John 10:17-18
We are continuing in our study through the gospel of John… we’ve been there for a long time and we’ll continue to be there for a long time…in fact 28 sermons so far and we’re just half way thought the book.
Not because I’m dragging this out…or so I can hear myself talk…but because in John’s gospel we’re learning what God’s Spirit is saying to us through the Apostle John as he details the events in the life of Christ.
In the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke they recorded the life of Christ in terms of His birth…His death…His resurrection… and the things in His life which bear important weight on His deity.
In John’s gospel he has one basic theme…we have repeated it again and again… John constantly desires that we understand that Jesus is God…that He is God in a human body.
In John 10 [vs. 1-16] that we looked at last week…Jesus made a number of startling comments that support that claim:
FIRST… that God has special affection for Him…that God loved Him [17].
SECOND…that He is the sole legitimate means of salvation for all mankind [9].
THIRD…that He has ‘other sheep’ to bring in the fold…referring to Gentiles.
In [vs. 17-18] Jesus makes three more startling claims that we’re going to look at…He adds fuel to the fire so to speak…with the addition of these two verses He adds further controversy:
Because of this the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
Few passages in the New Testament tell us so much about Jesus in such a short amount of space…in these verses we see the complete trust that Jesus had in the Father…and the reason the Father loves the Son.
In verse 18, Jesus shares His own heart concerning His death…He lets us know that—in reality—everything remained under His control…with respect to His own life, He said,
‘No one takes it from Me…I have the authority to lay it down
and I have the authority to take it again.’
What did Jesus mean? …once He died how could He possibly have ‘the power’ to come back to life? …The dead don’t have any power, do they?
Being dead and having power are contradictory states…anyone who still has any kind of power cannot possibly be dead…how could Jesus have any power while He was dead?
Verse 17 starts with the Greek words ‘because of’ (Διὰ) translated by some as ‘therefore’ …but the more correct translation of Διὰ is ‘because of’ which tells us these two verses are tied to the preceding verses where Jesus referred to Himself as the door and the Good Shepherd.
By referring to Himself as the ‘door’ [7] …Jesus is laying down the fundamental truth of salvation…He is the only way of entrance into eternal life with God.
By referring to Himself as the Good Shepherd He was not merely describing His role or His care for His people but was also claiming to be the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy…asserting His deity.
Salvation and eternal life with God are completely, uniquely dependent on Jesus…it is only through His sacrificial death on the cross for our sins and His resurrection that we are able to enter into His presence.
In Jesus’s fourth ‘I AM’ statement He more than clarifies without any hesitation the exclusive nature of salvation:
whoever enters through me will be saved [10:9]
So in [18] Jesus describes how that is possible…that He can die and then bring Himself back from the dead…we see Jesus’ complete control of the situation:
I have power to lay My life down, and I have power to take it again’
FIRST… we see the free obedience of Jesus… ‘I lay down My life…no man takes it from ME…I lay it down of Myself.
SECOND… No single person can kill Me…I control My own destiny [18].
THIRD…He has the power to raise Himself from the dead [18] …no human can do that…there is no previous record of anyone anywhere in the Bible dying and bringing themselves back to life.
In [v. 17-18] Jesus shows that He was in complete control of when and how He would die… Jesus would not be a victim…in less than six months He would be crucified but even then, He would still be in complete control of His own destiny.
Nothing would happen by chance…it would be according to God’s plan.
Jesus would willingly lay down His life with the express purpose of taking it up again…there were those who plotted to take Jesus’ life but it was never within their power to do so.
No one could take His life until the appointed time for Him to ‘lay down’ His life according to prophecy…Jesus was not a reluctant martyr but a willing Savior carrying out the purpose for which He came.
Despite the best efforts of some, Jesus’ death on the Cross was pre-determined by God regardless of the efforts of all those who plotted against him…there were instances when the Jews sought to kill Him but could not because it was not the right time:
• Luke 4:29-30, “(they)…led him unto the brow of the hill…that they might cast him down headlong. But passing through their midst went his way.”
• John 8:59, “Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”
• John 10:39, “they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand.”
Scripture declares His life wasn’t taken from him…He laid it down willingly…no one could take Jesus’ life.
As with most everything in the Bible there are those who insist that Jesus was not saying that He Himself had the power to resurrect Himself…even in Christianity there are those who insist that Jesus was not saying He had the power to resurrect Himself from the dead…that only God could resurrect Jesus from the dead.
As with everything that refutes the Bible it is partly true and partly false…that’s what makes discerning false teachers so hard to identify…what they say has just enough truth in it to sound like it’s out of the Bible…that’s how Satan works in the world… just like with Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness…Satan was partially right…but completely wrong.
We have the same situation here…people who want to deny that Jesus could raise Himself from the dead because it’s not possible…the common-sense approach is that dead people can’t bring themselves back to life…making Jesus a liar.
In Jesus coming back to life we see the mystery of the Trinity…it is true…God did raise Jesus from the dead;
God raised Him from the dead [Acts 13:30]
But so did the Holy Spirit;
He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit [1 Peter 3;18]
And Jesus also brought Himself back from the dead;
I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again [18]
So the real truth is that it was the combination of the Father, The Son, and The Spirit that contributed to Jesus being raised from the dead.
In [vs. 17-18] it has two aspects…we have a love statement…and an obedience statement…two things that characterize the relationship of Jesus to the Father…love and obedience.
The first statement in verse 17 is a love statement:
For this reason, the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life’
Followed by the obedience statement in [18]
this commandment have I received of My Father
So what you have in [vs. 17-18] is…you have love at the beginning…obedience at the end…and the act in the middle.
Contained in these two verses are the things that characterize the relationship of Jesus to the Father and…should characterize the relationship of us to Jesus…love and obedience…there is no such thing as love without obedience…It doesn’t exist…John will go on to emphasize this in the later chapters…[15 verse 9]:
As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you. Continue in My love, if you keep My commandments you shall abide in My love.”
Without obedience love is a mockery…love is seen in obedience…I don’t care whether it’s your children…whether it’s your wife…your husband…whether it’s you and God…regardless of the relationship love is viewed in obedience.
John reiterates the importance of the love obedience relationship in 1 John 2:3-4:
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do
what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
I want to share with you the importance of the word ‘know’ in the Greek…when John says ‘we have come to know him’ it’s far more intense that what we think it means when we do a casual reading of this verse…the word ‘know’ to us means beingaware of something through observation, inquiry, or information.
But in the Greek, it is far more powerful than that…this is the same word γινώσκω
Mary used when she asked how she could be with child since she didn’t ‘know’ a man [Luke 1:34] …the same word used when describing Joseph’s relationship with Mary that he didn’t know Mary until after the child was born [Matt. 1:25].
This word in the Greek means to knowespecially through personal experience… having a first-hand acquaintance…that is the way God wants us to know Him… through personal experience…to ‘know’ God is referring to a relationship that is more than just being friends…it is so personal it can refer to sexual intimacy.
That is the kind of love we should have for Jesus…because it’s the kind of love He has for us…this is the love we have for God when we keep His commandments [1 John 5:3] …BUT…there can be no love without obedience.
People may say, ‘Well, I love God’ …people sing ‘O how I love Jesus’ … ‘When we all get to heaven’ boy I’ll show Jesus then how much I love Him…but how much do you love Him today? …for many not enough to obey Him.
The Bible says, ‘Study to show yourself approved.’ [1 Tim. 2;15] …but they don’t study…they say I love God but they;
…can’t be bothered coming to Church on Sunday
…can’t be bothered to give to the needs of others
…can’t be bothered to pray
…can’t be bothered to serve
…can’t be bothered to use their spiritual gift.
BUT…when I get to heaven that will all change…there’s a danger in that…you won’t be given the opportunity.
OH we’ll be able to worship alongside angels [Rev. 5:13] …we’ll feast and eat with the Lord and His people [Matt. 8:11 / Luke 22:30] …we will celebrate for eternity in heaven [Rev. 19:9] …we will continue to serve the Lord [Matt. 4:10.
BUT… our rewards from God are given for what we have done for Him while living here on this earth…the greater our labor and work for the Lord in this life, the greater our rewards will be in heaven…all those things I mentioned…they equate to work…serving…praying…worshiping…using spiritual gifts…there is a direct correlation between the two – greater service leads to greater rewards.
Here’s what the reward is…more work…more responsibilities…and increased opportunities…the more we serve Christ now, the greater our capacity will be to serve Him in Heaven…Jesus rewards His faithful servants not by taking away responsibilities but by giving them greater ones.
God expects you to do something with what time you have left down here on earth.
How well you work for God, and what you accomplish for Him while on earth is where the works comes in.
Salvation is the gift that gets you into heaven…good works is the reward once you enter into heaven.
That’s really what love is all about? …God keeps a record of people’s love…that record is based on our obedience or lack of it as people just sort of float through their Christian life.
You want to know how to prove your love? Obey. You know how Jesus proved His love? …He obeyed…self-sacrifice is always the measure of love.
Jesus’ relation to the Father was a relationship of love that showed itself in self-sacrificing obedience…that was Jesus’ relationship with the Father…love and obedience…that should be our relationship to the Father. Love and obedience.
John 10:19-21 is the response of the people as a result of the previous 18 verses…a dialogue we have talked about for the last two weeks…John records the people’s actions:
A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words [19]
This is actually an on-going confrontation that started back in Ch. 9 after Jesus had given sight to the blind man…the miracle leads some to believe Jesus is the legitimate messenger from God…others suggest He’s a nutcase in His analogy to explain His ministry as the Good Shepherd.
No one had ever raised themselves from the dead…they reasoned this proved Jesus was insane and demonized and therefore not worth listening to.
Verse 19 reveals a polarized situation…there are two extremes…there is a division of people into one of only two categories…there are only two groups of people in the world…saved and unsaved…not maybe…not almost…not kinda.
John uses the words ‘again’ but there has always been a division ever since Chapter 7…you have two groups…group ‘A’ gives their remarks in [v 20] …they have descended to name calling…earlier they called Him a demon-possessed Samaritan …they now add another layer: He has a demon and is mad.
He’s not only demon possessed…now He’s crazy as well…they ask those who have been listening to Jesus: ‘Why do you listen to Him? …why do you stand around listening to this guy? No one brings themselves back from the dead.
There are some people today who think Jesus is a madman…they make the same assessment as those in Matthew 12… “What He does He does by the power of Satan.” …the seriousness of that sin is: for that you will not be forgiven.
For those people who stood there and saw all His miracles and heard all His words and concluded He did it by Satan…they were beyond the possibility of salvation because of their total rejection of Jesus and His revelation.
That is blasphemy…there are blasphemers today, plenty of them…some of the most notable are: Woody Allen / Hugh Hefner / Joaquin Phoenix / Kathy Griffin / Brad Pitt / Jodie Foster / Kevin Bacon / Bill Maher/ Barry Manilow…Some of those don’t surprise me.
So why would I mention these celebrities…because today…unfortunately people become so obsessed with them they idolize them….and the more details they know about their personal life the more they emulate them…including their beliefs.
People Magazine has a weekly audience of 4.6 million readers…the largest audience of any American magazine…in addition there are TV shows running in prime time that are exclusively about celebrities such as Entertainment Tonight.
That’s a lot of people spending a lot of time and money reading and watching about people they don’t even know…but who are obsessed in following their favorite celebrities…as a result these people shape how they live…who they vote for…and what to believe in.
And when they make statements that are contrary to Christian beliefs and when they say, ‘Why do you listen to Him?’ they have the potential to influence a lot of people because of their celebrity status…and they do just that.
But then you have the other side that society often divides itself… [21]
Others said, ‘these are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?’
The miracles lead some to believe Jesus is a legitimate messenger of God…I like that last statement… ‘Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?’ …So the world is polarized regarding Jesus.
On the one hand some think He’s a madman…on the other hand…some are hanging on to the faith in what they know about Him.
Those who don’t want to believe will always find a way…or a reason to resist…no matter what [John 5:39-40] …miracles and truthful teaching ought to lead people to accept Him [John 3:1-2] …but a hard heart can always make excuses [Mat. 12:31].
John stops his recording of this dialogue at [v21] so we are left unsure how the rest of this encounter played out…starting in [v 22] the narrative leaps ahead several months to the Feast of the Dedication.
I said earlier…few passages in the New Testament tell us so much about Jesus in such a short amount of space.
First…It tells us that Jesus saw his whole life as an act of obedience to God. God had given him a task to do, and he was prepared to carry it out to the end…He never doubted that he must die.
Second…He had a unique relationship to God which we can describe only by saying that He was the Son of God…a relationship that was never based on anything except love and obedience.
As the Good Shepherd His relationship to the Father hinged on two principles… love and obedience…the same two that should characterize our relationship with the Father.
His relationship with the world also hinged on two poles…the close minded and the open minded.
Sometimes we fail to hear the bite in Jesus’ words because we have heard them so many times before that we become numb to them…for Jesus to claim to have the power to lay down his life and take it back up again is to claim the humanly impossible and preposterous.
The people reacted with clamoring, as they often did, to his strong claims…they recognize that they either have to believe him and put their trust in him, or else recognize him as being crazy. It’s the same choices people must make today…What’s your choice? You cannot be neutral about Jesus. He is either Lord or liar…He’s either the Christ or crazy man.