At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter,
23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.
24 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.”
25 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,
26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.28
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
29 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.
30 I and the Father are one.”31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.
Our text opens with Jesus at the Feast of Dedication, or what we call Hanukkah. This was the celebration of God’s deliverance of Jerusalem in 164 BC by Judas Maccabeus.
It is sometimes called the feast of lights due to the custom of lighting lamps and candles in homes during this celebration.
The Jews come to Jesus with a question. But Jesus has veiled his claims to them all through the ministry to this point. He was willing to tell the Samaritan woman
straight out that he was the Messiah and he did tell his inner circle of disciples in unambiguous speech that he was the Christ, but these Jews had such a false understanding of the Messiah and thought they could demand from Him instead of humble receive from
him so he wouldn’t announce himself to them in plain terms. They would have and eventually did misunderstand the claim he was making and, what is more, He knew that they wouldn’t believe in him anyway. But all through the Gospel he had done enough and said
enough to bring an honest heart to the recognition that he was the Messiah and the Son of God.
One of the things we notice about Jesus is that He set forth the truth of God and of Himself as God even when He knew it was going to cause nothing but trouble for
Him and even put Him into danger. In this instance the Jews picked up stones to stone Him. But unlike today, Jesus never entered into a controversy unnecessarily or for some personal or selfish end. And yet, the Jews on this day took up stones because they
didn’t like what He was saying; The truth cut across the grain of what they thought, wanted and believed.
But Jesus is talking about salvation and how it is that a person is set free from death, sin and hell. Eternity hangs in the balance and this is a truth that man must
know, regardless of what it will cost our Savior. And what is that truth here? Well, the Lord puts it plainly.
The salvation of God, the real salvation, the only salvation for fallen men and women, the only hope that will actually prove to be true, the one way that sinners
can be given peace with God and hope of eternal life, is a salvation that God the Father and Jesus Christ together give freely to men.
It is their salvation, a divine salvation, in plan, in execution and in application.
And because of that, this salvation, it is certain, sure, and indestructible. It
is precisely because of this, that the salvation that God and Christ bring does not depend upon a man or woman’s work to earn or even add merit to the accomplishment of this salvation. Read again what Jesus says:
“My sheep listen to my voice and they follow me…”
“I give them eternal life and they shall never perish…”
“No one can snatch them out of my hand…”
“My Father who has given them to me is greater than all…”
“No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand…”
To make the point more absolutely irrefutable, the Lord puts the same in the negative. He looks at the Jewish religious leaders and says, “You are not my sheep.”
You don’t believe in me, you don’t listen to my voice, you don’t follow me, you don’t accept the evidence of your eyes and the implication of my miracles because you are not my sheep. If you were my sheep, you would believe and you would follow me.
If we were to say to folks that the Lord loves his sheep or that his sheep listen to his voice and generally speaking, no one will raise an eyebrow. (Although to
say that His sheep hear His voice and follow Him, speaks to the necessary connection between hearing and obeying, and THAT might ruffle feathers!) But tell folks that they are not his sheep and, suddenly, it all becomes clear what the Lord is saying! It sounds
like the Lord is saying what we read elsewhere in the Bible that the Lord will have mercy upon whom he will have mercy…that it is God’s choice that matters!
We might have expected that the Lord would have said, “you are not my sheep because you do not believe” that would have made sense to us! But he did not say
that. He said, “you don’t believe because you are not my sheep.” In other words, even our belief in Christ, even our faith by which we obtain our salvation, came to us because God had made us his sheep and Christ had died for us as His sheep. Being a sheep
comes before believing!
As mentioned, the sheep follow their shepherd’s voice, they belong to the Shepherd and go where He goes and do as he pleases, that is what sheep do! But they do so,
we do so, because we are sheep. There are no sheep of this shepherd that do not follow his voice!
Jesus puts this about as plainly as possible. If a person is not God’s sheep, he will not believe, he will not follow and therefore, he will not be saved. Why is
he not saved? Because he is not a sheep. That is difficult for us to hear, especially difficult in an age like ours where personal choices are almost deified. You can anticipate the objections, I am sure. That would not be fair for God is not treating
everyone alike. That is not right because it takes away man’s free will to say that God decides who will be saved. This turns a man into a robot.
I have heard those objections for over 30 years! And yet, this is what the Lord Jesus speaks here about his sheep and about the religious leaders who opposed him not being his sheep.
And, to be sure, there is a great deal more to be said about all of this. More to be said about man’s freedom, which is real; more to be said about God’s justice,
which is real; more to be said about man’s own love of sin and determined unbelief; more to be said about his distaste for the gospel and for the law of God; more to be said about his invincible disinterest in submitting himself to God; more to be said about
God’s love for the world and about how he does not desire the death of the wicked but that all men should come to repentance; more to be said about the connection made between a man or woman exercising responsible choice and the outworking of his or her salvation.
Much more to be said. But the Lord does not say it here.
For now, the Lord wants us to marvel in the deepest humility that He is our Shepherd and we are His sheep. We did nothing to become His sheep. We didn’t impress Him,
or coerce Him to allow us into the fold. He simply chose us, loved us, and now promises to lead us home. And as so, we are precious to Him, protected by Him and assured of our rest by Him. Instead of debate and wrangling, let’s take Jesus’ words as truth and
rejoice in them! Let’s believe Him and let’s listen for His voice…and follow Him.
Prayer: Father, thank You for calling me as a sheep of Your pasture to follow my Good Shepherd. Give me the grace and courage to follow the Lamb wherever He leads
me. My confidence is in Him alone as I realize I bring nothing to my salvation but the sin from which I need to be saved. Because of Your Love I will live this day in the confidence that I am loved, protected and being led to my eternal home, through Jesus
Christ my Lord, Amen.
Hymn: Tis Not That I Did Choose Thee
Lord, ’tis not that I did choose Thee;
That, I know, could never be;
For this heart would still refuse Thee
Had Thy grace not chosen me.
Thou hast from the sin that stained me
Washed and cleansed and set me free
And unto this end ordained me,
That I ever live to Thee.
2. ‘Twas Thy grace in Christ that called me,
Taught my darkened heart and mind;
Else the world had yet enthralled me,
To Thy heavenly glories blind.
Now my heart owns none above Thee;
For Thy grace alone I thirst,
Knowing well that, if I love Thee,
Thou, O Lord, didst love me first.