©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 10:22-42 (ESV) - At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 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.” 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, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 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. I and the Father are one.”
The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.
Question to consider: Why does Jesus seem to cause people to get so angry with Him?
The Feast of Dedication is the first time-reference John has given us since the Feast of Tabernacles which puts today’s passage about two months later. In that time, Jesus could have gone to Capernaum and back. It was a three day walk if Jesus took the shortest path through Samariah which could have been the route that would have caused Him the least amount of trouble given that there were people plotting His death. John focused more on the encounters Jesus had in Jerusalem than in Capernaum, and each feast was drawing us closer to the Passover in which Jesus would be the paschal lamb.
The Feast of Dedication was an eight-day celebration instituted by Judas Maccabeus in 165 BC to purify the temple which had been profaned by the actions of Antiochus Epiphanes (1 Maccabees 4:52-61) I have to wonder whether Jesus saw the modern celebration of this feast as ironic considering that the ones who participated in purifying the temple from the Gentiles actually profaned it as the false shepherds who were bringing about the day of slaughter on their unsuspecting sheep.
Like Jesus’ brothers, the Jews were trying to get Jesus to reveal Himself publicly as Messiah, but it was not the Father’s time for Him to do so (even though it was close). Besides, what little He had revealed about Himself caused some to try and force Him to be king and others to pick up stones to execute Him. Jesus revealed Himself to be the Son of God and did signs that only God could do. Those who followed John the Baptist recognized that Jesus fulfilled everything he had said about Him. If someone proclaimed to be the Son of God and yet violated the Law or failed to fulfill prophecy, he would be rightfully accused of blasphemy, but everything Jesus did supported His claims.
Ingrained in our nature is our ability to deny what is right in front of us if it goes against a deeply held desire or belief. Everyone had their own expectations of what the Messiah was supposed to be and held to them passionately. John’s account of Jesus showed that the only expectations of Him that mattered were those of the Father.
Even today we have our own expectations of what we think Jesus should be like or how we receive the kingdom of God. We have expectations on how God should act toward us or what kind of life we deserve. However, most of our expectations are rooted in things of this world and according to what pleases us instead of how Christ has revealed Himself to us in His world. The question is whether we will take up stones to curse Him or deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Him.
Dear heavenly Father, please help us desire the things that You have prepared for us in this life, even when they are difficult. May we gain an eternal perspective that allows us to face the hardships of this world with peace knowing that You are using them for Your own good purposes. Amen.