Transcript

Shepherd, Savior and Somthing More

John 10:31-42
Sunday, July 13, 2003
Pastor Randy Smith

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Possibly the most important question that Jesus ever raised is found in Matthew 16. In the 15^th verse of that chapter He asked His disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" That simple question still confronts every human being today. It cannot be dismissed or avoided because eternal destinies hinge upon our response to that question. The Scriptures plainly teach us that salvation is found in trusting the Person of Christ. So in order to rightly trust Him, we must rightly understand who He is. Therefore, Christ's important question before us, as it was with the disciples, is, "Who do you say that I am?"

In understanding the Person of Christ, we must take either one of two positions. Either Jesus Christ is God incarnate, or He is a created being. If He is God and we deny it, then we have not trusted the Christ of Scripture. But if He is merely a created being and we worship Him as true God, we have also denied the Christ of Scripture and are committing idolatry. For salvation, one must accept the Jesus as He is presented in the Scriptures and not "another Jesus" who is a false representation.

The Apostle Paul rebuked the Corinthian church for being too permissive in their theology. He said, "But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully" (2 Cor. 11:3-4). Elsewhere he told the Galatian church, "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed" (Gal. 1:8)! Therefore we must answer the question correctly. Who is Jesus? Is He simply a created being or is He God? Heaven or Hell awaits your answer.

The objective of this sermon is to show you from our text this morning that Jesus Christ is positively God, the second Person of the Trinity. And those who reject His deity, from the Arians of the early church to the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons of today will be condemned because they have not believed in the true Jesus Christ. But those who do believe in His genuine character will be saved just as He promised.

1. EVIDENCE FROM HIS WORDS (10:31-36)

Now considering this crucial question, how can we be so sure that Jesus is truly God? Well, first of all, He clearly testified that He was through His words.

We began this morning's reading in verse 31, which says, "The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him." As you know, the Jews at this time were under Roman control. Though they were given some freedom, the Romans still reserved the right to oversee many affairs, specifically, the administration of capital punishment (Jn. 18:31). When a guilty Jew was found deserving death, such a person was typically executed through the Roman means of beheading or crucifixion. However in this case, the Jews impulsively took the matter in their own hands and proceeded to be judges and executioners at the same time. They ignored the Roman rules and resorted to their own means of capital punishment as it is prescribed in the Law, stoning.

We need to ask the question. What did Jesus say which infuriated them so much? What incited the intense hatred that so quickly led to mob action? What theological line did Jesus clearly cross with His words that were worthy in their opinion of death? Let's back up to verse 30, six simple words in the Greek. Jesus said, "I and the Father are one."

Now some who wish to deny the deity of Christ say that Jesus only meant to claim that He and God were one in action or one in will (such an interpretation that can be supported by the grammar). However, such an interpretation does not take into account the purpose of John's Gospel or the response of the Jews in verse 31. Any God-fearing individual desires his will to be in line with God's! I'm sure the Jews would have desired this in their own life. Such a comment would provoke praise from religious leaders, not a stoning. Jesus obviously stated much more and the Jews knew it! Jesus not only claimed that God was His Father, but He also claimed equality with God. Jesus claimed to be one with the Father in deity, not in Person, but in essence ("one" (hen), not masculine, but neuter). The Jews interpreted Jesus' words as clear blasphemy and proceeded to stone Him as it was prescribed in Leviticus 24:16. "Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death."

Verse 31 says "The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him." You will remember that similar situations occurred earlier in Christ's ministry and all these situations resulted in Jesus' claiming equality and oneness with God. In John 8:58, "Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.'" John 8:59, "Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him." Again in John 5:17, "But He answered them, 'My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.'" John 5:18, "For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God." Even until the end, the Jews were seeking the death of Christ. Why? Because they understood the force of Christ's words and could not stand the radical claims He was making. In John 19:7, the Jews begged the Roman procurator to kill Jesus, saying, "We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God." They got what they wanted. Jesus was murdered on a Roman cross. The charge against Him was blasphemy (Mt. 26:65; Mk. 14:64).

The Jews saw Jesus as a threat to everything they stood for. They did not want Him dead because He was a good teacher or philosopher. They did not want Him dead because He was another religious leader. They did not want Him dead because He was zealous to be one in will with God. They wanted Him dead because He placed Himself "up on the other side of the unbridgeable chasm that separates the transcendent, infinite Creator from His finite and fallen creatures" (Carson). Though many followers of Jesus today wrongly maintain that He is not God, the religious Jews who lived in the context of Christ's words had no doubt as to whom Jesus claimed to be.

This is also evidenced as we move to the next verse in our text. In verse 32, confronting the lynching mob, "Jesus answered them, 'I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?'" Verse 33, "The Jews answered Him, 'For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.'" There it is, once again! The Jews clearly understood that it was the words of Christ that crossed the acceptable boundaries of religious tolerance. You are claiming to be God? The Man who they claimed was "born entirely in sins" (Jn. 9:34)? The Man who came from "Nazareth" (Jn. 1:46)? The Man who was the "carpenter's son" (Mt. 13:55)? The Man with "no stately form or majesty" (Isa. 53:2)? The Man who is "despised and forsaken of men" (Isa. 53:3)? The Man who "has nowhere to lay His head" (Lk. 9:58)? This Man is God? According to the first century monotheistic Jew, such a thought was flagrant blasphemy!

As it is common in the Gospel of John, the antagonistic party often unknowingly affirms the very truth about Jesus (c.f. 11:50). In verse 33 the Jews rightly understood and rightly expressed the claims of Jesus, they simply chose not to believe them. Their only error in the claim was that Jesus "made (Himself) out to be God." In reality Jesus does not make Himself to be God. He is and always has been God (Heb. 13:8). Actually the converse is true. Jesus is not a man who made Himself to be God. Rather, He is God who made Himself to be Man.

Well how did Jesus respond to their charges in verse 33? Follow along with me. Beginning in verse 34, "Jesus answered them, 'Has it not been written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods?' If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 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''" (Jn. 10:34-36).

Jesus reasons with the Jews based on their own principles appealing to the Scriptures (even to the minutia of one word) as the ultimate authority. Christ's argument basically goes like this: Jesus was accused of claiming to be God (verse 33). So He immediately refers the Jews back to their Law (verse 34). He reminds them that the Law, which is the Scriptures, cannot be broken. In other words, it is the ultimate authority containing no errors (verse 35). He points to Psalm 82:6 where God the Father called His creatures "gods" (verse 35). Hence imagine Jesus concluding, "If mere men who do God's work were addressed as gods without it being blasphemy, why can I not refer to Myself as God, especially since I am the one 'whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world' (verses 36). Therefore why am I being charged with blasphemy because I said, 'I am the Son of God'" (verse 36)?

Sometimes people will attempt to use these three verses to show that Jesus never proclaimed to be God in the absolute sense. Rather He just wished to show that He was a god like the other humans referred to by that name in the Psalm. But such a conclusion misses the logic and intent of Christ's words. He has already made His clear claims of divinity. Here He is only showing His opponents that they have not thought through their rash conclusion. If others have been referred to as gods, how much more should He be accepted as God? Especially since He, like no other man, was both sent and sanctified by the Father. Such a claim implies uniqueness and pre-existence. In these verses, Jesus is not classifying Himself with men. Rather He is distinguishing Himself as being "set apart" from men.

The Apostle John began this gospel by saying, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Jn. 1:1). As we have already seen, the claims of Jesus were clear affirmations of His deity. The Jews understood His words and both rejected Him and sought to kill Him based on this account. However, those who find eternal life in Jesus Christ, accept Him for all that He is and all that He claims to be. We must embrace Him as did the Apostle Thomas, when he declared in chapter 20 of this Gospel, "My Lord and my God" (Jn. 20:28).

2. EVIDENCE FROM HIS WORKS (10:37-39)

We've seen the first affirmation of Christ's divinity in His words. Now let's move to the second affirmation. Remember that Christ's accusers were posed with rocks aimed at their Messiah's forehead. Yet Jesus, always bold and courageous appealed to another testimony that spoke of His divinity, His works.

Jesus said in verses 37 and 38, "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father."

Talk is cheap! Anybody can make a claim to be God. Many have. But the point that Jesus is making is that His actions reinforce His words. Even if the accusers choose to reject His words, His works, including, but not restricted to His miracles, must be considered and not simply dismissed! After all, it's not every day that one can heal both a paralyzed (Jn. 5:9) and blind man (Jn. 9:7). How often have they seen a person produce enough food to feed an upward of 20,000 (Jn. 6:11) or heal a sick boy from a distance (Jn. 4:51)? They were works of power. They were signs that pointed to a greater spiritual reality. They were deeds of compassion, love and mercy. Even Jesus said in verse 32, "I showed you many good works (literally, "beautiful works") from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?" Additionally, it's not every day that someone claims to be the "door" to eternal life (Jn. 10:9) or proclaims, "Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins" (Jn. 8:24). Moreover, it's not every day that we witness an individual completely without sin. Jesus was like no other man. His works testified of His deity. In verse 25 of this chapter He said, "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me" (c.f. Jn. 14:10-11).

What exactly were His works intended to show? Look half way through verse 38. "So that (expressing purpose) you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." His works gave evidence of His deity, His relationship to the Father in the Trinity. Theologians call this the "mutual co-inherence" where the Father and the Son are "in" the other while they still retain their own separate identities. According to Jesus, the purpose of His works was for people to know and understand exactly who He is. Like in the Nicene Creed, "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God."

3. EVIDENCE WHICH LEADS TO BELIEF (10:40-42)

Unfortunately the Jews refused to believe and rejected the clear evidence of His deity. They heard all they could take when Jesus once again claimed His equality with God in verse 38. Therefore verse 39 says, "They were seeking again to seize Him, and He alluded their grasp." His time had not yet come.

Verse 40 says that "(Jesus) went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. Jesus had made His final disclosure to His people. But He concluded with the ultimate disclosure of Himself, namely that He is God. However, from this point on Jesus suspended all public ministry in preparation for the Calvary road that awaited Him just months in the future. But for now, He retreated to a rural town called Perea just east of the Jordan. His ministry had come full circle. He was back at the place where it all began, back to the place of the days when John the Baptist first announced His public ministry, boldly declaring, "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn. 1:29). But the public ministry was now over, and Jesus would remain here until His time did come to make that final journey into Jerusalem and deliver Himself into the hands of evil men to make atonement for sin.

But ironically, in the meantime, though the religious elite in Jerusalem tried to stone Him, those in the rural community who knew John the Baptist and his great testimony for Jesus had a different perspective. Verse 41, "Many came to Him and were saying, 'While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.'" They heard His words and saw His works for themselves. They accepted Him for who He is. Verse 42 says, "Many believed in Him there." In considering all the evidence of His words and His works, they realized that Jesus is God.

As we close chapter 10, the wonderful chapter about the Good Shepherd and His sheep, I thought this story would be a fitting conclusion.

A number of years ago a lighthouse was being built on the rock-bound coast of Wales. When the building was nearly completed, one of the workmen stumbled and fell back through the scaffolding to the rocks below. The other workmen, shocked at what had taken place, did not dare to look down for fear of being unnerved at the sight. Heavyhearted, they backed down the ladders. But to their surprise and joy they saw their fellow workman lying upon a tuft of grass, shaken and shocked, bruised to be sure, but not seriously harmed. Beside him lay a dead lamb. A flock of sheep had been wandering by, and a lamb had broken his fall.

A Lamb broke our fall as well, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!

Who is Jesus? Among the 256 names ascribed to Him in the Bible, He is the Shepherd and the Savior, but He is also God. Have you really accepted Him for all that He is? Do you trust Him not only as the Lamb who died to take away the sin of the world, but also God Himself in the flesh? Either heaven or hell awaits your answer.