Jesus One With The Father

We’ll start at John 10:30, and then we’re going to set the context. It’s one very short verse but packed with some important doctrine. Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.” The gospel of John is the gospel of belief. In John 20, John mentions the reason he wrote his gospel. In verses 30-31, he says, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples…But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” The gospel of John is written in order that we might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God—not only the Messiah, but He’s the Son of God.

Our text tonight really deals with those two themes. Yes, Jesus is the Messiah. He answered the question that He was the Messiah, but He goes even further to say that He’s actually one with the Father, claiming full deity. Matthew says, “Behold your King.” Mark says, “Behold your Servant.” Luke says, “Behold the man,” and the gospel of John says, “Behold your God.” It’s the gospel of the deity of Jesus Christ. Not that His deity isn’t seen in Matthew, Mark, or Luke, but John’s gospel really is the gospel of Christ the Son of God and that we should believe on His name.

There are four sections to our text that we’re going to cover tonight. The first is John 10:30, we have the claim of Jesus Christ that He is one with the Father; the charge of blasphemy in verses 31-33 come against Him that He’s blasphemed; the challenge that Jesus brings back to the Jewish leaders in verses 34-38; and fourthly, the consequence in verses 39-42. Let’s look first of all at this claim in verse 30, “I and my Father are one,” Jesus said.

Now, you need to always set a text in context. This is one of the most basic and important principles of interpreting the Bible. No one wants to be taken out of context, and the Scriptures should always be interpreted in light of its context. I don’t want to go into depth of what I covered last week, but I want you to back up to verse 22. I’m almost tempted to preach last week’s sermon again because of its importance. It’s amazing how the two fit together, and a little footnote here before I forget, from verse 22, the section should go to verse 30. I stopped short last week. Verse 30 rightfully belongs to last week’s text, but then it continues on in verse 31.

Now, go back to verse 22. “And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.” This time and place continues in the context starting at verse 30. It was in the winter. It was the feast of dedication, and He was in Jerusalem and was (verse 23) in Solomon’s Portico. Now the feast of dedication as you remember was the feast of Hanukkah, and they were celebrating the cleansing and restating of the temple. It wasn’t a Levitical law by any means, but they were celebrating the cleansing and restoring of the temple, as they do still today. It is also known as the Feast of Lights. They were celebrating the victory of Judas Maccabeus. It’s interesting that Jesus is probably (verses 30-42) putting Himself in contrast to Judas Maccabeus, this deliverer, this victor, that He’s the Messiah, He’s the Son of God, and that they should believe in and celebrate Him. It’s interesting that that is the context of the time and place.

Jesus is walking in the porch known as Solomon’s porch, verse 23, “Then came the Jews round about him,” the Greek indicates that they surrounded and were continually heckling Him asking, “How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.” How much more plainly can you get than verse 30, “I and my Father are one.” He’s very clear with them. Verse 25, “Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me,” mention of the works and His words bearing witness. “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”

I’m struggling a little bit because I want to go back into exposition of these verses, but what I really want to get is into verses 28-29, Jesus mentions the security of the believer in His hand; and in verse 29, “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand,” and without skipping a beat, He goes right into verse 30, “I and my Father are one,” I’m keeping My sheep, and My Father is keeping the sheep, and We’re working together in one purpose and one power. You have Christ’s hand mentioned in verse 28, the Father’s hand mentioned in verse 29, and then He says, “I and my Father are one,” We’re both working together to protect and keep Our sheep and that the sheep are secure.

Now, just a couple quick points on the security of the believer. It’s explained in verse 28 that it is a gift—it is eternal life—that is given to them, and it is secure, “and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” He states in the positive, “And I give unto them,” so salvation is a gift and what I give to them is eternal life, and then He gives it in the negative, “and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” The statement in verse 30, “I and my Father are one,” speaks of the fact that we’re secure in the Father’s hand, and we’re secure in the Savior’s hand.

When Jesus says in verse 30, “I and my Father are one,” you need to understand what He means by that statement. Here’s the main and primary and intentional meaning of what He’s saying. He’s actually saying, “We are one in essence.” They are one in purpose, They are one in power, but They are one in essence. He’s not saying that, “I’m the Father and the Father’s Me, and that We’re just one Person.” Christianity teaches what we call the trinity when it comes to the nature of God. You’ve heard that term “trinity,” or triunity. Basically, that means that there is one God but three Persons—not three separate individual deities, but one divine essence, one God. There are three separate Persons within that Godhead. I know that when I make a statement like that you’ll say, “I don’t quite get it. I don’t understand,” and that’s because God is infinite and we’re finite, because we’re human and He’s divine. But He’s God in three Persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They are one in essence being They are all three divine. The Father is not more God than the Son; the Son is not more God than the Spirit. They are all equally divine. All the divine attributes—everything that can be attributed to God’s nature as being God—is true of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All the divine attributes are true of all three of Them. They’re all three divine.

Let me make it real simple. This is one of the greatest, clearest, most profoundest and simplest statements on the deity of Jesus Christ in the entire Bible. Jesus Himself is claiming to be God. Now, you might read that and not really get it, but we’re going to read the next couple of verses and it’s going to become very, very clear. Jesus is claiming here that, “I and my Father are one,” We’re one in essence, but We’re two different People. To give you an example of that, I quote it all the time, John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Three things are said about Jesus who is called the logos, the Word, that He’s eternal, “In the beginning was the Word.” The second point is that He’s personal, “and the Word was with,” the word “with” there means face to face, “God.” You have the eternal Word, then you have the personal Word, He’s with God. The third statement in John 1:1, “and the Word was God,” that He’s divine.

You jump down in the same chapter to verse 14, and it says, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amount us,” He pitched His tent among us. That’s His humanity. Verse 1 is His deity, verse 14 is His humanity, but it speaks of the fact that He was with the Father. This is why the Bible doesn’t teach what’s called modalism. Modalism is that there is a Father who becomes the Son, and then the Son becomes the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was on earth, there was no separate person of the Father in heaven, that the Father actually took on the other “mode” of becoming the Son, and then the Son takes on the “mode” of becoming the Holy Spirit. Believe me, this is alive and well on planet earth today. People who are oneness doctrine and believe that Jesus is the Father, Jesus is the Spirit, and that They’re just one Person—not three persons in One. Anyone that denies the triune nature of the Godhead is not holding to orthodox Christianity. They could be born again, but ignorant. It is not Christian doctrine. You can be a Christian and have bad doctrine, but the doctrine by itself is not considered Christianity. It’s not orthodox. Most, if not all, of the cults do deny the triune nature of God, but Jesus says, “I and my Father are one,” one in essence, one divine being.

Let me mention four implications in light of this before I move on. James Montgomery Boice, in his excellent commentary on the gospel of John (it takes four volumes for him to get through that gospel) says, “There are four things that we learn about Jesus and His nature: 1) We have the knowledge of God in Him for He is God. 2) We have forgiveness of our sins in Him for His death had infinite merit atoning for sin. 3) We have the victory over circumstances in Him for He lived above circumstances. 4) We have triumph over death in Him for He rose from the dead and has promised to raise all whom the Father hath given Him.” Now, the implications could go longer than that, but these are some powerful implications if indeed Jesus Christ is God. Some will maybe say, “Well, I don’t really believe that Jesus was claiming to be God. I don’t believe that Jesus was God.” It’s very common, very popular today, to just say that He was the Son of God—lesser than God. But even that title “the Son of God” is a claim to deity, or that He was, “just a good Man, a good moral Teacher, just a religious leader,” but He wasn’t God manifested in the flesh.

Notice the charge of blasphemy in verses 31-33. “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” The minute Jesus claimed, “I and my Father are one,” the Jews knew exactly what He was claiming, so they go to pick up stones. Some commentaries have mentioned that they were probably picking up stones that were lying around used for the construction of Herod’s Temple. They picked up stones and were going to stone Jesus because Leviticus 24:16 says that blasphemers should be stoned to death. They pick up the stones and Jesus says to them, “Many good works have I shewed you from my Father,” there’s again the reference of the Father, “for which of those works do ye stone me?” Jesus asks them this question probably with a little bit of irony. Any time you try to get into a dialogue or a debate with Jesus, you’re going to be in big trouble. That’s the last Person you want to try to trap with words or debate with, but Jesus asks them a question. He says, “You know, I’ve done a lot of good works, which of them do you stone Me?” “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not,” but for Your words, “but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”

Let me point out something I don’t want to miss. They do not dispute the works that He did. Everyone knew the miracles that Jesus was performing. They didn’t say, “You haven’t done any good works.” Jesus gave sight to the blind, healed deaf ears, cleansed lepers, changed the water into wine, raised people from the dead. It was just amazing the miracles and the works that Jesus did. He did miracles that no one has ever done before. It’s interesting that His enemies were not disputing the works that Jesus was doing, so that wasn’t an issue. It’s interesting though when Nicodemus came to Jesus by night in John 3 that he said, “Good Master, we know that you’re a man sent from God, for no one could do these works that thou doest, except God be with him.” Nowhere in the New Testament does anyone dispute the miracles that Jesus performed; and, by the way, they are evidence of His divinity. He did what only God can do. It’s an absolute amazing witness.

In verse 33, “The Jews answered him, saying…but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” Here’s another interesting point. They point out that Jesus is a man at the end of verse 33. I point that out because it’s interesting. There are some people that deny His humanity. I’ve mentioned it before, but again, it’s just so interesting that the focus today is Jesus is God, Jesus is God, Jesus is God; and that’s true, Jesus is God. Did you know He was also a man, that He was a human being?

In the early years of Christianity, there was a false teaching known as Gnosticism. The gnostics actually believe that Jesus didn’t have a physical body. They believe that He was just a spirit being, that if you reached out to touch Jesus, your hand would go right through Him like Casper the Friendly Ghost; that when He walked on the beach, He wouldn’t leave any footprints; that He didn’t have a physical, material body. When John wrote in his epistles, he was dealing some with the gnostic influence and was talking about Jesus coming by blood and by water—that He was physical, and that He was God in the flesh. Another little branch of Gnosticism known as Docetism actually believe that Jesus, as I said, did not have a physical body because they believe matter was evil and so God wouldn’t have a physical body. There are those today that stumble over the humanity and the deity; again, the Bible teaches He was fully man and fully God.

Verse 33, they say, “…because that thou, being a man, makest thyself,” equal with, “God.” What you have at the end of verse 33 is clear evidence that in verse 30, when Jesus said, “I and my Father are one,” that He was claiming to be God. The Jews said so in verse 33, “and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself,” to be equal with, “God,” You just made Yourself God. They understood that very very clearly. It takes liberal Bible scholars thousands of years to conclude that Jesus isn’t God or that Jesus did not claim to be divine or claim to be God.

It’s interesting that Jesus was being persecuted by the Jews not so much because He claimed to be Messiah but they had a false concept of Messiah would overthrow the Romans and set up His Kingdom, similar to Judas Maccabeus, who was the one who cleansed the temple and the one that they were celebrating at the Feast of Dedication. Jesus didn’t fit their Messianic expectations, but what really brought them into hostility against Jesus was that Jesus was claiming to be God. This really, really bothered them. Do you know that there are a lot of people today that will accept Jesus the man but will not accept Jesus as God? They will readily accept Jesus as a man and will praise Him and think He’s wonderful and applaud Him, but the moment you cross over and say, “Well, He’s more than a man, Jesus was God manifest in the flesh,” that’s where they get angry. That’s where people started to persecute Jesus as well.

Notice in verses 34-38, Jesus challenges them. They accuse Him of blaspheming, so Jesus gives some defense of their charge. “Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law,” isn’t it cool that when Jesus goes to defend Himself, He quotes the Bible. He goes to the Scriptures. One of the most fascinating things to do is to look at Jesus and note how often He quoted Scripture, how often He appealed to Scripture, how often He went to Scripture, so we should do the same. By the way, Jesus, just off the cuff, knew this passage, pulls it out, and uses it to defend Himself. He’s quoting from Psalm 82:6, “Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken,” you need to underline that statement of Christ, “the scripture cannot be broken.” Verse 36, “Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if,” the idea is that it’s true, “I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.” Another way of saying that is what He said in verse 30, “I and my Father are one.”

This verse that Jesus speaks of in verse 34, as I said, is taken from Psalm 82:6. If you get time, we won’t turn there right now, read Psalm 82 entirely. It’s a short psalm, and you’ll see the quote is in verse 6. It would seem that the quote Jesus used here is from what is called the Septuagint, the Greek translation, of the Old Testament. What He’s referring to is that the judges who were to judge the people by giving them God’s Word—using God’s Word to communicate to God’s people about God’s mind in judgment in a situation—were actually called gods. Now, you’ll notice that it’s with a lower case “g” in the psalm and in the text here as well, even though it’s the word elohiym.

Jesus is not saying that they are literally gods or divine, but what He’s simply saying is that they were called gods, little “g”, because they represented God, spoke the Word of God, and communicated the judgments of God to the people of God. Now, what Jesus is doing by quoting this, and I know it can be a bit of a challenge to kind of wrap our minds around what Jesus is trying to do, is basically pointing out to them using a rabbinical argument that is an argument from the lesser to the greater. If these men…by the way, the psalm says, “Did I not say, ye are gods,” but he goes on to say, “but you will die like men.” It’s not by any means a claim that these men were actually divine. Again, isn’t it interesting that that’s a passage a lot of cults use to claim that we can be divine and that we can be gods, quoting from the Scripture there that Jesus used, Psalm 82:6.

Jesus is basically giving an argument from the lesser to the greater saying, “If God calls these judges who are humans, who will die like men,” He calls them gods, little “g”, “then is it that big a deal that I call Myself the Son of God?” He uses that actual title at the end of verse 36. Though that term and title isn’t used anywhere in this text other than that one spot, Jesus has been all along claiming to be the Son of God which is, again, an affirmation that He is divine. He says (verse 35), “If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath,” two things, “sanctified,” which means the Father has set Him apart, and secondly, the Father, “sent into the world,” so He came from heaven into the world, He preexisted Bethlehem, “Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” Verse 36 is the punchline of Jesus’ argument, and it’s a lesser to the greater. If these judges in the Old Testament could be called gods, why is it a big deal that the Son of God would be called divine when you do it in the Old Testament? He’s using Scripture to show them their inconsistency, and they really have no reply.

What I want to mention there in verse 35, is that statement of Jesus where He makes reference to the Word of God and mentions the Scriptures. He’s quoting from Psalm 82. He calls it, “the word of God,” then identifies it as, “the scripture,” and then makes an amazing statement about “the scripture,” the Word of God, “cannot be broken.” He uses an amazing word in the Greek, the word “broken.” A lot of words can be used to translate it, but I prefer the word nullified or invalidated. It can’t be subtracted or taken away or diluted or nullified or invalidated. This statement of Christ is one of the strongest in the Bible concerning the inspiration, the inerrancy, and infallibility of Scripture from the lips of Jesus. When He uses the term “Scripture,” He’s using that term in a generic sense of the whole Old Testament. The Old Testament is Scripture, the Word of God; the New Testament is also Scripture, the Word of God. When the New Testament says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God,” it is talking about the Old and New Testaments. Jesus is referring to the Scripture here and says, “…and the scripture cannot be broken.”

Why am I saying all this? Because what you want to have when you view the Bible is the same outlook, attitude, view, and understanding that Jesus had. You run into people all the time, “Well, the Bible’s got errors,” or “The Bible makes mistakes,” or “The Bible is just the word of man,” or “The Bible is full of myths and fairytales. You don’t really believe that Jonah was swallowed by a whale? You really believe in an Adam and Eve? You really believe some dude named Noah built some big ol honkin boat and put a bunch of animals on it and saved the world and there was a flood? You really believe Sodom and Gomorrah and all that stuff?” There are people today that don’t believe any of it that are preaching in so-called Christian churches. They don’t believe there really was an Adam and Eve. They don’t really believe that there was an Abraham. They don’t believe there was a David. I don’t know what they’re thinking, but this is what they believe. They believe that it’s just all allegory, mythology, and that we have to find spiritual application to it but shouldn’t be taken literal or historical. They deny the historicity of the Old Testament and even many parts of the New Testament. They have eliminated a lot of what Jesus said and did.

Let me give you a list of some of the things Jesus affirmed about the Bible so that we can be clear how Jesus viewed Scripture. First, Jesus affirmed its divine authority, Matthew 4:4. I’ll try to give you as many of the references as I can. He said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Here’s Jesus talking about the Scriptures saying it comes from the, “mouth of God.” That’s what we call inspiration—God breathed it out, Matthew 4:4.

Secondly, Jesus affirmed its imperishability. He said, “Do not think that I’ve come to abolish the law or the prophets: I come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth shall disappear, not one smallest letter,” or the least stroke of the pen, “will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished,” Matthew 5:17-18. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Word shall not pass away. Not one jot or tittle,” in the King James Bible, not one comma, not one period, not one little tiny stroke of the pen, “shall in no wise pass.” It’s imperishable.

Thirdly, Jesus asserted its unbreakability. This is our text itself, John 10:35, “…the scripture cannot be broken.” If you have an object that’s broken you say, “Oh, bummer, it broke.” Don’t you hate getting something new, you’re all stoked and excited about it, and it lasts for just a week and breaks? Well, your Bible is never going to break, okay? It’s never going to get old. It’s never going to go bad. It’s truth.

Interesting, science books (I’ve been on this Christianity and science kick lately so forgive me) have to be updated all the time. Science books have to be changed all the time. We’ve just learned in the last few months how accurate scientists are…I’ll stop right there. I don’t know who you’re putting your faith and trust in, but I’m putting it in God’s Word. I know we should appreciate and value science and doctors, but they’re not omniscient. They don’t know all things. Science books have to be changed and updated. It’s long since overdue that we got rid of Darwinism in the public schools because it’s not scientific by any stretch of the imagination. We need to realize that the Word of God is accurate. It can’t be broken. It’s unbreakable.

Fourthly, Jesus declared its ultimate supremacy. Matthew 15:3 and tying in verse 6, “Why do ye also transgress,” break, “the commandment of God,” Jesus said to the Jewish leaders,”by your tradition,” thus you nullify the Word of God for the sake of your traditions. In other words, God’s Word is the authority. It takes supremacy over human traditions.

Fifthly, Jesus affirmed its factual inerrancy in John 17:17 in His High Priestly Prayer. He prayed to the Father saying, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” If there are any errors in the Bible, then what Jesus said was wrong. He said, “…thy word is truth,” and it comes from the God of truth.

Sixthly, Jesus insisted on its historical reliability. This is the one that really excites me because there are so many liberal preachers today that deny the very things that Jesus affirmed. I just gave you a short list, six things, that I thought of. It could be longer. Jesus believed that God created Adam and Eve. He believed that God actually created Adam and Eve, Matthew 19:4-5. It’s so pertinent to our culture today. Start right off with what Jesus said. Jesus said, “In the beginning God created,” so He didn’t say, “In the beginning there was prehistoric goo, the zoo, and then there was you.” He said, “In the beginning God created…them male and female.”

I couldn’t believe it. Today I watched some YouTube videos where they went on the college campuses. Every one of these college kids interviewed didn’t believe that there was any such thing as male and female—they actually believe that—and you can be whatever you want to be, whatever gender. There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of genders, and whatever you feel is what you can be. Really. It has no correspondence to reality. These are kids on college campuses. They’re the ones, many of them, burning down our nation right now. We’ve sown to the wind, and we’re reaping the whirlwind. You take God and the Bible out of our culture, this is what we get. They didn’t even believe there is such a thing as male and female, that you could…any genders, what you want to be, you can be anything. Jesus made two categories: Men and women, male and female. He said, “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain,” the man and his wife, husband or male, and female, “shall become one flesh.” That’s Jesus Christ describing not only God creating, not only God creating Adam and Eve, but God creating male and female, and that marriage is a male and a female, a man and a woman—God’s design and creation for marriage.

Jesus also believed in Noah’s flood, Matthew 24:37-39. He actually mentions Noah and that they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage. They didn’t know that there was going to come judgment until the flood came and carried them all away. Poor Jesus, He didn’t know it never really happened. Then, He mentions Jonah in Matthew 12:40. He said, “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Too bad Jesus didn’t know there really was never a Jonah swallowed by a fish.

In Luke 17:29, Jesus mentions Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah. He mentions Lot’s wife and that she was actually turned into a pillar of salt. People mock that today, “Oh, you really believe that there was a dude named Lot and God rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah?” Jesus believed it, so you can mock, if you will, but I’m in good company—Jesus believed it, so do I.

In John 8:58, “…Before Abraham was, I am.” Jesus believed that there actually was an Abraham. He believed there was a King David. In Mark 2:23-27, He mentions David the king and how he ate the shewbread that was in the temple that was not lawful for anyone at that time to eat. Now, as I said, the list could go on, but I’ll stop there.

Let’s go back to John 10. Jesus said, “…the scripture cannot be broken,” so He gives them this truth that the Scriptures are inerrant and infallible and cannot be invalidated nor nullified, and we do that when we deny the historicity, the accuracy, and dependability of God’s Word.

When Jesus says (verse 38), “But if I do, though ye believe not me.” He says (verse 37), “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do,” the idea there is “since I am,” it’s an affirmation. It’s not a question but an assumption that it’s true, “though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe,” and the “know” and the “believe” are actually the same Greek word but just in different tenses. The first word “know” actually has the idea of in the aorist tense, something you discovered in the past; the word “believe” has the idea in the present tense that you go on continuing to believe it, “…that the Father is in me, and I in him.” Jesus actually does something that kind of surprises me. He just says, “If you’re not going to believe what I say, then believe what I do. Believe My works. Believe My miracles. You can take Jesus, put Him alongside of any other religious leader, and there’s no comparison with the miracles that Jesus Christ did. You wait until we get to chapter 11 when Lazarus has been dead so long that his sister said, “He stinketh,” but Jesus said, “Roll the stone away,” and all He said was, “Lazarus, come forth,” and Lazarus came out of the grave. That’s the power of God. Amen? He raised Lazarus from the dead. What an amazing powerful miracle that was proving that He is God manifested in the flesh.

Jesus came and performed works, but they wouldn’t believe because of the works because His words claimed that He was God. They rejected Him on the basis of His words, not recognizing the power of His works that the Father had sent Him. “The Father is in me, and I in him.”

In conclusion, verses 39-42, we have the consequences. This is a big, kind of, grand finale in the gospel of John because the gospel of John is going to take a little bit different direction where Jesus withdraws from Jerusalem and He’s kind of preparing His disciples for the end when He goes to the cross and will be crucified. Here’s the conclusion and the consequences, “Therefore they sought again to take him,” which indicates that they were actually trying to grab hold of Him physically and kill Him. Earlier they were picking up stones, verse 31, and now they’re trying to grab Him and kill him, “but he escaped out of their hand,” it wasn’t God’s time for the Son of God to be crucified. It says, “…but he escaped out of their hand, 40 And went away again,” notice this, “beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode.”

What this means is that Jesus went into seclusion down by the Jordan River, which was east. He went to the east side of the Jordan River, which is the modern country of Jordan, but it’s known in Bible times as Perea. There are other Scriptures that indicate the He went to a little village or town known as Bethany. It wasn’t the Bethany of Lazarus and Mary, it was the Bethany that was down in the fords of the Jordan River. There were actually two Bethanys. He went down, “where John at first baptized; and there he abode.”

Verse 41, “And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle,” interesting, “but all things that John spake of this man were true,” referring to Jesus, “And many believed on him there.” That’s an intended contrast with those in Jerusalem, where He just left, did not believe on Him. This is the theme of the gospel of John, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” He leaves Jerusalem where they don’t believe on Him and goes down to Bethany in Perea, the east side of the Jordan, “And many resorted…And many believed on him there.”

This is where Jesus started His ministry. His first public appearance, John baptized Him. When John baptized Jesus in the Jordan, before He began His public ministry, He came out of the water and the heavens opened up and the Holy Spirit descended, which is the third Person of the Godhead, this time in the form of a dove and lit upon Christ, hovered over Christ. Then, an audible voice from heaven spoke. Man, I wish I would’ve been there! It said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” I’m cupping my hands because that’s what God did when He spoke from heaven. God doesn’t need to cup His hands to get His message out. “…hear ye him.” “This is My beloved Son in whom My soul delights,” He said. John pointed to Him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Wow! God in flesh.

The division of some who did not believe, some did believe. Those who didn’t believe, they’re not His sheep, they don’t hear His voice, they don’t follow Him, they’re not kept in His power; but those who hear His voice, those who follow Him, they are His sheep, they have eternal life, and they shall never perish, “…and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”

If you didn’t hear last week’s message, I really encourage you to go back and listen to it. I listened to just the end of it. I sometimes critique my own messages, I’ll listened a little bit. Right at the very end (I probably shouldn’t say this) I’m getting tired. I’m saying things, and I mention the story of the dog returning to its own vomit. The Bible actually says that the pig, that has been washed, goes back to its wallowing in the mire, but I actually said the word “sheep,” so the staff has edited that and fixed it. But perhaps some of you heard that come out of my mouth. There’s nothing worse for a preacher to go back and listen to an old sermon and say, “What did I just say?” I was trying to relate the message from Peter, where Peter says that the dog goes back to its vomit and the pig, that has been washed, goes back to the mud. There were no sheep in that verse, okay? Some of you have been praying for me all week like, “Lord, just heal Pastor Miller’s mind.” You try talking up here and not saying something wrong, so I thought I would just mention that in case you’re freaking out for those of you that are watching online all around the world.

The point I want to make is that if you’re His sheep, you hear His voice. He knows you and you know Him, and you are in His hands. I listed the things that you would have to do to lose your salvation. You would have to unregenerate yourself, you would have to grieve the Holy Spirit away, I don’t know how you could…you would have to break the seal—you’ve been “sealed unto the day of redemption.” The question is: Do you believe? Have you trusted Him? Have you been born again? It’s not enough to just believe with your head, you must trust Him for salvation with your life. To believe in Jesus Christ is to put your faith in Him and not your good works or your own righteousness.

The end of this story is: Do you believe in Jesus the Son of God? Have you trusted Him and been born again? If not, I want to lead you in a prayer right now. If you’re watching online or you’re here in the sanctuary, you can invite Christ to come into your heart and forgive your sins. The Bible says whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. To those who receive Him, John 1:12, “to them gave he power to become the sons of God,” they’re given the right and the authority to become the children of God, “even to them that believe on his name.” The Bible says if you call on the name of the Lord, you will be saved. If you haven’t trusted Jesus—the Son of God, the Savior, the Messiah—you need to do that right now. Let’s pray.