I and My Father are One

John 10:29-30.

My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.

I and my Father are one.

When I did a lot of work with children in my younger years, when I still had the energy, I would often illustrate this passage very simply. I would put a small object in my hand, like a coin or a piece of candy. I would tell the children, “I’m holding up my hand, and let’s pretend it is God’s hand. See this coin? I’m going to put it in my hand, and let’s pretend that coin is each of you. Now I’m closing my fingers around the coin. I want someone to come up here and try to take it out of my hand.”

It wouldn’t be too long before some little six-or-seven-year-old would confidently come forward to open my fist and retrieve the coin, which he could then keep.

I was young and strong back then. No child could force my fingers open. (I would usually give the coin to the child anyway 🙂 )

Then I would tell them, “This is what Jesus meant when He said no one could take His sheep out of the hand of the Father. The Father is stronger than sin, death, and Satan. Once you believe in Him and become one of His sheep, you are safe forever, closed securely in His hand.”

And then I would explain Jesus’ next sentence: “I and the Father are One.”

Jesus was God in the flesh. He was the Son of God. They were the same. That which was held by Jesus was held by God. There was no difference, no separation, between Jesus and the Father.

This truth is taught in the very first verse of Genesis, and all throughout scripture.

“In the beginning, God (Elohim, plural, not singular) created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1). The singular form is Eloah, or El. It refers to a monotheistic Being, but is plural in grammatical terms, indicating a plural Being. Later, God says “Let US create man in OUR own image,” again indicating a plurality within one Being (Gen. 1:26).

In today’s passage, we hear Jesus clearly stating that He and the Father are One, again teaching the plurality of the Godhead.

Do I understand it? No. Do I believe it? Yes, absolutely. God said it, and that settles it. Hebrews 11:1. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” The study of this one major point of the Christian faith could last a lifetime, so deep is His Word; and yet, so simple that even a child can believe it.

They Shall Never Perish

John 10:27-28

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me:

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.

It was a common practice of the time that shepherds would lead all their different flocks into one large fold, each shepherd being known and acknowledged by the doorkeeper of the fold. The next morning, as each shepherd came to gather his flock, he would simply stand and call to his flock. They, knowing his voice and hearing him, would separate from the other sheep and follow him as he led them out of the fold and into that day’s pasture.

This practice was a daily familiarity to the people, so Jesus knew His hearers would “get it.” He was indeed the Master Teacher, the incredible storyteller, taking that which the people already knew and understood to teach the deep truths of the Father.

Verse 28 contains a wonderful promise:

I give unto them eternal life: Jesus is the giver of eternal life to those who know His voice and follow Him. Life beyond this mortal experience, eternal life, means that no one can take that life away from the sheep.

They shall never perish: We all must experience death here on earth, but life in Jesus Christ is never-ending.

Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand: It is impossible for anyone to take His sheep away from Him. The body may be destroyed, but the soul lives eternally. It is beyond the reach of sin and death, and there is no one at all who can remove the believing soul from the Father’s hand. The promise is that the believer need have no fear of mortal death, because he has eternal life in heaven once earthly death has done its work.

No one, no man, no theology, no dogma that man has devised, can remove the believer from the Hand of God.

I Told You!

John 10:25. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.

I’m backing up a little bit this morning because I want you to see clearly how blind the religious leaders were, how deaf they were to the truths Jesus had already told them. I have copied the following from David Guzik’s commentary on John 10 in the Blue Letter Bible online:

 I told you, I am the one who came from heaven (John 3:13, 6:38)· 

I told you, whoever believes on Me has eternal life (John 3:15)·

I told you, I am the unique Son of God (John 5:19-23)· 

I told you, I will judge all humanity (John 5:19-23)· 

I told you, all should honor Me just as the honor God the Father (John 5:19-23)· 

I told you, the Hebrew Scriptures all speak of Me (John 5:39)· 

I told you, I perfectly reveal God the Father (John 7:28-29)· 

I told you, I always please God and never sin (John 8:29, 8:46)· 

I told you, I am uniquely sent from God (John 8:42)· 

I told you, before Abraham was, I Am (John 8:58)· 

I told you, I am the Son of Man, prophesied by Daniel (John 9:37)· 

I told you, I will raise Myself from the dead (John 10:17-18)· 

I told you, I am the Bread of Life (John 6:48)· 

I told you, I am the Light of the World (John 8:12)· 

I told you, I am the Door (John 10:9)· 

I told you, I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11)

The importance of all that Jesus had already told the leaders and the people cannot be overstated. He had already given them so much truth! Yet, because their eyes were blinded by hatred, they had not truly heard what He said. They asked Him to tell them plainly if He were the Christ, and He said that all the works He had done in the Father’s Name already clarified Who He was.

Also, I wanted to emphasize the importance of the meaning of the title Christ. The following is taken from the Online Dictionary:

Origin

Old English Crīst, from Latin Christus, from Greek Khristos, noun use of an adjective meaning ‘anointed’, from khriein ‘anoint’, translating Hebrew māšīaḥ ‘Messiah’.

Christ. Anointed One. Messiah. They can be used interchangeably, and they all refer, in scripture, only to Jesus, and to no one else.

All this is important to the rest that Jesus says in Chapter 10.

A Day Off

My Germany family left the house @ 5:30 this morning. We said our goodbyes last night, as I didn’t think I could handle being up that early after being up rather late. We had some friends here last night that Mike hadn’t seen in many years, and we had SUCH a good time!

So–I’m asking your indulgence today. I’m just purely worn out. I plan to do nothing whatsoever today. I may even go back to bed. I was vaguely aware of their leaving this morning, but forced myself to go back to sleep. It was not much of a struggle 🙂

I should be back on track tomorrow, and I am looking forward to the next passage in John 10. It’s beautiful. I’m going to enjoy digging into it.

See you then!

Sunday Morning Coffee: Trusting Jesus

The summer visiting is almost at an end. Germany will leave early Tuesday morning. They’ve been here again since Thursday night, and it’s been a good weekend. When they leave early Tuesday, I know it will be a long time before we see them again. The goodbyes are never easy.

It doesn’t seem so very long ago that Terry and I, with our four kids, were the ones backing out of my parents’ driveway while they stood at the doorway waving goodbye. It’s astonishing how fast we became the aged grandparents 🙂 But now, my kids are watching THEIR kids leave the nest, some going to the other ends of the earth.

Of course the song “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof is playing in my head right now.

Along with it, though, are thoughts of the time when we’ll never have to say goodbye again.

Life changes. We start with hope, dreams, expectancy. The future seems limitless, the possibilities endless. As we walk the pathways of our lives, if we are believers, we know and understand that there is eternity with God in our future. It seems so far away, though, as we get tied up in the daily necessities of life. And so it should be, to a great extent. God didn’t create us so that we could just sit idly and contemplate eternity. He gave us the privilege of work, of achieving goals, of falling in love, having children, passing on to them what we have learned in life. He gave us minds to learn, an abundance of interests to pursue, abilities to develop, humor, joy, sadness and sorrow.

Not every moment of my life has been a party. Some of it has been very hard, and still is. But I’m still learning. God is so good, teaching us that with every trial there is blessing.

Here’s another favorite hymn from my growing up years that holds the answer to both the hard times and the joy:

You Don’t Believe Me

John 10: 25-26.

Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in My Father’s Name, they bear witness of Me.

But ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep, as I said unto you.

When the Pharisees circled Jesus in a silly attempt to contain Him, they demanded that He tell them plainly if He were the Christ. They wanted Him to claim to be King of the Jews so they could take Him to Rome and accuse Him of treason.

He was ready for them. He didn’t hesitate or mince words. He said, “I have already told you. You refuse to believe Me, because you are not the sheep of My fold. All the works I do in My Father’s Name prove Who I am!” (my own paraphrase.”

He goes on to say some of my favorite words in all of scripture. I’m going to wait a couple of days to address that passage. We have family here again until early Tuesday morning. In the meantime, go ahead and read through to the end of Chapter 10. You will be blessed. There are precious promises to be enjoyed.

Tell us Plainly

John 10:22-24.

And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.

Then came the Jews round about Him, and said unto Him, How long dost Thou make us to doubt? If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

I had to smile at this question. How much more plainly did the religious leaders need Him to say Who He was? Just a few of His statements so far include, I am the Living Bread, the Son of God, the Living Water, the Door, the Good Shepherd, the Light of the World.

It is winter in Jerusalem. It is the time of the Feast of Dedication, also known as Hanukkah. I lived for two years in a Jewish neighborhood in north Minneapolis, and I remember well the excitement of my classmates during this season, which often comes about the same time as the Gentile Christmas season. It was a time that celebrated the cleansing and re-dedication of the temple after three years of desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria (in 164 or 165 b.c.).

Antiochus Epiphanes’ reign of terror in Israel was a time of great suffering for the people of Israel. You can read about Hanukkah at this link, if you’d like to know more about it:

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/hanukkah

Jesus was walking along Solomon’s Porch in the Temple, and as usually happened, people began to gather around Him. As they walked, there was conversation. Finally someone asked Him, “Why don’t You come right out with it? Are you the Christ? Tell us plainly!”

As I’ve already said, He had told them plainly. This was not a friendly interview, but another attempt by the religious leaders to get Him to say He was the King of the Jews, so that they could report His words to the Roman authorities.

The wording in the Hebrew language describing this incident indicates that these leaders encircled Him, “ringed around Him,” so He could not escape as He had done before. This was not a subtle effort, but a planned, visible attempt to keep Him under control and force Him to say something for which they could accuse Him of perfidy against Rome.

But Jesus knew their hearts. He was ready for them. We’ll look at His response tomorrow.

Division

John 10:19-21.

There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.

And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye Him?

Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?

(Before I start the comments on this passage, I want to say a quick “thank you!” to my readers. Whether you are a regular, an occasional drop-in, or brand new to my site, you have contributed to encouraging me to keep on writing. Yesterday, I reached the 300,000 mark in my reader stats. Right at this moment, there have been 300,100 hits on this blog. So thank you, and thanks to God, Who has enabled me to keep writing and sharing His Word.)

Yesterday, we read that Jesus made it clear that He was the Good Shepherd Who would lay down His life for the sheep, and then take it back up again. He again asserted His love for the Father, demonstrated by His obedience.

As usual, there were strong emotions engendered by His words. Some thought He was just crazy. Some thought He was possessed by a demon, and wondered why anyone listened to Him.

Others, though, said that a demon could not have healed blind eyes, and they were right. Only the Creator of the eyes could miraculously heal the man who was born blind.

For the Pharisees, the biggest problem lay in the fact that Jesus had healed, or done work, on the Sabbath. They were busily collecting testimony against Him, and you can be assured that they had listening ears in all these situations concerning the work and ministry of Christ.

Their goal was to kill Him. What they didn’t know was that His purpose in coming to earth was to die–for them, and everyone else.

Wahoo!!

Maybe it seems like no big deal to anyone else, but I just broke 300,000 in my viewer stats. Actually, 300,005!

I’m all excited 🙂

Holy, Holy, Holy!

John 10:17-18.

Therefore doth my Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again.

No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father.

Continuing in His comparison of Himself to a good shepherd, Jesus restates His earlier claims of His complete submission to the Father. He said that the Father loved Him for His obedience. He would lay down His life; He would take it up again.

No one took His life. He gave it up when His work was done. This, to me, is one of the most amazing things about Jesus.

He did not lose His life. His life was not taken from Him against His will. He chose to suffer the indignities heaped upon Him before the cross. He chose to carry the cross until His human strength gave out. He did not have to be forced, kicking and screaming, to stretch His body on the cross. He knew what He had come to do. He did it willingly, in obedience to the Father.

He chose the shame of the cross; He accepted the suffering. The cross was the ultimate degradation, and the Romans made it as miserable as possible. Jesus did not fight against it. He endured the inhumanity, the shame, the public exposure, all in obedience to the Father. As He bore the awful load of the sin of mankind, His only concern was that the Father could not look on sin, and had to turn His face away. In that moment, Jesus felt forsaken. So close was He to the will of the Father, that the Father’s absence was the most terrible thing He suffered that day.

When His work was complete, He said the last words from the cross: “It is finished.” And then He gave up His life. Gave it willingly, trusting the Father completely, knowing He had fulfilled the work that the Father had sent Him to do.

So many thoughts are competing for space in my head right now, but the one I’ll end with today is that God, the Father, in His absolute holiness, could not look on His Son when He became sin for us.

In this tumultuous world, in which so much evil is accepted as good and right, we have lost our sense of God’s holiness. So far have we come from understanding the meaning of the word itself that we use it loosely and without real meaning. Phrases such as “holy crap” come to mind. That phrase, of course, is an oxymoron. There is nothing holy about feces.

Defined, holy means sacred, consecrated, sanctified, holy, hallowed. To be sanctified is to be set apart for a specific purpose, ordained of God. It is purity. It turns from that which is evil, or defiled, or blasphemous, or profane. It is a word no believer should use carelessly, because holiness is the primary attribute of God.

Let’s end on a good note today: