John 10:25-33

²⁵Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in My Father's name speak for Me, ²⁶but you do not believe because you are not My sheep. ²⁷My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand. ³⁰I and the Father are One." ³¹Again the Jews picked up stones to stone Him, ³²but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?" ³³"We are not stoning You for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because You, a mere Man, claim to be God."

Jesus then cuts right to the heart of the matter, declaring that the reason they do not believe Him is that they are not His sheep. He does not conceal that He is the Christ, yet He does not teach them as if they were willing to learn from Him, but rather reproaches them with obstinate malice, because, though they had been taught by both the word and works of God, they had not yet made any progress. Accordingly, He imputes to their own fault that they do not know Him. It’s as if He said, “My doctrine is easily enough understood, but the blame lies with you, because you maliciously resist God.” They are doubly obstinate, having had a testimony of His identity in both His miracles and His doctrinal teaching; yet, they despised God. Furthermore, v27 declares that His sheep not only believe Him but also follow Him. The point is that faith without works is dead. The fruit of repentance is crucial.

And Jesus rebukes them further, explaining a higher reason for their unbelief – they are reprobate, not elect. Only Jesus’ sheep can and do recognize His voice and follow Him. This is a hard truth, yet Jesus purposes it for His audience to get them to ask, “Am I known by God?” The question is for us as well. My daughter has asked our neighbor what we often hear, “Do you know God in your heart?” And that’s a fine question to ask, but the more important one is this: “Does God know you?” Galatians 4:9; Matthew 7:21-23 The authority of the Gospel does not depend on the belief of men. Yet the comfort for believers in understanding this truth is that we realize how all the more strongly we are bound to God. The teaching here echoes John 6:37-45. Jesus testifies that our salvation is in His hand. And if this were not enough, He says that they will be safely guarded by the power of His Father. This is a remarkable passage, by which we are taught that the salvation of all the elect is no less certain than the power of God is invincible. No one will be able to snatch them from Him or from the Father (2 Timothy 1:12). And both the Father and Jesus are holding them, because they are One, the same God.

The Jews are not ready to hear Jesus making Himself equal to God. They had asked if He was the Christ – but at His answer, they are ready to stone Him for the second time. As true religion burns with Spirit-directed zeal to uphold the glory of God, so unbelief gives birth to rage, and the devil causes the wicked to breathe nothing but slaughter. Pretending to desire Jesus to declare Himself Messiah in order that they might follow Him, they are driven to raging and murderous madness by His statement. Yet their oppression of Jesus was given rationale, as if they were acting according to the law, by which God commands that false prophets shall be stoned (Deuteronomy 13:5).

But Jesus, as we have seen, lays down His life of His own accord, and it was not yet time to do so. But before escaping their murderous intentions, He asks them why they desire to kill Him when His works – “from the Father” – bear witness to the truth of His claims. By doing so, He displays that they have no reason for their rash behavior and accuses them of ingratitude. The question has greater force to pierce their consciences than if He had made a direct assertion, but it’s as if He says to them, “God intended to make His Kingdom known to you by My hand. Banish Me as you please; I have done nothing that does not deserve praise and goodwill. In persecuting Me, therefore, you show your rage against the gifts of God.” The Jews have no problem with His miracles – in fact, they follow Him hoping to see more. But they are convinced that He is “a mere man” and therefore blasphemes by claiming to be God. Calvin says, “There are two kinds of blasphemy, either when God is deprived of the honor which belongs to Him, or when anything unsuitable to His nature, or contrary to His nature, is ascribed to Him. They argue therefore that Christ is a blasphemer because, being a mortal man, He lays claim to Divine honor. This would be a just definition of blasphemy, if Christ were nothing more than a man. They only err in that they do not design to contemplate His Divinity, which was conspicuous in His miracles.”