John 10:22-42, “My Sheep”

The Feast of Dedication (also called “Feast of Lights” because people decorated their homes with lights) is “Hanukkah,” which means “dedication.”  It commemorated the purification and rededication of the temple in the second century before Christ.  It is fitting that Jesus, who had cleansed the temple once (John 2) and would do it again (Lk. 19:45-48), should be here now, rebuking those who were responsible for making it a “den of thieves.”

The request of the Jews was laughable: If you are the Christ, tell us plainly (10:24).  He had not been hiding this fact.  One primary way Jesus had made it plain was through the works that I do in My Father’s name (v25).  But they had not believed, and the reason was that they were not of His sheep or flock. 

Previously, Jesus had claimed to be the “door of the sheep” (10:7) and the good shepherd (10:11).  But what does it mean to be one of His sheep?  Jesus answered that question by the following characteristics: His sheep are those …

who believe Him (v25-26),

who hear His voice (v27),

He knows them and they follow Him,

to whom He gives eternal life and they shall never perish (v28),

and no one can take them from His or the Father’s hand (v28-29).

As Jesus said, He had already told them this (10:1-5; 6:35-40).  Jesus added the part about not being snatched from the Father’s hand.  But in Jesus’ view, this made sense because He and the Father were One!  He did not just mean they agreed; He meant they were one and the same.  Remember, this is Jesus, the Word who “was God” and “was with God” (Jn. 1:1).  The Jews understood what Jesus meant, and took up stones to stone Him because He had made Himself to be God (10:31-33).

Jesus brought the conversation to an end by a quote from Psalm 82:6.  In the Old Testament a common term for God (Elohim) is also used of angels and important or powerful men, as in this Psalm, where “judges” are referred to as “elohim.”  Jesus was not saying that He was merely an “important man.”  The continued attempt to “seize Him” (v39) makes that clear.  Here is the “logic” of Jesus’ argument:

The Scriptures cannot be broken.

The Scriptures referred to men as “gods” (Ps.82:6).

You’ve never protested this usage.

So why accuse Me of blasphemy when I have greater evidence to claim Deity?

We continue to see that Jesus does not back down from or soften the truth.   But He did escape Jerusalem to the Jordan Valley where His ministry had begun (John 1:29-42).  Many people came to Him there and many believed in Him.  This continues to be the issue to this day: I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst (Jn. 6:35).