John 10:22-28; Jer. 23:1-8, Woe to the Shepherds

Two months or more passed between 10:21 and 10:22. Yet it seems that Jesus picks up the very same conversation He was having earlier.  Should we consider this a little strange?  No, of course not.  Here’s why.  The Apostle John has been giving us select “sermons” from Jesus.  And actually, it might be better to say John has highlighted select “themes” from Jesus, because these are not sermons as we think of them.  They are interrupted by give and take with those who were listening.

The message involved certain “claims” of Jesus.  After the two private conversations (Ch. 2, Nicodemus, you must be born again; Ch. 4, the Samaritan woman, the offer of living water), John takes us to 3 feasts and one sermon in the synagogue of Capernaum.  Let’s review.

·       John 5: an unnamed feast.  Jesus healed a man by the pool of Bethesda, in Jerusalem.  This healing, on the sabbath, became the cause for the rise of serious opposition to Jesus.  Jesus gave a reasoned “apology” for His claim to be sent from God, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

·       John 6: in Capernaum. After feeding the 5,000, Jesus’ message at the synagogue was, “I AM the bread of life.”  This was a hard-to-take message for many who had claimed to be disciples.  We are told that many walked with Jesus no longer.

·       John 7-10:21: Feast of Tabernacles.  Over several days, Jesus’ message was, “I AM the light of the world.”  But as the feast was coming to an end, there were attempts to arrest Jesus as the conflict with the leadership became much sharper.  The healing of the man born blind provided the setting for Jesus to confront the Jews, claiming, “I AM the good shepherd.”  This confrontation with the leaders is a critical stage in God’s plan that involves the death and resurrection of His Son, the One He sent to earth for our sins.  The Jews know exactly what Jesus was doing, drawing on the “shepherd” theme from the prophets (Jer. 23:1-8; Ezek. 34; Zechariah 11; 13:7-8).  This was a full-fledged indictment of the Jews who were the “shepherds of Israel” in Jesus’ day.  Therefore …

·       John 10:22-42: Feast of Dedication.  Jesus picked up the “good shepherd” theme.  There was no going back.  The leadership, if they were going to properly shepherd the sheep of Israel, needed to submit themselves to Jesus’ message about who He was and why He had been sent from the Father.  But they would not.  There would be one more event, the raising of Lazarus, that would bring the opposition to finally put a plan in action to “take Jesus down” (Jn. 11).

There were a few among the Jews (like Nicodemus) who were more open to Jesus’ message.  We will see that there were others who believed what He said but were not willing to stick their necks out in open support.   Our point is this: in this story the sheep have a choice to make.  We cannot simply follow any shepherd that comes along.  That is Jesus’ message which we will consider next.