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Jesus Reveals the Source of HappinessJesus—The Way, the Truth, the Life
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CHAPTER 75
Jesus Reveals the Source of Happiness
EXPELLING DEMONS BY “GOD’S FINGER”
SOURCE OF TRUE HAPPINESS
Jesus has just repeated his instructions about prayer, but that is not the only subject that comes up more than once during his ministry. When he was performing miracles in Galilee, Jesus faced the false charge that he did so by means of power from the ruler of the demons. Now in Judea this charge arises again.
When Jesus casts out of a man a demon that prevents him from speaking, the crowds are amazed. Not his critics, though. They bring up the same false accusation: “He expels the demons by means of Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” (Luke 11:15) Others, seeking more evidence as to Jesus’ identity, ask him for a sign from heaven.
Realizing that they are trying to test him, Jesus answers them as he did similar critics encountered in Galilee. He says that every kingdom divided against itself will fall, reasoning: “If Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?” Then Jesus tells them directly: “If it is by means of God’s finger that I expel the demons, the Kingdom of God has really overtaken you.”—Luke 11:18-20.
Jesus’ mention of “God’s finger” should call to his listeners’ minds what happened earlier in Israel’s history. Those in Pharaoh’s court who saw Moses perform a miracle exclaimed: “It is the finger of God!” It was also “God’s finger” that wrote the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets. (Exodus 8:19; 31:18) Similarly, “God’s finger”—his holy spirit, or active force—is what is now enabling Jesus to expel demons and cure sick people. Hence, the Kingdom of God has indeed overtaken these opposers, because the designated King of the Kingdom, Jesus, is right there performing these works.
Jesus’ ability to expel demons is evidence of his power over Satan, just as when a stronger man approaches and overpowers a well-armed man guarding a palace. Jesus also repeats his illustration about an unclean spirit that leaves a man. If the man does not fill the void with good things, that spirit will return with seven others, making the man’s final condition worse than at the first. (Matthew 12:22, 25-29, 43-45) So it is proving to be with the nation of Israel.
A woman listening to Jesus is moved to exclaim: “Happy is the womb that carried you and the breasts that nursed you!” Jewish women hoped to be the mother of a prophet, particularly of the Messiah. So this woman might think that Mary can be especially happy as the mother of such a teacher. Yet Jesus corrects the woman as to the true source of happiness: “No, rather, happy are those hearing the word of God and keeping it!” (Luke 11:27, 28) Jesus has never suggested that Mary should be given special honor. Rather, true happiness for any man or woman is found in being a faithful servant of God, not in any physical ties or accomplishments.
As Jesus did in Galilee, he rebukes the people for demanding a sign from heaven. He says that no sign will be given them except “the sign of Jonah.” Jonah served as a sign both by his three days in the fish and by his bold preaching, which moved the Ninevites to repent. Jesus says: “But look! something more than Jonah is here.” (Luke 11:29-32) Jesus also is more than Solomon, whose wisdom the queen of Sheba came to hear.
“After lighting a lamp,” Jesus adds, “a person puts it, not in a hidden place nor under a basket, but on the lampstand.” (Luke 11:33) He may mean that teaching and performing miracles before these people is like hiding the light of a lamp. Because their eyes are not focused, they miss the purpose of his works.
Jesus has just expelled a demon and has caused a man who was speechless to speak. That should motivate people to glorify God and tell others what Jehovah is accomplishing. So Jesus has words of warning for his critics: “Be alert, therefore, that the light that is in you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is bright with no part of it dark, it will all be as bright as when a lamp gives you light by its rays.”—Luke 11:35, 36.
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Dining With a PhariseeJesus—The Way, the Truth, the Life
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CHAPTER 76
Dining With a Pharisee
JESUS CONDEMNS THE HYPOCRITICAL PHARISEES
While in Judea, Jesus accepts a meal invitation from a Pharisee. It is likely during the day, rather than an evening meal. (Luke 11:37, 38; compare Luke 14:12.) Before eating, the Pharisees carry out ritual washing of their hands up to the elbow. But Jesus does not. (Matthew 15:1, 2) It would not violate God’s Law to wash to that extent, yet it is not something God requires.
The Pharisee is surprised that Jesus does not follow that tradition. Jesus detects this and says: “Now you Pharisees, you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greediness and wickedness. Unreasonable ones! The one who made the outside made also the inside, did he not?”—Luke 11:39, 40.
Having clean hands before eating is not the issue, but religious hypocrisy is. The Pharisees and others who ritualistically wash their hands fail to cleanse their hearts from wickedness. So Jesus counsels them: “Give as gifts of mercy the things that are from within, and look! everything about you will be clean.” (Luke 11:41) How true! Giving should spring from a loving heart, not from a desire to impress others by a pretense of righteousness.
It is not that these men do not give. Jesus points out: “You give the tenth of the mint and of the rue and of every other garden herb, but you disregard the justice and the love of God! These things you were under obligation to do, but not to disregard those other things.” (Luke 11:42) God’s Law called for the paying of tithes (a tenth part) of crops. (Deuteronomy 14:22) That included the mint and the rue, herbs or plants used to flavor food. The Pharisees scrupulously paid a tenth of these herbs, but what of the more important requirements of the Law, such as to exercise justice and to be modest before God?—Micah 6:8.
Jesus goes on to say: “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the front seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces! Woe to you, because you are as those graves that are not clearly visible, that men walk on and do not know it!” (Luke 11:43, 44) Yes, people could stumble on such graves and become ceremonially unclean. Jesus uses that fact to underscore that the uncleanness of the Pharisees is not apparent.—Matthew 23:27.
One man who is well-versed in God’s Law complains: “Teacher, in saying these things, you insult us also.” Yet such men need to realize that they are failing to help the people. Jesus says: “Woe also to you who are versed in the Law, because you load men down with loads hard to carry, but you yourselves do not touch the loads with one of your fingers! Woe to you, because you build the tombs of the prophets, but your forefathers killed them!”—Luke 11:45-47.
The loads that Jesus refers to are the oral traditions and the Pharisees’ interpretation of the Law. These men are not making life easier for the people. Rather, they insist that all must keep what become heavy burdens. Their ancestors killed God’s prophets, from Abel onward. Now they, who make it seem as if they are honoring the prophets by building tombs for them, are imitating the attitude and actions of their forefathers. They are even seeking to kill God’s foremost Prophet. Jesus says that God will hold an accounting with this generation. And that became a reality about 38 years later, in 70 C.E.
Jesus continues: “Woe to you who are versed in the Law, because you took away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not go in, and you hinder those going in!” (Luke 11:52) These men, who should be unlocking the meaning of God’s Word, are instead taking away the opportunity for people to know and understand it.
How do the Pharisees and scribes react? As Jesus departs, they begin to oppose him angrily and to assail him with questions. They are not asking out of a desire to learn. Instead, they want to trick Jesus into saying something for which they can have him arrested.
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Jesus Gives Counsel About RichesJesus—The Way, the Truth, the Life
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CHAPTER 77
Jesus Gives Counsel About Riches
ILLUSTRATION OF THE RICH MAN
JESUS SPEAKS OF RAVENS AND LILIES
A “LITTLE FLOCK” TO BE IN THE KINGDOM
As Jesus dines at the Pharisee’s house, thousands gather outside awaiting him. He has had similar experiences with the crowds in Galilee. (Mark 1:33; 2:2; 3:9) Here in Judea, many want to see and hear him, showing an attitude quite different from that of the Pharisees at the meal.
What Jesus says first has special meaning for his disciples: “Watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Jesus has given this warning before, but what he saw at the meal shows how urgent this counsel is. (Luke 12:1; Mark 8:15) The Pharisees may try to conceal their wickedness with a show of piety, but they are a danger that needs to be exposed. Jesus explains: “There is nothing carefully concealed that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not become known.”—Luke 12:2.
Perhaps many of the people crowding around Jesus are Judeans who had not heard him teach in Galilee. Thus, he repeats key thoughts that he expressed earlier. He urges all who are listening: “Do not fear those who kill the body and after this are not able to do anything more.” (Luke 12:4) As he has done before, he stresses the need for his followers to trust that God will care for them. They also need to acknowledge the Son of man and realize that God can help them.—Matthew 10:19, 20, 26-33; 12:31, 32.
Then a man in the crowd brings up his immediate concern: “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” (Luke 12:13) The Law says that the firstborn son receives two parts of the inheritance, so there should be no dispute. (Deuteronomy 21:17) It seems, though, that this man wants more than his legal share. Jesus wisely refuses to take sides. “Man, who appointed me judge or arbitrator between you two?” he asks.—Luke 12:14.
Jesus then gives this admonition to all: “Keep your eyes open and guard against every sort of greed, because even when a person has an abundance, his life does not result from the things he possesses.” (Luke 12:15) No matter how much wealth a man may have, will he not at some point die and leave everything behind? Jesus emphasizes that point with a memorable illustration that also shows the value of having a good name with God:
“The land of a rich man produced well. So he began reasoning within himself, ‘What should I do now that I have nowhere to gather my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my storehouses and build bigger ones, and there I will gather all my grain and all my goods, and I will say to myself: “You have many good things stored up for many years; take it easy, eat, drink, enjoy yourself.”’ But God said to him, ‘Unreasonable one, this night they are demanding your life from you. Who, then, is to have the things you stored up?’ So it goes with the man who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”—Luke 12:16-21.
Both Jesus’ disciples and the others hearing him could become ensnared by seeking or piling up wealth. Or the cares of life could distract them from serving Jehovah. So Jesus repeats the fine counsel he gave about a year and a half earlier in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Stop being anxious about your lives as to what you will eat or about your bodies as to what you will wear. . . . Consider the ravens: They neither sow seed nor reap; they have neither barn nor storehouse; yet God feeds them. Are you not worth much more than birds? . . . Consider how the lilies grow: They neither toil nor spin; but I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. . . . So stop seeking what you will eat and what you will drink, and stop being in anxious suspense . . . Your Father knows you need these things. . . . Keep seeking his Kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”—Luke 12:22-31; Matthew 6:25-33.
Who will be seeking God’s Kingdom? Jesus reveals that a relatively small number, a “little flock,” of faithful humans will be doing so. Later it will be revealed that their number is just 144,000. What is in store for them? They have Jesus’ assurance: “Your Father has approved of giving you the Kingdom.” These will not concentrate on gaining treasures on earth, which thieves could steal. Rather, their heart will be on “never-failing treasure in the heavens,” where they will reign with Christ.—Luke 12:32-34.
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Keep Ready, Faithful Steward!Jesus—The Way, the Truth, the Life
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CHAPTER 78
Keep Ready, Faithful Steward!
THE FAITHFUL STEWARD MUST KEEP READY
JESUS COMES TO CREATE DIVISION
Jesus has explained that only a “little flock” will receive a place in the heavenly Kingdom. (Luke 12:32) But receiving that marvelous reward is not something to be treated lightly. In fact, he goes on to stress how important it will be for a person to have the right attitude if he is to be part of the Kingdom.
Accordingly, Jesus admonishes his disciples to keep ready for his return. He says: “Be dressed and ready and have your lamps burning, and you should be like men waiting for their master to return from the marriage, so when he comes and knocks, they may at once open to him. Happy are those slaves whom the master on coming finds watching!”—Luke 12:35-37.
The disciples can easily grasp the attitude that Jesus is illustrating. The servants he mentions are ready, awaiting their master’s return. Jesus explains: “If [the master] comes in the second watch [from about nine in the evening to midnight], even if in the third [from midnight to about three in the morning], and finds them ready, happy are they!”—Luke 12:38.
This is much more than counsel about being diligent house servants, or workers. That is clear from the way Jesus, the Son of man, brings himself into the illustration. He tells his disciples: “You also, keep ready, because at an hour that you do not think likely, the Son of man is coming.” (Luke 12:40) So at some future point, Jesus will come. He wants his followers—particularly those of the “little flock”—to be ready.
Peter wants to understand Jesus’ meaning clearly, so he asks: “Lord, are you telling this illustration just to us or also to everyone?” Rather than answer Peter directly, Jesus sets out a related illustration: “Who really is the faithful steward, the discreet one, whom his master will appoint over his body of attendants to keep giving them their measure of food supplies at the proper time? Happy is that slave if his master on coming finds him doing so! I tell you truthfully, he will appoint him over all his belongings.”—Luke 12:41-44.
In the earlier illustration, “the master” obviously refers to Jesus, the Son of man. Logically, “the faithful steward” involves men who are part of the “little flock” and who will be given the Kingdom. (Luke 12:32) Here Jesus is saying that certain members of this group will be giving “his body of attendants” their sustenance, “their measure of food supplies at the proper time.” So Peter and the other disciples whom Jesus is teaching and feeding spiritually can conclude that there will be a future period during which the Son of man will come. And in that period, there will be a functioning arrangement for the spiritual feeding of Jesus’ followers, the Master’s “body of attendants.”
Jesus emphasizes in another way why his disciples need to be alert and to give attention to their attitude. That is because it is possible to grow lax and even go to the point of opposing one’s fellows: “But if ever that slave should say in his heart, ‘My master delays coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day that he is not expecting him and at an hour that he does not know, and he will punish him with the greatest severity and assign him a part with the unfaithful ones.”—Luke 12:45, 46.
Jesus says that he has come “to start a fire on the earth.” And he has, raising issues that cause great heat of controversy and result in the consuming of false teachings and traditions. This even separates individuals who might be expected to be united, dividing “father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”—Luke 12:49, 53.
These comments have been especially for his disciples. Then Jesus turns to the crowds. Most of the people have stubbornly refused to accept the evidence that he is the Messiah, so he tells them: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, at once you say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and it happens. And when you see that a south wind is blowing, you say, ‘There will be a heat wave,’ and it occurs. Hypocrites, you know how to examine the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to examine this particular time?” (Luke 12:54-56) They clearly are not ready.
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Why Destruction Is AheadJesus—The Way, the Truth, the Life
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CHAPTER 79
Why Destruction Is Ahead
JESUS DRAWS A LESSON FROM TWO TRAGEDIES
CRIPPLED WOMAN HEALED ON THE SABBATH
Jesus has tried in many ways to move the people to think about their standing with God. Another occasion arises after his discussion with people outside the house of a Pharisee.
Some of them mention a tragic event. They speak about “the Galileans whose blood [the Roman Governor Pontius] Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.” (Luke 13:1) What do they mean?
Perhaps these Galileans were the ones killed when thousands of Jews protested Pilate’s use of money from the temple treasury to construct an aqueduct to bring water into Jerusalem. Pilate may have acquired the money with the cooperation of the temple authorities. Those relating this tragedy may feel that the Galileans suffered the calamity because they were guilty of wicked deeds. Jesus disagrees.
He asks: “Do you think that those Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they have suffered these things?” His answer is no. But he uses the incident to warn the Jews: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise be destroyed.” (Luke 13:2, 3) Jesus then refers to another tragedy that may have occurred recently and may have been related to the construction of that aqueduct, asking:
“Those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell, killing them—do you think that they had greater guilt than all other men who live in Jerusalem?” (Luke 13:4) The crowd may feel that those individuals died because of some personal badness. Again Jesus disagrees. He knows that “time and unexpected events” happen and are likely responsible for this tragedy too. (Ecclesiastes 9:11) The people, though, should take a lesson from the event. “Unless you repent, you will all be destroyed, as they were,” Jesus says. (Luke 13:5) But why is he stressing this lesson now?
It has to do with where he is in the course of his ministry, and he illustrates the matter this way: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none. Then he said to the vinedresser, ‘Here it is three years that I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, but have found none. Cut it down! Why should it keep the ground useless?’ In reply he said to him, ‘Master, leave it alone for one more year until I dig around it and put on manure. If it produces fruit in the future, well and good; but if not, then cut it down.’”—Luke 13:6-9.
For more than three years, Jesus has been trying to cultivate faith among the Jews. Yet, relatively few have become disciples and can be considered fruitage of his labors. Now, in the fourth year of his ministry, he is intensifying his efforts. It is as if he were digging and putting fertilizer around the Jewish fig tree by preaching and teaching in Judea and Perea. With what results? Only a small number of Jews respond. As a whole, the nation refuses to repent and is now in line for destruction.
That lack of response on the part of most once again comes to the fore shortly afterward on a Sabbath. Jesus is teaching in a synagogue. He sees a woman who, because a demon is afflicting her, has been bent double for 18 years. Showing compassion, Jesus tells her: “Woman, you are released from your weakness.” (Luke 13:12) Jesus lays his hands on her, and instantly she straightens up and starts to glorify God.
That angers the presiding officer of the synagogue, who says: “There are six days on which work ought to be done; so come and be cured on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.” (Luke 13:14) That officer is not denying that Jesus has the power to heal; rather, he is condemning the people for coming to be healed on the Sabbath! Jesus responds with clear logic: “Hypocrites, does not each one of you on the Sabbath untie his bull or his donkey from the stall and lead it away to give it something to drink? Should not this woman, who is a daughter of Abraham and whom Satan held bound for 18 years, be released from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”—Luke 13:15, 16.
The opposers feel shame, but the crowds rejoice over the glorious things they are seeing Jesus do. Then Jesus repeats here in Judea two prophetic illustrations regarding the Kingdom, which he had related earlier from a boat on the Sea of Galilee.—Matthew 13:31-33; Luke 13:18-21.
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The Fine Shepherd and the SheepfoldsJesus—The Way, the Truth, the Life
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CHAPTER 80
The Fine Shepherd and the Sheepfolds
JESUS SPEAKS OF THE FINE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEPFOLDS
As Jesus continues teaching in Judea, he now draws on something that his listeners can easily picture—sheep and sheepfolds. But he is speaking illustratively. The Jews may recall David’s words: “Jehovah is my Shepherd. I will lack nothing. In grassy pastures he makes me lie down.” (Psalm 23:1, 2) In another psalm, David invited the nation: “Let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture.” (Psalm 95:6, 7) Yes, the Israelites under the Law were long likened to a flock of sheep.
These “sheep” have been in a “sheepfold” in that they were born under the Mosaic Law covenant. The Law served as a fence, separating them from the corrupting practices of people not under this arrangement. Some Israelites, however, mistreated God’s flock. Jesus states: “Most truly I say to you, the one who does not enter into the sheepfold through the door but climbs in by another way, that one is a thief and a plunderer. But the one who enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep.”—John 10:1, 2.
The people may think of men who have claimed to be the Messiah, or Christ. These are like thieves and plunderers. The people should not follow such impostors. Rather, they should follow “the shepherd of the sheep,” about whom Jesus says:
“The doorkeeper opens to this one, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought all his own out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. They will by no means follow a stranger but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”—John 10:3-5.
Earlier, John the Baptist, like a doorkeeper, identified Jesus as the one whom those symbolic sheep under the Law should follow. And some sheep, in Galilee and right here in Judea, have recognized Jesus’ voice. To where would he ‘lead them out’? And what would result from following him? Some hearing this illustration may wonder, because ‘they do not understand what he is saying to them.’—John 10:6.
Jesus explains: “Most truly I say to you, I am the door for the sheep. All those who have come in place of me are thieves and plunderers; but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the door; whoever enters through me will be saved, and that one will go in and out and find pasturage.”—John 10:7-9.
Clearly, Jesus is introducing something new. His listeners know that he is not the door to the Law covenant, which has existed for centuries. So he must be saying that the sheep he ‘leads out’ are to enter another sheepfold. With what result?
Further explaining his role, Jesus says: “I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance. I am the fine shepherd; the fine shepherd surrenders his life in behalf of the sheep.” (John 10:10, 11) Jesus had earlier comforted his disciples by saying: “Have no fear, little flock, for your Father has approved of giving you the Kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) Indeed, those who make up the “little flock” are ones Jesus will lead into a new sheepfold, so that they may “have life and have it in abundance.” What a blessing to be part of that flock!
Jesus does not end the matter there, though. He observes: “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those too I must bring in, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10:16) These “other sheep” are “not of this fold.” Hence, they must be of yet another fold, different from the “little flock” who will inherit the Kingdom. These two folds, or pens of sheep, have different destinies. Still, the sheep in both folds will benefit from Jesus’ role. He says: “This is why the Father loves me, because I surrender my life.”—John 10:17.
Many of the crowd respond: “He has a demon and is out of his mind.” Yet others show that they are listening with interest and are inclined to follow the Fine Shepherd. They say: “These are not the sayings of a demonized man. A demon cannot open blind people’s eyes, can it?” (John 10:20, 21) They evidently are referring to Jesus’ earlier curing of the man born blind.
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One With the Father, But Not GodJesus—The Way, the Truth, the Life
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CHAPTER 81
One With the Father, But Not God
“I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE”
JESUS REFUTES CHARGE OF BEING GOD
Jesus has come to Jerusalem for the Festival of Dedication (or, Hanukkah). This festival commemorates the rededication of the temple. Over a century earlier, Syrian King Antiochus IV Epiphanes built an altar over the great altar at God’s temple. Later, sons of a Jewish priest recaptured Jerusalem and rededicated the temple to Jehovah. Since then, an annual celebration is held on Chislev 25, the month corresponding to the late part of November and the early part of December.
It is wintertime, the season of cold weather. Jesus is walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon. Here Jews encircle him and demand: “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” (John 10:22-24) How will Jesus respond? He replies: “I told you, and yet you do not believe.” Jesus has not told them directly that he is the Christ, as he told the Samaritan woman at the well. (John 4:25, 26) He has, though, revealed his identity in saying: “Before Abraham came into existence, I have been.”—John 8:58.
Jesus wants people to conclude for themselves that he is the Christ by comparing his works with what was foretold the Christ would do. This is why he at other times told his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. But now he tells these hostile Jews outright: “The works that I am doing in my Father’s name, these bear witness about me. But you do not believe.”—John 10:25, 26.
Why do they not believe that Jesus is the Christ? He says: “You do not believe, because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them everlasting life, and they will by no means ever be destroyed, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is something greater than all other things.” Jesus then tells them how close his relationship with his Father is, saying: “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:26-30) Jesus is here on earth and his Father is in heaven, so he cannot mean that he and his Father are literally one. Rather, they are one in purpose, being united.
Jesus’ words so anger the Jews that they again pick up stones to kill him. This does not frighten Jesus. “I displayed to you many fine works from the Father,” he says. “For which of those works are you stoning me?” They respond: “We are stoning you, not for a fine work, but for blasphemy; for you . . . make yourself a god.” (John 10:31-33) Jesus never claimed to be a god, so why this accusation?
Well, Jesus is saying that he has powers that the Jews believe belong to God alone. For example, regarding the “sheep” he said: “I give them everlasting life,” which is something humans cannot do. (John 10:28) The Jews are overlooking the fact that Jesus has openly admitted that he received authority from his Father.
In refuting their false charge, Jesus asks: “Is it not written in your Law [at Psalm 82:6], ‘I said: “You are gods”’? If he called ‘gods’ those against whom the word of God came . . . do you say to me whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?”—John 10:34-36.
Yes, the Scriptures call even unjust human judges “gods.” So how can these Jews fault Jesus for saying “I am God’s Son”? He points to something that should convince them: “If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may come to know and may continue knowing that the Father is in union with me and I am in union with the Father.”—John 10:37, 38.
In response, the Jews try to seize Jesus, but he again escapes. He leaves Jerusalem and goes across the Jordan River to the area where John began baptizing nearly four years earlier.
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