Last week, we saw Jesus attending the Feast of the Dedication, at which time He plainly asserted His deity. As the Jews continued to ask Him whether or not He was the Messiah, Jesus responded by saying:

“I told you and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep” (John 10:25-26).

I’m sure that this further riled the religious leaders, and then Jesus told them about His sheep, saying:

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27-28).

Because the hearts of the religious leaders failed to believe that Jesus was their Messiah, He told them plainly that they were not His sheep because they did not hear nor respond to His voice. And, like sheep, if they don’t hear His voice, they will not follow Him, and as a result, they will not receive the gift of “eternal life.” And then Jesus dropped the bombshell when He said:

“I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

There are many in some modern-day religious groups that deny the deity of Jesus, saying that what Jesus really meant was that He and the Father were simply one in purpose and in agreement about the mission of reaching out to the world. However, check out the next verse:

“The Jews took up stones again to stone Him” (John 10:31). 

Notice that this was a continuance of their desire to stone Jesus because He was claiming not only authority from God, but that He and God the Father were one. And so, Jesus asked them a very pointed question:

“I showed you many good works from the Father, for which of them are you stoning me?” (John 10:32).

The rebellious Jews saw many of Jesus’ good works of healing, and Jesus claimed that these “good works” were from the Father. So, Jesus’ question was more than appropriate. At the same time, Jesus was simply trying to draw them out by challenging their unbelief in who He was, not in what He was doing. The Jews responded:

“For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God” (John 10:33).

Notice that the Jews got some of our basic Christian theology right, that is, they knew that Jesus was a “man.” But they failed to believe that God could become a man and dwell among them. Later in John’s gospel, we will see that Jesus told Philip:

“He who has seen Me, has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

The disciples recognized this, but the religious leaders of Jesus’ day didn’t. Why? Because their hearts were hardened to believe anything that fell outside of their confining box of Judaism. Jesus was bringing new wine that could not fit into old wineskins. His message was new, and it could only fit into the new wineskin of the New Covenant that he established in His blood. 

If you have never recognized Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God, then maybe it’s time to humble yourself before Him and acknowledge that He is whom He claimed to be. And because of that, He is able to indwell your life today and make you a new creation. Just acknowledge your need for Him, and then allow Him to do in your life whatever He desires to do. And what He desires to do is simply to make you more like Him. 

May God richly bless you today in every way.