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October 25th

The bible reading today is in Luke 10&11 and John 10:22-42.

“...and Jesus was walking in the temple...perhaps to warm himself on this cold rainy day. Not teaching, but walking in the Temple during the wintertime feast of Dedication...like he was just another visitor. He was walking in the colonnade of Solomon. (The porch just off the eastern side of the court of the Gentiles...covered over and looking over a deep valley...very white...supported by walls of four square stone precisely quarried and stacked two football fields high.)

So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense?

Or in the Latin Vulgate translation...”How long dost thou take away our soul...depriving us of the knowledge of thee?...or Nonnus translation, “How long will you hide yourself from us...stealing away our hearts?”

Almost sounds like genuine seekers at first. But we know the end of this story. These were not just out to ensnare Jesus by twisting his words. They were out to kill him.

It was an ambush. Angry religious leaders who were out to destroy him encircled him. They were out to separate him from friends. They were out to find him alone without backup. They were out to intimidate the carpenter/rabbi and hoped that he would confess that he was not the Messiah for fear for his life, but Jesus was far from intimidation...he was bold and courageous.

Then the confrontational crowd asked this question...”If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

‭‭John‬ ‭10:23-24‬ ‭

Jesus answered them, “I told you. I told you that God was my Father...and that I was the light of the world...and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,”

Healing the sick, casting out devils, cleansing lepers, giving sight to the blind, causing the deaf to hear and the lame to walk, and even raising the dead to life.

“I have plainly shown you who I am...you should not be in any doubt or suspense as to my identity.

John‬ ‭10:24-25‬

Over and over again in those first two years of his ministry, Jesus proved, by his divine works and by the prophecies that were fulfilled in him, that he was the Messiah...the Christ. They just did not believe him. They didn't have the heart to believe him.

Jesus said to this hateful, confronting, self-righteous crowd of religious elite. “...you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

Wow., Jesus claimed to be God the Eternal Good Shepherd, and He told these scribes and Pharisees that they were not among His flock. They didn't belong in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said...“My sheep hear my voice, Jesus was saying..." you don't hear my voice...you hear your own voice instead...so you’re not one of mine".

“And I know them, and they follow me....you don't follow me so I don't know you as one of my own. You're on “your own”

“I give them who follow me eternal life, and they will never perish. My own are given spiritual life...a life of grace...which issues in eternal life. I give my followers knowledge of me. I give my own my righteousness, which is their justification of life which entitles them to eternal life. And I give my own a foretaste of my life in faith and hope and enjoyment of me and my love."

"But you, who do not believe me, you will perish because I will not give you eternal life.. And one more thing...no one will snatch my own out of my hand.”

Christ’s sheep are in his hands, put there by God the Father from the beginning...and his hands have laid the foundations of the heavens and earth...his hands grasp the whole universe and hold all things together...so who then can pluck any of Christ’s sheep out of those loving strong hands? No one! Nothing!

"So they are all safe and saved with me...and the Father and the Spirit...you are not!"

‭‭John‬ ‭10:26-28‬ ‭

“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.”

‭‭John‬ ‭10:29-30‬ ‭

Wow, my 2nd favorite assurance verses. Father chose me...Father gave me to Jesus as his bride the church...and since Father is greater than all and He and Jesus are one, none is able to pluck them from our hands.

O, friends, Jesus just preached the gospel...and our reading helped us to preach it to ourselves again. Just what we needed!

Have a great day