Are you the Christ?
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Have you ever wanted to know something but no one will give you a straight answer? Most of us have and can understand the Jews frustration when they ask Jesus in John 10:24
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Sometimes we just want a straight answer. I want to know, just tell me. Yet all to often the answer is not what we expected or are ready to accept. So it was for the Jews as Jesus tells them quite plainly who he is. The full reality of himself was much more than the Jews were willing to accept. Look with me at John 10:22-42 as we look at Jesus answer to the question and the Jews response.
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will 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 the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.
The response
The response
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,
I have given you a straight answer
You do not believe - its not what you want to hear
The proof is the works that God does through me - prophets were proven true by their miracles and their prophecies coming true. Jesus meets both criteria
The explanation
The explanation
but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will 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 the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
You don't believe because your not my sheep- your not of God
I give them eternal life - salvation is a gift from God
I keep them in my hand and no one can take them away - salvation is obtained by God on our behalf and it is secured - protected by God, You cant lose your salvation because it is God that is securing it. You are either saved or your not
No one was saved and is now not saved. Many however made a profession of faith or belief in Jesus that was not a conversion experience.
What i mean by that is that many have come to believe that Jesus is real or even that he is the son of God they may even come to believe that he came to die for our sins but they refuse to accept him as Lord master of their lives. To believe in who Jesus is without accepting him as Lord of our lives is rebellion against God and therefore of no value. The lordship of Christ is a necessary component of salvation. IT is not a get out of jail free card but rather an opportunity for us to be restored to a right relationship with God.
I and the Father are one - Here Jesus gives them a straight answer I am God. Yet the Jews were not expecting this nor was this the answer they wanted and so they rejected it.
The Charge and defense
The Charge and defense
The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
For which works are you going to stone me?
the charge blasphemy you called yourself God
Law said stone a blasphemer
The defense - Is it not written in your law you are gods
God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”
God calls the children of Israel gods - his children
Jesus defense is that if God the father can call Israel sons of God then why is it blasphemy for Jesus to make the same claim?
So how do we know whether Jesus was really the son of God, again Jesus says look at my works, if I am doing the works of God then believe me if not then do not believe. The works are proof of my identity.
Then he does a miracle He escapes the hands of those seeking to arrest him. Again he is in the temple again he is surrounded by the crowds with temple guards nearby again he has claimed to be God and yet he escapes unharmed. I assert this can only be done by the power of God.
The story ends with John saying in John 10:42
And many believed in him there.
Invitation
Invitation
My question for you this morning is do you believe in Jesus this morning? Do you believe that Jesus is God himself come to live in human flesh and to die on the cross to pay the price for our sins that we might be forgiven for our sins and will you make him Lord of your life this morning. To seek to live your life according to his will as written for us in the Bible. Maybe you have already claimed him as Lord of your life but today God is convicting you of a some sin in your life and you just need to repent and turn back to him. Whatever your need is this morning I ask that you not leave here today without getting right with God. Will you come this morning and seek the face of God as we sing.