John 17 Chapter 10

[HKHaugan]

We have spent some time looking at Chapters 8 and 9 in which Jesus opens a new door, a spiritual door. He is the light of the world. To make that clear He heals a man born blind. He identifies Himself as the One through whom all Creation came into being by mixing His spit with dirt and placing it on the blind man's eyes as the physical sign of the spiritual reality that enabled his healing. What an enormous statement that was being made right there. This is not the Messiah of cultural expectations but the Messiah revealing the presence of God, the spiritual truth that is both spiritual and personal being revealed in the flesh of Jesus. In this healing is the culmination of His spiritual autobiography. There will be one more sign to seal Himself as the exact image of God. That will be the raising of Lazarus in Chapter 11.

But first, we want to look at just how personal God is, how personal and interpersonal He has chosen to present Himself. The whole of Chapter details how personal God is and wants to impress on those who hear Jesus,, He is not only the Light of the world who is the “I AM” who appeared to Moses but the “I AM” existing before Abraham, He is the “I AM” in every present moment for all people in every generation. Before Jesus came God was distant, too holy to be approached, too pure to be seen by sinners. Hidden behind the curtain of the Temple to be celebrated through feasts honoring Him. He is only experienced in history and obedient temple worship. Then in a limited way by special people like the prophets and priests in liturgies.

From this point on Jesus wants the world to know that God can be seen, felt, touched and understood in Him. God is not only personally accessible He is relationally accessible and desires a Father and child relationship with everyone who believes in Him. Thus we have Jesus spoken of in two ways in the Gospels. He is the Son of God and the Son of Man, fully Man and fully God, fully personal and fully relational. Talk about upsetting the preconceptions and religious conclusions of compromised leadership, Jesus brings in a whole new dimension of reality. The nature of God as mind, heart and Spirit loving, caring, sharing, teaching, confronting, exposing the human condition of sin-induced aloneness and healing it personally. And it all starts spiritually, personally and relationally with Jesus as the focus.

10:1-6 After confronting the Pharisees with their spiritual blindness Jesus lifts up before them the most common mobile imagery on the landscape to teach about Himself, sheep and shepherds. The supporting images are sheep pens, their gates, a watchman, a hired hand, a stranger, a wolf, robbers and thieves.

Because of the nature of sheep it is the person who is the shepherd that goes in by the gate. Thieves and robbers climb the walls to rob and steal. There are larger pens that require a watchman and a hired hand. The watchman opens the gate only for the shepherd. The hired hand is only in it for the money. But it is the shepherd who is the central figure since they are his sheep and the one the sheep both recognize and listen to. The sheep respond only to the shepherd because they recognize his voice. If it is a larger pen with several herds, the sheep know the shepherd’s voice because he calls them by name and leads them out. They will never follow a stranger and if they hear his voice they will run away from him.

10:7-21 The Pharisees simply did not understand either because of their hardened hearts or because the imagery involved the lowest social class, shepherds. So Jesus tells it like it is and says twice, “I am the gate for the sheep.” All before Him were thieves and robbers and no one paid attention to them. Obviously Jesus is pointing to previously corrupt leadership in Israel, not the patriarchs, nor the prophets, nor Moses (Hebrews 11 contains a longer list.). Rather the history of the godless kings, the compromised priesthood, the social leaders and the people who followed whatever the trend was at the time. The spiritual leadership in Israel was vacant. He repeats that the thieves come to steal, kill and destroy. This repetition points to the ongoing problem of those who use religion to replace personal faith, gaining position for personal power, social recognition and influence. Denominational structures lend themselves to this weakness and have exhibited such historically. Our modern denominational leaders have fallen into this trap by compromising with cultural change, using their people's money and stealing their trust as they redefine biblical truth to further their anti-scriptural agenda.

Jesus doesn't just leave it there, He carries the imagery even further when he refers to the hired hand who is just that. If a wolf appears he takes off and the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep (An allusion to Zech.13:7). The imagery now intensifies as He stresses the deeply personal nature of God. Just as He knows the Father and the Father knows Him so He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. He lays down His life for the sheep. And here is where He goes beyond heritage, ethnicity, nation and bloodline, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” He goes on to say that the Father loves Him precisely because He lays down His life to take it up again, a command from His Father. It doesn't get more personal than that. The Jewish leaders varied in their views saying He was demon possessed to some actually considering the validity of His claim to be the spiritual focus of all mankind.

10:22-42 While there is a break in time and location the theme of light remains the same. How do we know that? Because John continues his narrative with Jesus attending the Feast of Dedication also known as the Feast of Lights. Perfect kairos timing in a chronos setting. This feast dedicates a festal period (in our calendar mid-December) honoring the re-dedication of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus in 165BC after it had been profanely assaulted and misused by Antiochus Epiphanes. Every Jewish house was lit by at least one candle and in many, a candle for each man in the house. Ever wonder why candles are so prevalent in our worship, ceremonies and vigils and even thrive in secular rituals? Light sends a message, the deepest of which is, Jesus the Light of the World.

The Jewish leaders are no less belligerent, “If you are the Christ, say it.” OK, you ask, why doesn't He just say it outright, “I am the Messiah.”? Again consider the consequence of Him saying that. First, The Father didn't tell Him to say that (Jn.12:49-50). Secondly, the leadership's understanding of the word 'Messiah' is loaded with cultural baggage of what he was to be and do. Thirdly, the Pharisees had taken upon themselves the authority for determining the coming of the Messiah. Their expectations were built around an earthly king who would deliver them from Roman rule. They operated from a worldly perspective, He from a spiritual perspective. Fourthly, Jesus was ushering in a new kingdom, a spiritual kingdom like the one already existing in Heaven. It's accessed only by faith in Him, its King who brings it into the heart of the individual by faith. These are just four of the reasons He tells them that His miracles and teachings speak for themselves. They have made the declaration of who He is and what He has come to do. If they can't see Him as the Light then they are still in the dark. What really corks it is when He says, “I and the Father are one (vs.32)” and that on top of “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Jesus and the Pharisees are polar opposites spiritually, personally and relationally. They don't think, feel or act alike in any way. This is illustrated in the Pharisee's next actions.

They pick up stones to throw at Him and He says it right out, “I've shown you miracles from the Father. For which one do you stone me?” “It's because you a mere man claim to be God,” they said. Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said, You are gods?'---and Scripture cannot be broken---what about the one the Father set apart as His very own and sent Him into the world. How can you say I'm blaspheming when I said I'm God's Son?” But they still can't get it so He reemphasizes the facts of His miracles as proof that He is who He claims to be and that their view of the Messiah is totally opposite of the personal, relational and spiritual dimension the Messiah brings into the world. If they would just check His spiritual credentials then they could make a heart choice instead of a culturally conditioned religious one. Also their choices are made in the fear of losing what they believe is power to survive and prosper. They are coming from an external social and political mindset while Jesus is presenting a spiritual and personal 'heartset.' Only His death can and will bridge the gap.

Again they try to get hold of Him but He slips through their chronos grasp of anger and fear. His kairos Cross and its gateway to eternal life lies just ahead. So Jesus returns to the Jordan where He was baptized and stays there for awhile. Many came to Him and many believed in Him.

The conclusive sign, the seventh, is about to take place and be the cap on His mission before the last and most important part of His work is done.