This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to ponder John 10:22-30. The English Standard Version groups verses 22-42 together and supplies the heading “I and the Father Are One.”
John tells us it was winter. Why?
Partly to signal that some time has passed between the account ending in verse 21 – which was during the Feast of Booths [1] (or tents) and the event he’s now describing. And partly to signal that the narrative is going to turn cold and dark.
Jesus is in Solomon’s courtyard, the part of the Temple where people gathered around teachers. Jesus had taught and debated here before. Later, after Pentecost, [2] an angel released Peter and others from prison and told them to go there and preach “the words of this life.” [3]
When Jesus moved around the courtyard, he was surrounded by “the Jews.” This is how John refers to the Jewish leaders and teachers of the day, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
As a broad generalization, we may say that the Pharisees cut across all classes of society and were very careful about obeying the law, while the Sadducees were wealthy and were very careful not to offend the Romans.
The assessment of Jesus by the Pharisees is hard to generalize. Because Pharisees invited him to meals, and he accepted. And Nicodemus, a leading Pharisee, whom Jesus called “teacher of Israel,” admired Jesus. Yet, Jesus often criticized Pharisaic teachings and practices. [4]
The general attitude of the gospels is negative towards Pharisees and Sadducees. We must remember that the gospels were written 40-70 years after Jesus was crucified. They wanted to show the Temple was destroyed because the New Covenant or New Testament era had begun.
So, John tells us Jesus was in the Temple, the religious and political centre of Jewish faith. He tells us it was the Feast of Dedication. This feast, also known as Hanukkah, is observed by Jews even today. On Hanukkah, they remember the re-dedication of the Temple by Judas Maccabee.
The Temple had to be re-dedicated because it had been defiled by the Seleucid Emperor Antiochus IV Epiphanes, whose name translates into “God Manifest.” This king made it a capital offence to own any of the scrolls of the Biblical texts.
And in the Temple, he sacrificed pigs, [5] the most abhorrent of animals to Jews. The Jews rose up and crushed him. [6]
With that background, we can see the irony in the response of the Jewish leaders.
They were in the midst of celebrating the eviction of a king who claimed to be “God Manifest.” They were in the midst of celebrating the restoration of Godly sacrifices, in God’s Temple. And there, in their midst, was one who was doing works only God could do.
They were concerned about Jesus because of his works. Because he had miraculously fed thousands. Because he had healed thousands. Because he had cast out evil spirits from thousands. Because he had observed the law – he even told healed lepers to tell the priests and to offer gifts to God. [7]
His works set him apart from any other person, past or present. His birth – which surely would’ve been investigated by the Special Branch of the day – made it clear that he fit the profile of him who was to be born king of the Jews, for he was of the line of David [8] and was born in Bethlehem. [9]
The Jews surrounded him. They asked him to say plainly whether he was the Christ, the Messiah, the promised saviour, and king.
What was in their hearts? Did they wish to swear allegiance to him and make him king? Or did they wish to harm this threat to their religious and political security?
Jesus answered with a half-truth. He said, “I told you and you do not believe.” He didn’t use “plain words” which they could turn against him. No. He pointed to evidence: healings, exorcisms, feedings. It’s important to see that John presents the story as if it were a trial in a court of law.
At the feast of re-dedication of the Temple to God, they failed to see that Jesus, by his acts, had shown that he was doing God’s will. Instead, they wanted him to self-incriminate himself, so that they could kill him. Legally.
Again, Jesus had divided the people. [10] He left the Temple. For the last time.
He returned to the place where the Spirit had come upon him, at his baptism by John, and initiated his public ministry.
Many followed him. And believed. These were the people, the sheep, who could recognize God’s voice. These were the people who had eternal life. These were the people who would follow Him, knowing that his enemies, protectors of their own turfs, would try – and fail – to snatch them away.
Peace be with you.
[2] Pentecost is when the Holy Spirit came upon the early church and turned them from cowering chickens into lively lions.
[4] Jesus criticised their emphasis on outward forms; he said the attitude of the heart is what matters to God. According to him, the Pharisees made the law too easy to obey. See Matthew 5:19-20.
[5] In 167 BC.
[6] In 164 BC.
[7] See for example Matthew 8:4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 17:11-19.
[8] See for example Isaiah 9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:5; 2 Samuel 7:16; Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 33:17.
[9] Micah 5:2.
[10] See Matthew 10:34. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword …”
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