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In answer to a specific request

Text: John 10 : 22-42

IN ANSWER TO A SPECIFIC REQUEST

The Jews blamed Jesus for not speaking clearly enough. Were they asking for really “plain” statements? Jesus would oblige… once again!

“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.
But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep,
as I said to you.'”
John 10:25-26

The charge that the Jews made against Jesus was not true. Jesus pointed out that He had spoken to them plainly. The problem was that they did not believe Him.

Not only had Jesus spoken to them plainly, He backed up His messages with demonstrations of the power of God. The works of Jesus were done in His Father’s Name. Surely, they were proof that His words carried authority and power! Surely the works of Jesus bore powerful witness as to who He was!

Why had the Jews not been able to understand and believe in Jesus? He offered them a startling word of admonition. It was because they were not His sheep.

TRUE AND FALSE SHEEP DISTINGUISHED

Could Jesus have been thinking of the words of Ezekiel the prophet, even as He distinguished between sheep and sheep!

“And as for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord God:
‘Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep,
between rams and goats.'”
Ezekiel 34:17

God had spoken through Ezekiel and had warned that He could and would distinguish between those who were truly His sheep and those who were not! Let’s read further what Ezekiel preached hundreds of years ago.

“Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture,
that you must tread down with your feet the residue
of your pasture- and to have drunk of the clear waters,
that you must foul the residue with your feet?
And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled
with your feet, and they drink
what you have fouled with your feet.”
Ezekiel 34:18-19

Ezekiel was describing how some stronger sheep would bully the weaker ones. They refused to allow the weaker ones to eat and drink. If they could not totally prevent the weaker sheep from grazing and drinking, they trampled the grass and dirtied the water.

This was a reference to the wealthy and powerful Jews who were bullying and humiliating their weaker brethren. This kind of behavioural pattern still existed among the Jews in the days of Jesus. The powerful Pharisees, for instance, bullied the weaker Jews into submission. They lorded it over others who did not have their education or their social standing.

Ezekiel went on to make another powerful statement concerning the fact that God would personally judge those who hurt others.

“Therefore thus says the Lord God to them:
‘Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat
and the lean sheep. Because you have
pushed with side and shoulder,
butted all the weak ones with your horns,
and scattered them abroad,
therefore I will save My flock, and they shall
no longer be a prey; and I will judge between
sheep and sheep.'”
Ezekiel 34:20-22

Jesus applied this truth found in Ezekiel to the Jews who sought to harm Him. They may indeed be compared to the thieves and robbers He mentioned earlier. Their behaviour gave them away! Why had they behaved so badly towards Jesus? Why had they not understood simple and plain statements? Surely, it was because they were not His sheep! Jesus distinguished between sheep and sheep!

A SOLEMN AND TENDER PLEDGE TO TRUE SHEEP

Words of rebuke were given to those who were not His sheep. Tender words were uttered to those who truly belonged to the Good Shepherd.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them,
and they follow Me.
And 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.”
John 10:27-30

Jesus reiterated what He had said earlier. There was the promise of eternal life. The promise given was astonishing for He was promising eternal security to all who believed in Him.

No one could snatch any true believer out of the Father’s Hand. He was Almighty and therefore it would be impossible to do that! What comfort these words must have brought to the true sheep!

Then Jesus said something that must have truly startled everyone- especially the Jews. He claimed that He and His Father were ONE!