Promises and Proofs from the Good Shepherd
John 10:22-30

A violent hurricane had struck. People were huddled together. A preacher was praying with great oratorical effects in the midst of this violent storm, crying out “Send us the spirit of the children of Israel, the children of Moses, the children of the Promised land.” At this, an old man with less oratory eloquence but speaking more directness prayed in a very simple and practical way, “Lord, don’t send nobody. Come yourself. This ain’t no time for us to go into a theological discussion with your children, but we need you right now. (Source unknown, Lou Nicholes – Missionary/Author).

You can be given a wonderful promise, but unless the one making the promise actually has the ability to carry it out it can end up being just empty words. This morning we come to a very powerful passage of Scripture which contains not only a wonderful promise of Jesus to His followers, but also reveals why He has the ability to keep that promise. This passage has great theological implications about who Jesus is and the nature of the salvation that He gives.

Please turn your Bibles to John 10. I want to read John 10:22-42 so you will get the whole context, but we are going to concentrate our study today on John 10:22-30.

22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? 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, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone 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 My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”

31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ‘? 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41 Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” 42 And many believed in Him there.

This text teaches that Jesus is able to keep His promise to give eternal life because of who He is. First, let’s look at:

1. The Setting (John 10:22-23)

As we come to John 10:22 today we have jumped ahead about two months. The Remember that the setting for the events in John 7 through John 10:21 was the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall.

The people in Jerusalem were confused and divided about who Jesus was. Some thought He could be the Christ, the anointed one whom the scriptures promised. His claims justified this belief. He had claimed to be the source of living water for the souls of those who believe in Him. He said, “I am the Light of the World” (John 8:12; 9:5). In a clear statement of His divinity He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” He had healed a man born blind and claimed to be the door of salvation for the sheep and the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:7, 11). Some had believed in Him (John 8:30).

Others, especially the Jewish authorities and the Pharisees thought Jesus was a deceiver (John 7:12), a law-breaker (9:16, 24), or that He had a demon and was insane (John 8:48; 10:21). At least once they had taken up stones to throw at Jesus (John 8:59). Now when Jesus returns to Jerusalem two months later it seems their animosity has not diminished the least bit.

John 10:22-23 set the stage for another confrontation between Jesus and the Jews in Jerusalem.

22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.

The Feast of Dedication was not prescribed in the Old Testament, but rather it began when the temple was rededicated in 165 B.C., after the Maccabean revolt threw off the rule of the evil Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He was the Selucid ruler of Syria and Palestine from 175-164 B.C. Antiochus set out to make Greek or Hellenistic culture the unifying bond of his empire. He imposed heathen religion on the Jews. He forbade them to circumcise their children, to observe the Sabbath, and many other Jewish practices. In his efforts to Hellenize the Jews, Antiochus not only slew thousands of Jews who refused his efforts, but he also desecrated the temple by having a statue of Zeus placed in it, sacrificing pigs on the altar and forcing the priests to eat the meat.

Many of the Jews went along with Antiochus out of fear or the desire for power. But some courageous Jews led by Judas Maccabeus liberated Jerusalem and rededicated the temple in 165 B.C. The Jews celebrated the event every year at the Feast of Dedication. This feast is now usually called Hanukkah. It is an 8 day festival that begins on the 25^th day of Kislev which is during our December, which means, as pointed out in John 10:22, it was winter.

John, who loves symbolism, may want us to see that Jesus fulfills all that this feast stands for. He is the one who cleanses the temple (John 2:13-17). In fact Jesus is the true temple of God (John 2:19-21). Just as God delivered His people from Antiochus under the Maccabeans, so God will save His people through Jesus. John’s mention that it was winter may also hint that for the Jewish leaders who were rejecting Jesus as their Messiah, it was spiritually winter.

So Jesus is in Jerusalem for this feast and He is walking in the area of the temple called the Solomon’s porch. This was a covered colonnade on the east side of the temple area adjacent to the Kidron valley and facing the Mount of Olives. This was an area that not only provided shelter in the winter but it was also a place where rabbis would meet and teach their disciples. This place is the stage for,

2. The Challenge(John 10:24)

24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

Remember that most of the time when John uses the term “the Jews” he is referring to the Jewish religious leaders. These same men who had opposed Jesus time after time now saw their opportunity and they surrounded Jesus like an army encircling a city to lay siege to it. They are there to confront Jesus.

At first you might wonder if the Jews’ request was sincere, but I don’t believe that it was. It is not an honest question of those seeking the truth. It is an accusatory question followed by a command. The way they begin the question shows their attitude, “How long do You keep us in doubt?” They charge Jesus with purposely keeping them in suspense. The literal meaning is that their “souls are lifted up.” They are in a state of agitation. They are annoyed by Jesus. This is a challenge.

So they demand, “If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” They were not coming to Jesus with the attitude, “We’re willing to bow before You as our Messiah, if You would tell us clearly that is who You are.” Rather, they were blaming Jesus for their unbelief, saying in effect, “It’s Your fault that we don’t believe in You because You haven’t said openly, ‘I am the Christ.’”

They want a plain statement so they could accuse Jesus. As we have already seen, most of them have already decided that Jesus must not the Christ, so if He makes such a claim, then the stones will fly to kill the blasphemer.

It is interesting that in the Gospels, Jesus does not go around telling people that He is the Christ. As we have seen throughout the Gospel of John Jesus makes more claims to being the divine Son of God than to telling the Jews that He is the Christ. This is the big question that the Jews are continually asking: Is He or is He not the Christ?

John tells us that Jesus is the Christ both in his introduction (1:17) and in his statement of purpose (20:30-31). The disciples of Jesus believe that He is the Christ. Andrew told Peter that they had found the Christ (1:41). In John 6:69 Peter confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus told the Samaritan woman that He was the Christ (4:25-26), and in His prayer to His Father in 17:3, Jesus will refer to Himself as “Jesus Christ.” But before His trial Jesus never tells the Jews that He is the Christ.

It should have been obvious to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ, but why didn’t Jesus simply answer their question? Why didn’t he just say, “Of course I am!”? Because the Jews were confused about who Christ was to be and what He was to do. The Jews were confused because Jesus was not lining up with their expectations. The problem was not Jesus; the problem was they thought that the Christ would be a political leader like Judas Maccabeus who would overthrow the oppressive Gentile rule. That is not why Jesus came. He came to be the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. If Jesus stated plainly that He is the Christ, they will not understand what He meant by that.

Next we see Jesus response to their challenge:

3. The Rebuke (John 10:25-26)

Jesus’ response strikes at the hardness of their hearts.

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.”

They are demanding a straight answer and Jesus rebukes them that their question has already been answered. So Jesus rebukes them for their unbelief. Jesus had revealed His identity in two major ways: by His words and by His works.

Jesus said, “I told you.” If Jesus had not open said, “I am the Christ,” when had Jesus told them that He was the Messiah? If they only had ears to hear, they could have recognized who Jesus was by His words. Jesus repeatedly used Messianic titles for Himself. They could have heard it in Jesus’ astounding words in John 5:19-47, where He claimed to have equal honor with the Father and to be able to give life to whomever He wished. He claimed that the Scriptures testified about Him and that if they came to Him, He would give them life (John 5:39-40). They should have heard it in Jesus’ claim to be the bread of life and in His promise to raise up all whom the Father had given Him on the last day (John 6:35, 39). They should have heard it in Jesus’ claim to be able to satisfy the thirst of all who believed in Him (John 7:37-38) and in His claim to be the Light of the world (John 8:12). They especially should have heard it in His claim (John 8:58), “Before Abraham was, I am.” They should have known it when He said (John 10:11, 14), “I am the Good Shepherd.”

They not only had Jesus’ words, but also His works that He did in the Father’s name, “The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me,” (John 10:25). The Jewish leaders had seen and heard about many healings, including the lame man by the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:2-16) and the man born blind (John 9:1-34). His act of cleansing the temple showed Him to be the Son of God (John 2:13-21). But none of this resulted in their believing. Rather, they were becoming increasingly hardened in their rejection of Jesus.

So, why, in spite of all this evidence, were the Jewish leaders so adamantly opposed to Jesus as their Messiah? Jesus tells them (John 10:26), “26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.” He did not say (as we might have expected), “You are not of My sheep because you do not believe.” Rather, He plainly tells these unbelieving Jews, “You do not believe because you are not of My sheep.”

Over and over Jesus has emphasized this truth. Back in John 6:43-44, Jesus said to His unbelieving opponents, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” In case they didn’t get it, He repeated (John 6:65), “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” We saw it again (John 8:43), “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.” He further explained (John 8:47), “He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

Twice in these verses (10:25, 26) Jesus confronts the unbelief of these Jewish religious leaders. But at the same time, He tells them that the reason they don’t believe is that they were not of His sheep. Man is responsible for his own sin and no one can accuse God of injustice in letting them perish because of their own unbelief. At the same time, God chooses others out of this mass of corruption to be His own. God is holy and sovereign; and He is gracious and loving. He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).

So Jesus has proved who He is by His words and His works. This leads to the great promises Jesus makes to His sheep.

4. Jesus’ Sheep(John 10:27-29)

Jesus goes on to describe the nature of His sheep, the benefits He gives to them and their security in Him in John 10:27-29.

27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone 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 My Father’s hand.

A. Characteristics of His Sheep(John 10:27).

Jesus had described the nature of His sheep earlier in His description of Himself as the door for the sheep and as the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-18).

Jesus’ sheep hear His voice.

Here again Jesus points out that His sheep recognize their shepherd and listen to Him. John 10:27: “My sheep hear My voice ….” Jesus was not referring to hearing an audible voice or to a mystical inner “voice.” He meant that the testimony by Him and about Him in the Bible rings true in your heart. When you read what the Word testifies about Jesus, you say, “Yes!” It means hearing in the sense of obeying. You desire to please the shepherd who gave His life to make you His sheep. You don’t just say, “Lord, Lord,” and then keep doing your own thing. You become obedient from the heart to His teaching (Rom. 6:17).

The Jewish leaders who were confronting Jesus had physically heard what Jesus said but they did not listen because they were not His sheep.

Jesus knows His sheep.

John 10:27: “I know them.” As God, Jesus knows everyone, of course. But this refers to an intimate knowledge, to a personal relationship (see Matt. 7:23; 2 Tim. 2:19; Ps. 1:6; Exod. 33:12, 17; Amos 3:2). We saw this in 10:3, where Jesus says that the shepherd calls his own sheep by name. He repeated (John 10:14), “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.”

That is a thrilling truth. Jesus knows His sheep personally and He loves them and cares for them as a shepherd.

Jesus’ sheep follow Him.

John 10:27: “… and they follow Me.” That is the consequence of listening to Him. His sheep recognize Him as the shepherd and will follow Him. What He declares, they will believe. What He says, they will do. Where He leads, they will go.

These Jews were not Jesus’ sheep because they would not listen and follow Him.

B. Benefits for Jesus’ Sheep(John 10:28).

Jesus’ sheep receive great blessings from Him (John 10:28), “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”

They are given:

Eternal life.

Eternal life by its very description is not temporary life—it is eternal life. Jesus indicated that there are two and only two eternal destinies (Matt. 25:46): “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” We have eternal purpose and meaning to our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Eternal Security.

Jesus not only gives eternal life to His sheep, but He guarantees the security of that promise. “They shall never perish.” This is stated in the strongest terms. It cannot happen. They are safe in His hands and cannot be taken from Him, “… neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” If Jesus’ sheep could perish, it would mean that He failed in His mission not to lose any of those the Father gave to Him (John 6:37-40).

The security of His promise is further guaranteed in verse 29, “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” Being secure in Jesus is enough, but this security is also in God the Father. No one is greater than the Father and no one is able to snatch one of Jesus’ sheep from the Father’s hand.

Jesus’ sheep have double protection: Jesus has them in His hand and the Father has His hand around Jesus’ hand. So a thief would have to get through these two omnipotent layers of protection to steal Jesus’ sheep. Jesus’ point here is that if the Father gave us to Jesus and Jesus gave eternal life to us as a free gift, apart from anything in us, and if He and the Father promise to keep us from every enemy, then our salvation is secure. It doesn’t depend on our performance, but rather on His promise and on His and the Father’s power.

That is a wonderful promise, but like any promise, it is not worth anything unless the one making the promise can fulfill it. Jesus can! Jesus is continuing to declare what He has said over and over again to these Jews. The work that He is doing is the Father’s work. It is a declaration of His identity as the Messiah. It is a declaration of His deity.

Finally in verse 30 Jesus does answer their question plainly in a declaration they would not have expected.

5. Jesus’ Declaration (John 10:30).

“I and My Father are one.”

This is a short sentence and in some ways a plain and simple statement, but it is loaded with theological truth. In a wooden literal translation this is “I and the Father one we are.” In this statement the nature of the relationship between Jesus the Son and God the Father is revealed. They are different persons, but of unified essence.

The diversity and plurality of the persons in the eternal Godhead is demonstrated in the separation, “I and the Father,” and in the use of the plural verb, “we are.” These two distinct persons never become one person. In addition, the gender of the word translated “one” is neuter and not masculine. If it was in the masculine, it would mean that they were one and the same person. Since it is in the neuter it means they are of the same essence, the same substance, but they are not the same person. Jesus is not the Father, but He has complete equality with the Father being of the same substance and essence. Jesus is deity. Jesus is God.

Jesus makes great promises to His sheep. We know He is able to keep those promises because of who He proves that He is, the Son of God. If you are one of Jesus’ sheep, you will hear His voice and you will believe His claims and you will follow Him. Jesus knows His sheep and they are safe in the shepherd’s hands for nothing can separate them from His love. Does Jesus know you? Are you safe in His hands?