Are You His Listener?

Sunday April 25, 2010

John 10:22-30

²²Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. ²⁴The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ tell us plainly."

²⁵Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, ²⁶but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. ³⁰I and the Father are one."

What does it mean to hear the voice of God? That is the question for us to consider this morning. Way too often we hear what we want to hear. And far too often Christians especially find themselves in quandaries because they didn't truly hear what our Lord- our Good Shepherd- was telling them. But even more tragically, there are those who hear the gospel message that Jesus saves from all sin and yet unfortunately never take God at his word. They deliberately choose to trounce the Son of God and his sacrifice underfoot and fail to ever know him personally and truly.

The setting for this account by the Apostle John has some pretty fascinating history that is worth our investigation as we start this sermon.

Jesus has encountered the Jewish leaders on what is called Solomon's porch that is located on the east side of the temple during what is called the Feast of Dedication- or in our modern times "Hanakkuh." What is the history here?

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Some 200 years or less before this occasion, Jerusalem and Israel was subject to Syrian and Greek overlords and had such kings as Antiochus Epiphanes who came to power in 175 BC. He was especially ruthless. He decided that being king over the Israelites wasn't enough so he invaded Egypt. When he was in Egypt it was rumored that he had died and so the Jews were essentially dancing in the streets celebrating his death. Well, he really didn't die and he was furious that these Jews would treat him disrespectfully. So in 168 BC he raised up an army that invaded the city, killed some 40,000 Israelites. He wasn't done punishing them, though. He went into the holy temple of God and sacrificed a pig on the altar. And then to make sure they understood his hatred, he had the dead pig basically made into gravy and poured throughout the temple- desecrating it as much as possible. He went on to destroy the Law which was primarily composed of the first five books (the Pentateuch) and severely punished those who opposed him.

But God's people would not back down. A man named Mattathias with five sons rose up against the invaders. He called on his fellow Israelites to follow his example and escape to the mountains. Upon his death he encouraged his sons to carry on the fight. And so, to make a long story short, his son Judas Maccabeus led a revolt that restored Jerusalem and the temple back into their hands.

• Son of Mattathias. Judas was the middle son of five sons.
  
• Warrior from his youth. Possessed not only the skill to fight but to lead.
  
• Leader of the army. Led a revolt against the invaders. He organized the other soldiers and appointed officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
  
• Defeated the enemy though out-numbered. Prior to battle they spent time in prayer and fasting at Mizpah which is called the place of prayer outside of Jerusalem.
  The enemy number some 40,000 to their 10,000. They were vastly out-number and didn't possess the weaponry that the enemies had. However, they defeated and plundered the enemy and their encampments.
  

Temple restored. The people then commenced to repairing the temple where all sorts of illicit sin and worship took place. The priests tore down the desecrated altar on which pigs were sacrificed and all sorts of other things took place and rebuilt it with fresh uncut stones. They then remade new vessels for worship. They gave praise to God for deliverance and set this time as a yearly celebration. However,

This is the beginning of what is called Hanukkah- the festival of lights. With the bronze candle gone they used a wooden candle instead. But they did not have any oil for the candle that was not contaminated except for one vial. This would last for only one day. They went ahead and lit the candle and it burned miraculously for eight days until new oil could be produced. Traditionally, on December 18^th one candle is lit for each person in the household and is to burn for the next 8 days- until December 26^th. Some even light an additional candle for each person each day. If you have five people in your home then by the end of Hanukkah there will be forty candles burning.

Jesus is not only approached by the Jewish authorities during the Festival of Lights, but he is approached by them on Solomon's porch. This is interesting because this was literally built during Solomon's day and was maintained when the temple was rebuilt by King Herod. It was a constant place of dedication. What is also interesting is that Peter preaches from this same place later in Acts 3 after he and John heal the crippled man who was sitting at the Beautiful Gate that led into the temple.

John mentions that it was winter- not because we needed to know that (any reader of his timeframe would already know that) but because the weather was most likely rainy or stormy and so Jesus and his followers were under the protection of Solomon's Portico.

All of this background hopefully helps us realize the significance of Jesus being challenged by the Jewish leaders. For them, they were setting what they believed to be a perfect trap. For Jesus, this was another opportunity to prove them as unbelievers and to affirm those who follow him in their faith.

And during this Feast of Dedication that is celebrated with candle-lights, Jesus is proclaimed as the Light that has come into the world.

What do we see happening? First,

1. The Inconvenient Truth about Christ for the Jewish Leaders.
   

These opposers of Jesus come with what seems to be an innocent question. However, their question was far from innocent. "How long will you keep us in suspense?" In other words, they were literally asking: "How long will you kill us with suspense?" What were they doing?

a) They were trying to trap him.

If Jesus spoke immediately and declared himself as king of the Jews, these leaders would have immediately went to the Roman governor and tattled on him.

Jesus gives us an example of prudence. He handles the opposition with cautiousness and good sense. We need to do the same when dealing with unbelievers- especially those who hate us and want to spitefully use us. "Be wise as serpents and as harmless as doves" Jesus says elsewhere to his disciples. (Matthew 10:16)

He understood that in their goal to trap him they had a greater goal:

b) Their goal was to eliminate him.

They were constantly jealous of Jesus and sought to destroy him. However, being good politicians, they knew he had the backing of the people so they had to do things in the smoke-filled back rooms, so to speak.

c) He saw through their motives.

He knew their intentions and knew how far to push their buttons. They wanted him to declare that he was the king of the Jews. Instead, he declares that he and the Father are One. This blew their stack immediately. And even though he out-foxed them with their own words and was able to keep them off stride by the scriptures, verse 31 says that they picked up stones to stone him. He challenges them to simply look at his miracles but that isn't why they want to stone him. He called himself "god." Even though he gives them a Biblical lesson the use of "god" from the Psalms (82:6) they realize that his use of "the Father is in me and I am in the Father" is equaling himself with God.

What the leaders failed to see and so many fail to see today is that Jesus is "the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him." (John 14:3) And furthering their problem was that they refused to truly listen with spiritual ears. They lacked the necessary ears to hear.

The Prophet Isaiah experienced the presence and voice of God speaking to him. The experience was so profound that he thought that he would die because he was in the presence of God. God accused his own people then: "Be ever hearing but never understanding; be ever seeing but never perceiving."

Hearing and seeing God requires spiritual ears and eyes. Through these a person's heart hears and sees. Until a person gets these, they won't get this salvation message that Christ has.

And how important is this to us as a Church? To each one of the seven Churches in Revelation Jesus says, "He who has ears let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

Those who have Christ in their lives have seen and have heard and have a new way of living and thinking. We think differently because we hear differently. We hear the voice of our Good Shepherd. For the world out there and for these Jewish leaders in Jesus' time, they do not hear and so their behavior cannot be expected to be any different.

This is why we pray for those in our friendship circles who do not know Christ- that they would have ears to hear and a heart to repent.

And so Jesus lets these leaders know that those who have heard and believe are different than they are. These Jewish leaders in this time frame have rejected Jesus as Lord and have rejected his message and his miracles. This is why they are continually at odds with Jesus. They not only have rejected him but they hate him and want to destroy him.

Nevertheless, Jesus has followers. And his relationship with them is different- different from anything anyone has heard before or since.

2. The Constant Relationship of Christ with His Sheep.

Anytime we approach scriptures as students of the Bible, we must be aware of one very simple rule: context. You will find your understanding of Scripture so much more meaningful when you adhere to this rule: keep things in context.

Of course, not everything written in the Bible is context oriented. The Proverbs are largely written as truths and advice that cross cultural boundaries everywhere.

To understand what Jesus is saying in this situation means to keep everything in context. We must put ourselves into John's context first rather than put John into our context. The context has to do with two important points: 1) what it means to be a sheep with Jesus as our Shepherd; and 2) the Jewish leaders opposition to Jesus. Once we put things into the context that it is about we realize that this is not about a struggling Christian hoping that he or she is still saved.

Jesus sets up some criteria here for us as his followers that are very important for us to understand.

a) My sheep listen… to my voice.

Too often too many Christians are getting pulled in all sorts of directions. If we are not careful we can be like a stray dog at a whistler's conference. We hear whistles but don't know which way to go.

If you are a true follower of Jesus Christ then you will have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. A true follower of the Good Shepherds has his or her ears tuned in to what their Shepherd's voice sounds like. This is why it is critical- absolutely critical- for the believer in Christ to be into the Scriptures. Not only reading the Word but studying the Word. This is why we all need to be in a Bible preaching and believing Church and everyone needs to be participating in a small group study. This why every Christian needs to guard their heart against the influences of the world. This way we can learn to know what our Shepherd's voice sounds like.

Jesus goes on to say:

b) I know them… they follow me.

Jesus knows exactly who you are. He knows your shortcomings and your failings. He knows your potential and what it takes to live a true life of purpose in him. He knows you personally.

What is amazing, as I look back on my life, is that if Jesus knows me so well, why has he stuck with me? I'm not sure, but I count it a privilege to be counted as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Who do you follow? Who do you follow more? So many of us get so strung out with the "busy-ness" of life. We are all busy. But the question to ask: what are you busy with? Are you busy with living your life for Christ first in everything? Let's not live our lives just sprinkling a little bit of God in everything. Let's hear the voice of our Good Shepherd and follow after him by being "living sacrifices that are holy and acceptable to God." (Romans 12:1)

If Jesus truly knows who you are because of your faith in Him for salvation, then most certainly you will be following him. A sheep knows its Shepherd's voice; he has too. And when he hears his Shepherd's voice he follows his shepherd. If a sheep does not know his Shepherd's voice then he will not hear when the Shepherd is calling him to greener pastures; he will not hear when the Shepherd is calling him away from danger; he will not hear when the Shepherd is calling him to do His will.

The voice is known because the Shepherd knows his sheep personally. And our Savior, who gives us new life, knows us personally and intimately. Now it's up to us to get to know him personally and intimately through the Bible and through prayer and through obedience.

Jesus also gives a promise:

c) I give them eternal life… they shall never perish.

I would certainly agree with Warren Wiersbe's comment about this point. He writes: "We have eternal life, not just life for 'as long as we don't sin.'" I don't know any credible Wesleyan-Arminian preachers or teachers who advocate this kind of theology. I certainly don't. I refuse to live my life with one foot in hell and the other on a banana peel.

There are consequences for sin- always. And ultimately a person who continually chooses the life of sin and yet claims to be a Christian is only fooling themselves. Salvation is conditional upon our repentance. This relationship is conditional upon our following the Good Shepherd. If you claim to be a Christian and are not following in the footsteps of Christ then you are not a Christian and you do not have eternal life.

Eternal life comes from Jesus and we will have it forever. But what did Jesus say prior to this? My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. Because we listen to his voice and because we follow him do we have this eternal life in which we will never perish. Even in the face of the fiercest persecution and worst possible death, we can know that we are going to heaven. We can know that we are safe in the Father's hand.

And all of this, not by works- that any man should brag- but by the grace of God. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Jesus then says:

d) No one can snatch them… out of my hand.

And even though the enemy may strive against us we can know that our place with God is secure. As the Apostle Paul writes: "If God be for us who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) As long as we are in the Good Shepherd's care nothing- absolutely nothing- can harm us. We are safe for eternity. The enemy- the devil- who goes to and fro seeking whom he may devour cannot bring harm to us. (1 Peter 5:8) As we listen to the voice of our Savior, the Good Shepherd; as we follow in his steps and living out his example; as we live our holy lives by faith no one can snatch us out of God's hands. Not the most powerful governments, armies or Satan himself.

We are safe for all of eternity.

Conclusion: What does that mean for you?

Are you LISTENING to your Good Shepherd?

Are you FOLLOWING your Good Shepherd?

Do you enjoy the ASSURRANCE of your salvation with your Good Shepherd?