oppressor named Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus had desecrated the temple and turned it into place of pagan sacrifice. Judas and his followers rose up, fought and defeated them. Then they purified and rededicated the temple to its proper use. It was simply a miraculous victory and many at the time wondered if Judas would turn out to be the Messiah. Judas wasn’t the Messiah. He died and 100 years later the Romans conquered and controlled Palestine. Yet Hanukah celebrated the last time the Jews had known freedom, power and glory. It was therefore a moment when the hope of the coming of the Messiah was on their mind. Was it Jesus?

  Add to this the detail that Jesus was walking in the portico of Solomon. This was a covered walkway supported by columns. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, the Jews believed that this portico was all that remained of the first temple, Solomon’s temple. If we remember how Jesus cleansed the temple and called it his Father’s house we can’t miss the symbolism. He is the one who will deliver his people once for all and restore the true worship of God! He will fulfill all for which Hanukah and the temple stood.

  In those circumstances the Jewish leaders confront Jesus. “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” The question was important, a matter of life and death. Politically, proclaiming Jesus Messiah could lead to armed rebellion against Rome, a situation like Afghanistan taking on the United States. Religiously, it meant having to interpret Moses and the Prophets from Jesus’ perspective. It meant pinning one’s hopes of a return to Eden like conditions on this carpenter from Nazareth.

  The question is still relevant even for us non Jews. If we accept that Jesus is the Messiah—not just a wise Jewish rabbi or philosopher from the past but a Saviour sent from God for all people—we face the same sort of political and religious consequences. We will have to interpret Scripture from his perspective for it is his word! That will likely put us is delicate situations. If for example, the Crown ratifies Bill C-250 which the Senate just approved, and this law is later interpreted to mean that any public statement disapproving homosexuality is a hate crime—which seems inevitable—what will the Church do? Capitulate or rebel against Rome? To accept homosexuality as God’s will would be to contradict and deny Jesus the Messiah. That could lead to eternal damnation. To rebel against Rome could mean fines and imprisonment. I doubt many of us have a Mandela complex. So you see, the question of whether or not Jesus is the Messiah is important and relevant.

 Jesus answer was simple. I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. Jesus did not put an add in the newspaper to announce that he was the Messiah. He didn’t want to lead a rebellion against Rome. Nevertheless, John makes it clear that Jesus did claim to be the Messiah. When he called his first disciples, Nathanael was so impressed that he exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Nathanael means that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus didn’t deny it! The Samaritan woman at the well said to Jesus that when the Messiah came he would tell them everything. Jesus replied, “I am he!” When he fed the 5000, the people wondered if Jesus was the prophet who was to come into the world and wanted to make him king. They understood the sign. Later Jesus told the Jews, “You will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.” Who? The Messiah! Those claims remain for anyone who will read the Gospel.

  Besides his claims, Jesus appeals to his works as proof. The miracles he did prove that he was the Messiah. Shortly before he spoke to these Jews, Jesus healed a man born blind. That was a very public miracle that caused a big ruckus in the court. Just after this conversation, Jesus will raise Lazarus from the dead. This will get the Jews so upset that the want to kill Lazarus as well as Jesus! But the great work, which we have just celebrated was Jesus’ own resurrection. It is the work that continues to testify to Jesus and proclaim that he is the Messiah. Because he rose from the dead we can believe all his words, trust them and put them into practice.

  So why didn’t these Jews recognize Jesus? To some extent, they didn’t recognize him because he didn’t fit their picture. When for example Nicodemus began to think favourably of Jesus, the rest of the council ridiculed him because Jesus was from Galilee. They knew that the Messiah had to be a descendant of David from Bethlehem. They didn’t know Jesus’ history so they simply discounted the possibility that he was the Messiah. He didn’t fit the mould!

  Many today suffer from the same limitation. Jesus doesn’t fit their mould. Let me explain what I mean. Back in the 1960’s, Swiss engineers developed the first quartz watch. But the Swiss watch industry, which dominated the world, didn’t accept it. It didn’t fit their mould of what a watch was supposed to be. The Japanese and Americans picked it up instead. The quartz watch took off like wildfire and the Swiss watch industry began to collapse. The Swiss were forced to wake up and make a change. Now they produce quartz watches and again are the leading exporter in terms of total value.

  The mould that we have been taught to use in life rejects the idea of creation and proposes a purely material explanation for the universe and life. It has no slot or use for a Son of God. The current mould denies the possibility of absolute moral truth. It has no slot or use for Jesus’ claim to be the way, the truth and the life. Jesus doesn’t fit the world’s picture and so the world doesn’t believe. Like these Jews, we see and hear and refuse to believe.

  Nevertheless, Jesus remains the Messiah! And that is very good news for those who trust in him! For he is our divine shepherd, equal to God, in whose hands we are eternally secure. First to those Jews who had rejected him, Jesus says, You do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. Jesus does not say “Since you are not my sheep you cannot believe.” He says “Since you are not my sheep you do not believe.” In other words, Jesus is not saying that the reason they don’t believe is that he doesn’t want them to believe. He very much wants them to believe. On the cross he will ask the Father to forgive them because they don’t know what they’re doing. Rather they don’t believe because they refuse to believe. They have not been born anew because they refuse to let it happen. It’s like people who see the Church and refuse to come in no matter what the Church does to invite them in. There is no explanation except they refuse! So lay to rest once for all any doubts about whether Jesus wants you to believe and be one of his sheep. He does!

  He says to you, My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. Here is the Gospel, the great, secure relationship we have with Jesus as his people. It is meant to comfort us in life’s most trying moments. No matter what the devil and the world do to you, they can never snatch you out of Jesus’ hand! Neither is there some level of holiness or sinlessness that you must attain to please God. One Christian said, “It is one of the precious things about the Christian faith that our continuance in eternal life depends not on our feeble hold on Christ, but on his firm grip on us.” (Morris, p. 521). As we read in Revelation, Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb. Your salvation is God’s work. For him, nothing is impossible.

  No one can snatch us out of Jesus’ hand because of his connection to God the Father. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one. Like the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, here is another of those great truths that make all the difference in the world but that people have such a hard time accepting. Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus claims to be one with the Father. He claimed over and over that the works he did were the things that the Father gave him to do. He claimed to have the same authority as the Father and called himself the Son of God. Such statements outraged the Jews who at least twice picked up stones to kill him! This close connection to the Father means that no one or no thing can separate us from Jesus because nothing could ever separate us from God the Father. We are invited to trust in, think of and relate to Jesus as we do to the Father! We are invited to see that Father relates to us in Christ. He’s not just a hired shepherd.

  The Father and I are one. We have always struggled with what that means. We struggle with the concept of the Trinity: one God and three persons. Yet Jesus says that he and the Father are one being. This is why the church confesses in the Nicene Creed that Jesus is “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.” This is not an attempt to give a scientific explanation for the Trinity. It is simply a defence of the true Word of God, the Gospel that saves us and gives us hope. God, the whole God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit has made you his own through faith, through Baptism. You can be sure that Jesus will bring you to eternal life!

  Hear again Jesus’ word.

  “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

  Jesus answered, “I have told you. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one.”

  You are safe in the hands of the Divine Shepherd.