This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) - Welcome to day five of our look through John chapter 10, which
I have called the Psalm 23 of the New Testament. We're going to take a look today
at verses 30 to 42. Jesus ends his talk about sheep and shepherds, about promise
and power and assurance by talking about himself, just the solid truth about
himself.

Listen to what he says in verses 30 to 33. I and the Father are one. When he
said this, verse 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? We're not stoning you for any of these,
replied the Jews, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.
Verse 30, that short verse, I and the Father are one.

The language of verse 30 is extremely important. So let's walk through this
verse slowly. Taking a look at the Greek language here.

I and the Father are one. I, Jesus starts with. He doesn't say the Son of Man or
the Son of God and the Father are one.

He says, I. It's extremely personal, it's extremely clear. There's no room for
doubt.

He's talking about himself. And then he says, and the Father, that phrase. Not a
Father, but the Father.

Not even my Father, but the Father. God, who is the Father of us all. So he
connects himself and Father God.

I and the Father are. That one word even means a lot. Are, this is a plural verb
that shows the individuality of both God and Jesus.

He's going to say that they are one here. But this word are that's used in the
Greek language, it has the sense that they are individuals also. I and the
Father are one.

One, that noun is a neuter noun and not a masculine noun. What does that mean?
It means in the Greek language that clearly he's not saying we're the same
person, but he's using it in a way that indicates a unity of being.

Now it's more than just a unity of fellowship or one in purpose. There's a unity
of being here. That's clear because of how those who listened that day
understood him to be talking.

They understood that he was claiming to be God. In fact, they say, the Pharisees
say when they pick up stones to kill him, because they consider this blasphemy,
that you, a mere man, claim to be God. The idea of that phrase there is that you
are constantly, continually making yourself out to be God.

Jesus has an answer, verses 34 to 39. Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in
your law, "I have said you are gods? "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? "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.

" Again, they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. What Jesus is
doing with the Pharisees here is giving arguments for who he is. First, he gives
an argument from scripture, and then he gives an argument from experience.

It's the argument from scripture that we have a bit of a hard time getting our
minds around. His argument from scripture is from Psalm 82 verse six. "If he
called them gods, to whom the word of God came.

" He's quoting from the Old Testament, and he's saying, it's a little G here, by
the way, he called these judges gods as he gave his word to them because they
were going to have power and authority over people. And he's saying, if God the
Father was willing to use this term for a judge, a human judge, a frail judge, a
sinful judge that he set up on this earth, why are you getting so hung up on the
word, son of God? You see, Jesus isn't saying here that these judges were little
gods.

He's talking instead of the Pharisees about words, and the fact that they'd
gotten so hung up on a word that they couldn't see Jesus for who he really,
really truly was, God in flesh in this world. He's trying to break through their
thinking through this verse in the Old Testament. Now, as he talks about this,
there's a couple of things not to miss.

Just seemingly small things, but incredibly important things. Don't miss the
fact that Jesus talks about the Father sending him into the world as I was sent
into the world. Remember this, everyone else is born into this world, every
other human being, but Jesus was sent into this world.

Our existence, my existence, yours, it began with our conception, but not Jesus.
He's existed from eternity. And so he was sent into this world.

We're born into this world. Jesus has existed from eternity to eternity. We have
eternal life, but it began in this world.

That's the difference between Jesus and us. And then don't miss that just simple
phrase. And the scripture cannot be broken.

Jesus' respect for the word of God is without fault, without question. He again
and again respects the depth of our trust in God's word. And even here with
these words, the scripture cannot be broken.

His argument from scripture. Now that argument made the most sense to the
Pharisees. It's the argument from experience that's going to make the most sense to
you.

Jesus says, look at what I do. The miracles, if you don't believe in anything
else, the miracles are an evidence of who I am. Jesus has shown us who he is all
throughout John chapter 10.

In fact, John 10, in this chapter, Jesus makes three great declarations, gives
us three great assurances. I call them declarations of assurance. Jesus says
he's the door.

So I need to enter through him. Jesus says he is the good shepherd. So I need to
follow him.

Jesus says he is the son of God. So I trust in him and his power. I want to, in
just a minute, look at the last three verses in John 10.

But before we do that, let's take a moment to pray together right now. Jesus, I
pray that you would help me not just to talk or think about trust, but to
actually trust. Jesus, I pray that you would strengthen me to let the assurance
of your relationship with me be the foundation of my trust in you today.

And as you talk to Jesus about trust, you might just ask yourself these
questions. What relationship do I need to trust him with today? What financial
situation do I need to trust him with today?

What problem do I need to trust him with today? What doubt do I need to trust
him with right now? What disappointment do I need to trust him with?

Jesus, you are the good shepherd. You're the door. You're the son of God.

I can trust in you. So I pray, help me today, strengthen me today to make the
choice moment by moment to trust in you. I can't even make that choice without
you.

But in you, in you I can do all things. I trust in you, Jesus Christ, in your
name, amen. Now, as we close our look at this chapter, it's interesting, after
this discussion of who Jesus is, Jesus slips from their grasp, which he often
does, you probably notice, as we've gone through John.

Some of the times that he does this, you have the sense that it's a miracle.
Other times you have the sense that it's just him getting lost in the crowd. But
whatever, it wasn't time yet.

It wasn't time yet for him to go to the cross. The last verses, verses 40 to 42,
tell us where he goes. And I saved them until after our prayer today because
they really set up what we're going to talk about next week.

Those verses say this. 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. Now, I think
about Jesus in this place back across the Jordan.

It was a good place. People came day by day, many lives were changed, many
believed in him. It was a place he could have stayed the rest of his life with
great joy and great ministry and wonderfully changed lives.

He even had strong spiritual history. It was the place where John had baptized,
but it was not the place where he was meant to stay. It was a part of his
ministry, but it was not the core of his ministry.

John 10, 40 to 42, there's a calm before the storm. Jesus is headed towards a
cross, towards his suffering and our salvation. And we see him headed in that
direction as next week we take a look together at John chapter 11, the miracle
of the raising of a man who was dead, the raising of his friend, Lazarus.