John 10:22-42. Two to three months later, it was winter, at the Festival of Dedication in Jerusalem. The Jewish leaders cornered Jesus in the temple courts and wanted to continue their relentless argument. Though they are trying to trap Him because they hate Him so, we should take note of their persistent pursuit of Him. Do we pursue Him? Do we want to hear from Him? I believe we long for His words and direction every day, just like sheep, whether we recognize it or not. What is holding us back from interacting with Him? What could possibly be so much more important? It's time to get tough with the facts, folks. May the answer to His question, "what do you want?", be "Jesus", and go after Him. All of the aspects of lust need to be projected upon Jesus to be truly fulfilled like no other temporary satisfaction can provide. We would do well to strengthen our faith in Him like Daniel did, trusting that our Lord will truly provide the satisfaction we long for.
May we, as His sheep, listen to His voice and follow Him. He has given us a spirit of adventure. This journey of the christian life is not dull and mundane, like some fear. It's full of the unknown wilderness, but it's good, especially since our Shepherd is right with us, taking the lead. I'm glad it's not a story of us going out on our own, out in the middle of nowhere. Not good. You see, Jesus has given us eternal life, so our destiny is secure. We sheep shouldn't fear what may happen to us in this earthly life because we are now His. He owns us. We are His slaves. We have entrusted our lives into His hands and nothing can ever snatch us out of His grasp. Salvation belongs to God alone, who in turn gives it to us that have received. It is a gift that will not be taken back.
I look at some of these scenes with the Jewish leaders like a comic strip that seems to repeat, showing Jesus speaking and they continue to immediately look around for stones to throw. There must have been alot of rocks in that area. Or maybe they assigned one of their minions to be the "stone guy". "Dang it, Bobby! You forgot the stones!" They couldn't fathom a man claiming to be God. Please take note here that indeed, Jesus is claiming to be God. You will hear alot of arguments from the world that Jesus never claimed to be God and that people don't believe He was God. John consistently makes it very clear that was exactly what Jesus was and claimed to be, for the record. He quotes Ps. 82:6, where Jehovah called earthly judges 'gods'; therefore, Jesus could rightfully call Himself the 'Son of God'.
Jesus makes some clear distinctions about true Christians that we can gauge ourselves by. True Christians, like sheep, hear His voice, hear His Word, and respond to it. They know Christ and are known by Christ. They won't follow a false shepherd. They follow Christ in obedience. Their lives are not defined by acts of disobedience. They have eternal life and are secure.
Sheep are like Christians in that they are clean, as we are from sin because of Jesus. They flock together, as we should surround ourselves with fellow believers. They are prone to wander, as we are. They desperately need a shepherd to survive, as we do for protection, guidance, and food. They are sacrifices for a greater cause, as we should continue to offer our bodies to Him as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1). Again, we all have a daily choice whether to live for our own glory or for His. God created creation for His glory. Our free will is allowing a choice. May we have the courage to humble ourselves to the point of truly living for His glory. That's when the Holy Spirit is empowered to unleash His character and qualities into our lives. That's where we most closely reach our ultimate potential on earth as flesh. It's truly a miracle of maximizing flesh by the empowerment of the Spirit, if you dare...
But don't procrastinate! I have been told numerous times by folks, "ah, I'll just party for a while, living how I want to, then I'll give it up later in life, maybe on my death bed, like the thief on the cross." J. Vernon says there comes a time when it's too late. Winter comes on after the harvest time has passed. You can only reject the Lord for so long. In this passage, Jesus moves on, focused on the cross. From this point on, He only speaks to His own sheep. Don't delay in responding to Jesus' song. We all are exactly one breath from stepping into eternity. And we all would do well in realizing that this earthly life is not the epitomy of life itself. How could it be when the design is for everything to degrade, deteriorate, age, and die? I believe that's how God designed earthly life, so we would consider the eternal things, bringing the spirit world into the earthly. We must deal with a life-defining question: "what do you think of Christ?". What place does He have in your life? What is your response? Every human must face this question.
I like how Jesus went back to the place where John the Baptist used to baptize. I do that same thing at times, getting sentimental about fond memories. Jesus sympathized with J the B, knowing that was one very special man with a very special assignment. I believe this is a time of reflection for Jesus, and you can almost sense the pause of taking a breath and redirecting. We see the end of public ministry as He is about to get into a more personal, private ministry from this point on.
