Jesus Told us Plainly by Word and Deed

John 10:22-42

The Shepherd Knows His Sheep

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."

Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus

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.

The Believers Beyond Jordan

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.

Like the Jews of the day when the divine word Jesus walked among us speaking and working miraculous deeds, so we now also read the accounts and can see that He told us plainly by word and deed that He is the Lord Christ, the Messiah of God’s finger reaching down to show us the way to reconciliation with God in Himself.  The Jews had surrounded Jesus in the temple and demanded that He tell them whether or not He was the Christ and not to keep them in doubt as to His identity.  The Lord plainly told them that He had already said but that they disbelieved the message told them and the mighty works shown them to demonstrate the verity of all He spoke to them.  He further explained the reason they were unable to grasp the truth was that they were not of the flock of the sheep given before time to be His own.  Only the sheep are able to hear their Master’s voice, that of the great Shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20) who knows the lambs who have been given to Him from before the world was formed (Ephesians 1:4) and given ears to hear His voice when He calls them out of the darkness into His marvelous light (Psalm 107:14, Isaiah 29:18, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 1 Peter 2:9, Acts 26:18).  Because we are His we are able to hear and we then follow Him as He leads us with the rod and staff of protection and correction (Psalm 23:4) as the good Shepherd of our immortal souls.  He has given all He calls eternal life with Him part from sin and nobody can take that away from us, not even ourselves!  We sit firmly in the grip of the hand (Deuteronomy 3:24, 1 Peter 5:6-7) of the Almighty in the assurance that nobody is stronger than He to wrestle us from His grasp.  This is eternal security and the guaranteed perseverance of the saints who have been made holy in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  Because God is greater than any other we have this assurance of the irreversible nature of our relationship with Him who saved us.  Jesus made it plain that these things are true in Him because He is one with the Father, making it clear He was God as well as man (John 5:18).  That is why the Jews tried to stone Jesus to death for the blasphemy of claiming His divinity.  He made it clear He is God!  Because Jesus did the works only God could do such as bringing the dead back to life and making closed eyes and ears opened and whole, the Jews were incensed at the facts presented to them and chose to reject and disbelieve since they were not called out and chosen as His sheep.  These works proved the verity of His words that they refused to hear (Isaiah 6:9-10, Jeremiah 13:10, Matthew 13:15) that they might turn and repent to accept His gift of faith (Ephesians 2:8) for eternal life in Jesus Christ who is in the Father and the Father is in Him.  If we see one, we know the other since they are both God.  Jesus plainly told us all these things as recorded in scripture from beginning to the end.  Do we have ears to hear God calling us to follow the great Shepherd (Psalm 23:1, 1 Peter 2:25) of His sheep?  If we are able to hear then we can find assurance that we are His and doubt no more as we follow wherever He leads us for His name’s sake.  Many believed in Him there as He spoke these words.  Do we?