I’ve been to my fair share of graduation ceremonies—for myself as well as for friends and family.  All of them have featured some sort of “commencement speech.”  Most of it is the standard inspirational, get-on-with-it, we’re-just-here-for-my-kid kind of variety.  Every so often someone will pull out Dr. Seuss’ Oh, The Places You Go as if they’re the very first people to ever read this at commencement (really?).

Commencement.  The root word “commence” refers not to an ending but to a beginning.  And that’s what commencement ceremonies are meant to do.  Students have spent all the time they need (or can afford!) with their instructors.  Now it’s time to test their knowledge in the crucible of the real world.

So when we turn to John 14-17, we find what Dallas Willard calls Jesus’ “commencement address.”  If you have one of those Bibles where Jesus’ words are all in red, you can easily see that most of these chapters consist of Him teaching.  We find two distinct speeches—one in John 14 and another in John 15-16.  Both “speeches” are concluded with a prayer.

In this opening section, Jesus is comforting His disciples.  He is about to return to the Father; He wants them to know what it means to stay connected to God.  In broader terms, we can see these chapters as describing what it really means to be a “church,” something new that would begin after Jesus’ death.

THE TRUE TEMPLE

John 14:1-14  “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.  ² In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.  ⁴ And you know the way to where I am going.”  ⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  ⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  ⁷ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Jesus returns to an earlier theme.  He refers to His “Father’s house.”  But do you remember what “Father’s house” referred to in John 2?  Jesus “was speaking of the temple of His body” (John 2:21).  Jesus’ death would secure His followers a place in the body of Christ.

And do you remember the actual function of a temple?  A temple was a place where God was encountered—a kind of “cosmic crossroads” if you will.  Jesus is saying that what took place in a building would now take place in a body—referring to what would later be called the church.  So it’s interesting that Philip would take this moment to ask Jesus about seeing God.

⁸ Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”  ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.  ¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

Today’s world is more spiritual than ever.  Many, like Philip, long to see God up close.  But far, far fewer expect such a radical encounter to happen within the walls of a church.  Instead of finding Jesus in a church, many people find themselves disillusioned, disheartened, disgusted.  Still others are content not to find Jesus—at least not the Jesus of Scripture—but are satisfied with moral lessons and self-help seminars. 

But Jesus is saying that if you want to truly know Me, if you want to truly know God, sooner or later you have to get real with this whole thing called “church.”  Too often we look at church as a building, the sum total of its canned programs and a martyr to its own shortcomings.  Jesus says that the church is more than that—it’s a body, a living, breathing organism, rich in life and saturated by His gospel.  This is why church can never merely be a service to be attended but a community to be embodied.  It was a gift—purchased through the blood of Jesus (John 14:3) and given to His people.

DO BIG; DREAM SMALL

Jesus begins to describe the mission of the church:

¹² “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.  ¹³ Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  ¹⁴ If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

It’s easy to get lost in the extravagance of Jesus’ words.  Whatever I ask?  Anything?  But let’s not forget the most immediate context.  Jesus had displayed an attitude of a humble servant by washing the feet of even those who would betray Him.  When Jesus is talking about “greater works,” I somehow can’t imagine He’d taken the towel  from around His waist to put on a royal robe.

Again, as I think back to commencement addresses and other such inspirational moments, it’s always been within the context of “dreaming big.”  Success means chasing after your dreams—no matter how larger, no matter how foolish they are in the eyes of others.  Do you see how dangerous this could be to our spirituality?  Think about it.  If we only view God as One who accomplishes “big things,” only moves mountains, only causes the sun to stand still, we have placed Him in a very confined box.  We have limited His power.

Don’t misunderstand me.  I believe in a God powerful enough to accomplish these “big things.”  But do you really think that God has a separate category for “big things” and “small things?”  If God’s “glory”—His significance, His importance—is  about to be revealed in a humiliating death, what does this say about the tasks that lie before us?  Is it possible that the power of God is revealed not when we accomplish much, but when we are simply faithful?  Is it possible that like Jesus, God’s power is revealed not only in our achievements but in our scars, our wounds?  Is it possible that like Jesus, God’s power is manifested in us when we humbly serve others in simple, small ways?  Is it possible that like Jesus, God would use our lives to impact only a few people—but carry on a movement that would stretch into eternity?

That’s what church really is.  That’s why one’s experience of church can never be fully evaluated on the basis of a Sunday morning experience alone.  “Doing” church starts with “being” church.  In the next few chapters, Jesus will reveal all the more what this will look like when we throw our hats in the air.

Love.  It’s the subject of countless songs.  It’s the center of countless films.  But in many ways “love” has become a bankrupt word.  I can love anything—or at least say I do.  Like, I don’t know…tacos.  I love tacos, but somehow I doubt that the love I have for tacos is anything close to the width and depth of the love expressed on today’s Top 40.

Then again…maybe it’s not that far off.  These days a marriage is considered a success when it lasts past the honeymoon.  Celebrity marriages epitomize the way we’ve become far too comfortable with transient, insubstantial forms of love.

In the religious world, love is a pivotal virtue.  Though best known for his Narnia series, C.S. Lewis used his classical training to provide a thorough analysis of love in his book The Four Loves.  There’s more than one kind of love, he says.  Need-love, for instance, is the love of a child for a parent.  And the word “need” is not used lightly.  Children born in the poorest of countries have actually died from a lack of a mother’s love—a condition called marasmus.  Gift-love, by contrast, is the love of God for humanity.  It’s the love most fully expressed in the arrival of Jesus, and His sacrifice on the cross.

The sad news, however, is that there will always be those for whom God’s gift-love does not satisfy.  Judas was such a person.  Countless writers have speculated as to why he chose to betray Jesus.  Was it money?  Was he angry that Jesus wasn’t there to overthrow the oppressive government?  John doesn’t answer these questions for us.  Instead, John points his finger past these questions and into the shadows of the human heart.

AND IT WAS NIGHT

Jesus and His followers reclined at the table—in some cases leaning on one another—as was the custom for that culture.  This wasn’t the first Passover meal they’d spent together, but tonight as the oil lamps lit the room the air hung thick with smoke and heavy with meaning.  The cross loomed on the horizon;  Jesus now turns to the realities that faced all of them in the days ahead:

John 13:18-38   ¹⁸ I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’  ¹⁹ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.  ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

²¹ After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”  ²² The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke.  ²³ One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table close to Jesus,  ²⁴ so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking.  ²⁵ So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?”  ²⁶ Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.  ²⁷ Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”  ²⁸ Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him.  ²⁹ Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.  ³⁰ So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

In the ancient world, to “eat and run” was the ultimate insult.  But this would hardly be the worst thing Judas would do to Jesus.  John tells us that “it was night.”  Throughout his biography of Jesus, John uses the imagery of light and dark—sometimes to refer to good and evil, sometimes to refer to ignorance and understanding.  Here, John seems to allude to the fact that Judas’ life had become defined by moral darkness—by evil.   In our lives, we will meet people like Judas—people who live apart from the love of God.  But as we take a step back, we see that even an act of betrayal is not outside the plan of God.

Jesus is now left with the rest of His followers—and He turns more specifically to the subject of love.  In my counseling courses, I can remember learning that one of the hallmarks of emotional maturity is the ability to both give and receive love.  It seems that an essential part of our life with Jesus is our ability to give and receive love—though not our own love, but the kind of love the Savior demonstrates.

TO GIVE LOVE

³¹ When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.  ³² If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.  ³³ Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’  ³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

A “new” commandment?  Surely this isn’t the first time that Jesus had given this kind of command.  Jesus’ other biographers all record Jesus echoing the Biblical command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 19:19; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27).  But in John, Jesus gives His followers a command that is even more radical: to “love one another just as I have loved you.”  Jesus sets the standard for love.  In the immediate context, the command refers to the servant’s heart demonstrated through the washing of feet.  But in the whole of John’s story, we see that Jesus refers to the way He stepped from the throne of heaven to the dusty roads of our humanity.

Do you see how radical this kind of love is?  And don’t miss this “minor” detail: Judas had been there earlier.  Jesus washed the feet not only of the faithful, but also of the faithless.   It’s easy to love those who love us back. But that’s not real love.  That’s a shallower, self-serving kind of love.  What Jesus calls us to is a deeper, self-sacrificing kind of love.

We can see this expressed as we return to Lewis’ book.  Lewis comments on the writings of a man named Augustine, who mourns the loss of a friend.  Augustine concludes that the pain he feels is the consequence of loving anything except for God.  Lewis can’t disagree more.  Pain is a part of the process, he insists.  Lewis writes:

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries, lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that coffin–safe, dark, motionless, airless–it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.”  (C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves)

Self-protection and self-defense are the greatest and surest barriers to self-sacrifice.  To follow in the steps of Jesus is to experience betrayal and loss alongside the experience of joy.  As we learn to love people, some will bless us, others will curse us.  All will be used to shape us more and more into the image of Jesus.

TO RECEIVE LOVE

³⁶ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”  ³⁷ Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”  ³⁸ Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.

Peter is brash.  Headstrong.  But these features won’t prevent him from denying Jesus.   It’s easy to demonize Judas, to think “betrayal” is more severe than “denial.”  But what separates these two men is not some difference in the magnitude of their offense, but in the magnitude of God’s grace.   Earlier, Peter had refused to let Jesus wash his feet.  Little did he realize how much grace and love would be necessary, and he realized even less just how much grace and love he would receive.

The same is true for us.  In his commentary on this passage, a professor from Asbury Seminary writes:

“This is a story that dashes spiritual arrogance, false pride, and triumphalism which has always plagued the church.  We see a Peter resistant to foot washing, just as many of us are frequently resistant to the idea of repenting and seeking forgiveness and cleansing.  Yet this story calls us to remember that even if a Peter can deny Jesus, if even a Judas…can betray Jesus…this ought to cause us to soberly evaluate ourselves to see what sort of work the Lord still needs to do in our lives in order to remove arrogance and other un-Christlike traits.”  (Ben Witherington III, John’s Wisdom, p. 240)

Everything in our culture says that love is given and received purely on the basis of performance.  Within that system, we languish between the extremes of pride and despair.  The gospel says that love is given based not on performance but on the basis of grace.  When I realize that, it changes everything.  Only then am I able to truly receive the extravagant gift of God’s unfailing love.  Only then am I truly able to extend this love to those that seem least deserving.  And only then am I soft enough to be molded more and more into the image of Jesus.

The first half of John’s gospel had focused on Jesus’ public ministry.  In fact, it’s the only account we have of Jesus’ ministry spanning three years.  This “book of signs” had focused on the way Jesus revealed Himself to the world.  But now the scene shifts.  Time slows.  The “book of glory” (John 13-21) focuses now on Jesus’ final week.  Chapters 13-17 even focus on Jesus’ final meal.

What can we make of this?  I can remember that when Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ was released, it was panned by countless critics who were baffled to devote so much attention to the man’s death rather than His life and moral teachings.  If Jesus was a moral teacher, then their criticism holds weight.  But if Jesus was Savior—if Jesus was God who came to give His life in our stead—then it makes more sense that we’d want to fully understand His death.  And that’s why John gives us so much detail about Jesus’ final hours with His disciples.  In John 13 we find Jesus at His final meal:

John 13:1-17  Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

John goes out of His way to connect Jesus to the Passover.  The Passover was a Jewish holiday that memorialized the day they were finally set free from Egyptian slavery.  They shared a meal—the centerpiece being a lamb, whose blood they used to mark the doorframe of their houses so that God’s horrific anger might “pass over” them.

Tonight, this house was marked by the blood of a different Lamb—not a Lamb whose blood was shed but a Lamb whose blood was about to be shed.  John gives no details of the meal itself, only that Jesus used the meal as a teachable moment—a time for an additional symbolic act.

² During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,  ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,  ⁴ rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.  ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.  ⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”  ⁷ Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”  ⁸ Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”  ⁹ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”  ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”  ¹¹ For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?  ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.  ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.  ¹⁶ Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  ¹⁷ If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

I actually grew up in a church tradition that took this quite literally—my church washed each other’s feet when we observed the Lord’s table.  It was…pretty weird.

I can say that with no hesitation because the act itself was radically cross-cultural—especially in Jesus’ day.  In  a world of dust and sandals, it wasn’t uncommon for servants to wash your feet when you entered a home.  It was unheard of for the master of the house to do it himself—as if we visited Bill Gates and he offered to do our laundry.  No wonder Peter objected; this was an act that seemed beneath Jesus.  It might have even been a little embarrassing.

Jesus connects the act to the idea of being “clean.”  Did you know that all cultures have strong categories of clean and unclean?  In 1965 Mary Stuart Douglas wrote a book called Purity and Danger.  It’s a fascinating book, really.  One of the things she found was that centuries before we discovered “germs,” cultures maintained strong boundaries between clean and unclean.  Douglas wouldn’t go this far, but I would take this to mean that every culture recognizes the reality of “sin,” and the way it tends to defile us.

Think of our own culture.  What do we mean by “dirty?”  I’ve often observed the way we connect this image to sexuality: dirty movies, dirty bookstores, etc.  What phrase do we use when a young woman returns home in the morning after a one-night-stand?  The “walk of shame.”  “Ah,” you say, “but isn’t this just another example of Christians trying to make everyone feel guilty?”  It’s true that Christianity has a reputation for being something of a killjoy.  But look at what’s happening: if guilt and shame are nothing more than the pointed finger of Christianity, then why is it the further we run from these values, the dirtier we feel?  Maybe we’re dirtier than we first thought, and in more need of grace than we let on.

That’s what Passover was about.  By this time in Jewish history, all blood sacrifice purified sin.  It made us clean.  And Jesus was, after all, the “Lamb of God who lifts away the sin of humanity” (John 1:29).  On this night, of all nights, He portrays Himself as a humble servant, washing the feet of His followers—even Judas (we’ll return to Him tomorrow).

His closest followers were clueless what this all meant, but we have the benefit of hindsight.  We know that the shadow of the cross looms large on the horizon.  And in that shadow we understand—as if for the first time—just how shocking this act truly is.  If a servant washed your feet, it was expected.  If the master of the house washed your feet, it was unusual.  If God Himself washed your feet, it was an act of pure grace.  Did you know that the Hebrew word for grace comes from a word that meant “to bend” or “to stoop?”  In Jesus we see a picture of what God did for each of us.  He doesn’t wait for us to “get clean” before we come to Him.  He doesn’t roll His eyes and wait for us to realize our own filth.  He stoops down, with towel in hand, to handle even the filthiest parts of our souls.

There are many paradoxical elements of faith, not the least of which is that God should choose to love the sinners who rebelled against him, and that Christ would die for the very ones who put him on the cross.

The Scriptures are filled with paradoxical statements and counter-intuitive realities. A list of a few that come immediately to mind:  He who would be great among you must become the servant of all; the first shall be the last, and the last shall be the first; whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me; enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction.

In the verses immediately following the presentation and coming of the King to Israel, rather than a mass of Jews seeking out the Lord, we see a group of Gentiles coming to meet Jesus. They apparently pick out the most Gentile sounding of the disciples – Philip – with hopes that he can get them an audience with Christ. He goes to Andrew, and together they go to Jesus.

²⁰ Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

Jesus speaks in paradoxical terms that, as in the plant world, life and abundant fruit and growth come only after the death of the seed. And so it would be that the Savior would give life through his sacrificial death, while even his followers must also understand that death to this world is the price of discipleship.

²³ Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

As the climatic moments of Christ’s life and ministry are approaching, the confusion of the crowds mounts as they misunderstand the message and illustrations that Jesus gives …

²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

³⁰ Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. ³¹ Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. ³² And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³ He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

³⁴ The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵ Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. ³⁶ Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.”When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

Though certainly the clarity we see about who Jesus is and what he meant by the teachings he gave was not as easily understood at this time before the cross, enough had been done and said that the people should have connected it with the messianic prophecies, particularly of Isaiah. But even the rejection was prophesied, as God was working a master plan of redemption to extend to the whole human race …

³⁷ Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

“Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

Even with the general mass rejection that was officially rendered by the Jewish leadership, John records here that there were many others, even among the leaders, who did believe in Jesus and recognized the signs as Scripturally true. Yet out of fear to publicly acknowledge their faith and suffer humiliation, they kept it secret – ultimately preferring the comfort of man more than the pleasure of God.

⁴² Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵ The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

⁴⁷ “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. ⁴⁹ For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. ⁵⁰ I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

Life is difficult in a sin-saturated world. But in Christ, there is light in the darkness, life that is eternal, and peace in the bigger picture of the great work of God that transcends this world.

In my former political dabbling and involvements – an activity that was at once interesting and fulfilling along with equal parts of irritating and frustrating – I came across the political intriguer (the clandestine, secretively-plotting personality type).  These folks were maddening to those of us attempting to operate a successful political organization. They sure looked and acted like they were running for a particular office, but they would, for whatever current reasons or circumstance, not actually declare themselves to be candidates. Many times, we hoped the folks acting this way were not delusional in thinking they were viable office-holders.

This is essentially what is happening as we continue today in John 10:22ff…

²² Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³ and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. ²⁴ The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

This is now two months after the previous events recorded in yesterday’s passage. The Festival of Dedication is what we today would know as the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. It celebrated the defeat of Antiochus Epiphanes in 165 BC under the Maccabean revolt led by Judas Maccabeus – where the Temple was purified after the Syrian leader Antiochus offered a pig on the altar in his effort at mandated multiculturalism!  So this was a celebration where Jewish nationalistic fervor ran high.

It is now December, and Jesus is in the long colonnade on the east side of the Temple where he is literally surrounded in hostile fashion by Jewish leadership personnel who demand him to plainly declare or not if he is a candidate for the open position of Jewish Messiah. He had been acting like it and talking like it, though clearly these questioners do not believe him to be a viable fulfillment of this expectation. Truth be told – these guys were not interested in “messiahs” who riled up the people, thus riling the Romans, thus threatening their own long-term incumbent and cushy positions of authority and influence (and likely opulence as well).

²⁵ Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, ²⁶ but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

The response of Jesus is to essentially say, “I don’t have to declare this in the terms you seek, because my actions speak sufficiently that I am from God.” He further restates that their problem with not believing is that they are not his sheep – they were not equipped with spiritual hearts to receive the revealed truth that was standing, talking, and acting before their very eyes. And again, the sheep illustration of hearing and following is referenced, along with the permanent and unassailably secure position every sheep of Jesus’ flock has – for all eternity. And he concludes his answer with the one, over-the-top zinger, “I and the Father are one.”

³¹ Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, ³² but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”

A humorous part of this narrative is lost in English – as the literal translation of “picked up” actually means “to carry.”  So these guys didn’t just flip out at that moment and say, “Oh boy, now you’ve messed up, let me look around here for some rocks to throw.”  No, they were “packin’ heat” (300 caliber rocks) when they cornered him. Jesus knows that it is his words that anger them, but he point to his miraculous works to ask why they’re doing this …

³³ “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

We previously in this series talked about the passage from the Scriptures that was used to justify stoning anyone who claimed to be equal with God. And the answer of Jesus is a bit convoluted and difficult to understand … read it first …

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? ³⁵ If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— ³⁶ what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? ³⁷ Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. ³⁸ 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 in the Father.” ³⁹ Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

Jesus makes an argument based upon a single word used in Psalm 82 – so understand that this passage is a strong statement by Jesus on the authority of Scripture down to the very words used (not just the concepts or ideas) because he builds his argument on a single word.  It was the word “elohim” – which mean “gods” – and was applied in that Psalm to human beings who served in the role of judges. So, if the authoritative word of God used the term for “gods” to refer to humans, what basis for stoning could they find in him when he declared he was one in nature with God and sent from the Father on a mission?  He further tells them to look beyond words to the works that had been done, and to believe and understand.

But the entire argument blows over their heads, leaving them shaking their thick domes like the Aflac duck trying understand Yogi Berra in that famous commercial series. And Jesus is again able through some non-described miraculous means to escape their grasp.

⁴⁰ Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, ⁴¹ and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” ⁴² And in that place many believed in Jesus.

Jesus withdraws to the region of Perea on the east of the Jordan – where John had baptized earlier. The Jewish leadership had no clout or legal reach into this area under different political authority. And here, quite a few people do indeed believe in Him.

In all of this, God is working on his own perfect timetable. And it is good for us to remember that as well. And we should never conclude that open-spaced delays are indicative that God is not doing anything. He is at work – all the time.