Bible Study: John 9 and John 10

Given by Darris McNeely and Steve Myers on 2012-05-02

Darris McNeely:

Welcome to Bible study here in Cincinnati. Welcome to all of you who are online watching us wherever you may be in various locations at home. Hope you're comfortable. Not too comfortable that you go to sleep on us. But welcome to all of you and to all of you here. It's a beautiful day. It's a little bit warm here in Cincinnati. We've got a lot of rain but everything is green and spring is definitely here. We're getting ready for the beginning of the General Conference of Elders session this weekend. Elders are beginning to arrive into Cincinnati from all parts of the world already and tomorrow will begin to increase and international meetings will be held on Friday and then we'll have a large Sabbath service in our traditional sense and then the meetings on Sunday and Monday. So it's an exciting time here at the office as everybody is kind of gearing up and moving toward that highlight of the year.

I'm Darris McNeely and Steve Myers, pastor here in Cincinnati. Steve is. I'm not. So we're here for your hosts at Bible study tonight.

Steve Myers, Pastor here in Cincinnati:

Alright, if you would all bow your heads we'll begin with Bible study tonight. Our Father in Heaven, we give you thanks and look to you gratefully for our calling for the opportunity to pause here in midweek and gather as brethren in your church here in Cincinnati and connected through technology to many others in far flung areas from here. We ask Father that your spirit would be with all who are listening in and inspire the hearing. Help Steve and I as we instruct and teach from the book of John tonight and help us to very carefully handle the words of life that you've given to us. And so we commit into your trust this study asking for your guidance and your spiritual direction. We give you thanks for this and ask it all in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.

Darris McNeely:

Alright, I'll turn this over tonight to Mr. Myers. We're going to continue in John chapters 9 and 10. He'll do chapter 9 and then I'll pick up with chapter 10.

Steve Myers:

Okay, sounds good. So in chapter 9 there's some interesting things that go on here. In many ways it's a continuation from some of the ideas in chapter 7 and chapter 8. It is all surrounding the Feast of Tabernacles. So if you remember from the studies in the past the connection there to the Feast, this would have been during, most likely they say, during the Feast of Tabernacles. And one of the things that's interesting is this idea of light and darkness that'll come out throughout chapter 9 which is really one of the themes that go all the way through the Gospel of John. This idea of light and darkness. If you remember back in chapter 8 verse 12, I see in chapter 8 verse 12, Jesus spoke and spoke and said, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life. So there seems to be this connection between this section of the book of John and the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. The last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, not the last great day or the 8th day but the last day of the Feast, there would have been a huge ceremony of light, a celebration of light. And Christ most likely was pointing to this ceremony that was conducted during the Feast saying, look at what's happening in this great celebration. You know where the real light is. The tradition of the Jews would be they would light these giant towers of lanterns that were 75 feet tall and they would use the priest's old worn out clothes as wicks. And they say that it would light up Jerusalem so much that there was not a dark corner in the whole city. So if you can imagine that kind of a scene and Christ then saying, you think this is bright, I'm the light of the world. And that would have been an amazing connection that He was making here. And so between those lanterns and the ceremony that was going on and Him revealing more about who He really was. And in chapter 9, we notice that happened in a way almost a progression

of Jesus Christ revealing who He was. We notice in verse 2, it says, Rabbi, Christ as teacher. A few verses later in chapter 9, He talks about the fact that He is the light of the world. Verse 5, so He's the light of the world. Verse 7, the one who's sent from God. Verse 16, we see that He is from God. As we look at what the Pharisees, verse 17, a prophet, He's shown as being. Verse 22, He is the Christ. He is the anointed. Son of man, verse 35. And as we draw to the end of the chapter, He's also recognized as Lord. And so we'll see that revealing more and more about who Christ is as we go through chapter 9. And of course, it should also cause us to step back a little bit and think about our relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Do we recognize Jesus Christ as all of these things? As not only Rabbi, the light of the world, the one that's sent from God, the prophet, our high priest, our soon coming King, the Christ, Lord, all of those things should have some kind of reflection on the relationship that we have with Jesus Christ as well. Because it definitely shows His power. It shows His authority as the Messiah, as the anointed, as the Christ. And so this theme of light and darkness also then have to connect with the main event of chapter 9, which is the healing of the blind man. And so we have this healing going on for this one who was born blind will come to see. And as we look at this story, we'll see some parallels. If you remember back in some of the past chapters that we studied, back in chapter 5, there was also a healing of a man that took place on the Sabbath. You remember that story where Christ said, take up your bed and walk. That was in chapter 5 and that caused a big commotion with the religious leadership. The Pharisees really got aggravated by that because Christ healed on the Sabbath.

Well here in chapter 9, guess what happens again on the Sabbath? This man is healed ofhis blindness on the Sabbath and then this big debate erupts about this healing. Does this man have the authority to heal? What is that all about? And so we begin to see some of the interesting aspects of Jesus Christ and His authority as we go through chapter 9. So think about this as we begin looking at each verse and ask yourselves a question as we start. What do you think is the greatest miracle that happens in this chapter? So keep that in the back of your mind as we begin to read through it. What's the greatest miracle that happens in this chapter?

Let's begin reading in the verse 1 of chapter 9. Now as Jesus passed by, now remember He had just gotten done saying, before Abraham was, I am. And they all wanted to stone Him. And so He disappears in the crowd somehow, which is amazing. And then as He's walking away, evidently He sees a man, it says, who was blind from birth. And the disciples are with Him. His disciples asked Him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

So if we were to say it a little differently, maybe today we'd say, whose fault is it anyway that this guy is blind? Because somebody must have sinned. There must be a problem here. And whose fault is it? You see, and that was a lot of the thinking with the leadership of the day, that all of the health issues, all of the problems had to be associated with sin. Maybe they were thinking of Exodus [20:4-5] where God says that He visits the iniquity of the fathers, on the children, right, to the third and fourth generations. Maybe they were so much focused on that, that that must be what applies here. There must be some sin. It must be someone's fault. But is that true? Is that true? I mean, just thinking about that, just imagine the situation.

This man was born blind. When did he have a chance to sin? Well, the Pharisees would get around that because they even had the belief that in the womb, you had a tendency to sin. Now, if you had to explain why that would be possible, how would it be possible to sin prenatally, I guess we could say? Before you were, how would that be possible? Well, we know it's not possible, but you know how they would reason around that? They would say, well, yes, but remember the story of Jacob and Esau. They were wrestling in the womb. So there's a good example of sin right there, before they were born. Of course, it says they were wrestling, but they didn't ever say in the Bible that there was any sin involved or anything like that.

The other way they get around it is by saying, well, the mother must have done something and so now the baby is going to pay for it. And so they would reason around it in that way that it's God's punishment because they must have had some sin somewhere, whether it was the baby in the womb, whether it was the mother, whether it was the father, the grandfather, the great-grandfather, there must have been sin and that's why there was a birth defect. Well, is that the case? That's not the case. That's a false understanding of Scripture. You cannot say that all suffering comes from sin. That's just not the case. We know that to be true because of what Jesus then says in verse 3. Let's notice what He says here.

Jesus answered, "'Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in Him.'" And so we begin to see, all right, sin was not a factor. Sin was not a factor. So the Pharisees' understanding of why people suffer, why there's defects, why they're difficult does not add up. It just doesn't add up at all. And in some ways, I have to wonder if we don't fall into that way of thinking sometimes. Do you ever fall into that way of thinking? Because did you notice what He says? Nobody sinned but that the works of God should be revealed in Him. If you looked it up in the RSV, the revised standard, it says that the works of God would be made manifest or that the power of God could be seen in Him. That's what New Living says.

So as we look at the challenges that we face, the difficulties that we face, our health problems, our physical ailments, our own limitations, and so what would that include? That would include getting sick. That would include being injured. Maybe there's some defect. Maybe we had some congenital problem when we were born. Why? Well, could they exist so that God would have an opportunity to show how great He is? Do we ever think of that when we're suffering? Am I suffering so that God's power, His great awesome nature could be revealed in me? Do we ever think of it that way? Are we willing to accept that? That maybe it's just the fact that I can put up with this, that I can get through this difficulty. I can get beyond this trial. I can get beyond this ailment and deal with it because God is God, and God has a greater plan, and God will heal. And it may not be right this instant, as in the case of this blind man, but we know ultimately in the Kingdom, there won't be any of those problems anymore.

So if you think about this blind man, born blind, totally helpless, he had absolutely no possibility of correcting the problem that he had. How could he ever have hope of being healed? And so that's a little different than us. Oftentimes, we have some choices, and we have some problems. When we have issues, we can do certain things to correct those things. And sometimes we've been healed. Well, do we thank God for that healing? I mean, this blind man never had a reason to think that he'd ever be able to see. And so it came down to the fact that Christ Himself is the only hope, the only possibility that he would ever have to be healed because this thing was something that was there from birth. Jesus Christ said He was born blind, and it was for a purpose. It was for a purpose that God would be glorified in Him. Not that the blind man would get any credit, but that God would be glorified. Now, can we do that? If you want to hold your place here in John, I couldn't help but think of 2 Corinthians 12 and verse 10 --- 2 Corinthians 12. The Apostle Paul understood this whole aspect of difficulties, challenges, trials, physical ailments, and looking to God for the ultimate solution. Look at 2 Corinthians 12 verse 11. And we see pretty...well, verse 10. Let's go back just to verse 10. 2 Corinthians 12:10. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. Almost sounds a little bit like God's glory being revealed because there's something to this. Well, what is it? He says, for when I am weak, then I am strong. So when he was physically challenged, when he was physically hurting, when he had to suffer through the difficulties, he trusted God. It was not a situation that he could deal with. He didn't have the solution to some of the problems. What's he going to do as he's floating out in the ocean shipwrecked? He's got no solution. He's got to look to God. When he was weak, he knew God would be able to help him through the challenges. And so for us, we should have that same type of perspective, that the only hope there is, is that God can get us through these things. When we are weak physically, that helps us to understand that our strength spiritually comes from God. And so Christ was in some sense teaching that, that that can bring honor, that can bring glory to God when we can deal with the situation and face it and begin to work through that thing, especially as you think about this blind man. This blind man and this great healing take place, that it really is a tribute to God and the glory that only God can get. I mean, think about the differences. Just for a second, think about the differences between being blind in the first century and being blind even today. Who do you think has it better? If you had to be blind, would you rather be blind at the time of Christ or would you rather be blind today? I mean, none of us want to be blind at any time. But today, there's Braille. Is that something that can help make your life a little bit easier? I think it could. I mean, think about the blessings that there are today, the resources. Are there seeing eye dogs? Don't read about any seeing eye dogs back in the first century. Are there ways that a person's life could be? There's telephones that talk to you, telephones that have Braille so that you could use a phone. They have GPSs so the blind man doesn't have to wait on the corner. They have talking GPSs that they can carry with them, can map out where they want to go, and can actually help with the situation. That's totally different than what we're talking about here. As a man born blind, it was almost like an assignment of death at that time. So when you really get down to it, it just makes that point that much stronger. Without the intervention of Jesus Christ, this blind man from birth had no hope. There was no hope. And there's some connections there for us as well. So we'll think about that as we go through the story a little bit further.

All right, over in verse 4 then of John 9, Christ says, "'I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.'" So this is an interesting passage because it's, depending on what translation of the Bible you have, it's translated a little bit differently. In the Alexandrian text, it says, "'We must work the works.'" So let's think about that for a second. It seems that it could certainly apply to Christ. If Christ is saying, "'I must work the works of Him who sent me while it's day.'" Christ had a certain amount of time that He did the things of God. Three and a half years where He taught the disciples that He showed that He was the Messiah. There was a certain amount of time, a limited amount of time. The night was coming when eventually He would be crucified. And so we can see that application as well. But if we think about it in terms of, "'We must work the works of Him who sent me," who sent Christ, how does that apply to us then? If that's speaking to us, does our life reflect the fact that God is with us, that God is working with us? There is a spiritual battle going on and we are battling wickedness in high places. We are battling spiritual darkness, aren't we? And we've got to work the works while it's day. We've got to fight against the works of darkness. And so we have to take advantage of the opportunity because we have a limited amount of time, don't we? We have a limited amount of time to live life, to live God's way, to put God's way into practice, to grow spiritually. We have a limited amount of time. While it is day, we have to grow in grace and knowledge. And we see that applies to each of us individually. We think about it on a collective way, that we must work the works of Him. Well, collectively as God's church, do we have to work the works that we've been sent to do? I think so. Is there a gospel to be preached? Does the good news have to go out? Do we have to preach the gospel to all the world? Yes, those are things we have to do as well. How much time do we have to do that? That's a limited amount of time as well. We must work the works while it is day because we know there's a time that we won't be able to do those things. So we have this short window of opportunity to be that ambassador for Christ, to preach the gospel as He says. And even if you think about it, just think about God's calling. Think about God's calling. How many times does God continue to knock on the door and expect us to answer? We have a limited amount of time to answer the call, I think, as well. As long as we're alive, we have that opportunity. But in a way, could it be referring to that as well? That as God calls, we better answer that call. We better respond to God's calling. And so what's interesting as you think about these things, maybe we have a little bit more in common with this blind man than sometimes we may even realize. Here God has in a way, well, I don't know if we could say, He's kind of orchestrated some events. Here this man is born blind so that God's greatness can be revealed. He can bring glory and honor to God. What about you and I? Were we born with all great spiritual understanding? Or spiritually, we were born blind as well, weren't we? I think in a way, we could make that connection. In a way, we were all blind from birth, that we all had to have our minds open. In a way, is it fair to say we all had a birth defect? Maybe. I don't know if we could say it that way. But we're all human beings. We have a tendency to sin. We have a tendency to sin. You might write down Romans 7-12. It talks about that very fact that because we are human beings, we sin. We make the wrong choice. We don't follow God. We sin. So before God opens our minds to His truth, we were blind to God's way. And so our spiritual blindness in a way is similar to the physical blindness of this man in John 9. And so there is no solution to spiritual blindness without God's intervention, is there? Without God calling us and opening our minds to His truth, there is no solution for our spiritual defect either, is there? And so I think He's also making that point here in John 9.

All right, let's go back to verse 6 then. We talked a little bit about this idea of the light of the world. This would have been quite an image for Christ to say that on this festival of lights during the Feast of Tabernacles. Verse 6 says, when He had said these things, He spat on the ground, made clay with the saliva, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay. Now that sounds pretty weird, doesn't it? Spit on the ground, whip up some clay and put it on the guy's eyes. But you know, this isn't the only example that we find in the New Testament where Christ does this. Mark 7, verse 33 is another example. There's the deaf man and also evidently had a speech impediment, maybe he stuttered or something like that, where he spit and then touched the man's tongue and the man was healed. There's also the example of another blind man, doesn't say he was blind from birth, Mark 8, verse 22, where he spit as well in that situation. So you have to think, well, why in the world would somebody spit and then think that that's going to do any good at all? It's like, ugh. You know, today we'd say, you know, get out the Purell and wash your hands before you touch me, you know? There are too many crazy diseases out there. Why would that be? Why do you think Christ would spit on the ground, make this clay, and then put it on the guy's eyes? It's really an odd thing, isn't it? Well there was a feeling at the time that there was some type of a medicinal value to spit, you know, to saliva. You know, back in the day at this time, they did feel that somehow saliva had some kind of medicinal purposes, properties that somehow could aid in healing, kind of a superstitious kind of thing that most people had. Some even went to the extent that, I mean, if you read about it, there was some kind of magic, you know, in this spittle. But why would Christ do that? You know, obviously, He's not promoting magic. He wouldn't do it for that reason at all. Why would He use a custom of the day and do that with this particular blind man? You know, is it possible? Is it possible that there was a certain expectation that if you went to a doctor at the time or a healer of that day, that that's what they would have done? And so would there be a certain expectation? Would that be a reason that Christ would do that? I don't know. It could be a possibility. Some scholars think that it somehow mirrors creation, you know, that man was made from the dust of the ground kind of like clay and God whipped him up and there he is. So is this somehow mirroring that at all? In fact, some even go to the extent to say, well, what Christ actually did, He spit on the ground and then He kind of molded these eyeballs out of clay and stuck them in the guy's sockets and then He would be able to see. But that doesn't seem to fit with the narrative here in chapter 9 because it talks about He put them on His eyes, you know, that the eyes would have been there, they just didn't see from birth. And so you probably may even know some people that are blind, they still have their eyes, they just don't function. They just don't function. So that doesn't seem to fit even though, you know, some seem to think that that might be the case. So would it be possible? Would it be possible that part of this is Jesus anointing him, where He's actually touching him, He's putting His hands on him? You know, is that part of the equation that here's a blind man who people would totally have shunned during that day. You know, are they going to be best of friends with a blind guy? Well, no, they're not. Why? Because he's a sinner. Somebody sinned, somebody's at fault, so don't go near that guy. Maybe throw him a little bit of, you know, help once in a while, throw him some alms, you know, help him out, but, you know, otherwise stay away from that guy. So you could see the problem with that. So was Christ showing compassion? Was He showing care? You know, maybe there's some kind of a connection with the idea that, you know, God is the potter, we are the clay. You know, is there some connection there? Or maybe there's something else that might be a more reasonable concept when it comes to why would He spit in the ground and then get some clay and put it on this man's eyes? We put that in the back of our mind for a minute. We'll come back to that in just a second. There might be something else. Let's see if we can find that a little bit later on.

All right, verse 7 then. Verse 7, John 9, it says, And he said to him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which is translated, sent. So go to the pool of sent. And so he went and washed, and came back seeing." Now that's kind of interesting because this is not the healing pool. This is not the healing pool. In John 5, remember when the angel would stir up the waters? You remember what pool that was? That was not Siloam. That was Bethesda. That was the pool of Bethesda or Bethsaida, right? So that was a totally different pool. So he says, go to Siloam, that's where you need to go, and wash there. Why would Christ tell him to go to this other pool that wasn't really known as the great healing pool? Well, it's kind of interesting if you look into what was happening. Remember we said this is most likely during the Feast of Tabernacles. And water was a big deal during the Feast. They had a special water ceremony that they did. Plus there were special sacrifices and water would have been necessary for the temple. They needed a lot of water for the laver in the temple. Guess where they would go to get the water? They would go to Siloam. So there would have been all kinds of activity during the Feast of Tabernacles at this very pool. So this would have been a busy place. This would have been like being at the intersection

right in the heart of town, because all kinds of activities are happening around this pool. And so why would Christ send the blind man to go there, priests running back and forth? Let me just picture the scene. There was a lot of action. This was at the heart of what was happening in many ways. And so by sending the blind man to this pool to wash, this whole miracle would have had maximum exposure, wouldn't it? There would have been so many people that would become aware of what was going on at that pool.

And so it's also interesting that, what was the name of this pool? It says in verse 7, it's translated, sent. Not like smelly, but to go somewhere. Sent, right? There's also this connection between Jesus Christ and the name of the pool. Who is the one that was sent from God? Jesus Christ. And in fact, in the book of John, chapter 3 talks about Christ being sent. Chapter 4 talks about being sent. 5, 7, 8, all of those chapters talk about Jesus Christ as the one sent by God. So there's kind of a play on words going on here, in a way, isn't there? The one who was sent from God sends the blind man to the pool of sent. So there's a whole sending kind of thing going on all throughout this little section. And what's the point? The point is not that the water is going to heal this guy. The point is the one who was sent is the healer, right? He was sent by God, and one of those things that he was sent to do was to heal. He was to heal. And so who's the source? Not the waters that are being stirred up, not the pool of Siloam. It was Jesus Christ, the healer. He's the source of the healing. In fact, this pool is also the one that was made possible by Hezekiah's tunnel. Hezekiah, many, many years before this, had made this tunnel in order to get water. And that Hezekiah that, I guess you could call it an aqueduct, a tunnel that would get the water into the city from the, what is it, the Gihon River, the Gihon Spring?

Darris McNeely: Gihon Spring.

Steve Myers:

Gihon Spring. I think you've actually walked through that tunnel. I've never been there, but Darris has actually walked through that tunnel. And it's those waters that actually fed this pool. And so water, in a way, was sent from that spring or that river, that Gihon Spring, to the pool. So even the water itself was sent there as well. And so some interesting connections as you think about what was going on here.

So he tells them to go and wash. He went, washed, and he came back seeing at the end of verse 7. And so we find that he was healed when? Well, let's think about that. We do notice something interesting here. There was obedience involved. There was obedience. The man obeyed. He did exactly as Christ commanded him to do. He went, he washed, and then he came back seeing. Now, remember we said this was a big thoroughfare, right? Everybody's hanging around this water and everything. So everybody starts to notice, wow, this guy can see. What in the world is going on here?

So now we begin in another section of chapter 9 where this big interrogation goes on. Everybody's got to figure out how in the world is this possible? And so we begin by his neighbors. People who knew this blind man, who's no longer blind, begin to ask him, how did this happen? What's going on here? Then the Pharisees confront him. Then, of course, his parents are confronted and want to ask them what's going on. And then, once again, the man himself is interrogated. So let's notice that. Verse 8, therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, is this not he who sat and begged? Some said, this is he. Others said, he's like him. And he said, I am him. Therefore they said to him, how were your eyes opened? He answered and said, a man called Jesus made clay, anointed my eyes, and said to me, go to the pool of Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and I received sight. And so they said to him, where is he? And he said, I don't know. So a couple of interesting things happen right off the bat as his neighbors are interrogating him. What was the question? The question is, how were you healed? Is that the right question? Really, the question should have been, who healed you? Who healed you? But they focused on the wrong question. They were looking at how the healing took place and really missed the whole point, didn't they? And in a way, maybe we're given just a little bit of an insight into why the clay? Why the clay? Why did Christ spit on the ground? Why the clay? Why did that happen? Was he just being superstitious like some would think, some kind of magical power in the spit? What was that all about? Well, we see what actually happened here.

I wonder if it's not possible, if this man was healed the instant that Christ anointed him. The instant he took that clay, placed his hands on him, and instructed him. Is it possible that he was healed immediately? Well, would he be able to see? No, he's got this mud on his eyes. How can you see? Why did Christ say, well, go and wash it off? Is it possible this mud was holding his eyes shut so that he wouldn't be able to see? So he goes to the pool. He's already been healed. I think it's very possible. And if water wasn't special, just get the mud off and open your eyes and now you'll be able to see. And so it kind of gives a little bit of indication that that might be possible because he says in verse 11, Jesus made clay, anointed my eyes and said, go to the pool of Siloam, wash. So I went, washed, and I received sight, is the way the New King James says, is translated. But you know that word received is not there. So probably if we were really technically correct, he went, he washed, I see. So it's not really indicating a timing of when he was actually able to see. It's just the fact that he got rid of the clay, he opened his eyes, and he was able to see. And so I think, well, maybe that's part of the explanation for the spit and the clay and the whole thing. Because there's also another factor here. What does he say in verse 11? A man called Jesus made clay. Well, can he identify who he is? Verse 12, where is he? And he said, I don't know. Why did he say, I don't know? Because there's not a way in the world he could identify him. He hadn't opened his eyes yet to see the man. So he couldn't identify who Jesus was. He could only maybe identify him by his voice, by the words. And so here's a guy that's giving credit to a healer, to the Savior, without ever seeing Him, by just hearing His voice, by just hearing His words. I think there's something significant there as well. Isn't there? Think about that for a minute.

Okay, then verse 13, it says, they brought him, him who formerly was blind, to the Pharisees. All right, here's this next step in the big interrogation. They bring him to the Pharisees. And they also asked, verse 15, him again, how he had received his sight. Once again, wrong question. How instead of who? Who did this? And he said, he put clay on my eyes, I washed, I see. There's a little bit more specific translation. He put clay, I was healed, I washed, I see. Therefore, some of the Pharisees said, this man is not from God because he doesn't keep the Sabbath. Others said, how can a man who's a sinner do such things, such signs? And there was a division among them. So they're arguing back and forth and back and forth. They said to the blind man again, what do you say about him? Because he opened your eyes and he said, he's a prophet. So there's a problem here. This man was a sinner. How in the world could he be healed? So they're arguing now, is God really involved in this? One says, no, because he worked on the Sabbath. What work did he do on the Sabbath? Well, it was work to make clay. That was working, making clay. I mean, you know the Pharisees had some just ridiculous laws, ridiculous rules. One of the amazing ones that I always find interesting is you couldn't wear sandals, according to Pharisaic law, you couldn't wear sandals that were held together with nails because that was work for your feet to carry the nails. Isn't that amazing? That would have been a violation of the Pharisaic Sabbath laws. So he violated the law. You couldn't heal on the Sabbath either. That was a violation of law. You couldn't even set a bone if it was broken on the Sabbath if you were a good Jew of the day. That was unacceptable, not on the Sabbath day. And so they were accusing Christ of all those things. In fact, there was even a law about using spit on the Sabbath. They figured out there's at least three ways this guy was violating the Sabbath. So how could God be involved in that if this man is a Sabbath breaker? So they're arguing is God involved or not? Somehow they've got to discredit this miracle.

All right, so they call on the parents. Let's look at what the parents have to say. Verse 18, the Jews didn't believe concerning him that he'd been blind and received his sight until they called the parents of him who had received the sight. Well, maybe it just looks like the guy. It's not really the guy. Verse 19, they asked them saying, is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see? His parents answered them and said, we know this is our son and that he was born blind, but by which means he sees now? We don't know. Or who opened his eyes? We don't know. He's of age, ask him. He will speak for himself." So here's the parents being very cautious because they don't want to go against the authorities, right? They could kick them out of the synagogue. They could disfellowship them, kick them out. They could have none of the blessings that come with the synagogue, with their rights as citizens. All of that would be removed. And so they're being very, very cautious. I mean, this was the religious rulership that just wielded all the power. You're not only out of the church, but you're out of the community is basically what they're talking about here. So the parents are saying, well, ask him. Don't threaten us. We're just the parents. This is the guy. It happened to him. So ask him.

Verse 24 then, now they call the man back again. They call back the man who was blind and they said to him, give God the glory. We know that this man is a sinner, this man being Christ. Christ is a sinner because He healed on the Sabbath, right? Because He worked on the Sabbath making that clay. He's a sinner. You give God the glory. Now that's not meaning you should praise God. That's not really what they're talking about here. This goes back because we're almost in a court case. They call before the authorities and in a way what they're saying here, you better speak the truth in the presence of God, right? Speak the truth in the presence of God. That'd be almost like saying we place our hand on the Bible and swear by the Bible is what they want you to do in court. Well, let your yes be yes and your no be no. But that's what they're calling on here. Speak the truth in the presence of God --- because now they can't say, well, it must be a lookalike. It must be a different guy. You better tell us the truth.

So He answered and said, whether He's a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I know that though I was blind, now I see. Then they said to Him again, what did He do to you? How did He open your eyes? See, they're looking at a way to discount the whole thing. He answered them, I told you already and you didn't listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples? So He kind of sends a little barb at them, right? You want to become His disciples? So all right, that does it. They can't overcome this miracle by disproving it. They can't overcome this miracle by saying He's a different guy. They can't overcome it just by simply saying He's a sinner. None of those things seem to work here. So what do they do next? It says they reviled Him and said, you're His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. So now they start to revile. They're abusing verbally. They're abusing Him. Oh, you think you're so great? Well, we've got it together with Moses. It says, we know that God spoke to Moses. As for this fellow, we don't know where he's from. Well, in actuality, didn't he just get done saying a little while ago that before Abraham was, I am? Yeah, they don't want any of that either. So the man, the blind man who's no longer blind said to them, Why this is a marvelous thing that you don't know where he is from, yet he has opened my eyes. You see, this man has more spiritual insight than the Pharisees, than the leadership. Verse 31, now we know that God doesn't hear sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. So this man is now becoming the teacher, isn't he? So since the world began, it's been unheard that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this man, this Christ, were not from God, he could do nothing. So he's kind of giving a mini sermonette almost, isn't he? Telling them the way that it is. What was the response? They answered him and said to him, you were completely born in sins and you're teaching us, and they cast him out. So they started just verbally accosting him, they insult him, now they threaten him, they kick him out. And this is more than just casting him out, I think that would tie back in with this fellowshipping and casting him out of the synagogue as well.

And so this man has come to see now, not just physically, but now he sees that Jesus Christ wasn't just a rabbi, He wasn't just a man, He wasn't just a prophet, He is from God. He is from God. And so really when you look at this, what is the greatest miracle? Let's think about that as we read the last couple of verses of the chapter. Verse 35, Jesus heard they had cast him out, and when He had found him, He said to him, do you believe in the Son of God? Great point here in verse 35. What did Christ do? Did Christ just walk away from the whole situation? Did Christ give up on it? Christ looked for him, He found him, He looked for him. God doesn't give up on us. God never gives up on us. He says to him, do you believe in the Son of God? Now we're talking about the next level, taking it to the level of Messiah. Do you believe in the Messiah? Do you believe in the Son of God? Do you understand that your eyes have been opened? Talking in a sense about the whole plan that entails with the whole concept of the Savior, the Messiah, the anointed one. Verse 36, He answered, who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him? And Jesus said to him... Remember, He didn't see Jesus. He didn't know who Jesus was. He didn't recognize the man because He never saw him up to this point. And He says, who is He that I may believe? And Jesus said, you have both seen Him and it is He who is talking to you. You recognize the voice from when I healed you? Now you can see Me. Now you can plainly see Me. And He said, verse 38, Lord, I believe. And He worshiped Him. And Jesus said, for judgment I have come into this world that those who do not see may see and that those who may see may be made blind. Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words and said, are we blind also? Jesus said to them, if you were blind, you would have no sin. But now you say we see, therefore your sins remain. And so the Pharisees thought they could see clearly, but no wonder because they thought they were the religious authority, because they plainly saw the spiritual truth, which was totally wrong. Christ says they remain blind. So when you look at really the greatest miracle was not the healing. Was it really the healing of the blind man, but that God opened His eyes to spiritual truth. Was the spiritual healing, if you want to call it that, the spiritual healing that took place here in chapter 9. All right, that concludes chapter 9. I guess we'll go on with chapter 10.

Darris McNeely:

Okay, just a reminder for those of you online, if you care to send any questions, we will try to get to them, if not tonight at some future point. You can email your questions to ucgbiblestudy@gmail.com. That's ucgbiblestudy@gmail.com and we will do our best to answer them tonight or the next time. We had a couple that came in here. One tonight and a couple that were held over from last time. I'll let Mr. Myers handle one or two of these. I'll just take one very quickly before I jump into my section here. This is a question held over from April. I've heard some sermons in the church referring to the Feast in Acts chapter 18 verse 21 as the Feast of Tabernacles and others as Pentecost. Do we know which one it is? Well I will quickly just turn to Acts 18 verse 21 and answer that. This is a little interlude here in the book of John. Acts 18. Since I am teaching Acts at the Ambassador Bible Center this year, I did go through this. Mr. Myers taught it last year so we are both expert on this question. Acts 18 and 21, this is Paul on his travels and he is on his way to Jerusalem and he says to the church, Luke writes actually at this time, he took leave of them saying I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem but I will return again to you God willing and he sailed from Ephesus, landed at Caesarea which was in Palestine and went up and greeted the church in Jerusalem and then went down to Antioch back to the both of Caesarea. So very quickly Luke covers a lot of ground there. But the question pertains to the Feast in Jerusalem. F.F. Bruce and his commentary on the book of Acts from the New International commentary on the New Testament pins this as the Passover Feast that he was on his way to observe. The Feast in the Spring. The chronology and the timing there is in the spring and that particular year and that phase of Paul's traveling so according to this pretty recognized expert and I think others will concur on that, other commentaries, this was the spring feast of Passover Days of Unleavened Bread period that he was on his way to Jerusalem to keep at that particular time. Okay, perhaps Mr. Myers will get to a couple more. We'll get to the end of this unless you want to handle them quickly right now.

Let's go back to John chapter 10 and we'll pick up there and cover chapter 10 of John. Really this just continues on from where the story of the blind man in chapter 9 leaves off. But we get into a different subject now. And it's a fascinating and very interesting subject to discuss because here is where Christ talks about being a shepherd, the true shepherd and He identifies Himself as the true shepherd of the sheep. And He's talking to the Jews. He just kind of, the discourse continues here in John's record of this so He is addressing again the group here of Jews. And in verse 1 he said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, comes up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber." Here then is the idea of a place where sheep are kept, a sheepfold. And the imagery is describing what would have been a Palestinian or Jewish at this time in this part of the world of Palestine. Sheep out in the field, they would have been kept in the field year after year. Shepherds kept sheep at that time and even to this day for their wool, and so they were kept year by year. Some other parts of the world keep sheep just for a very short period of time. They're raised to kill so we can buy them at Sam's or get our lamb chops or get a lamb roast in the springtime. But here they were kept for some time year after year for their wool and they were in pens and out in the open field and they would have required continual care. And so the idea of a shepherd which is very strong throughout the Bible over the people of God, God and Christ Himself.

Going on in verse 2, "He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which he spoke to them." Let's pause there after verse 6. And so He's using a well-known figure from everyday life of a shepherd, of sheep, the care of a shepherd and the sheep out in the open, the interaction between shepherd and the animals in his care. And people didn't quite make the transition if this is exactly the same group at the same time here which we would tend to understand from the flow of chapters 9 and 10. He makes an abrupt change but he's teaching them a very strong lesson in terms of who He is and also how one responds to Him, to Christ and to His teaching and how people don't always listen to or hear and respond even to the words of God. And just as sheep don't always respond to the words and the guidance of a shepherd as anyone who has dealt with sheep know, that's why they must have continual care to be protected from predators --- but also at times to be even protected from themselves.

Some of you may be familiar with the book that came out a number of years ago, kind of a standard on this subject and it's a book called “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23” written by Philip Keller. I believe this came out in the 1970s. Philip Keller was a shepherd. He was also a minister. But he had a great deal of insight into Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd as we all know and the imagery from that Psalm in relation to sheep and a shepherd and God and His care for people and how the two interrelate. And if you've never read the book I can recommend that it's a very good book to give a great deal of insight into the art of shepherding, animals in a herd of sheep, and the parallels that are there between a relationship that we have with Christ, and also among ourselves as members within the church because the members in the illustration are illustrated by sheep. But it's a very good book. I bought this back in the 1970s and had some reason to pull it off my shelf about a year and a half, two years ago and look back through it again and read parts of it. My wife had read it as part of a book club a few years ago back in Indianapolis with ladies and found it to be quite insightful and very helpful. When we look at the Scriptures there is a great deal of imagery from the Bible. Psalm 23, verse 1 we already have referenced and we know. I'll just quickly mention a few other verses that can tell us also references of God as a shepherd. Psalm 95, verse 7. Isaiah 40, verse 11 is another that is well known to us. Jeremiah, chapter 23 is a very strong statement about shepherds who don't do their job. Isaiah, chapter 23 and I'll just turn and read this one beginning in verse 1. It says, “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the LORD.” God always portrays Himself as the chief shepherd and the sheep are His and the shepherds that work under God in that sense have a filial and fiduciary responsibility to care Properly for sheep and to those in their care. And He said you better not scatter the sheep of My pasture. You have scattered My flock in verse 2. You have driven them away and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings. I will gather the remnant of My flock out of the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their folds and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them and they shall fear no more nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking.

Ezekiel 34 is kind of a parallel to this as well with some very interesting descriptions of even the sheep themselves and how they interact among themselves there. In the New Testament, certainly John 10 is one but there are many other references to sheep and the relationship of God to His people. In Mark 6 and verse 34, Christ has pity on sheep who are without a shepherd. Again, the need for proper care. 1 Peter 2.25 speaks to the idea of the great shepherd of the souls of men. In Hebrews 13.20, the great shepherd of the sheep and talking about the role of Jesus Christ as well. This picture that is painted in Scripture of a shepherd working with a sheep is really a very vivid picture to tell us of the unceasing vigilance and patience of God and His love for His people and it's a reminder of any who work with God's people, certainly the ministry, to hold that sacred duty very carefully toward each other within the church and also among ourselves, especially if a minister has a responsibility as a pastor to take care of the people of God. Christ here uses some very, very strong language to talk about this and we'll come back to a bit more and some other verses on this in a few minutes.

Let's go on. In verse 7 He says, Jesus said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and go in and out and find pasture." Now stop right there. He tells us that He is the door of the sheep. Christ is saying that He is the one by whom the sheep or people must pass in order to enter the fold of the sheep or to be a part of that herd and the spiritual implication is that it is through Christ that we have access to and a relationship with the Father. There is certainly that spiritual application that is there. In Ephesians 2 and verse 18, Paul writes in Ephesians 2 and verse 18, he says, For through him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father." So it's through his sacrifice, having made possible reconciliation to God and forgiveness of our sins and through His role as certainly a high priest that we have access by one Spirit to the Father. So again this is drawn out through many different ways within Scripture. You know, Christ is the means by which we come and go in that sense within that relationship with God. There's an interesting connection here just in the idea of the way a shepherd would have kept his sheep out in the fields at night in this setting in Israel at that time. The sheep fold at that time was not a barn-like enclosure with a roof and eight or ten foot walls and a padlocked door around it. It would have been a kind of a low wall enclosure into which there was one opening in and out, only one on the one side, and that was the only way in and out for the sheep. And it may have been about as high as this table here, just a few feet high. And certainly not offering total protection and open to the top. But the sheep would have gone in there. The shepherd would know who his sheep are and would count them to make sure that they were all there and accounted for. They would be in for the night and protected, huddled together within that fold. But the shepherd then would have laid himself across the door to have prevented any predator from coming in or any of the sheep from going out at night. And that's where he would sleep, which also tells you something about the nature of the shepherd is that in this setting here, a shepherd was in the fields with its sheep as long as they were out there. So he didn't just leave them out there and then go back to the warmth of a home and a fire and a covered shelter. He would have been out there in the elements with them throughout the time. Remember in Luke when Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus at that time of the census and everything and those events, the shepherds were in the field at night we’re told in that story concerning the birth of Christ. And so they were out in the field. That's what it's telling us, and this is how it was done. And so again, anyone listening to what Jesus was saying would know and understand that when they said, I'm the door, if they understood the connection to sheep herding, they understood that it was through Him that you had a relationship with God. And certainly Christ would have been that protection.

In verse 9 He says, I am the door, if anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out, and find pasture." That phrase, going in and going out, represents a certain freedom from fear, freedom from harm because of the protection of the shepherd. And certainly, you know, other Scriptures kind of bring this to mind. In Deuteronomy 6 we're told to talk about God's law and God's way when we rise up and when we sit down, when we come in and when we go out within our homes and with our family. It's by walking in this way of life and obeying God, by worshiping Him that we have a relationship that by our own conduct provides a measure of safety. But also through that relationship with God there is also the additional benefit of God's promise of protection, care, and concern for us and for His people so that we can go in and go out without fear in safety. This is also part of what Jesus here is saying in all of this relationship with the shepherd. So He says they will go out and they will find pasture.

The thief, now He introduces another idea here in verse 10, the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. So now He talks about a predator, a thief. A thief could be a wolf, could be a coyote, could be any predator that would be a danger to the sheep. In this case, obviously, it goes far beyond that to the idea of the conflict of relations that come even among shepherds and among some who begin to think of the sheep not as God's people or God's care but as their own and steal and destroy. And again, as we read back in Jeremiah, those that would scatter the sheep and through actions, through false teaching, through improper care, through abuse, through all kinds of abusive measures that could take place there when we bring this down into the relationship of people within the church and the relationship between a minister and his congregation and even among people within the congregation.

Verse 11, Christ said, I am the good shepherd. So there is no question as to where He places Himself and how He identifies. He says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. He's there only for the job. He doesn't see his calling as a vocation or he doesn't see his job as a calling and as a deep responsibility that he must basically lay down his life for the sheep. The role of a shepherd, a spiritual shepherd within and among the people of God is to basically, it's a sacrificial way. That's what we're talking about. And again, Christ says, I am the good shepherd and I know My sheep and I am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father and I lay down My life for the sheep. Now Keller in his book brings out so much of this in connection with Psalm 23, but also he references John 10 in this as well and in connection with many of these things such as the sheep know My voice and the shepherd knows the sheep, talks about the very intimate relationship between a shepherd and the sheep day in and day out, month after month together in the pastoral relationship to where they actually do know Him. And they don't know the voice of another shepherd. Not that necessarily another shepherd would always be bad, but when flocks sometimes would intermingle in the field, it would be easy for a shepherd to call out his at the appropriate time and move on away from the others because not only he knew them, but also because of the tone of his voice and the certain sounds that he would make and the way they would develop their own trademark calls and sounds to move their sheep. The shepherd did that and that's what Jesus was referring to and again this is brought out by Keller in a setting and really a lot of his work was done in Africa with sheep there, but Africa, Israel, New Zealand or wherever the sheep may be, it's all the same and the principle is brought out. But people are known by God and God knows His people. The teaching and the instruction here is extremely valuable and extremely important. Now Christ introduced us here the idea of a wolf coming and a hireling leaving and fleeing and causing the sheep to be scattered.

This is reminiscent of something Paul said back in Acts 18 when he was talking to the elders at the church in Ephesus. And Paul gave them warning in Acts chapter 20 when he met with the elders at Ephesus in verse 28, Acts 20 verse 28. He gathered a group of elders from Ephesus together knowing that it was going to be the last time he would be with them, and he gave them some instruction about the care of the church. And he said in verse 28, Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. So Paul gave specific instruction and warning to the elders at Ephesus to watch out for those rising up within their midst. This whole picture that is painted by the scriptures about the shepherd and sheep and wolves and sheep's clothing and this is rather dramatic. It's instructive. We could talk all night just on this subject alone.

I will have to say in my 39 years in the ministry I've seen a few wolves. I've seen a few wolves. I've seen the scattering of God's people. The first year I was ever in the ministry we went through a division and a scattering, and I watched a wolf at work. He was my boss at that time, and he divided and he scattered. And I've seen a lot of it over the years. I will be real direct and blunt about that. I've never seen a person acting as a wolf admit to being a wolf either. It's one lesson I've learned. I won't comment any further about that tonight but one needs to just read the Scriptures and look at the fruits and look at the situations and we could raise any number of other questions and discussion about it. I'm certainly glad to do that at another time or offline so to speak. But the Scriptural teaching about all of this is extremely important for not only a minister to understand but also members to understand as well. We don't have time to go into all of it, but back there in Ezekiel 34 God does at times put responsibility upon the sheep to properly conduct themselves even to where they are able to hear the right voice, to hear the shepherd's voice and to not butt against themselves. Sometimes, and Keller brings this out in his book, sometimes sheep have internal problems as the sheep will butt against themselves and sometimes one sheep will become a little bit more dominant over the others and it will create problems. The shepherd's got to sort that through as well. And there's so many interesting parallels. God knew what He was doing when He drew this between the shepherd's sheep and the church and the ministry and people and the situations that go on. But taking all of this together into account it gives us some instruction that we all have duties and responsibilities and certainly a very heavy responsibility upon the ministry to act in good faith as proper stewards and shepherds over God's people to lay down His life for the sheep and to give them proper spiritual care and even over a lifetime quite frankly so many ministers have given of their life in a sacrificial way just as so many others members have as well for God, for God's people, for the truth, for the work of the gospel and those examples of both sheep and shepherd are very, very interesting, very beautiful to look at and to understand but they all should point us to Christ as the chief shepherd, the shepherd of our lives guiding, watching over us and taking care of us.

Let's go back here to John and pick it up in verse 17 because He says, And therefore my Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down Myself. Christ willingly did what He did as He walked this earth in the flesh, laying down His life and would go on to do so for our sins --- and because of that the Father loved Him and was part of that relationship. He says, I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again. This command I have received from my Father. He willingly engaged in the plan of salvation to lay down His life and to give it for all mankind. And so that's how He sums up this teaching on Christ being a shepherd.

Therefore, verse 19, there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. So they divided among themselves because they didn't understand. As it says back in verse 6, they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. And again, when there's not understanding, for whatever reason at this stage of Christ's teaching among people, it just caused differences of opinion among those that were watching this. Some said He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him? This was an accusation that came. He's crazy. This is lunacy. What does He talk about? He's the Chief Shepherd and for Christ even to take it into the realm as He does in verse 17 of my Father and I lay down my life. That gets a little bit beyond just the idea of a shepherd out in the field, even for some that may have been with Him up to this point in the illustration. And then maybe that's where He lost some. The teaching just got beyond them. Others said these are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? A reference back to the episode of chapter 9. That couldn't happen. And so others there did recognize that this was profound and they were with Him and they stayed with Him in His line of thought and they were growing in understanding, growing at least in knowledge at this point.

Now the account breaks off as we move into verse 22. It was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. So it was December. The Feast of Dedication referenced here is the time known as we know it today as Hanukkah, this festival of the Jews which began as a result of the story of the miracle of the oil being found in the temple during the second century period of the Maccabees and the revolt and restoration of the temple service that took place. And they found just enough oil for a period of time to keep the lights going within the temple and the lamps. And that has come down to us today as this Feast of Dedication. So this is a direct reference to that event that is still a part of Jewish tradition. Not one of God's holy days but of Jewish tradition. This dates back to the year 165 BC in terms of its origin during the time of the Maccabees and what was a part of the Jewish tradition then as it is now. He was in the temple. Solomon's porch was a part of this great second temple compound that Herod the Great had built there and expanding the entire temple mount area, the Second Temple. And Solomon's porch was known to be on the eastern side of the temple as the temple faced the Mount of Olives and to the east that part of the wall, the outer wall, had a very long colonnaded porch. And it was big enough for a number of groups at any one time to meet various parts of it along that vast expanse of the area. And it was quite a large acreage literally that we're talking about here where Jesus walked in the temple precincts. He was not in the temple itself but He was in Solomon's porch which was just to the east of the Temple and covered porch area. Again, another group of Jews then surrounded Him. And they said to Him, How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly. If You are the Messiah, if You are the one prophesied and spoken of by the prophets, then tell us. Through their knowledge of the Messiah, they looked for a restoration of the kingdom of David and a united Israel and a repulsion of the Roman rule. This is how they viewed the Messiah and the work that the Messiah was to do.

So there develops a relationship between a follower of Christ because they hear His voice, they hear His words and His teaching, and it means something. It matters. It compels one to action and the more one obeys, the more one understands when it comes to the way of God. So He was saying you doubt. There's division among you. You're not hearing it at this point. You accuse Me of being a demon. Then He says, verse 28, I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 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. I and My Father are one. These verses here do tell us a very important, comforting and encouraging truth when it comes to the relationship that we can have with God the Father and with Jesus Christ. We don't need to go through our lives doubting and wondering, will I make it? And fearful that we will somehow fall away or not be in the Kingdom or this or that which sometimes surfaces in conversations and may be in the back of our minds. Yes, we must strive to overcome. We must be vigilant always in our life. We are not saved at this point completely. We're still human and capable of sin. But the relationship that we can have that Christ is talking about here is that if God has called us and we've repented and received God's Holy Spirit, then there's a security that is there. This is perhaps all part of a larger understanding of the subject of grace and the relationship that we do have with God. But Christ is speaking to that relationship that we can call grace of God's eternal care and benevolence and His desire for us to be a part of His eternal Kingdom and that He will finish the work that He has begun within us as we do our part, as we are faithful and God's not going to allow us to be snatched out of His hand. And so no matter what time of life, no matter what trial we might enter into, we can have the confidence that God is going to carry us through this as a loving Father and Christ as the Chief Shepherd of our lives. Because He said this, again certain of the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. And Jesus said, "...many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of these works do you stone Me?" There would have been piles of rocks around there because at this point there was still work being done in building this large compound, this large edifice in the buildings of the Temple. So there would have been ample rocks for them to have buried Christ many times over here --- for them to find Him. But they said, "...for a good work we do not stone you," verse 33, "...but for blasphemy, and because you being a man, make yourself God." You're a man and you make yourself God. Jesus answered them, "...is it not written in your law?" So, He goes right back to quote the Bible, the Scriptures, the law. I said, you are God's. He's quoting Psalm 82 and verse 6 where it says there, I have said you are God's. And it's speaking to a group of men. And it's one of those Scriptures in the Old Testament that do help us to understand God's purpose to expand His family. And that Christ saying that He was one with the Father, came from the Father, before Abraham was, I am, He said at another time, was not blasphemy because He was. It ain't blasphemy if it is, if I could coin a term. I forgot who the baseball player was that said, it ain't bragging if you can do it. Yogi Berra, was that the one that said that? Alright, it ain't bragging if you can do it. Well, from Christ's point of view, it wasn't blasphemy because it is and He was. And as He said, before Abraham was, I am. He was the incarnate Word who became flesh. But they could not see that and they could not even understand their own Scripture in this way. And He goes on and says, If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken. That's a powerful statement right there that Jesus made. Scripture cannot be broken. He called them gods, to whom the word of God came. Then do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world You blasphemy because I said I am the Son of God? It doesn't add up. Part of the reason for John's whole gospel was to show the entire character and content of Christ's ministry and to affirm the sacredness of Scripture and that Scripture is indeed the revelation of God and cannot be broken. And from the very first chapter of John all the way through, that is an underlying theme of John's whole gospel.

Verse 38, 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. Therefore, they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand. They would have stoned Him, but that was not the time that His death was to come. He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first and there He stayed. And then many came to Him, and they said, John performed no sign but all the things that John spoke about this man were true and many believed in Him there. So what He did, He went beyond the Jordan which is here talking about the Jordan River. Only a few miles from where He stood there in the Temple was the Jordan River, the place where John was baptizing. It's interesting, we were in Jordan in 07 for the Feast of Tabernacles in the nation of Jordan and one of the sites they took us to that archeologists have excavated is a site on the Jordan River. It's on the Jordanian side of the Jordan River. It's not a part of Israel today, but there is a place called Bethany beyond the Jordan. And they've identified this spot and they've excavated an entire baptismal complex. And they've identified it as the place where John was baptizing. And it may or may not be, but it at least gives you as good a spot to picture it as any other spot can today in that region. But it's called “Bethany Beyond Jordan” today, and it's a tourist site, but it's also been excavated archeologically around there. And that region at least is where Christ went at this time and stayed for a period of time as He moves into another scene that we'll pick up next time in chapter 11. So Mr. Myers has a couple of minutes maybe to answer some questions and I'll turn it back over to him.

Steve Myers:

All right. There was one, I thought we went through it, but maybe we didn't. Someone said we might have went pretty quickly over verse 16 in chapter 10. And verse 16 says, I have other sheep which are not of this fold, them I must bring. They will hear My voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd. It says, please explain this. Just really quickly it seems that Christ is probably talking about the Gentiles there. You know that these who is He addressing here throughout this whole time? You know He's addressing Jews. That's who He's talking to. He's with the Pharisees. He's with the Jews this whole time. There's a connection here with Isaiah 42 verse 6. In Isaiah 42 and verse 6 it says, I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles. And so it seems that Christ is certainly not saying that He's got all kinds of people in all kinds of location and that's a good thing because what He ends up concluding that verse with, it says there will be one flock, one shepherd. And so that does seem to tie in then with --- What is it? --- Ephesians 2, where it talks about the wall that was between them with the court of the Gentiles and the temple says He has broken down that wall. And so through Christ we can have the Holy Spirit which is poured out to all those that God would call them. Not just Jews, Israelites --- but also to the Gentiles.

Darris McNeely:

Yeah, let me add also one thought to that. I did not --- I apologize for not elaborating on that verse --- but the thought is also brought out by Christ in John 17:20. The prayer that He gave the last night before His death where He said, I do not pray for these alone, meaning His disciples there with Him, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word. Those who would be added to the Church --- not only in that age but in the ages to come. And so Christ knew that there would be other sheep, others brought in as a result of the work of the church in preaching the gospel. And so that verse also ties into the thought back here in John 10.

Steve Myers: And all with the same shepherd.

Darris McNeely: All with the same shepherd.

Steve Myers:

Yeah, owned by the same shepherd. Just a couple of real quick things. There was a question on, let's see, let's go to Luke 22:36. You can turn there if you like. Christ tells the disciples to buy a sword and when there are two swords, He says that's good enough. He says that's enough. So why does He say that? It seems most easily explained as He is fulfilling prophecy. Back in Isaiah 53, it says He'll be numbered with the transgressors. If you follow that through, also in Mark 15, it says that passage was fulfilled so that that would give them an excuse to crucify Him. They could condemn Him for that, but He was numbered with the criminals. And of course, it's also interesting that by that sword, Peter chops off the ear of one of the servants and then Christ does a miracle in order to heal him as well. So maybe that's just a real quick explanation of that one.

Steve Myers:

There was another one that, why did God command that a goat not be boiled in its mother's milk? That's over in Deuteronomy 14:21. It was pagan. It was pagan to do that. He said don't shave the corners of your beard too. That didn't mean we shouldn't shave, but they used to cut themselves in pagan rituals. And so part of that was to keep them basically out of paganism and doing the practices of them.

Darris McNeely:

Let me add one other thought to that. There's also just in that aspect of decency and humanitarian. Well not humanitarian. We're talking about animals. But it's a matter of just human decency and not boiling a baby goat in the milk of its own mother. Well, God did not want His people to do that. And so that separated them from the Gentiles in that way as well and elevated their respect for life because of that one action, even to the treatment of animals, that that would not be done. So I remember studying that in Ambassador College and that being brought out at the time. But that makes sense and that's I think part of the reason that God laid it that way to elevate their respect for life.

Steve Myers:

There's one other question that was about the calendar. And we really don't have enough time. I guess we're already over time. But for Mark who asked the question, basically we follow the Hebrew calendar and we determine the dates for the Feast of Trumpets and that kind of sets the whole calendar. So that's the really short of it.

Darris McNeely: That's real short.

Steve Myers:

Really short. So the Feast of Trumpets, the new moon there determines the rest of the calendar. And so that's the really short of it.

Darris McNeely:

Maybe the pastor of the church here could give a Bible study sometime on the calendar to fully explain the situation.

Steve Myers: But we feel there's an unbroken chain in that that would go back all the way to Moses at least. All right. I think that will do it then. All right. Well, we hope you have a good evening. Thanks for joining us. And we'll look forward to Bible study next time, two weeks from today.