“I And The Father Are One” [Matt's Messages] ~ Matt Mitchell

“I And The Father Are One”

Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

April 7, 2024 :: John 10:22-42

What would you do if you were surrounded by a big group of angry men who were picking up rocks to throw at you?

What would you do if an antagonistic group of men had encircled you and were so enraged by your words enough to pick up stones to kill you with them?

In today’s story, that’s exactly what happened to our Lord Jesus. And here’s what He said right before they picked up those stones:

“I and the Father are one.”

That’s what Jesus said, and it’s what made them so angry and what can make us so happy forever.

This story took place during Hanukkah. Also known as the “Feast of Dedication.” Let’s start again in verse 22.

“Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade.”

The Feast of Dedication was a newer festival. It wasn’t one of the ones that was prescribed in the Law of Moses. It was created in the time between the testaments, between the Old Testament and the New Testament, during the time of Maccabean Revolt. The Jews had surprisingly defeated their Greek oppressors and had rededicated the temple which had been desecrated by Antiochus IV. This was about 165 BC.

So for about 200 years, the Jews had been celebrating this Feast of Dedication right around the time of year we that we celebrate Christmas. And the Hebrew word for dedication is “Hanukkah.”

And at this same time was the Festival of Lights. With the menorah and everything.

So here we have the Light of the World during the Festival of Lights walking through the rededicated temple (which also points to Him) during the eight-day festival to celebrate the great heroes and saviors of Israel. And He’s the Hero and Savior of Israel!

But the leaders of Israel do not believe it. Instead, they gang up on Him. Look at verse 24.

“The Jews gathered around him, saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’”

Do you see how they have surrounded Him? That really jumped out at me this week in my study. They have encircled Jesus. They may feel, in fact, like they have Jesus trapped.

For some time now, they have been sparring with Jesus in a war of words. And a few times (we saw in chapter 5, and chapter 7, and chapter 8), they have tried to grab Him and kill Him.

Last week, a bunch of them were saying that Jesus was insane or a had demon possessing Him because He was claiming to be the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep (His people) only to take it back up again–resurrection.

Here, they are trying to get Him to unambiguously incriminate Himself. They want Jesus to say something about Himself that really gets Him in trouble once and for all.

“If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” “Enough of these metaphors.”

“I am the bread of life.”

“I am the light of the world.”

“I am the gate for the sheep.”

“I am the good shepherd.”

“No more metaphors! Tell us straight up, who are you?”

But, remember, they do not actually want know. This circle of impatient men has already heard enough to clearly know Who Jesus believes He is. And they have seen enough, too. Verse 25.

“Jesus answered, ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep” (vv.25-26).

Jesus says that He has given them all of the evidence they need. His message about Himself has been consistent, and His deeds, His works, His miracles say all the same things, too.

Water into wine. Time to celebrate.

Healing the official’s son long-distance with just a word. “Your son will live.”

Healing the lame man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years. “Pick up your mat and walk.”

Feeding the five thousand men with a happy meal of loaves and fish. With twelve baskets left over!

Walking on the water. “It is I; don’t be afraid.”

Healing the man born blind. “I was blind but now I see.”

All of these miracles say the same thing about Who Jesus is.

They are signs. They point! And they all point to the same thing. John says that’s the big reason for this whole gospel. These miraculous signs are written here...“that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:30-31 NIVO).

Jesus says, “The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me...” Notice that Jesus does the miracles, but He does them in His Father’s name. By His Father’s authority. They are working together in unity.

And the greatest miracle was yet to come. The Good Shepherd was going to lay down His life for the sheep only to take it back up again. And the Father was going to love Him for it!

All of these miracles point towards Jesus being the Christ. The question that this gang of men is asking Jesus to answer once again. But these guys do not believe what the signs are saying. V.25 again. “Jesus answered, ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep” (vv.25-26).

What scary words to hear! I pray that no one within the sound of my voice ever hears Jesus say those words to them.

“You are not my sheep.” It was clear that these men were not His sheep because they didn’t want to be His sheep. They didn’t want to believe what the miracles said. They didn’t want to believe what Jesus said. They didn’t want to belong to Jesus as their Good Shepherd. So they were getting what they wanted. But I want the exact opposite for me and for you.

Because look what you get when you are His sheep! Verse 27.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

There’s our title for today. Our mind-blowing title. “I and the Father are one.”

You know that those are big strong words because in the very next verse, this circle of men picks up big stones to kill Jesus with.

“I and the Father are one.” What does He mean?

Well, He doesn’t mean that they are one Person. There is clearly two Persons mentioned here. “I” and “the Father.” The Son and the Father. But there is also unity here. “I and the Father are ONE.”

That’s One in essence. One in substance. “We are one thing (the thing we call ‘God.’)” There is only one God. And the Son is that one God, and the Father is that one God. (And when we get to chapters 14, 15, and 16, we’ll learn that the Spirit is that one God, too.)

You know, by now in the Gospel of John, these ideas should sound kind of familiar.

They will always be mind-blowing, but they should also be familiar, because this is just chapter 1, verse 1, isn’t it?

What does John 1:1 say? “In the beginning was the Word [that’s another name for the Son], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1 NIVO).

The Son was with God. He has with-ness. “I and the Father” Two Persons different yet intimately related. And the Son was God. He has was-ness and oneness. “I and the Father are ONE.”

The Son has everything it means to be God.

And the Father has everything that it means to be God.

So the Son and the Father are the One God.

And their unity of essence leads to a unity of action. Everything they do, they do perfectly together. You can’t divide these two. In their essence or in their works.

And that is such good news for you me!

Let me show you. I’ve only got two points to summarize the implications of this message this morning, but they are both such good news!

Here’s the first one. What it means for Jesus (and for us) when Jesus says, “I and the Father are one.”

#1. MY SHEEP ARE SAFE.

Jesus says that because He and His Father are one, His sheep are utterly and completely and totally and eternally safe.

Isn’t that good news?! Look back up at verse 27. And revel in the first two words, “My sheep.”

Jesus has sheep that are His that He knows. We’ve emphasized that the last few weeks. He knows His sheep. He doesn’t just know about them. He doesn’t just have a database or names in a binder somewhere.

He knows them. V.27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

If you want to know if you are His sheep, that’s a good place to start. Listen to His voice. Follow His lead. Do what Jesus says. But this passage is not mostly about what we do but what He does.

He knows us. And He gives us eternal life. Verse 28.

“I give them eternal life...” It’s a gift! You can’t earn it. You can’t buy it. You can’t become worthy of it. It’s all by grace. The Good Shepherd won it for us by laying down His life for the sheep only to take it up again.

“He lives! He lives! Salvation to impart.”

“I give them eternal life...(v.28) and they shall never perish...” Same word as from John 3:16. “They shall never perish.”

Now that is taking shepherding to a whole other level!

These sheep become undying sheep!

Imperishable sheep.

Indestructible sheep.

And un-snatchable sheep. V.28

“...no one can snatch them out of my hand.”

Jesus, our Good Shepherd, holds onto us in such a way that no force on Earth can grab us and wrench us out of His safe hands.

If you belong to Jesus, then you are safe as safe can be.

By grace through faith He gives you eternal life, and you will never perish. You will never die the eternal death of Hell. And you are safe in Jesus’ hand.

“No one can snatch them out of my hand.”

Can it get any better than that?!

Yes, it actually can! Because Jesus and His Father are ONE.

So there isn’t just verse 28, there is also verse 29! Jesus says, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.” Isn’t that wonderful?! Look at it again. V.29

“My Father...” Isn’t it wonderful?! He isn’t just a Shepherd that has sheep. He’s a Son that Has a Father. He says it over and over again. “My Father.”

“My Father, who has given them to me...” Who is that? That’s the sheep. That’s us. The sheep are the Father’s gift to the Son. The Son gives the Sheep eternal life. We go through Him as the Gate and we get the life. The Son gives us life.

But the Father gives us to the Son. So the Father values us and gives us as a present to the Son. And He protects His gift! And there is no one who can take it away from Him.

“My Father...is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.”

Whose hand are these sheep in? Are we in Jesus’ hand or the Father’s hand? Both, right? Because, “I and the Father are one.”

This is you. If you belong to Jesus, if you are His sheep, you are safe in His hand. And no one can grab you out of it. I’d like to see anybody try.

But there’s another hand, inseparably operating, at the very same time with the very same omnipotent power. The Father’s hand! And there’s no one stronger than the Father. “No one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.” No one!

“[N]either death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39 NIVO).

Because “I and the Father are one.” “My sheep are safe.”

By the way, that safety means that we are safe to follow the Good Shepherd wherever He leads. We are not safe to disobey Him. We’re safe to obey Him. Because that’s what His sheep do. We listen to His voice and we follow Him. Don’t take this safety as a license to sin but as freedom to follow the Shepherd wherever He leads.

But feel safe. Feel utterly, totally, completely, eternally safe in these hands because Jesus says, “I and the Father are one.”

That should make us so happy! But it made these men so mad. They understood exactly what this meant, and they picked up some sharp stones to do something about it. V.31

“Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, ‘I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?’” (vv.31-32).

He’s not scared at all, is He? He’s spunky in the face of this stoning. “I’ve done these great miracles from the Father...[notice that it’s from the Father, they are one in their miracles.]...For which of these great miracles do you guys want to stone me? V.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.’”

It’s in the law. Leviticus 24:16 says, “[A]nyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death” (Lev. 24:16 NIVO).

“You have just said that you are and God are the same being. Therefore it is time for the jagged rocks to come out.”

What would you do if you were surrounded by a big group of angry men who were picking up rocks to throw at you?

Well, if you were Jesus at Hanukkah, you would calmly show them all where they were wrong and walk right out of there.

Jesus makes an interesting argument from the lesser to the greater from Psalm 82, verse 6. Look at our verse 34. “Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'?”

That’s Psalm 82, verse 6, where God calls the leaders of Israel “gods” with a small “g.” He doesn’t mean that they have super powers, but that they super responsibilities to “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Ps. 82:3-4 NIVO).

These men have been raised up to a level to dispese god-like justice, so He calls them “gods” (small “g”) in Psalm 86 which is God’s Word.

So Jesus carries that logic through in verse 35. “If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came–and the Scripture cannot be broken–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'?” (vv.35-36).

Do you follow His logic? “If these guys were legitimately called ‘gods’ (in some true sense), and they were just men, then what should you call someone Who is like me?!”

I and the Father ARE ONE!

And that means:

#2. I AM SET APART AND SENT.

I am set apart by God the Father and sent by God the Father into the world!

In other words: It’s not blasphemy if it’s true.

“Those guys in Psalm 82 are called “gods,” small “g.” But you know what, guys, I don’t care if you have sharp rocks in your hands. I and the Father are one.” The titles don’t matter as much as the realities do.

“I and the Father are one.” Do your worst.

“I and the Father are one.” Go ahead, if you dare.

“I and the Father are one.” I invite you to believe. I invite you to become one of my sheep. V.37

“Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.’”

Their unity is so perfect, their operations so inseparable, their oneness so absolute, that they are said to be “in” each other.

“The Father is in me, and I in the Father.” We’re going to revel in that even more when we get to the Upper Room in chapters 14, 15, 16. And then we’ll get the Holy Spirit in the mix, too.

Think about Who Jesus says that He is. He is One with the Father, in the Father, and set apart by the Father and sent by the Father into the world.

Those words “set apart” could be translated “sanctified” or “made holy.” What it means is that the Father has considered the Son His Special Son who has been set apart as special for a special mission.

The Father loves the Son, and that’s why He sent the Son.

He didn’t send the Son because He was disappointed in the Son. He didn’t send Him into exile or to redeem Himself. “That’ll teach Jesus a lesson.”

No, the Father sent the Son because the Son was special to Him and He had special mission for Him.

And we know what it was, right?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only [beloved] Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish [never perish, never be snatched out of His hand] but have eternal life [“I give them eternal life.”] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (Jn. 3:16-17 NIVO).

The Son is set apart and sent...to save.

V.39 “Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here he stayed and many people came to him. They said, ‘Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true.’ And in that place many believed in Jesus.”

And were saved! If you believe in Jesus, you get life. Life in His name.

Do you believe in Jesus?

Come through the Gate and into the abundant life He offers.

Because if you are His sheep, then you have everything.

You are safe as safe can be.

Because the Son and the Father are One.

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