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.” 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. 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.
Commentary
Vs. 22 “Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.”
Now in Jerusalem there was a yearly feast instituted by Jews there called the Feast of Dedication, in Hebrew this is called Hanukkah. This feast which developed over time, (for it is not a God commanded feast), then celebrates the rededication of the Temple after it was defiled by the king of Syria Antiochus Epiphanes (175-163) in 165 B.C. Thus its mention here is neither a validation, nor a condemnation of it, it existed then and so the Lord Jesus Christ then being in Jerusalem and the Temple was not there to observe it, as when He observed the commanded feasts, but rather to declare the Gospel and Word of God to all present.
Vs. 23-24 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.”
Once again Jesus is walking in Solomon’s porch (i.e. Colonnade) which was a large public roofed area adjoined to the eastern side of the Temple. And so, it was that while Jesus was there, that the Jews surrounded Him and demanded that He tell them whether He is the Christ (i.e. Messiah) or not.
Vs. 25-26 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.
After being surrounded by the Jews while in Solomon’s porch and asked to tell them whether He is the Christ or not, Jesus once again reaffirms to them that He is, saying to 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.” And so here Jesus makes it clear that even though He has told them already that He is the Christ, and that the Work’s that He does prove that He is, and yet they still do not believe in Him because they are not of His sheep. Thus, for Him to tell them again that He is will not change their minds towards Him, for they are not the elect (i.e. chosen) of God just as He is now saying to them when He says they are not of His sheep! For a person’s belief in, or unbelief of the Lord Jesus Christ reveals them as to whether they are of His sheep or not.
Vs. 27-30 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.”
Having then dealt with those who do not believe in Him, Jesus now offers us who believe in Him some of the most reassuring Words in all of Scripture. And in this Jesus begins by saying that His sheep hear His voice, and He knows us, and we follow Him. The foreordained relational connection then between Him and us is undeniable! (vs. 27). Having then declared that we are His sheep, and that He knows us, and we follow Him, the Lord Jesus Christ now says that He gives us eternal life, (i.e. we do not earn it or deserve it as some would like it to be), but Jesus gives eternal life to us all who believe in Him, and so we shall never perish, not die physically, (as some of us will before He returns) but perish eternally! And thus, we shall never be separated from Him, whether in life or in death! That said Jesus now also lays to rest any fears that we may have that any principality or power (whether in heaven or earth) may be able to separate us from Him, for Jesus goes onto to say that, “…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.” (vs. 28-30). Therefore, not only is our salvation assured us. but our our eternal security is assured us, because it is both God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son who having chosen us, and are watching over and guarding us! No one then who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ need ever fear that the devil or any of his own could ever separate us from Christ and our eternal home with Him in the Kingdom of God! (see Rom 8:31-39).
Vs. 31 “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.”
Now when Jesus had just finished speaking those Words, that He and God they Father were One, immediately the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Their doing so then reveals just how hardened their hearts and blinded they’re eyes were to the Word of God. And in them we see the religious wrath of man, which does not stand for the truth, but only for its “religion,” even if it means killing the Son of God!
Vs. 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”
When Jesus saw what they were going to do He immediately sought to diffuse the situation by asking them to consider all the good works that He had done in their presence, were any of these worthy of their wrath and fury!
Vs. 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.”
Having demanded over and over again that Jesus tell them if He is the Christ, the Son of God, and so now when Jesus reveals to them that He is, they only want to stone Him! And so in seeking to justify their wrath and fury towards Him, they now accuse Him of blasphemy!
Vs. 34-38 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.”
And so here in defending Himself the Lord Jesus Christ reminds them that in the Book of Psalms (see Psalm 86:5) God Himself said of men, “You are gods”. That is, those who were to be His representatives, to whom the Word of God came, He Himself called “gods” (i.e. mighty ones) because they were to be His messengers and administrators of the Divine Word of God, not that they were Divine, but that in representing God to their fellow man they were gods. Therefore if God Himself called them gods, to whom the Word of came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), how then can they now say of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Living Word of God that He is blaspheming when He openly and honestly declares that He is the Son of God! For He is Divinely Greater than all of those men God called gods! The Lord Jesus Christ then having put forth an irrefutable defense now tells them to open their eyes and be more discerning in their judgment of Him, for He says to them, 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.” Vs. 37-38 And so even then, while they were seeking to kill Him, Jesus is trying to save them!
Vs. 39 “Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.”
And so it was when Jesus refused to back down from His rightfully and truthfully saying that He was the Son of God, the Jews once again became infuriated at Him, and sought to seize Him! There is then nothing that Jesus would do or say that would convince them otherwise, therefore when they sought to seize Him, Jesus once again escaped out of their hand.
Vs. 40-42 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.
Having left the unbelieving Jews of Jerusalem and Judea behind Him, who only wanted to kill Him, Jesus now goes beyond the Jordan River to the place where John the Baptist began to first baptize people in preparation for Jesus’ Arrival. And so, He stayed there (vs. 40). Now while Jesus was there many came to Him and said, … “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” Vs. 41 And so it was that many believed in the Lord Jesus Christ there! God’s Work then in gathering all the elect to His Son never ceases, nor will it be stopped by those who do not believe, who can still be saved if they repent and believe!
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.
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